Ex spy chief says UK risks “police state”

The former head of MI5 has warned the government it risks creating a “police state” by exploiting fears over terrorism to erode civil liberties. Dame Stella Rimington said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that interfering with people’s privacy played straight into the hands of terrorists. “It would be better that the [...]

Documents say DHS helped Md. police “spy”

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tracked an anti-war group’s plans for peaceful protests and passed the information on to the Maryland State Police, according to documents released to The Washington Post and reported in Tuesday’s editions. The documents are the first indication that the state police had federal partners during [...]

Girl, 16, found dead in Fort Lewis barracks

A 16-year-old girl has died and another was in stable condition after they were found unresponsive Sunday in a barracks on Fort Lewis, Wash., according to a press release. Emergency response personnel responded to a 911 call about 3:30 a.m. Sunday to a barracks on post. They found the girls, and one of them was [...]

Freedom From Religion leader to speak in Montclair

Dan Barker, co-founder of the Wisc.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, will speak to the Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Barker, a former Ontario resident, will talk about his new book “Godless: How An Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheist.” He will likely talk about the brouhaha concerning the “Imagine [...]

Explosives Newsletters

Here’s something I didn’t expect to find online: the complete run of ATF Explosives Industry Newsletter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. All 17 irregularly published issues so far. Also, the Department of Mining of Queensland, Australia, has posted the complete run of its Explosives Safety News. As always, I’ve downloaded the [...]

Fresno Police

US soldiers investigated over ‘fraud’ bigger than Madoff

In what could turn out to be the greatest fraud in US history, American authorities have started to investigate the alleged role of senior military officers in the misuse of $125bn (£88bn) in a US -directed effort to reconstruct Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The exact sum missing may never be clear, but [...]

We Are a Nation of Junkies Hooked on Media-Fabricated Outrage

As the Phelps ‘scandal’ proves yet again, our narcotic of choice — creating controversy where none exists — packs a punch. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re strung out on “Lost” episodes, or if it’s because we’re still suffering from a post-9/11 stress disorder that makes us crave “breaking news” alerts, or if it’s [...]

FBI Joins Probe of Philadelphia Officer

The FBI has joined a probe into whether a city police officer falsified evidence to build drug cases, Mayor Michael Nutter said Friday, and reports say the investigation may spread to other officers. Narcotics Officer Jeffrey Cujdik has been under investigation by the police department’s internal affairs unit since December based on a complaint from [...]

Videotaped Cop Indicted on Beating of Veteran

Feb. 11–A New York City police officer was indicted Wednesday in the July beating of a handcuffed public housing tenant that was captured on a surveillance video, authorities said. Officer David London used his baton during an encounter with Walter Harvin, 29, who “did not pose a physical threat” to the cop, Manhattan District Attorney [...]

Marijuana Vs. Anti-Depressants for PTSD Marijuana Wins Hands Down

Dr. Phillip Leveque spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Pharmacologist, Forensic Toxicologist and Physician. (MOLALLA, Ore.) – I was asked by a healthcare professional at the Portland VA Hospital if I would help PTSD Veteran Victims to get permits to use legalized medical marijuana. I already had some Veteran patients from WWII, Korea and [...]

Law (Crime) Enforcement Money in Final Stimulus Plan

Well, despite my most sincere urgings, Congress included a boost to the federal Byrne grant program in its just passed stimulus package. A friend from the prosecutors’ camp forwarded the list which included a surprising twist – adding “national, regional, and local non-profit organizations” to the list of eligible grantees for $225 million in competitive [...]

US military gets the squeeze in Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan has slapped the US military with a dishonorable discharge from the Manas Air Base, throwing a monkey wrench into US President Barack Obama’s plans to bolster troop strength in Afghanistan just as the Taliban is showing a startling resurgence. Now, Washington will be forced to go shopping for other real estate opportunities across Central [...]

Military to bribe foreigners with citizenship for service

Those who are in the US on temporary visas will have a chance to acquire citizenship, if they enter military service as little as six months. According to a Sunday New York Times report, for the first time since the war in Vietnam the US army has expressed willingness to recruit the immigrants who long [...]

Canadian police restrict stun gun use

TORONTO — Canada’s federal police will no longer use stun guns against suspects who are merely resisting arrest or refusing to cooperate — saying the guns can cause death. “Tasers hurt like hell,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner William Elliot said Thursday of his reaction to being shot with a stun gun as a test. [...]

‘Painful Lessons’: Abuse At Chicago Schools

Treveon Martin, 10, is one of at least 818 Chicago Public School students, since 2003, to allege being battered by a teacher or other staff member. Hundreds Of Kids Beaten, Whipped, Even Choked By Teachers, Coaches CHICAGO (CBS) ― Hundreds of students have allegedly been beaten by teachers, coaches and staff at Chicago Public Schools. [...]

