Joe from MassPrivateI, Author at From the Trenches World Report

MassPrivateI

According to a 2013 report from the Citizen Lab of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, governments are using FinSpy and FinFisher, Gamma’s line of remote intrusion and surveillance software, to spy on political dissidents.

“Although touted as a ‘lawful interception’ suite for monitoring criminals, FinFisher has gained notoriety because it has been used in targeted attacks against human rights campaigners and opposition activists in countries with questionable human rights records,” the Citizen Lab report states. Continue reading “Domestic spying using FinFisher’s surveillance software has spread worldwide”

MassPrivateI

The Alabama Department of Public Safety (ADPS) are issuing new chipped driver’s licenses and IDs under the STAR ID initiative that promises to “improve the integrity and security of state-issued driver licenses and identification cards, which, in turn, will help fight terrorism and reduce fraud.”

STAR ID is the Alabama legislature’s response to the REAL-ID Act of 2005 (RIDA) which keeps the state in compliance with federal mandates while maintaining ‘security [and] authentication” of Alabama residents. Continue reading “Government spying gone crazy: DHS wants RFID chips in every drivers license”

Courthouse News – by ANNIE YOUDERIAN

(CN) – A former CIA analyst and antiwar activist claims in court that police at George Washington University “forcibly and falsely” arrested him for turning his back to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a 2011 speech on Internet freedom.

According to Raymond McGovern’s federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., the 27-year CIA veteran stood “in silent dissent” with his back to Clinton, wearing a T-shirt that said “Veterans for Peace,” during a Feb. 15, 2011 speech at the university. Continue reading “Antiwar Activist Decries Arrest for ‘Silent Dissent’”

End of American Dream – by Michael Snyder

Our children are the future of America, and our public schools are systematically training them to become accustomed to living in a “Big Brother” police state. All across the United States today, public schools have essentially become “prison grids” that are run by control freaks that are absolutely obsessed with micromanaging the lives of their students down to the smallest detail. As you will read about below, students all over the country are now being monitored by RFID microchips, their lunches are being inspected on a daily basis by school administrators, and the social media accounts of students are being constantly monitored even when they are at home. Of course these sorts of things do not happen everywhere just yet, but on the path that we are on it is just a matter of time. At this point, many of our public schools very closely resemble “totalitarian dictatorships”, and so if the United States ever slips into totalitarianism the students of today will actually feel very comfortable under that political system. Continue reading “Public Schools Are Preparing America’s Children For Life In A Police State”

Activist Post- by Brandon Turbeville

On January 20, I wrote an article entitled “Upcoming Military Drill Off Limits To Reporters,” in which I reported on the announcement that South Carolina’s Richland County Sheriff’s Office would be engaged in joint training exercises with unidentified units from Ft. Bragg.

The official Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s press release stated that “Citizens may see military and departmental vehicles traveling in and around rural and metropolitan areas and may hear ordinance being set off or fired which will be simulated/ blanks and controlled by trained personnel.” Continue reading “Local Police Train With Special Forces To Raid Farm Houses, Conduct Domestic Raids”

MassPrivateI

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now seeking a vendor to build and operate a smartphone-based national database of vehicle license plate information that would be shared with law enforcement.

Under the DHS plan, an agent could snap a photo with a smartphone, upload it to the database, and immediately be notified whether the plate is on a “hot list” of “target vehicles.” Continue reading “Why a national license plate database should worry every American”

New York Daily News – by Barry Paddock , Rocco Parascandola , John Marzulli AND Dareh Gregorian

They’re the NYPD’s most-sued cops, and Peter Valentin’s their king.

Valentin, a hard-charging Bronx narcotics detective whose online handle is “PistolPete,” has been sued a stunning 28 times since 2006 on allegations of running slash-and-burn raids that left dozens of lives in ruins while resulting in few criminal convictions. Continue reading “Detective is NYPD’s most-sued cop, with 28 lawsuits filed against him since 2006”

RT News

Properly mobilized people can become a massive online force capable of blocking ‘dangerous bills’ and changing government policies, Josh Levy of the Free Press told RT. The participants of The Day We Fight Back campaign say their call to action is simple.

RT: What are the protesters trying to achieve? How exactly are they supposed to ‘fight back’? Continue reading “Online revolts can stop govt: Yesterday we defeated SOPA, today we battle NSA”

Filming Cops

NORTH CAROLINA — A cop who said “We don’t have time for this” and then killed a 90-lb mentally ill boy has been indicted by a grand jury for voluntary manslaughter.

Bryon Vassey “had no choice” to shoot the child because he left his Taser home?

Bryon Vassey entered the home of a family who called 911 for medical help after their schizophrenic child had an episode. Continue reading “Cop “Had No Choice” to Shoot and Kill Mentally Ill Child Because He Left His Taser Home?”

The Daily Caller – by Greg Campbell

The Colorado Department of Transportation is under fire by both citizens and lawmakers for working a secret deal to privatize future toll lanes on one of Colorado’s busiest highways.

