“Instant criminalization of millions of people. That’s a lot of new customers for those privatized immigration detention centers. The private prison industry, incidentally, donated handsomely to Trump’s campaign and inauguration.”
“Using the database, ICE agents will be able to see where license plates have been located over the past five years, as well as find individual’s residences, according to The Verge. Officials can also be instantly alerted when new records of specific plates are located. Civil liberties groups slammed ICE’s access to the database.”
“Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: This trifecta of semi-permanent US military engagements reflects the extraordinary power of the Pentagon to sway even a president who had made opposition to such policies a central element of his campaign.”
“Now we wait for the next multi-billion asset freeze from some sovereign which not many will shed tears for… until one day, as the saying goes, they come to freeze your assets.”
“This isn’t the first time a national bank has taken such a strong and aggressive stance against digital currency. Last October, many customers of TD Bank experienced severe delays and blocks to their accounts while trying to purchase bitcoin on Coinbase. PNC Bank has also begun taking measures against bitcoin by preventing customers from buying it directly through their bank accounts.”
Read more: https://bitsonline.com/banks-cryptocurrency-ban/
“What does the United States have to show for tens of billions of dollars of Homeland Security antiterrorism spending by local and state governments? Michael Sheehan, former New York City deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, observed, ‘I firmly believe that those huge budget increases have not significantly contributed to our post–9/11 security.’ But the war on terrorism has been an unmitigated victory for Leviathan and politicians at every level of government.”
Read more: https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/homeland-securitys-multibillion-dollar-comedy-show/
“The issue presented in Microsoft is whether the antiquated Electronic Privacy Communications Act (EPCA) authorizes search warrants to compel Internet service providers to retrieve and surrender a customer’s electronic documents that are stored on computer servers located outside the United States where compliance would violate foreign law. The correct answer is ‘NO.'”
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/22/us-v-microsoft-supreme-court-must-protect-privacy-/
“Somewhere between 750 and 850 women were given trace amounts of radioactive iron in a ‘cocktail’ drink during their pregnancies by health officials they trusted. Dr. Paul Hahn, the lead researcher behind the experiments, claimed that the study was intended to record the absorption of iron during pregnancy. Vanderbilt spokesman Wayne Wood told the Washington Post that all of the files were destroyed by the research team in the 1970s.”
“Your local post office wants absolutely no marijuana sent through the mail. Even in stamp form. The ban does not apply to alcohol, tobacco and guns.”
Read more: http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2017/12/19/postal-service-bans-images-of-marijuana-on-stamps/
“Retired Army lieutenant colonel Thomas Lesnieski, who was involved with the production of the film, says that in order to ‘make sure that the way the military is portrayed is done right,’ changes were made to the script of Pitch Perfect 3 after the film enlisted ‘DoD support’.”