Teacher cut classes to hook

A fourth-grade teacher had a side job as a prostitute, and even skipped class after using a school computer to arrange an afternoon tryst at a motel, authorities said Wednesday. Amber Carter, 35, left school early on Tuesday – taking half a sick day – and was arrested in a motel parking lot in Bellefontaine, [...]

Student Claims Teacher Attacked Him, School Covered Up Incident

MIRAMAR, Fla. – A Broward County high school student claimed that his teacher, a former police officer, attacked him in class, and the school is covering up the incident. In an exclusive interview with NBC 6′s Tisha Lewis, Everglades High School student Anthony Delgado said that his science teacher attacked him in front of his [...]

Mexican Consul chooses Highland for home base

Mexican Consul and Highland resident Carolina Zaragoza Flores at her San Bernardino office. Former Mexican Consul Carlos Girralt chose to make his home in Highland while he was assigned to the San Bernardino office. His successor, Carolina Zaragoza Flores, followed his lead and also lives in Highland. She said she and her family searched San [...]

Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit

At worst, Hillary Transue thought she might get a stern lecture when she appeared before a judge for building a spoof MySpace page mocking the assistant principal at her high school in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She was a stellar student who had never been in trouble, and the page stated clearly at the bottom that it [...]

Former Morongo Unified School District trustee David Jones arrested on charges of abusing several girls

JOSHUA TREE — Former Morongo Unified School District trustee David Jones, of Joshua Tree, was arrested Friday on charges of abusing several girls. His bail has been set at $1 million. The county sheriff’s Crimes Against Children Detail issued a news release Friday stating five girls allege Jones abused them, and investigators believe there may [...]

Hey Kids, Wanna Play Security Checkpoint: The Terrifying Marketing Of Police State Normalacy To Children

When I flew home from Washington, DC after a business trip last week, the TSA agent asked to test my laptop.  I politely asked what they were testing for.  It was just routine she told me.  And she’s right, it has become routine, a much too routine standard operating procedure designed to make us believe [...]

Coast Guard chief charged with rape, cruelty

A Coast Guard chief will be arraigned Friday in Alameda, Calif., on charges of rape and assault of a female subordinate while on liberty in Golfito, Costa Rica. Chief Yeoman Royce G. Clifton is being charged with five counts of rape and carnal knowledge, one count each of assault, cruelty and maltreatment, and failure to [...]

Sailors arrested in drug sting

SAN DIEGO – Two active-duty sailors and a former sailor are among more than nearly three dozen people arrested and charged during a three-month undercover operation by local and federal law enforcement in off-base military housing areas, San Diego authorities said Tuesday. The sting operation netted felony drug charges against 33 people, and investigators collected [...]

Filipino court orders Marine rapist into custody

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a U.S. Marine convicted of rape to be moved from the American Embassy into Philippine custody, reopening an emotional case that has become a rallying point for anti-American protests. The court ruled that a deal allowing Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith to stay at the embassy [...]

Rucker soldier charged with death of son, 5 months old

FORT RUCKER, Ala. — A Fort Rucker soldier charged with manslaughter in the death of his 5-month-old son has admitted to shaking the infant in the past. Dedrick Fisher Sr. attended a hearing on post Wednesday to determine if there was enough evidence to continue through court proceedings against him. Federal authorities charged Fisher with [...]

100 years of government abuse, corruption and lies

This week marks the centennial of a fateful landmark in U.S. history, the nation’s first drug prohibition law.  On February 9, 1909, Congress passed the Opium Exclusion Act, barring the importation of opium for smoking as of April 1.  Thus began a hundred-year crusade that has unleashed unprecedented crime, violence and corruption around the world [...]

Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence February, 2009

Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Dennis C. Blair Director of National Intelligence 12 February 2009 [ click image to view ]

Propaganda Machine: 27,000 Work in Pentagon PR and Recruiting

As it fights two wars, the Pentagon is steadily and dramatically increasing money spent on winning what it calls “the human terrain” of world public opinion. In the process, concerns have been raised that this is spreading propaganda at home in violation of federal law. An Associated Press investigation found that over the past five [...]

Lawsuit: Girl Forced To Take Pregnancy Test

NEVADA CITY, Calif. – A 12-year-old girl was forced to take a pregnancy test at school in Nevada City, a lawsuit filed in Nevada County Superior Court alleges. Document:Read The Lawsuit The Pacific Justice Institute, which is representing the girl, said in a news release that Steve Davis, a counselor at Seven Hills Middle School, [...]