Department officials say the arrangement with Plenary Roads, an Australian-based business consortium, is secret and the details won’t be publicly disclosed until it’s finalized. Continue reading “Coloradans fuming over secret deal to privatize highway toll lanes”

Loss of Privacy

Bloomfield, New Jersey’s Councilman Carlos Bernard asked acting police chief James Behre “to fix a parking ticket” and to favor Hispanic officers for promotions in two separate instances — all to “solidify” Behre’s position to become the permanent chief of the 124-member department, Behre said during the public comments section at the meeting. Continue reading “Police chief speaks out at council meeting, is placed on leave pending fitness of duty evaluation”

WND – by STEVE PEACOCK

The federal government doesn’t just want the ability to track down your car; it wants to be able to track down your body as well.

Just as details are emerging about a controversial, nationwide vehicle-surveillance database, WND has learned the federal government is planning an even more invasive spy program using “physiological signatures” to track down individuals. Continue reading “Feds want to track your DNA like a license plate”

Fox News

Washington Republicans on Sunday restated their argument that President Obama has violated the Constitution by using executive orders to alter the Affordable Care Act but acknowledged they likely have no recourse or ability to stop another incident.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told “Fox News Sunday” that congressional Republicans think the president abused the government’s separation of powers by using the executive orders to sidestep Congress and delay the law’s employer mandate. Continue reading “Republicans: Obama violating Constitution, but little can be done about it”

Mother Jones – by Dana Liebelson

On Friday, the Department of Justice sent a letter to the Missoula County Attorney’s Office in Montana, alleging that it has found “substantial evidence” that prosecutors there systematically discriminate against female sexual-assault victims. According to the DOJ, the office considers sexual-assault cases involving adult women a low priority, often treats these victims with disrespect—quoting religious passages to one woman who reported assault, in a way that made her feel judged—and declines to prosecute some cases in which it has confessions or eyewitnesses, including a case in which Missoula police obtained incriminating statements from a man who admitted to having sexual intercourse with a mentally ill woman, who had asked him to stop. Continue reading “Montana Prosecutor Allegedly Told Mother of 5-Year-Old Sexual-Assault Victim That “Boys Will Be Boys””

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

Early last year, the news surfaced that the DEA was bypassing Oregon state law by using administrative subpoenas to get around the state’s warrant requirement for drug prescription database access. “Administrative subpoenas” are yet another government tool that allows agencies to seek information that would normally require a warrant, but without the hassle of running it past a judge or even showing probable cause.

The DEA probably didn’t expect to encounter much resistance to its subpoenas. After all, drugs are bad and the DEA is fighting the good fight. But the state of Oregon wasn’t impressed with the DEA’s warrantless tactics and filed suit with the assistance of the ACLU. The ACLU is now reporting that a federal judge has ruled in its (and Oregon’s favor) and the DEA (along with other law enforcement entities) will no longer be able to skirt the state’s warrant requirement. Continue reading “District Court Says DEA’s Warrantless Access Of Oregon’s Prescription Database Is Unconstitutional”

Courthouse News Service – by MATT REYNOLDS

LOS ANGELES (CN) – Clueless Hawthorne police beat and Tasered a deaf man as he signaled to them that he was deaf and his friend had loaned him the snowboard he was carrying, the man claims in court.

In a federal complaint for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Jonathan Meister claims the attack could have been avoided had Hawthorne trained its police officers to communicate with the deaf and hard of hearing. Continue reading “Southern California Police Beat and Taser an Innocent Deaf Man”

New York Times – by JAMES RISEN and LAURA POITRAS

The list of those caught up in the global surveillance net cast by the National Security Agency and its overseas partners, from social media users to foreign heads of state, now includes another entry: American lawyers.

A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a specific instance in which Americans were ensnared by the eavesdroppers, and is of particular interest because lawyers in the United States with clients overseas have expressed growing concern that their confidential communications could be compromised by such surveillance. Continue reading “Spying by N.S.A. Ally Entangled U.S. Law Firm”

The Common Sense Show – by Dave Hodges

Any discussion about free speech in America must begin and end with the NDAA in which the government can snatch anyone off the street, without due process, and hold them indefinitely. This kind of unbridled power has a devastating effect on free speech.

Prior to the 2012 election, David Axerlrod, announced that Obama would push for a constitutional amendment to rollback free speech if he was re-elected. Obama is making good on that promise. Obama’s promise to destroy free speech combined with the passage of the NDAA, constitutes a lethal cocktail for all freedom loving Americans. Continue reading “Obama Making Good On Promise to Eliminate Free Speech”

Willamette Week – by Kate Willson

Multnomah County and Portland police this week suspended a new program that supplied data-gathering ID scanners to Old Town bars after WW raised questions about whether it was legal.

The state-funded program allowed Portland police to equip downtown bars and clubs in recent weeks with high-tech ID scanners that captured patrons’ names, ages and photos for upload to a central database, which police could then access. Continue reading “Oregon Police Give Nightclubs ID Scanners to Datamine Customers”

Washington Post – by PAUL CASSELL

On Monday, I had the chance to testify before Utah’s House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee in support of H.B. 212, a bill that would allow for obtaining DNA samples from all persons arrested for felonies in Utah. This bill follows on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last June, in Maryland v. King, that DNA sampling from arrestees for serious crimes complied with the Fourth Amendment. (For Orin’s analysis of King, see this post.) Continue reading “Is it time to take DNA samples from felony arrestees in Utah?”