Activist Post – by Nicolas West

Predictive technology is exploding. The arrival of Big Data initiatives by government, as well as a massive industry of data brokers is not only putting privacy at risk, but is offering those with access to the information unprecedented ways to micromanage our lives.

Over the last few years, I’ve covered the arrival of full-on pre-crime police tech (both public and secret) that is beginning to target potential hotspots for crime, as well as to put certain individuals on lists created by artificial intelligence to identify supposed future criminals.   Continue reading “Child Protective Services Wants Artificial Intelligence To Predict Child Abuse”

Penn Live

A police officer was one of multiple people shot at a Magisterial District Judges office in Fayette County, state police confirmed.

State Police out of the Union Town barracks tweeted a shooting occurred with “multiple victims and injuries one being a law enforcement official.”   Continue reading “Coroner called to shooting at MDJs office: reports”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

Horry County, SC — Two women, who were mental health patients under the care of Horry County, have tragically been killed while in police custody as they were being moved to a different facility on Tuesday. They were chained in the back of a police van and drowned after the van drove into flood waters.

While original reports claimed that the women were inmates, it was later clarified that they were actually patients—which raises the question of why they were in chains in the back of the van.   Continue reading “Two Female Mental Health Patients Drowned While Chained in a Police Van As Cops Get Saved”

Free Thought Project  – by Rachel Blevins

Philadelphia, PA – The city that has gained a reputation for the egregious civil asset forfeiture practices committed by its police department, will now be forced to dismantle the program altogether, as a result of a lawsuit filed by a family who had their home seized by police after their son was accused of a minor drug crime.

Residents who have been harmed by the Philadelphia Police department’s civil asset forfeiture practices could also receive part of $3 million in compensation. Markela and Chris Sourovelis initially filed a lawsuit in 2014 after their son was caught trying to sell $40 in heroin on the street.   Continue reading “City Forced to Abolish Civil Asset Forfeiture and Pay Back Victims the Millions It Stole from Them”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Local and federal authorities are responding to a reported active shooting situation at a building on the 1800 block of Deming Way in Middleton, Wisconsin, a small city on the western shore of Lake Mendota and about 6 miles from Madison.

Local news reporters said that as many as 50 police cars responded to the shooting. Middleton Police are leading the investigation, while ATF agents from the Madison office are also responding. According to the local CBS affiliate, the Dane County dispatch center said shots have been fired at the offices of Esker Software and WTS Paradigm, which are located int he same building. Reports of the shooting arrived at around 10:25 am local time.   Continue reading “Active Shooting Reported At Wisconsin Office Building; ATF, Local Police Responding”

Reuters

CARRIZO SPRINGS/KATY, Texas (Reuters) – Texas cattle rancher Bill Martin is a lifelong Republican who owns more than 20 firearms and has been shooting guns since the age of 6.

He is now considering the once-unthinkable: voting for a Democratic Senate candidate who wants tougher gun laws.   Continue reading “Some gun-toting Texans embrace Democrat’s call for tougher firearm laws”

Washington Examiner – by Paul Bedard

Nearly half of the residents in the nation’s five biggest cities do not speak English at home, choosing instead their native language, according to the latest Census Bureau data that details the impact of a decade of soft immigration policies.

Overall, a record 67 million do not speak English at home, said the bureau. That is nearly double in 27 years.   Continue reading “Nearly half in top 5 U.S. cities don’t speak English at home, record 67 million”

Yahoo News

P is for partners.

Sesame Street viewers have long speculated that Bert and Ernie were more than just roommates. Now, Mark Saltzman, a former writer for the show, confirms that they’re gay in an interview with the LGBTQ lifestyle and news website Queerty.

“I remember one time that a column from the San Francisco Chronicle, a preschooler in the city turned to mom and asked ‘are Bert & Ernie lovers?’” Saltzman recalled. “And that, coming from a preschooler was fun. And that got passed around, and everyone had their chuckle and went back to it. And I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were. I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them. The other thing was, more than one person referred to Arnie & I as ‘Bert & Ernie.’”  Continue reading “‘Sesame Street’ writer says Bert and Ernie are a gay couple, but the show quickly denies it”

Yahoo News

Syrian government forces and their allies stand ready to roll into the province of Idlib and extinguish the last major rebel stronghold in the country. Russian air attacks pummeled Idlib in early September. Today’s announcement of a Russo-Turkish agreement for a buffer zone in Idlib appears to have postponed a full-scale attack on the province, but it is likely to be only a temporary reprieve. The Syrian civil war is in its endgame.

Yet at this late hour, holding few cards, the United States has doubled down on its Syrian intervention. Why?   Continue reading “Assad Has Won and America Must Go”

Forbes – by Trevor Nace

Ambitious dreams have now become a reality as the Ocean Cleanup deploys its $20 million system designed to clean up the 1.8 trillion pieces of trash floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Check out another Forbes piece on how Ocean Cleanup aims to reuse and recycle the ocean plastic.

The floating boom system was deployed on Saturday from San Francisco Bay and will undergo several weeks of testing before being hauled into action. The system was designed by the nonprofit Ocean Cleanup, which was founded in 2013 by 18-year-old Dutch inventor Boyan Slat. Their mission is to develop “advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic.” Continue reading “The World’s Largest Ocean Cleanup Has Officially Begun”

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

Cincinnati police officer Kevin Brown’s decision to fire a Taser at an 11-year-old girl suspected of shoplifting from a grocery store in August immediately drew criticism from city officials and advocates.

But Ohio state Representative John Becker had a different take. Had it been his daughter, he announced in an August newsletter, “I’d be ashamed and embarrassed that she did something stupid enough to get herself tased.”  

Continue reading “State Legislator Says 11-Year-Old Tased By Cop Deserved It And Her Parents Probably Suck”

SHTF Plan – by Mac Slavo

Google has apologized after admitting to changing the settings on Android users phones remotely and without the phone owners’ permission.  Several Android users noticed their battery saver setting had been activated last week without their consent.

Most of the affected posters on Reddit described having a Google Pixel device.  Other brands of Android devices were also mentioned, including the Essential Phone, which was designed by one of the creators of Android. Google Pixel phone users were surprised to see their phones’ battery saver function turned on while the battery is at 99% without them turning it on. This unusual incident was first reported by the Android Police, who said that a “substantial” number of Pixel owners complained about such a thing happening, according to the Business Times. Continue reading “Privacy Violation Alert: Google ADMITS To Changing Phone Settings REMOTELY”