Fire Walk With Me
Fire Walk With Me's JournalThe New Political Prisoners: Leakers, Hackers and Activists
#OpEmpowerHumans ?@OpEmpowerHumans
Rolling Stone :: The New Political Prisoners: Leakers, Hackers and Activists @ladydragon13 @kevskewl http://fb.me/2407c7DrG
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/lists/the-new-political-prisoners-leakers-hackers-and-activists-20130301
On February 28th, Army private first class Bradley Manning pleaded not guilty to the charge of aiding the enemy for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks in 2010. After more than 1,000 days in prison, Manning may be America's most famous political prisoner – but he's far from the only one. From environmentalists to hackers to whistleblowers, the U.S. government has made a policy of charging and convicting a wide range of activists across the country. To the FBI, an information transparency activist like the late Aaron Swartz is apparently more dangerous than the men who ruined the nation's economy, and an environmentally-minded economics student poses a greater threat than the oil companies polluting America's natural resources. The government insists that such harsh penalties are necessary to protect national security – but as hacker Jeremy Hammond said in a recent letter from prison, this misleading rhetoric ultimately "enables the politically motivated prosecution of anyone who voices dissent."
(Profiles at the link.)
Happening NOW: Massive anti-austerity protest in twenty cities across Portugal.
US Uncut
Happening NOW: Massive anti-austerity protest in twenty cities across Portugal. http://aje.me/YGp22H
Ƥhĭlĭppe de Ɠrosboĭs ?@metronomephil
Incroyable: un manifestant portugais dans ces photos porte un macaron de @ASSEsolidarite! #ggi #2m #WeAreEverywhere http://www.esquerda.net/fotogalerias
Jorge Martin ?@marxistJorge
Portugal pop. 11 million, over 1.5 came out on the streets to say "the people has the power, out with the troika" #2M #queselixeatroika
#2M Amazing view of #austerity #protest in #Portugal. The people are saying bank-controlled government must go.
https://twitter.com/Pirata13/status/307986739656544256
☠ Master Pirate ☠ ?@Pirata13
#Portugal #2M #acordaPortugal video of when the 1000s in #Lisbon sang "Grandola Vila Morena"
… #2M #Portugal
Happening NOW: Massive anti-austerity protest in twenty cities across Portugal.
US Uncut
Happening NOW: Massive anti-austerity protest in twenty cities across Portugal. http://aje.me/YGp22H
Ƥhĭlĭppe de Ɠrosboĭs ?@metronomephil
Incroyable: un manifestant portugais dans ces photos porte un macaron de @ASSEsolidarite! #ggi #2m #WeAreEverywhere http://www.esquerda.net/fotogalerias
Jorge Martin ?@marxistJorge
Portugal pop. 11 million, over 1.5 came out on the streets to say "the people has the power, out with the troika" #2M #queselixeatroika
#2M Amazing view of #austerity #protest in #Portugal. The people are saying bank-controlled government must go.
https://twitter.com/Pirata13/status/307986739656544256
☠ Master Pirate ☠ ?@Pirata13
#Portugal #2M #acordaPortugal video of when the 1000s in #Lisbon sang "Grandola Vila Morena"
… #2M #Portugal
Police spies: in bed with a fictional character
Via Beckons Truth on FB.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/01/police-spy-fictional-character
He was a burly, funny scouser called Mark Cassidy. His girlfriend – a secondary school teacher he shared a flat with for four years – believed they were almost "man and wife". Then, in 2000, as the couple were discussing plans for the future, Cassidy suddenly vanished, never to be seen again.
An investigation by the Guardian has established that his real name is Mark Jenner. He was an undercover police officer in the Metropolitan police's special demonstration squad (SDS), one of two units that specialised in infiltrating protest groups.
His girlfriend, whose story can be told for the first time as her evidence to a parliamentary inquiry is made public, said living with a police spy has had an "enormous impact" on her life.
"It has impacted seriously on my ability to trust, and that has impacted on my current relationship and other subsequent relationships," she said, adopting the pseudonym Alison. "It has also distorted my perceptions of love and my perceptions of sex."
(Most at the link.)
Feds Say Man Deserved Arrest Because Jacket Said ‘Occupy Everything’
Occupy Tampa ?@OccupyTampa
Feds Say Fitzgerald Scott Deserved Arrest Because Jacket Said ‘Occupy Everything’ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/03/man-deserved-arrest … #occupytampa
A Florida man deserved to be arrested inside the Supreme Court building last year for wearing a jacket painted with “Occupy Everything,” and is lucky he was only apprehended on unlawful entry charges, the Department of Justice says.
