NYC Council overturns Bloomberg’s veto on ‘stop-and-frisk’The New York City Council has voted to affirm legislation previously vetoed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg that seeks to ban discriminatory profiling within the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program and establishes oversight over the department. The Community Safety Act includes two pieces of legislation.
David Miranda and the Death of Anti-terrorismOver the past decade, the United States has stretched the definition of “terrorism” to justify or disguise expansions of surveillance and war. In 2003, President Bush declared that overthrowing Arab dictators was part of the “war on terror.” From 2004 to 2007, the Bush administration persuaded the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial CrisisWhen a little birdie dropped the End Game memo through my window, its content was so explosive, so sick and plain evil, I just couldn’t believe it. The Memo confirmed every conspiracy freak’s fantasy: that in the late 1990s, the top US Treasury officials secretly conspired with a small cabal of banker big-shots to rip apart financial regulation across the planet.
The Age of Neo-feudalism: A Government of the Rich, by the Rich and for the CorporationsMembers of Congress, entrusted to represent the best interests of the average American, instead play out a stilted, ineffective soap opera on our TV screens, complete with phony discussions of fiscal cliffs and debt ceilings which take the place of real proposals for meaningful change in the country.
Unsealed Lawsuit Details How Banks Stole HousesIn a cover story last year, we told you about how a few Florida women were the ones who discovered how banks were screwing people out of billions of dollars through foreclosures of homes. During the past decade’s housin
Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searchesIf the police arrest you, do they need a warrant to rifle through your cellphone? Courts have been split on the question. Last week the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to resolve the issue and rule that the Fourth Amendment allows warrantless cellphone searches.
License plate readers used to record attendees at political ralliesAFP Photo / Karen Bleier Heeding the demands of the Secret Service, state police in Virginia recorded and collected the whereabouts of potentially millions of people in an effort to monitor attendees at political rallies in 2008 and 2009.
9/11 lawyer to challenge conditions in secret Gitmo campA defense lawyer for one of the Guantanamo inmates charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks claims that the prison camp is in violation of basic human rights required by the Geneva Conventions, and plans to file a motion challenging the conditions.
Mindfulness can improve leadership in times of instabilityA mindful leader can respond to change with focus and clarity, and avoid repeating the same mistakes Guardian Professional, What does the ancient eastern practice of mindfulness, often associated with orange-clothed chanting monks, have to do with the fast-paced, performance-driven style of western leadership?
S&P to Fight for Evidence U.S. Suit Was Political PaybackStandard & Poor’s is trying to show it was unfairly singled out in a $5 billion fraud lawsuit 18 months after it downgraded U.S. sovereign debt. Getting the government to provide supporting evidence will prove difficult.
First Amendment rights not enough to stop feds from prosecuting polygraph operatorsReuters US federal officials are investigating polygraph teachers who supposedly help job applicants fib their way through government lie detector tests. The criminal inquiry is seen as the Obama administration’s latest attempt to preserve government secrecy.
Lavabit owner fears arrest for non-compliance after secret surveillance orderLavabit logotype The owner of the encrypted email service used by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden says he could face criminal charges for refusing to comply with a secret federal court order issued last week. Ladar Levison abruptly shut down his company, Lavabit LLC, last week to avoid being forced to hand over customers’ personal information and communications.
Black American citizens file “Articles of Impeachment” against Obamaby Dr. Richard Swier The National Black Republican Association (NBRA) based in Sarasota, FL, headed by Chairman Frances Rice, filed Articles of Impeachment against President Barack Obama with the following language: We, black American citizens, in order to free ourselves and our fellow citizens from governmental tyranny, do herewith submit these Articles of Impeachment to Congress for the removal of President Barack H.
Snowden: American media ‘abdicated their role as check to power’NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has gone on the offensive against his critics in the US, accusing the mainstream media there of failing their audiences “for fear of being seen as unpatriotic and punished in the market.” In a rare interview, Snowden explained why he chose a UK journalist and a documentary filmmaker for his leaks.
Your mortgage documents are fake!If you know about foreclosure fraud, the mass fabrication of mortgage documents in state courts by banks attempting to foreclose on homeowners, you may have one nagging question: Why did banks have to resort to this illegal scheme? Was it just cheaper to mock up the documents than to provide the real ones?
Former Internet Provider Gagged by National Security Letter Recounts How He Was Silenced for 6 YearsWe continue our discussion of government surveillance and Internet privacy with someone who was under an FBI gag order for six years. In early 2004, Nicholas Merrill, who was running an Internet service provider in New York called Calyx, was issued a national security letter that ordered him to hand over detailed private records about some of his customers.
Aaron Swartz prosecutors blasted for alleged vindictive behaviorFresh questions are being asked whether US federal prosecutors were so dogged in their pursuit of computer programmer and internet activist Aaron Swartz because they were acting in retaliation of an online petition which supported the defendant. Swartz committed suicide in January while awaiting trial on federal charges.