Change you can download: a billion in secret Congressional reports

Wikileaks has released nearly a billion dollars worth of quasi-secret reports commissioned by the United States Congress. The 6,780 reports, current as of this month, comprise over 127,000 pages of material on some of the most contentious issues in the nation, from the U.S. relationship with Israel to the financial collapse. Nearly 2,300 of the [...]

Getting “Aquaint”

The National Security Agency (NSA) is developing a tool that George Orwell’s Thought Police might have found useful: an artificial intelligence system designed to gain insight into what people are thinking. With the entire Internet and thousands of databases for a brain, the device will be able to respond almost instantaneously to complex questions posed [...]

This might interest our local press

Police in Savannah, Ga. reached an agreement with a local newspaper on Monday in a dispute over records the news media wanted routinely released to the public. The Savannah-Chatham department has agreed to start releasing a blanket daily list of all police reports, which will in turn be available online during weekdays and by hard copy when requested, according to [...]

Jimenez receives apology from school district

When Mariah Jimenez wore a politically charged T-shirt to school Nov. 3, her action sparked a debate on the First Amendment and free speech. It took several months, but her rights, and those of other students are now protected. Jimenez, a Big Bear High School sophomore, wore a T-shirt to school the day before election [...]

Judge Orders Sheriff to Return Marijuana

BARSTOW • M.J. Somers said he wanted to live by the law — and that’s why he got his medical marijuana permit. “I know it sounds weird, but I went for the weed license because I try to be a law-abiding citizen,” said the 27-year-old Helendale resident. “I’m not a fiend for marijuana that gets [...]

Sheriff’s deputy must stand trial for alleged death threat, judge rules

Following more than two hours of testimony, a judge ruled Tuesday that a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy must stand trial on criminal charges for allegedly holding a gun to another man’s head while off duty. Richard Heverly, 42, who works at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, must stand trial on four felony [...]

Former Border Patrol agent describes ‘quota pressure’

MURRIETA, Calif. — A former Border Patrol officer said Thursday that constant demands to meet monthly arrest quotas led agents in the Inland Empire to cruise streets, bus stops and even medical clinics looking for illegal immigrants. “We had to make eight apprehensions a day and if we didn’t meet that goal we were pressured [...]

Attorney: shooting of victim in Chino “intentional”

An attorney for the family of a Rubidoux man shot to death by a Chino police officer on Sunday night said the shooting was intentional. Mark Algorri, a Pasadena attorney speaking on behalf of the family of Daniel Balandran, anticipates filing a wrongful death claim with the city after his firm’s investigation is complete. Balandran [...]

San Bernardino police deliver second no confidence vote in top brass

The San Bernardino Police Officers’ Association tonight delivered an overwhelming no confidence vote in the administrative brass, the second such vote in six months, and called upon the mayor to replace Police Chief Michael Billdt by March. Out of the 339 rank-and-file officers, 190 turned out for the vote against Billdt, Assistant Police Chief Mitch [...]

(Riverside) Justice for Annette García: Community responds to police murder of activist mother

RIVERSIDE, California – January 29, 2009 The Brown Berets of Aztlán led a march from the César Chávez Community Center at the Bobby Bonds Park to the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, where they held a candlelight vigil and demonstration. They convoked the assembly to build momentum for the movement for justice for Annette García, a Perris [...]

CHP kills three boys, ages 15, 11 and 9, in high speed chase

FONTANA – Three boys fleeing a California Highway Patrol officer were killed late Wednesday when they crashed a car into a brick wall and the vehicle landed in a yard.Two of the boys – the 15-year-old driver and an 11-year-old passenger – died at the scene when they were thrown from the vehicle. A 9-year-old [...]

The US military and its cult of cruelty

In the week that George Bush took to fantasizing that his blood-soaked “war on terror” would lead the 21st century into a “shining age of human liberty” I went through my mail bag to find a frightening letter addressed to me by an American veteran whose son is serving as a lieutenant colonel and medical [...]

Last of 36 DEA agents leave Bolivia

LA PAZ, Bolivia — The last U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents left Bolivia on Thursday, ordered out by President Evo Morales even as Bolivian police reported that coca cultivation and cocaine processing are on the rise. Morales demanded the DEA’s exit in November as part of a dispute between U.S. and Bolivian officials that included [...]

Legal System Struggles With How to React When Police Officers Lie

It’s one of the most common accusations by defendants and defense attorneys — that police officers don’t tell the truth on the witness stand. Of course, defendants themselves can be the ones lying, but the problem of police perjury — and what can be done about it — is being debated anew. Fueling the discussion [...]