The President Barack Obama administration made that assertion in a legal filing in response to a lawsuit brought by Fitzgerald Scott, who is seeking $1 million in damages for his January 2012 arrest inside the Supreme Court building. He also wants his arrest record expunged.
What’s more, the authorities said the former Marine’s claim that he was protected by the First Amendment bolsters the government’s position (.pdf) because the Supreme Court building’s public interior is a First Amendment-free zone.
snip
Inside, Fitzgerald was handcuffed and arrested for unlawful entry as he was viewing an exhibit on slavery.
(More at the link.)
Why Police Lie Under Oath
TruthBeckons ?@BeckonsTruth
Why Police Officers Lie Under Oath | NY Times http://fb.me/2C7P3Zna7
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/why-police-officers-lie-under-oath.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0
THOUSANDS of people plead guilty to crimes every year in the United States because they know that the odds of a jury’s believing their word over a police officer’s are slim to none. As a juror, whom are you likely to believe: the alleged criminal in an orange jumpsuit or two well-groomed police officers in uniforms who just swore to God they’re telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but? As one of my colleagues recently put it, “Everyone knows you have to be crazy to accuse the police of lying.”
snip
The New York City Police Department is not exempt from this critique. In 2011, hundreds of drug cases were dismissed after several police officers were accused of mishandling evidence. That year, Justice Gustin L. Reichbach of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn condemned a widespread culture of lying and corruption in the department’s drug enforcement units. “I thought I was not naïve,” he said when announcing a guilty verdict involving a police detective who had planted crack cocaine on a pair of suspects. “But even this court was shocked, not only by the seeming pervasive scope of misconduct but even more distressingly by the seeming casualness by which such conduct is employed.”
snip
Mr. Keane, in his Chronicle article, offered two major reasons the police lie so much. First, because they can. Police officers “know that in a swearing match between a drug defendant and a police officer, the judge always rules in favor of the officer.” At worst, the case will be dismissed, but the officer is free to continue business as usual. Second, criminal defendants are typically poor and uneducated, often belong to a racial minority, and often have a criminal record. “Police know that no one cares about these people,” Mr. Keane explained.
snip
For the record, the New York City police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, denies that his department has arrest quotas. Such denials are mandatory, given that quotas are illegal under state law. But as the Urban Justice Center’s Police Reform Organizing Project has documented, numerous officers have contradicted Mr. Kelly. In 2010, a New York City police officer named Adil Polanco told a local ABC News reporter that “our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them.” He continued: “At the end of the night you have to come back with something. You have to write somebody, you have to arrest somebody, even if the crime is not committed, the number’s there. So our choice is to come up with the number.”
(More at the link.)
GREAT VIDEO: Fighting Fracking in New Mexico:
Occupy New Mexico ?@0ccupyNewMexico
GREAT VIDEO: Fighting Fracking in New Mexico:
#fracking #newmexico @ProtectNM @NMELC @DrillingSantaFe #nmwater #nmleg
Manif 26 Février 2013 Montréal - Protest Montreal February 26th 2013:
Courtney Harrop ?@CourtneyPFB
Manif 26 Février 2013 Montréal - Protest Montreal February 26th 2013:
I think it says Montreal Cops go fucking nuts.
If Obama is really on the side of the banksters and the "sequester" is not a trick to "get" repubs
Going to go out on a limb here because this is so pivotal. Please remember that I've been screaming " 'austerity' is coming" on DU for many months, even years, and now it's here.
What would unfold and what are the likely Trends?
-This will hit many Americans in their Personal Convenience. The PC button is one of the main buttons to hit if you want outrage and action.
-The poor and weak will shortly begin being hit; outrageous conditions become revealed and broadcast
-Social unrest will grow as this time, many people already have some idea of what Occupy was discussing
-If it reaches the point of marching in the streets, Occupy and simply outraged citizens, the riot cop problem and its continuation (courts, the prison-industrial complex) will follow. We need a solution to this obstacle.
-DHS and "police" will set "rules" against citizen self-expression (marching, gathering)
-If things get to the point as in Greece, Spain, Italy, etc. with tens of thousands marching, even surrounding government demanding they do something, the DHS and "police" response will worsen.
-If there is violence, even by paid provocateur(s), they can immediately tighten laws and increase their response. Drones would likely be "required" to monitor for "violence" (read: now we get to monitor all of you like we always wanted to). They know Occupy might come back even larger in proportion to their actions and they HAVE to have plans against it.
