Four Swedish Cops on Vacation in NYC Teach the NYPD a Lesson

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We’ve all seen the stats by now. U.S. police killed more citizens in March alone than UK police have killed in 100 years. We’ve seen the plethora of videos documenting unnecessary police brutality. There are so many in fact, I can’t even begin to document them all. We’ve also seen the militarized police in all its ghoulish display in Ferguson.

We’ve seen the wrong way to police in New York City, most recently when an unarmed Eric Garner was choked to death on the street in broad daylight for selling untaxed cigarettes. Now, finally, we see how real policing is supposed to be done, courtesy of four Swedish police officers who were on vacation in NYC.

First, a little background from the Free Thought Project:

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The Federal Reserve Refuses to Provide Names Requested by Congress in Probe

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Over the past week or so, I’ve written several posts highlighting the dangers of “public-private” partnerships. This is the preferred term being used by savvy members of the status quo to provide cover for their relentless pursuit of economic fascism. It provides a good soundbite, but in reality is nothing more than a license to loot and pillage with government backing. Here’s how I described the scam in the post, Meet Cyber P3 – The U.S. Military’s Public-Private Partnership to Create Corporate/Government “Cyber Soldiers.”

It makes perfect sense if you think about it. If you’re a large corporation, there’s nothing better than guaranteed profits; and there’s no better way to guarantee profits than by going into business with the one entity that can do this: government. On the other hand, if you are an ambitious and greedy politician, what better way to earn a fortune while ostensibly engaging in “public service” than by lining the pockets of big corporations, which will then line your pockets in return in various opaque ways. Extraordinary fees for speeches is one preferred way of doing this, as is the classic revolving door that gives the person a cushy corporate job after leaving government.

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More Clinton Foundation Cronyism – The Deal to Sell Uranium Interests to Russia While Hillary was Secretary of State

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As the Russians gradually assumed control of Uranium One in three separate transactions from 2009 to 2013, Canadian records show, a flow of cash made its way to the Clinton Foundation. Uranium One’s chairman used his family foundation to make four donations totaling $2.35 million. Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors. Other people with ties to the company made donations as well.

And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.

Whether the donations played any role in the approval of the uranium deal is unknown. But the episode underscores the special ethical challenges presented by the Clinton Foundation, headed by a former president who relied heavily on foreign cash to accumulate $250 million in assets even as his wife helped steer American foreign policy as secretary of state, presiding over decisions with the potential to benefit the foundation’s donors.

From the New York Times article: Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation as Russians Pressed for Control of Uranium Company

If you looked at the U.S. economy under a microscope, what you’d see is a gigantic cancerous blob of cronyism surrounded by tech startups and huge prisons. If you zeroed in on the cancerous tumor, at the nucleus you’d see a network of crony institutions like the Federal Reserve, intelligence agencies, TBTF Wall Street banks and defense contractors. Pretty close to that, you’d probably find the Clinton Foundation. A veritable clearinghouse for cronyism masquerading as a charity.

This year has seen a great deal of investigative work on the shadiness of the Clinton Foundation, much of which has been highlighted here at Liberty Blitzkrieg. Here’s the tally so far:

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Houston Cop and Former “Officer of the Year” Indicted for Trafficking Weapons for Los Zetas Drug Cartel

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What’s so shocking about the story below is not that a 20-year veteran of the Houston police force, who was previously named one of the “Officers of the Year” by the Officers Union, was trafficking weapons for drug cartels. What’s shocking is that he was actually indicted and faces life in prison. He should’ve worked for a federal agency like the DEA or TSA, in which case he might not have even been fired. For example:

DEA Agents Caught Having Drug Cartel Funded Prostitute Sex Parties Received Slap on the Wrist; None Fired

TSA Agents Caught Gaming System so Male Screener Could Grope Attractive Passengers; No Criminal Charges Filed

We learn from KPRC 2 News in Houston that:

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GOP Establishment Queen Mitch McConnell Introduces Patriot Act Reauthorization with Zero NSA Reforms

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Late last week, I published a post about Patriot Act reauthorization that turned out to be extremely popular. It was titled, Congress is Attempting to Reauthorize Key Patriot Act Provisions by Sneaking it Into “USA Freedom Act. Here’s an excerpt:

June 1, 2015 is a very important day for American civil liberties and the Constitution. On that day, Section 215 of the Patriot Act, one of the most egregious pieces of legislation passed in U.S. history, will expire automatically without reauthorization from Congress. Naturally, this is causing a panic attack within the heart of the NSA, FBI and all the authoritarian lackey legislators in Washington D.C. With the chances of a clean reauthorization next to none, these crafty “representatives” and their puppeteers need to figure out a way to sneak it into another piece of legislation. What better way to do this than making it a part of something that ostensibly appears to be reining in surveillance powers. Enter the USA Freedom Act.

As mentioned, it is widely believed that there isn’t enough support for straight reauthorization unaccompanied by some sort of NSA reform, but that won’t stop GOP establishment queen Mitch McConnell from trying.

McConnell is amongst the most freedom hating, constitution trampling Republican members in the Senate, sharing this distinction with John McCain and Lindsey Graham. What makes McConnell far more dangerous is his position as Senate Majority Leader. Today, the Washington Post informed us how he’s wielding such power:

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The Dissident Dad – Raising Independent Minded Children in America is Tough

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No joke, trying to raise an independent-minded, decent human being in America is like trying to fly through a Category 5 hurricane.

For starters, nothing beats some of the toys offered up to kids. For example, you can hone your child’s remote killing skills by buying him or her a military drone toy. Not only can you kill women and children in their homes, but you can do so without actually having to deploy overseas!

