New Anti Police State App Helps You “See Something, Say Something” in Real-Time — video included
Activist Post
Aug 23, 2014
Recent studies have shown that police are held almost completely unaccountable by the current systems of governmental oversight. Perhaps this is the reason why you are 9 times more likely to be killed by a law enforcement officer than a terrorist. Rather than wait for bloated bureaucracy or corrupt government to save the day, we as activists have to find our own solutions. Technology is one of these solutions.
As we have seen, the violent crackdown on independent journalism in Ferguson is a sign of a worsening situation in much of America. More than ever, each citizen needs to become a member of the media and record everything that they see during encounters with the police.
A new smartphone app called Sidekik aims to make it as easy as possible for you not only to record the police and upload that recording offsite, but to put you in immediate contact with legal representation to help you navigate the encounter … in real-time.
Please view additional details and their Indiegogo campaign video below if you would like to support this new anti police state tool.
Sidekik is a mobile application which will perform two key actions simultaneously. One, Sidekik will activate your smartphone’s audio and video recording devices and begin streaming the data to a secure facility. Two, Sidekik will initiate a video call and connect you with an attorney who will represent you in whatever situation you find yourself.
Could Japan’s Fukushima Radiation be Mutating Vegetables?
by Christina Sarich
Natural Society
Aug 23, 2014
An artist that lives in the northern portion of the Mie Prefecture, in Western Japan (but still within Fukushima’s radiation-circle) has posted pictures on Pinterest of some very outlandish looking carrots that he dug up from his own garden.
The poster simply comments, “The carrots that grew in my garden look too abnormal this year . . .”
Some refute the ‘mutant fruits and vegetable’ pictures popping up on different Internet sites, stating that they are a hoax, and others are insistent that the pictures they are posting are real. There have been mutant cabbages, 4 times the normal size, and tomatoes that seem to have exploded, but is this all sensationalized news, or something we should really be concerned about?
[…CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE]
[related: Reports of Genetic Abnormalities in Birds, Insects, Plants Near Fukushima]
VIDEO — Massive ball of flame over Gaza as Israel intensifies bombing
RT
Aug 23, 2014
Israel carried out at least 30 airstrikes in Gaza on Friday night, the military said, as fighting continued for a third day since the
collapse of Egyptian-led ceasefire talks earlier this week.
Since Israel-Hamas fighting erupted on July 8, at least 2,091 Palestinians have been killed in the coastal territory, according to
Gaza health official.
IDF Operation Protective Edge in Gaza Strip LIVE UPDATES: http://on.rt.com/13u57f
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Matrix: who is Edward Snowden? Does His Story Add Up?
Canadian Awareness Network
Aug 13, 2014
Matrix: Who is Edward Snowden?
By Jon Rappoport
July 8, 2013
This article is a compilation of a number of pieces I’ve written about Ed Snowden and the NSA. It doesn’t replace them, but it hits the high points…
Let’s begin here: If you absolutely must have a hero, watch Superman movies.
If your need for a hero is so great, so cloying, so heavy, so juicy that it swamps your curiosity, don’t read this.
If you can’t separate Snowden’s minor revelations from the question of who he is, if you can’t entertain the notion that covert ops and intelligence-agency games are reeking with cover stories, false trails, and limited hangouts, you need more fun in your life.
NSA? CIA? These guys live for high-level bullshit. They get down on their knees and worship it. They fall into a suicidal funk if they aren’t lying on at least three or four levels at once.
Okay. Let’s look at Snowden’s brief history as reported by The Guardian. Are there any holes?
Is the Pope Catholic?
In 2003, at age 19, without a high school diploma, Snowden enlists in the Army. He begins a training program to join the Special Forces. At what point after enlistment can a new soldier start this elite training program?
Snowden breaks both legs in an exercise. He’s discharged from the Army. Is that automatic? How about healing and then resuming service?
If he was accepted in the Special Forces training program because he had special computer skills, then why discharge him simply because he broke both legs?
“Sorry, Ed, but with two broken legs we just don’t think you can hack into terrorist data anymore. You were good, but not now. Try Walmart. They always have openings.”
Circa 2003, Snowden gets a job as a security guard for an NSA facility at the University of Maryland. He specifically wanted to work for NSA? It was just a generic job opening he found out about?
Snowden shifts jobs. Boom. He’s now in the CIA, in IT. He has no high school diploma. He’s a young computer genius.
In 2007, Snowden is sent to Geneva. He’s only 23 years old. The CIA gives him diplomatic cover there. He’s put in charge of maintaining computer-network security. Major job. Obviously, he has access to a wide range of classified documents. Sound a little odd? He’s just a kid. Maybe he has his GED. Otherwise, he still doesn’t have a high school diploma.
