Author: Joe from MassPrivateI

Huffington Post – by Ryan Grim

The ubiquity of cellphone, dashcam and surveillance video has transformed the way the public understands police violence. But as scene after scene unfolds on shaky screens and in grainy contours, another element of the violence is beginning to come into focus: the pattern of officers showing no concern for the person they have shot, often fatally.

The nonchalance around the injured and the dying is stunning in its own way.
Continue reading “There’s Something Disturbing About The Way Cops Act Just After They’ve Shot Somebody”

CNBC

Just days before a big race, an up-and-coming Nascar team suddenly found the crew chief’s laptop going haywire and all the team’s critical files locked up.

The team was the victim of a ransomware attack, a type of virus that locks up computer files until money is paid.

“A message popped up that said my files had all been encrypted. … The only way to get it back is to pay a ransom,” said Dave Winston, the crew chief for Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing.
Continue reading “Holy bitcoin, they’ve locked up my computer”

ProPublica – by Charles Ornstein

When the federal government takes the rare step of fining medical providers for violating the privacy and security of patients’ medical information, it issues a press release andposts details on the web.

But thousands of times a year, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services resolves complaints about possible violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act quietly, outside public view. It sends letters reminding providers of their legal obligations, advising them on how to fix purported problems, and, sometimes, prodding them to make voluntary changes.   Continue reading “The Secret Documents That Detail How Patients’ Privacy is Breached”

AlterNet – by Steven Rosenfeld

The question of why police can kill civilians and get away with it isn’t new and isn’t going away. Whether it was a grand jury’s decision in late 2014 not to press charges against the cop who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri or a prosecutor’s decision a year later on the cops who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, or June’s acquittal in Baltimore of the latest officer facing charges for killing Freddie Gray in April 2015, or a video released this week by police in Fresno, Calif., where officers killed a mentally unstable Dylan Noble on June 25, the same questions, legal assessments and lack of accountability seem to recur—even as the victims’ circumstances differ.   Continue reading “8 Reasons Why Police in America Keep Killing Civilians and Getting Away With It”

Natural News – by Ethan A Huff

Buying milk about as close to nature as it gets – directly from the cow – is still a punishable offense in many areas of the U.S., and residents of the Houston, Texas, suburb of Katy were reminded of this recently, after being paid a visit by police officers for the “crime” of buying and selling raw dairy products on private property.

According to reports, county health inspectors in cahoots with a police entourage raided a raw milk exchange taking place in the parking lot of Holy Apostles Church, a drop-off point where area residents come to pick up raw milk they’ve legally purchased from nearby farms. Sheriff’s deputies broke up the gathering, despite the fact that it in no way violates the law concerning raw milk sales in Texas.   Continue reading “Texas sheriffs raid raw milk exchanges… real country FOOD from a cow is now illegal in Texas”

Free Thought Project – by Claire Bernish

Southeast Oklahoma City residents Charles and Julie Henry face a blatantly unconstitutional invasion of their rights thanks to a stifling change to a city ordinance making vandalism to their property essentially a crime — by them.

Though the Henrys complied with the code, albeit a bit late due to a prohibitive financial situation, an opportunistic code enforcer triggered a chain of events no law-abiding property owner should ever be subjected to — including the possibility their property may be raided by Oklahoma County Sheriffs under a blanket warrant in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.   Continue reading “Urban Farmers Targeted By City, Issued Multiple Threats After Their Property Was Vandalized”

Tenth Amendment Center – by Mike Maharrey

LINCOLN, Neb. (July 20, 2016) – Today, civil asset forfeiture officially ends in Nebraska as reforms to asset forfeiture laws passed in the spring go into effect. Under the new law, the state can no longer take property without a criminal conviction. The legislation also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by passing cases off to the feds in most situations.

Sen. Tommy Garrett (R-Bellevue) introduced Legislature Bill 1106 (LB1106) in January. The new law reforms Nebraska law by requiring a criminal conviction before prosecutors can proceed with asset forfeiture. Under the old statute, the state could seize assets even if a person was never found guilty of a crime, or even arrested.   Continue reading “New Nebraska Law Taking on “Policing for Profit” Via Asset Forfeiture Now in Effect”

Institute for Justice – by Chris Dobrogosz

Police departments in Utah claimed nearly $1.9 million from citizens in 2015 through the process of civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize property even if the person involved has not been charged or convicted of a crime. The Associated Press reports:

“Nearly all of the seizures came during investigations of alleged drug crimes and most involved amounts of cash ranging from $500 to $2,500, a report that was released this month showed. The largest cash seizure was $157,000.”

Continue reading “Utah Police Seized Nearly $1.9 Million from Citizens in Last Year”

CBS Detroit

LANSING (WWJ) – A one-year pilot program set up in five counties will allow Michigan State Police to conduct roadside drug tests.

First Lt. Michael Shaw says if a driver is pulled over for a traffic offense and shows signs of being under the influence of drugs –specially trained “drug recognition experts” will conduct traditional field sobriety tests.   Continue reading “Michigan State Police To Conduct Roadside Drug Tests In Pilot Program”

Activist Post – by Brandon Turbeville

In yet another step towards the establishment of a world military force that seeks peace through the absence of dissent, the United States announced its support in May for a set of principles that will allow the United Nations’ peacekeeping troops and UN police to use force in order to “protect civilians” in combat zones and areas of armed conflict.

U.S. Ambassador the U.N. and notorious warmonger against Libya and Syria, Samantha Power stated that the Kigali Principles would “make peacekeeping missions more effective, improve security and save lives.”   Continue reading “U.S. Endorses Expansion Of Military Force Used By U.N. Peacekeepers In Combat Zones”

Anti-War – by Justin Raimondo

Remember “We’re fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here”? That was the justification for the worldwide war on terrorism the Bush administration trumpeted in the early days of the post-9/11 era. Keeping in mind that the American people don’t really care about what goes on thousands of miles away, and that the purpose of our foreign policy is – ostensibly – to keep us safe here at home, the Bushies and their neocon Praetorian Guard always kept their focus on the threat that was supposedly hanging over our heads: another 9/11. As that Old Right prophet Garet Garrett put it some sixty years ago, US foreign policy was rationalized to the public with “a complex of vaunting and fear,” and this was the fear part.    Continue reading “The Myth of the ‘War on Terrorism’”

Star Tribune – by Jennifer Bjorhus

The seminar was called “The Bulletproof Warrior,” and the instructors urged the law enforcement officers in the hotel conference room to make the decision to shoot if they ever feel their lives are threatened.

Videos of bloody shootouts between police and civilians emphasized a key point: Hesitation can kill you.   Continue reading “Officer who shot Castile attended ‘Bulletproof Warrior’ training”

Natural News – by David Gutierrez

Vaccine industries have their sights set on a new market that they hope will someday be as massive as that created by the just-shy-of-obligatory childhood vaccine schedule: pregnant women.

The industry is working with the FDA to create new rules to test and develop vaccines designed to be given to pregnant women, in order to pass antibodies on to their unborn infants. The fact that this protection would only be short-term is not viewed as a problem.   Continue reading “Big Pharma developing baby vaccines for PREGNANT women”

ABC 7 News

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) — The parents of a young boy who got knocked down and run over by a security robot at Stanford Shopping Center want to get the word out to prevent others from getting hurt.

They said the machine is dangerous and fear another child will get hurt.

Stanford Shopping Center’s security robot stands 5′ tall and weighs 300 pounds.   Continue reading “Parents Upset After Stanford Shopping Center Security Robot Injures Child”