Tag: police state

Britain’s new two-way ‘ultra’ speed cameras are already under attack as vigilante chops one down in Cornwall

The latest in speed camera technology to hit British roads is already under attack as one has been pictured having been chopped down by a vigilante.

A Jenoptik VECTOR-SR unit – dubbed the new ‘ultra’ speed camera – has been photographed with its pole sliced almost in two on New Row in Longdowns, Cornwall, with the incident reportedly taking place overnight.

It is the fourth in a string of recent attacks that have seen speed cameras hacked down across this part of Cornwall.

The incident comes after it was announced earlier this week that Greater Manchester Police has installed over 100 of the devices across the city in its crackdown on speeding and other motoring offences. 

Keep reading

The ‘Monster’ Isn’t the Drug, It’s the Prohibition

If you remember headlines about angel dust and crack, you know that drug panics are nothing new. From time to time an intoxicating drug is rediscovered or newly synthesized, or old ones are consumed in new ways, leading to public fascination and forecasts of doom. We’ve seen that recently with widespread attention paid to fentanyl and tranq, and a recent article in The New York Times about “super meth” and “polysubstance use.”

The November 13 Times piece headlined “‘A Monster’: Super Meth and Other Drugs Push Crisis Beyond Opioids” consists of a high panic to substance ratio. As Reason‘s Jacob Sullum pointed out, “super meth” is not new, but represents a return to making methamphetamine from phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) the way the Hell’s Angels did in the past before illicit manufacturers started deriving it from pseudoephedrine. Now that allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine are strictly controlled, underground labs have returned to old techniques.

Well, of course. Black market operators always innovate to work around laws and law enforcers.

The rest of the of the article, on the simultaneous consumption of several drugs, is equally unremarkable, though outcomes remain as unfortunate as ever.

Keep reading

The Intelligence Community’s Latest Novelty, Spy Underwear, Puts Us Closer to the Totalitarian Dystopia Described in Science Fiction Novels

In 1921, just after the Russian Revolution, Yevgeny Zamyatin published a dystopian science fiction novel, We, in which a spacecraft engineer lives in a futuristic city made of glass enabling government authorities to track everything that people do at every moment of the day.

The novel influenced George Orwell and Aldous Huxley who wrote prophetic warnings about state surveillance and totalitarianism in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and Brave New World (1932).

Slowly but surely the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies are helping to transform Zamyatin’s worst nightmare into reality—albeit with a twist. Rather than having to build cities full of glass, they have perfected development of sophisticated computer technologies that allow them to spy on everyone without the people knowing when they are doing it.

In late August, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the research and development arm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), launched a $22 million program designed to develop computerized clothing, including spy underwear fitted with cameras, sensors and microphones capable of recording audio, video and geolocation data.

According to the Office of the DNI, the newly developed eTextile technology, ideally could assist personnel and first responders in dangerous, high-stress environments, such as crime scenes and arms control inspections without impeding their ability to swiftly and safely operate.[1]

The new technology, however, brings with it a serious dark side, giving the government the ability to insidiously spy on everyone all the time—without them ever knowing it. Journalist Annie Jacobsen told The Intercept that the intelligence agencies “want to know more about you than you.”

Keep reading

Secret Service’s FOIA Documents Reveal DNA was Found and Preserved in White House Cocaine Probe, Contrary to Prior Claims — Secret Service May End Up Destroying Evidence

During his show on Fox News, Jesse Watters revealed that the Secret Service has been misleading the public about a cocaine investigation at the White House.

According to over 100 pages of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the narrative surrounding the discovery and handling of cocaine at the White House appears fraught with inconsistencies and cover-ups.

The Gateway Pundit reported in July that Hazmat crews were dispatched inside the entrance gate near the West Wing of the White House to investigate a suspicious white substance that tested positive for cocaine hydrochloride.

At first, it was reported that the cocaine was found in the library, which is located on the ground floor of the White House.

Authorities changed the location of the cocaine found in the Biden White House. The cocaine was allegedly stashed in a “cubby” in a storage facility in the West Wing and NOT the library.