Snowden says that during this period, in Geneva, one of the incidents that really sours him on the CIA is the “turning of a Swiss banker.” One night, CIA guys get a banker drunk, encourage him to drive home, the banker gets busted, the CIA guys help him out, then with that bond formed, they eventually get the banker to reveal deep secrets to the Agency.
This sours Snowden? He’s that naïve? He doesn’t know by now that the CIA does this sort of thing all the time? He’s shocked? He “didn’t sign up for this?” Come on.
In 2009, Snowden leaves the CIA. Why? Presumably because he’s disillusioned. It should noted here that Snowden claimed he could do very heavy damage to the entire US intelligence community in 2008, but decided to wait because he thought Obama, just coming into the presidency, might keep his “transparency” promise.
After two years with the CIA in Geneva, Snowden really had the capability to take down the whole US inter-agency intelligence network, or a major chunk of it?
If you buy that without further inquiry, I have condos for sale on the dark side of the moon.
In 2009, Snowden leaves the CIA and goes to work in the private sector. Dell, Booze Allen Hamilton. In this latter job, Snowden is assigned to work at the NSA.
He’s an outsider, but, again, he claims to have so much access to so much sensitive NSA data that he can take down the whole US intelligence network in a single day. The. Whole. US. Intelligence. Network.
This is Ed Snowden’s sketchy legend. It’s all red flags, alarm bells, sirens, flashing lights.
Then we have the crowning piece: they solved the riddle: Ed Snowden was able to steal thousands of highly protected NSA documents because…he had a thumb drive.
It’s the weapon that breached the inner sanctum of the most sophisticated information agency in the world.
It’s the weapon to which the NSA, with all its resources, remains utterly vulnerable. Can’t defeat it.
Not only did Snowden stroll into NSA with a thumb drive, he knew how to navigate all the security layers put in place to stop people from stealing classified documents.
“Let’s see. We have a new guy coming to work for us here at NSA today? Oh, whiz kid. Ed Snowden. Outside contractor. Booz Allen. He’s not really a full-time employee of the NSA. Twenty-nine years old. No high school diploma. Has a GED. He worked for the CIA and quit. Hmm. Why did he quit? Oh, never mind, who cares? No problem.
“Tell you what. Let’s give this kid access to our most sensitive data. Sure. Why not? Everything. That stuff we keep behind 986 walls? Where you have to pledge the life of your first-born against the possibility you’ll go rogue? Let Snowden see it all. Sure. What the hell. I’m feeling charitable. He seems like a nice kid.”
NSA is the most awesome spying agency ever devised in this world. If you cross the street in Podunk, Anywhere, USA, to buy an ice cream soda, on a Tuesday afternoon in July, they know.
They know whether you sit at the counter and drink that soda or take it and move to the only table in the store. They know whether you lick the foam from the top of the glass with your tongue or pick the foam with your straw and then lick it.
They know if you keep the receipt for the soda or leave it on the counter.
They know whether you’re wearing shoes or sneakers. They know the brand of your underwear. They know your shaving cream, and precisely which container it came out of.
But this agency, with all its vast power and its dollars…
Can’t track one of its own, a man who came to work every day, a man who made up a story about needing treatment in Hong Kong for epilepsy and then skipped the country.
Just can’t find him.
Cell Phone Video Emerges That Refutes St. Louis Cops Version of Shooting — video included
By Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought Project
Aug 20, 2014
St. Louis- On Tuesday, while tensions continued to simmer in Ferguson, just a few miles away 25-year-old Kajieme Powell was gunned down by St. Louis cops.
Officers claimed that they were in fear of their lives as Powell charged at them with a knife. They claim he had the knife in an “overhand grip” and came within three feet of the officers, at which time they opened fire, killing Powell.
The incident stemmed from a call by a Six Star Market owner after Powell allegedly stole two energy drinks, according to KSDK.
Reports from witnesses claim that Powell was acting erratically, pacing back and forth on the street and talking to himself, while carrying a knife.
St. Louis Metro Police Chief Sam Dotson responding to a question of whether the shooting was justified said his officers “have a right to go home at night” going on to say that all officers have a right to defend themselves.
He went on to defend his officers actions saying that they used deadly force due to the suspect with a knife coming within three of four feet of the officers, which would be considered within lethal range.
New cell phone video has emerged that calls into question officer’s version of events, and Dotson’s defense of his officers, leading up to the shooting.
In the video two cops arrive together, exit the vehicle, and demand Powell drop the knife. Powell begins yelling “shoot me, shoot me, shoot me now,” as walks onto a ledge then steps off as if to approach.
