Monthly Archives: December 2015

China: Sale of canned clean air skyrockets following smog red alert

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“Want a breath of fresh mountain air right in the smog-filled Chinese capital of Beijing? You’ll have to try it out of a can then.  A red alert recently issued due to escalating levels of smog in Beijing has turned into a profitable venture for many in the business of clean air. Sales of pollution masks have skyrocketed with pieces available in different prints and designs. The requirement for clean air recently led one restaurant in the Chinese city of Zhangjiagang to charge a ‘clean air fee’ of one yuan ($0.15, £0.10), according to a report by China’s state-run news agency Xinhua. Local authorities pointed out that the fee was illegal and sent a written notice to the restaurant asking it to stop the charge.”

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/china-sale-canned-clean-air-skyrockets-following-smog-red-alert-1533559

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China Launches Frightening ‘Social Credit’ Game; Soon Mandatory

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“‘Going under the innocuous name of Sesame Credit, China has created a score for how good a citizen you are,’ explains Extra Credits’ video about the program. ‘The owners of China’s largest social networks have partnered with the government to create something akin to the U.S. credit score — but, instead of measuring how regularly you pay your bills, it measures how obediently you follow the party line.‘ In the works for years, China’s ‘social credit system’ aims to create a docile, compliant citizenry who are fiscally and morally responsible by employing a game-like format to create self-imposed, group social control. In other words, China gamified peer pressure to control its citizenry.”

http://theantimedia.org/china-just-launched-the-most-frightening-game-ever-and-soon-it-will-be-mandatory/

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Thai Man Faces 37 Years in Prison For “Insulting” the King’s Dog Online

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“In America, we worry mostly only about the ‘slap on the wrist’ of probably being placed on a watch list.  A man in Thailand, however, faces 37 years in prison for criticizing the king’s dog on the internet, as well as allegedly insulting the monarchy. Thanakorn Siripaiboon, a factory worker, faced trial this week in a military court for making a ‘sarcastic’ comment about the king’s dog online. Though officials declined to cite any specific statements, CBS News reports the man shared an ‘inappropriate’ picture of the dog and liked a photo disparaging to the king.”

http://theantimedia.org/thai-man-faces-37-years-in-prison-for-insulting-the-kings-dog/

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Facebook’s Free Basics Banned In India, Now Shuts Down in Egypt

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“Egypt ​has now become​ the second country to shut down Facebook’s controversial free internet service after India did the same last week, according to a report from the Associated Press today. The service, called Free Basics, is part of Facebook’s Internet.org initiative that aims to bring internet access to developing nations. Because Free Basics provides access to Facebook and a number of non-Facebook websites at no cost, some regulators and internet activists believe it violates the principles of net neutrality by creating a ‘walled garden’ that prioritizes some sites over others.”

http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/30/10690714/faceboo-free-basics-internet-service-shut-down-egypt

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Library’s Tor relay—pulled after feds noticed—now restored

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“A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent first learned of the plan after reading Ars’ July 30 article and then forwarded it on as a heads-up to a local police officer on the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children task force. That, in turn, led to a meeting between local law enforcement, city officials, and the library. (HSI is the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.) Sean Fleming, the library’s IT director, told Ars before the Tuesday vote that there was ‘no pressure from the feds at all.'”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/09/small-town-library-restores-tor-relay-which-had-gone-dark-for-weeks/

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NH City Continues Parking Meter ‘Robin Hood’ Suit, At Taxpayer Expense

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“The city’s expensive attorneys from Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell waited until the LAST possible day they could file to legally file the appeal (PDF). The city has already spent countless dollars on this case and this latest appeal is a further waste of taxpayer funds. The appeal is for the Supreme court to look ONLY at the lower court’s ruling regarding the request for the ‘buffer zone’ injunction. The NH Supreme court has already decided the allegations of ‘tortious interference’, ‘civil conspiracy’, ‘negligence’, and the demand for financial compensation were unfounded and the activities engaged in by the Robin Hooders are protected by the first amendment.”

http://freekeene.com/2015/12/21/robin-hood-case-headed-back-to-nh-supreme-court/

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Locked up, because I went to a Texas national park without my papers

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“I pointed across the river and told my father: ‘That’s Mexico,’ to which he replied: ‘Well if that’s Mexico, why does Donald Trump need to build a wall?’  The adults laughed at the joke and my three-year old asked if she could go potty – all of us unaware that we were in an area that is sometimes referred to as the border zone. I didn’t imagine that within the next six hours, I would be locked in a cell by US Border Patrol. My offense? I’m Canadian and I didn’t have my permanent resident card with me.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/23/locked-up-went-texas-national-park-without-papers

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DOJ Suspends $1.2 Billion Asset Forfeiture ‘Equitable Sharing’ Program

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“The Justice Department has suspended $1.2 billion in payments of asset forfeiture revenues to police departments across the country, citing budget constraints.   In a letter to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies Monday, the Justice Department said it was deferring all future payments from the federal Equitable Sharing Program, which distributes asset forfeiture revenues to hundreds of police departments across the country.  The Equitable Sharing Program allows state and local police, working in conjunction with federal law enforcement, to keep 80% of the proceeds from seized property, while the other 20% goes back into the federal program.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/cjciaramella/justice-department-suspends-12-billion-asset-forfeiture-prog

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Cops in ‘Podunk’ Florida Town Sent Millions to Venezuela, Other Countries

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“A routine Department of Justice inquiry into a police forfeiture account found, according to the Herald, ‘no arrests, no audits, lack of reports, and massive amounts of drug money sent to banks without alerting federal agents. The DOJ concluded that Bal Harbour misspent hundreds of thousands in forfeiture funds on police salaries.’ The city had to return the money, a short time after another forfeiture account unknown to the public came to light.  The Herald found Bal Harbour police had sent $4 million to Panama and $1.6 million to China. Venezuela came in third out of nine countries and territories, at $305,000 sent by police to Venezuela. That number now matches Panama’s.”

https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/28/cops-in-podunk-florida-town-sent-million

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Kansas Couple SWAT Raided After Tea Was Mistaken for Marijuana

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“U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum said police acted legally and reasonably in planning and conducting the fruitless raid on the home of Robert and Adlynn Harte, former CIA employees whose children were 7 and 13 at the time. The family was held at gunpoint for two and a half hours while Johnson County sheriff’s deputies went through the house, after which they gave the Hartes a receipt saying ‘no items taken’ in lieu of an apology. Because the cops refused to say why they thought the Hartes were growing marijuana, the couple spent a year and $25,000 in legal fees to get a look at the affidavit supporting the search warrant.”

https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/22/couple-whose-tea-was-mistaken-for-mariju

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