-Watch more cities fall into the "tea party" "emergency manager" rules now taking over Michigan (there's no money! have a dictator!).
-The Koch brothers and the banks behind the "tea party" will automatically gain power
-Watch the EU states most hit by the "austerity" power-grab scam. Some have installed Goldman Sachs ex-employees as Prime Ministers and bank execs. Lew in the US was just effectively paid by Citigroup to take a government position.
-The Citigroup "Plutonomy" memo lists right-wing, anti-immigration governments as being friendly to the expansion plans of the rich. Enough social trouble results in things such as run-off elections which install such "governments". This was done in California by Enron, who had meetings with Schwarzenneger before causing "rolling blackouts" in the power grid which so inconvenienced citizens they demanded a run-off election. Schwarzenneger immediately began attacking social infrastructure and the pensions of firefighters and nurses, among other things, cutting mental health care by 60% in one swipe. Most obviously, the very rich WANT "just enough" unrest through which to further their goals, and I believe they have plans long since in place. The "Plutonomy" memo identified social trends in other Plutonomy states as resulting in Occupy and similar...and they mentioned increasing signs of such, in 2006. They know, and they're planning and keeping watch.
-Remember that the rich are prospering from the DHS and TSA and related trillion-dollar budgets. They'll make money while stealing power.
-Massive water grabs are ongoing world-wide. That would likely intensify in the US under stress conditions, even be called "necessary". Only benefits the rich; severely increases their power.
-Massive unemployment, debt, shortages.
Michael ?@_cypherpunks_
Youth unemployment in Europe: ~24% (Greece 59.4%, Spain 55.5% and Italy 38.7%).
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STAT-13-31_en.htm …
-The bill just introduced requiring the young to "serve" in militaristic gangs would likely prosper and Posse Comitatus disappear. HR748
-With CISPA passing and the White House officially demonizing Anonymous, there is vast potential for censorship and control of the internet, which would impede resistance.
-People will have to gather in homes and communities to survive, in a long-term view of this problem. This involves community farming and home farming. Watch for laws restricting the number of people in a given residence and against the use of personal property to grow food. There already are signs of both. I do believe this to be a positive model when it can be turned into happiness and not necessity.
Please do not alert this as "creative speculation". I wish this to be a discussion of given Trends that we may plan different outcomes.
"DHS granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to LE agencies around the country for UAVs." (Drones)
MuckRock News ?@MuckRockNews
Maine State Police purchased (literal) toy #drone -- no FAA authorization to fly http://bit.ly/Z6NhcC @drones @EFF #drones
Retweeted by Drones
Maine State Police purchases ‘toy’ drone for tactical missions
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2013/mar/01/maine-state-police-toy-drone/
The Maine State Police (MSP) spent just $300 to purchase an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in January. The small drone, marketed as a toy plane for filmmaking, is controlled via smartphone or tablet application.
While this UAV model is not designed for law enforcement use, the department indicates it intends to use the unit in field operations.
The Department of Homeland Security has granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to law enforcement agencies around the country for UAVs. Typically the units cost more than $10,000. The Seattle Police Department spent more than $82,000 on its two Draganflyer units, which they recently were forced to return to the manufacturer. The sheriff in The only document MSP released with the invoice was an unsigned and undated list of pros and cons for the purchase of the AR.Drone. Listed pros include the camera's “crystal clear” images, its “100 meters of capability,” usefulness as a “great reconnaissance tool” and budget-friendly price tag. The list enumerates four cons (one of which was redacted): short flight time, susceptibility to wind and the UAV's intended use as a toy. Montgomery County, Texas purchased its Shadowhawk UAV at a cost of more than $220,000.
But MSP incurred a cost of only $304.93 for its Parrot AR.Drone 2.0, according to an invoice released to MuckRock as part of the 2012 Drone Census. MSP purchased the indoor hull model of the AR.Drone. Manufacturer specifications for the AR.Drone indicate that the units weigh less than 15 ounces and can fly for 15 minutes on a single battery charge.
The only document MSP released with the invoice was an unsigned and undated list of pros and cons for the purchase of the AR.Drone. Listed pros include the camera's “crystal clear” images, its “100 meters of capability,” usefulness as a “great reconnaissance tool” and budget-friendly price tag. The list enumerates four cons (one of which was redacted): short flight time, susceptibility to wind and the UAV's intended use as a toy.
(More at the link.)
Profile Information
Gender: MaleCurrent location: Los Angeles
Member since: Sat Apr 9, 2005, 09:20 PM
Number of posts: 38,893