Powell, who had his hands at his sides, never came within more than 10-15 feet of the officers before they opened fire killing him.
Lessons from Ferguson: Prepping for Civil Unrest and Martial Law
by Daisy Luther
Activist Post
Aug 19, 2014
Any prepared and informed person knows that the threat isn’t always the event itself, which could be anything from a natural disaster to a rioting spree after a sporting event to an economic collapse. It’s the chaos during the aftermath of the event.
If you ever had any doubts about that statement, you need look no further than Ferguson, Missouri.
Today, Governor Jay Nixon called in the National Guard.
Martial law has officially arrived in Ferguson.
Of course, this only makes it official. The past week has shown a militarized police force driving around in tanks, wearing body armor, and brutally responding to citizens. Martial law was already there and the Constitution was already suspended. Nixon just made it official.
This is just the icing on the chaos cupcake, however.
It all started a week ago when a police officer shot a black suspect. Suddenly, amidst cries of “racism” an absolute breakdown of society occurred within 24 hours of the shooting. People no longer governed themselves according to laws and morals. Store owners were forced to arm themselves to protect their businesses from a mob that looted with all of the joyful abandon of a lottery winner on a shopping spree. Cops responded, but were vastly outnumbered. Whether these officers were originally vicious individuals or whether fear of the mob mentality made them brutal, their responses were harsh and ruthless.
This article isn’t a debate on right vs. wrong. It isn’t about whether Michael Brown deserved to be shot or whether he was an innocent victim. It isn’t about the race of the looters, the cops, or the residents of Ferguson. It isn’t even about the Constitutional rights that are being ground under the heels of boots. I’m not getting into any of that.
It’s about watching and learning from the events in Ferguson, because this type of chaos could be coming to a city near you. When society breaks down, it nearly always follows a distinct path. The main variable is how quickly the situation devolves.
The violence began around 8 p.m. and largely dissipated within a couple hours, though the police presence in the St. Louis suburb remained at war-like levels into the wee hours of the morning.
Hundreds — perhaps thousands — of protesters roamed West Florissant Avenue.
Looters prowled several blocks of the main thoroughfare, damaging businesses and shattering glass in the few storefronts that had yet remained intact.
The list of businesses on West Florissant that were looted on Sunday night included a Domino’s Pizza, a Papa John’s Pizza, an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts and a Public Storage facility.
Just west, on Chambers Road, a large group of looters trashed a small store called Dellwood Market. The store ended up on fire, according to a Facebook page called Ferguson Scanner Updates.
“I know that people are upset, but is this the justice for Mike Brown?” the distraught owner asked, according to local CBS affiliate KMOV.
A handful of protesters suffered gunshot wounds and the crowds prevented an ambulance from arriving on the scene.
A large group of people had overrun a McDonald’s on the street. Employees of the McDonald’s were forced to lock themselves in a storage room until police arrived. (source)
Here’s a synopsis of the threats during such an event and what you can do to prepare for them.
Japan landslide emergency worsens
The Guardian
Friday 22 August 2014 06.46 BST
Agence France-Presse in Tokyo
Rescuer and boy he was trying to save are swept away as number of missing rises and Hiroshima braces for more rain
Japanese soldiers search for survivors in the mud and wreckage from landslides on the outskirts of Hiroshima. Photograph: Toru Hanai/Reuters
The death toll from huge landslides in western Japan could more than double, police have said, as the number of missing people rose to 52 in addition to the 39 confirmed dead.
Dozens of homes were destroyed when mountainsides collapsed on the outskirts of Hiroshima on Wednesday, with tonnes of mud, rocks and debris crashing into suburban communities.
More than 4,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes after forecasters warned more rain was on the way to already soaked hillsides, heaping misery on an area that has seen record downpours.
Firefighters, police and soldiers had to abandon search efforts on Thursday night because of the risk of further landfalls. One rescuer was killed in a secondary mudslide on Wednesday along with a small boy he was trying to carry to safety.
The confirmed death toll on Friday stood at 39 but the number of missing was raised to 52, having risen steadily over the last two days from initial single figures.
Officials said improved co-ordination between emergency services and local authorities meant they were aware of more people who had not been heard of since the disaster.
“We initially counted only the people who were certain to be missing, such as those witnessed being carried away in gushing water,” said a spokesman at Hiroshima prefecture police.
“As we continued to investigate and assess the situation, the number rose,” he said.
Firefighters and soldiers were still keeping heavy machinery away from collapsed houses, preferring to remove debris by hand in the hope of finding survivors.
PN 