MIKE SIEGEL—The proposed bill would create a broad definition of “domestic terrorism” to include any attempt to “affect” or “influence” government policy or actions. And it would include property damage—even attempted property damage—as a terrorist act subject to a 25-year prison sentence. In other words, if you opposed the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock and wanted the government to revoke the pipeline permit, you might be considered a terrorist. If you painted “Black Lives Matter” on a wall to advocate against police violence, that could be terrorism, too.
POLICE & REPRESSION
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The racism that permeates Americamn society, exacerbated as a result of Trump’ s cnstant equivocal and outright racists statements, takes a huge toll on the African American community, where many men feel like a hunted species. The most innocent trip even to the local store can result in a police incident that ends a life. But the most revolting part of this behaviour, besides its blatant illegality, is that punishment is rare and in some regions non-existent.
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Everyone’s A Conspiracy Theorist, Whether They Know It Or Not
34 minutes readCAITLIN JOHNSTONE—The word “conspire” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement”. No sane person would deny that this is a thing that happens, nor that this is likely a thing that happens to some extent among the powerful in their own nation. This by itself is a theory about conspiracy per definition, and it accurately applies to pretty much everyone. Since it applies to pretty much everyone, the label is essentially meaningless, either as a pejorative or as anything else.
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‘You don’t have any rights’: CBP agents interrogate US citizen and seize his phone after Venezuela solidarity trip
16 minutes readMAX BLUMENTHAL—Before long, a CBP agent ordered Torrez to hand over his cellphone: “He just said, ‘Give me the phone or I’m gonna open an investigation.’ And I said, ‘Ok, take it, I’m not gonna open it, that’s my privacy. They said, ‘What do you have to hide?’ And I said, I don’t have anything to hide. The same thing you’re gonna find in my phone you’re gonna find in public.” When Torrez refused to open his phone for the officers, he said they seized it from him and took it into a separate room for five minutes. He does not know what they did to the phone while it was out of his sight.
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JOSMAR JARAMILLO—Is the mayor actually anti-police? While the Post can’t be bothered to look into his record on policing, we know that de Blasio has refused to fire Pantaleo for over five years, shielded officer misconduct from the public, allowed the department to obtain drone technology and added 1,300 cops to the city. If that doesn’t sound like any “anti-police” official you know, don’t worry, Lynch’s point isn’t to say anything that’s true, it’s to drive the political goalposts to the right by accusing a pro-police mayor of the exact opposite—and the media allow it.