We are being told we may never know who actually brought the cocaine to the White House because the area “wasn’t necessarily covered by cameras all that well.”

On Monday, the Biden regime released the first photos of the 2 grams of cocaine found at the Biden White House over the summer were released in response to a FOIA request filed by The Daily Mail.

According to Watters, this shifting narrative raises questions about the accuracy and transparency of the Secret Service’s statements.

Further complicating matters, Watters highlighted discrepancies in the substance’s testing, with initial results indicating opioids and amphetamines, before being identified as cocaine. This raises doubts about the testing process and the subsequent handling of the evidence.

Secret Service closed its investigation into the Biden White House cocaine scandal without conducting any interviews.

Keep reading

Nikki Haley Claims Posting Social Media Anonymously is a ‘National Security Threat’ – Calls for Mandatory Verification of All Social Media Users

In a now-viral video,  Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina Governor and a contender for the GOP presidential nomination has called for social media reforms that will end anonymous social media posting, citing national security concerns.

Haley proposed two significant reforms. Firstly, she insisted that social media companies should disclose their algorithms to the public. This move, according to Haley, is necessary to understand the basis of content promotion on these platforms.

“When I get into office, the first thing we have to do is social media accounts, social media companies, they have to show America their algorithms. Let us see why they’re pushing what they’re pushing,” Haley said during an interview with FOX News.

Secondly, and more controversially, Haley called for the mandatory verification of all social media users with their real names. She labeled anonymous social media posting as a “national security threat.”

“The second thing is every person on social media should be verified by their name,” Haley suggested, adding, “It’s a national security threat.”

According to Haley, this measure would eliminate the influence of foreign bots from countries like Russia, Iran, and China and foster greater accountability and civility online.

Keep reading

We the Exploited: The U.S. Government Buys and Sells Its Citizens for Profit and Power

Americans have become easy prey for hackers, scammers, snitches, spies, and con artists.

But don’t be fooled into thinking the government is protecting you.

To the contrary, the U.S. government is selling us (or rather, our data) to the highest bidders.

By the way, those highest bidders also include America’s political class and the politicians aspiring to get elected or re-elected. As the Los Angeles Times reports, “If you have been to a political rally, a town hall, or just fit a demographic a campaign is after, chances are good your movements are being tracked with unnerving accuracy by data vendors on the payroll of campaigns.”

Your phones, televisions and digital devices are selling you out to politicians who want your vote.

“Welcome to the new frontier of campaign tech — a loosely regulated world in which simply downloading a weather app or game, connecting to Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or powering up a home router can allow a data broker to monitor your movements with ease, then compile the location information and sell it to a political candidate who can use it to surround you with messages,” writes journalist Evan Halper.

In this way, “we the people” have been reduced to economic units to be bought, bartered and sold by all and sundry.

On a daily basis, Americans have been made to relinquish the most intimate details of who we are—our biological makeup, our genetic blueprints, and our biometrics (facial characteristics and structure, fingerprints, iris scans, etc.)—in order to navigate an increasingly technologically-enabled world.

Those intimate details, in turn, have become the building blocks of massive databases accessed by the government and its corporate partners in crime, vulnerable to data breaches by hackers, cyberattacks and espionage.

For years now, and with little real oversight or restrictions, the government has been compiling massive databases comprised of all manner of sensitive information on the citizenry.

Keep reading

Governor Kathy Hochul Says New York Has Started Conducting Special Media “Surveillance Efforts” To Monitor “Hate”

In response to escalating incidents of harassment, particularly against Jewish and Muslim communities, New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul is today intensifying the state’s counterterrorism measures and is boosting the controversial practice of surveilling social media platforms, and therefore the speech of New Yorkers and other American citizens.

This measure follows ongoing tension in Israel and Gaza. Hochul revealed plans for enhancing the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel and assigning an extra $2.5 million to the State Police.

“…we’re very focused on the data we’re collecting from surveillance efforts, what’s being said on social media platforms, and we have launched an effort to be able to counter some of the negativity and reach out to people,” Hochul said.