Teach your kids this valuable skill via the, Maisto Fresh Metal Tailwinds 1:97 Scale Die Cast United States Military Aircraft – US Air Force Medium Altitude, Long Endurance, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) RQ-1 Predator with Display Stand, available at Amazon:

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11-Year-Old Kansas Boy Taken Away from Mom Due to Her Use of Cannabis Oil to Treat Crohn’s Disease

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Yesterday Shona Banda, the Kansas medical marijuana activist whose home was searched after her 11-year-old son challenged anti-pot propaganda at school, failed to regain custody of the boy, who is now under the control of Child Protective Services (CPS). “I am not giving up,” Banda said after yesterday’s family court hearing. “I will get him, and I am not going to stop until I do.”

– From the Reason article: Police Say Kidnapping Medical Marijuana Activist’s 11-Year-Old Son Is for ‘the Child’s Well-Being’

Taking a child away from its parents is one of the most serious and emotionally traumatizing things you can do. Anyone tasked with such extraordinary power should take the responsibility extremely seriously. Unfortunately, that’s not how Child Protective Services (CPS) in Kansas sees things.

This is the story of an 11-year-old boy who bravely defended his mom’s used of cannabis oil during a anti-drug program at his school. His mother suffers from Crohn’s disease and uses cannabis oil to treat her symptoms. If she lived here in Colorado, or any of the other 23 states enlightened enough to permit adults to use a plant for medical purposes, her son (who obviously loves his mom enough to defend her in class) would still be with her.

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A Practical Utopian’s Guide to the Coming Collapse – David Graeber on “The Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs”

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Graeber’s argument is similar to one he made in a 2013 article called “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs”, in which he argued that, in 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that by the end of the century technology would have advanced sufficiently that in countries such as the UK and the US we’d be on 15-hour weeks. “In technological terms, we are quite capable of this. And yet it didn’t happen. Instead, technology has been marshalled, if anything, to figure out ways to make us all work more. Huge swaths of people, in Europe and North America in particular, spend their entire working lives performing tasks they believe to be unnecessary. The moral and spiritual damage that comes from this situation is profound. It is a scar across our collective soul. Yet virtually no one talks about it.”

But what happened between the Apollo moon landing and now? Graeber’s theory is that in the late 1960s and early 1970s there was mounting fear about a society of hippie proles with too much time on their hands. “The ruling class had a freak out about robots replacing all the workers. There was a general feeling that ‘My God, if it’s bad now with the hippies, imagine what it’ll be like if the entire working class becomes unemployed.’ You never know how conscious it was but decisions were made about research priorities.” Consider, he suggests, medicine and the life sciences since the late 1960s. “Cancer? No, that’s still here.” Instead, the most dramatic breakthroughs have been with drugs such as Ritalin, Zoloft and Prozac – all of which, Graeber writes, are “tailor-made, one might say, so that these new professional demands don’t drive us completely, dysfunctionally, crazy”

Graeber believes that since the 1970s there has been a shift from technologies based on realising alternative futures to investment technologies that favoured labour discipline and social control. Hence the internet. “The control is so ubiquitous that we don’t see it.” We don’t see, either, how the threat of violence underpins society, he claims. “The rarity with which the truncheons appear just helps to make violence harder to see,” he writes.

– From the Guardian article: David Graeber: ‘So Many People Spend Their Working Lives Doing Jobs They Think are Unnecessary’

Embarrassingly, it was only very recently that I became familiar with the writings of David Graeber, an author, anthropologist and professor at the London School of Economics. I read a decent amount, and very few writers connect with me in the way Mr. Graeber does. Of course, I don’t agree with everything he says (if you ever find yourself in total agreement with someone else there’s a problem), but I promise he will make you think. That’s worth a lot in the propagandized and dumbed down culture we inhabit.

About a month ago, I read an extremely thought provoking excerpt from his 2013 book, The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement. The piece was titled, A Practical Utopian’s Guide to the Coming Collapse, and I strongly suggest you read it.

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The National Guard Referred to Ferguson Protesters as “Enemy Forces” and “Adversaries” Ahead of Deployment

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Thanks to internal mission briefings received through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, we now know that the Missouri National Guard used highly charged, militarized terms when describing Ferguson protesters ahead of its deployment. Terms such as “enemy forces” and “adversaries” were used to describe American citizens justifiably angry about police violence, which is not isolated to the area, but appears to be an epidemic (see: U.S. Police Kill More Civilians in March than UK Police Killed in 100 Years).

The use of such language when describing a deployment to an American city takes on an elevated degree of significance when coupled with the fact that the Ferguson unrest served as the initial wakeup call for most Americans with regard to the militarization of domestic police. I wrote about this at the time in the post, “A Good Time Was Had By All” – The Obamas Dance the Night Away as Ferguson, Missouri Burns. Here’s an excerpt:

I believe Ferguson will be seen as a major turning point. The point in which many well-intentioned, but incredibly naive folks in white mainstream America woke up to what we have become. Many people, particularly those in the media, have been willfully ignorant about the destruction of freedom and civil liberties in America. The events in Ferguson have taken a gigantic mirror and successfully pointed it squarely at our civil society and the image it has reflected back is one of a horrific, militarized, authoritarian monster.

The following, reported by CNN, won’t help ease the above perceptions:

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Video of the Day – Florida Citizen Pulls Over Cop for Speeding with a Broken Headlight

Do you remember that huge story from a couple of weeks back about the unarmed South Carolina man, Walter Scott, who was shot 8 times in the back and killed by a police officer who later planted a taser near his dead body to cover up the crime? Well, Mr. Scott was initially pulled over for a broken taillight.

Now we learn that a Florida citizen, apparently annoyed for having been pulled over for a similar infraction, went ahead and pulled over a local police officer for a broken headlight. He videotaped the incident (warning, vulgar language at the end):

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