“When we see hate speech being spoken about on online platforms, our media analysis, our social media analysis unit has ramped up its monitoring of sites to catch incitement to violence, direct threats to others.

“And all this is in response to our desire, our strong commitment to ensure that not only do New Yorkers be safe, but they also feel safe.”

This isn’t the first time Hochul has stuck her nose into monitoring online speech.

A New York law aimed at regulating “hateful conduct” online was blocked by a judge. This law, signed by Governor Hochul, required social media networks to report and address hateful conduct, broadly defined as actions that vilify or incite violence based on various identity factors.

Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. ruled that the law violated the First Amendment, emphasizing the importance of protecting even hateful speech. The court argued that the law not only restricted the speech of social media users but also compelled social media networks to adopt and endorse the state’s definition of hateful conduct.

Keep reading

Texas cancer survivor Vicki Baker whose home was destroyed by SWAT team using explosives, toxic gas and armored vehicles in pursuit of armed fugitive has her $60k compensation claim REJECTED

A cancer survivor has vowed to challenge an appeals court ruling stating that she is not entitled to a $60,000 payout after a SWAT team destroyed her home with explosives, toxic gas and armored vehicles while in pursuit of an armed fugitive. 

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that it was necessary for police to use the measures to resolve a standoff at Vicki Baker’s home and that she should not be compensated for the damage – reversing an earlier decision in her favor by a federal judge. 

The nightmare began when a man who had worked on her property, Wesley Little, stormed into her home with a teenage girl he had kidnapped in July 2020. 

Baker was able to get out and call 911 to alert the police, and gave them the code to  access to the property in McKinney, Texas. But her home was practically demolished when the SWAT team later stormed in using ‘highly destructive tactics’.  

Lawyers from the Institute for Justice, who represent Baker, have now asked for another hearing and are prepared to take their demands for compensation to the Supreme Court. 

Keep reading

Daniel Williams, 22, dies after being ‘tied up, beaten and sexually assaulted for two days’ by prison gang – two weeks before he was due to be released from Alabama facility after a 12-month sentence for theft

An Alabama inmate has died after days of being tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted by a prison gang – just two weeks before he was due to be released, his family claim.

Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama when a warden found him unresponsive in his dorm on October 22.

The father-of-two was declared brain dead upon his arrival at the hospital and provided palliative care, his family said in a GoFundMe campaign. He was taken off life support on November 5 and died four days later.

The warden allegedly told his family that Williams suffered a ‘drug overdose’, but insiders at the prison told the Alabama Political Reporter that he had been ‘kidnapped, bound, assaulted and sold out’ by another inmate for ‘two or three days’.

At least 12 prison cops at Staton Correctional Facility – along with adjoining Elmore and Draper prisons – have been arrested for assaulting inmates in the last two years. 

Federal investigators have also been probing the state of Alabama and its prisons since a scathing lawsuit was lodged by the Department of Justice in 2019. 

Keep reading

‘Wife beater Alaska mayor’s domestic abuser sons’ girlfriends are BOTH found dead at his home two years apart’ – with local cops accused of slow-walking probes into their deaths

A wife beater Alaska mayor’s two abusive sons each dated a woman who turned up dead at the lawmaker’s home two years apart – but no-one has ever been charged.

Jennifer Kirk and Sue Sue Norton were found dead with signs of strangulation and beating in 2018 and 2020 in the Alaskan town, Kotzebue. 

Both women were dating the ex-mayor Clement Richards’s sons at the time, with cops accused by ProPublica of inaction following the two women’s deaths.

Richards was previously convicted of beating his wife Annette, while his two sons Anthony and Amos also have a history of domestic violence.  Anthony had been convicted of beating Kirk prior to her death in May 2018, which cops claimed was a suicide. 

Amos admitted kicking Norton in the stomach while she was six months pregnant before she was killed in March 2020.

Despite those convictions – and a long track record of abuse allegations from multiple other women – neither of the sons have been charged in their deaths.

Holes in the police investigations and the judicial process have raised serious questions over a potential cover-up, after ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News jointly reported the story.

Keep reading