NYPD Sued After Refusing to Reveal Its Stingray Surveillance Budget

The New York Police Department is still refusing to release basic information about quasi-secret cellphone mass-surveillance devices colloquially known as Stingrays, according to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed Thursday by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

In February, the NYCLU obtained documents showing that the infamously opaque police department had deployed Stingrays over 1,000 times since 2008 without having any written policy whatsoever governing their use. Like other departments, the NYPD doesn’t get a search warrant to use the devices, relying instead on “pen register” orders that don’t require cops to show probable cause of a crime.

But not included was information on the cost and type of Stingrays, the brand name for a class of device called cell-site simulators, which emulate cellphone towers to track nearby phones but can also be configured to record call logs and intercept text messages en-masse. Earlier this week, another FOIA request from the NYCLU revealed that police in Rochester, New York spent more than $200,000 on a Stingray devicethat it uses to track suspected gang members.

Now the NYCLU is suing to get that contract information from the NYPD, which has since been revealed by many other police departments.

“The NYPD must come clean about what models of Stingrays it owns and how it acquires them,” NYCLU Senior Staff Attorney Mariko Hirose said in a press statement emailed to Motherboard. “This is military grade technology with the potential to implicate the privacy of countless innocent New Yorkers. There’s no good reason why this basic information—like how much it spends on what models of Stingrays—is not in the public domain.”

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/nypd-sued-after-refusing-to-reveal-its-stingray-surveillance-budget

GOVERNMENT CHEMIST CAUGHT MAKING CRACK IN THE LAB, STEALING METH AND COCAINE

The chemist was not only high on drugs she stole throughout her tenure — she cooked and consumed crack cocaine at work. Additionally, throughout the years she testified in scores of drug cases, whose verdicts — along with the Drug War itself — have now been called into question.

Sonja Farak worked as a chemist for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) from 2003 to 2012, switching labs twice throughout the years. She spent most of her time with DPH at a lab in Amherst, but also worked as a chemist for the Massachusetts State Police from 2012 to 2013.

As a Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) investigation released this week summarized, her responsibilities included “testing, for authenticity, various controlled substances submitted by law enforcement agencies throughout the Commonwealth. Additionally, she was required to testify in court as to her test results, which served as evidence in criminal case

http://www.infowars.com/government-chemist-caught-making-crack-in-the-lab-stealing-meth-and-cocaine/

 

BMW M4 GTS Looks Proud Beside its Predecessors in This Great Gallery

BMW has released a fresh set of photos detailing its new M4 GTS alongside many of the brand’s classic special edition models.

Since production of the BMW M3 Evolution began in 1988, the German brand has been pumping out special high-performance editions of its already potent M cars every few years.

The latest from BMW is the M4 GTS, which features a power boost up to 493 horsepower thanks to a water injection system and plenty of track-ready upgrades. It set a Nurburgring lap time of 7 minutes 28 seconds according to BMW, which puts the car in contention with the likes of supercars such as the Ferrari 458 and McLaren MP4-12C.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/04/bmw-m4-gts-looks-proud-beside-its-predecessors-in-this-great-gallery.html

 

 

 

CHINA: RUSSIA “HUMILIATED” ARROGANT U.S. WITH ‘SIMULATED ATTACK’ ON WARSHIP

Video released by the U.S. military yesterday shows two Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes conducting repeated close attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer which was located about 70 nautical miles away from Russian territory.

U.S. military officials later described the maneuvers as some of the most aggressive interactions in recent memory.

However, an editorial in the Global Times, an official mouthpiece for China’s ruling Communist Party, characterizes the incident as a huge blow to American prestige.

http://www.infowars.com/china-russia-humiliated-arrogant-u-s-with-simulated-attack-on-warship/

EPA: 97% of Endangered Species Threatened by 2 Pesticides

 

We know that pesticides are harming the animals – from creatures who live in the oceans, to larger animals living on farms, in jungles, on prairies, and even flying above our heads. But even more worrisome, they seem to be a threat to endangered species roaming the earth.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just released an analysis pinpointing the collective impact that just 3 pesticides have on a surprising 97% of all the animals on endangered and threatened species lists nationwide.

These 3 common pesticides—chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion—are causing unwanted damage to the natural world.
Chlorpyrifos is manufactured primarily by Dow Agro Sciences LLC, Cheminova, Makhteshim-Agan, Garda, and Platte Chemical. It is an organophosphate pesticide that is harmful to animals and the environment. It is said to be a severe risk to 97% of America’s most threatened flora and fauna.

Chlorpyrifos is used in agriculture for feed and food crops and in cattle ear tags. This type of pesticide is also used on golf courses, and to control fire ants and mosquitoes for ‘public health.’ Products containing chlorpyrifos are also used to treat wood fences, and utility poles, as well as to exterminate termites, mosquitoes and roundworms.”

It works by blocking an enzyme which controls messages that travel between nerve cells. When the enzyme is blocked, the nervous system can’t send normal signals. The problem is that this is also how it can harm innocent animals, including those on the endangered species list.

http://naturalsociety.com/97-percent-endangered-species-threatened-3-pesticides-6748/

DUE TO HIGH ARSENC LEVELS, FDA WARNS PARENTS TO AVOID INFANT RICE CEREAL

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was taking steps to limit the amount of inorganic arsenic found in infant rice cereal, a main source of arsenic exposure in infants.

The agency released a draft guidance to the industry that would cap inorganic arsenic levels at 100 parts per billion (ppb). Most cereals already meet that limit, or come close to it.

The agency is directing the industry to seek out rice sources that have the smallest amount of inorganic arsenic to use in its cereal products, according to Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. [1]

Said Mayne:

“Our actions are driven by our duty to protect the public health and our careful analysis of the data and the emerging science. The proposed limit is a prudent and achievable step to reduce exposure to arsenic among infants.” [2]

http://naturalsociety.com/fda-proposes-limit-inorganic-arsenic-infant-rice-cereal-7156/

 

NRA RELEASES NEW YEAR’S AD MOCKING HILLARY CLINTON

The gun rights organization’s video features the Democratic presidential candidate writing out her New Year’s resolutions while “Auld Lang Syne” plays in the background. The resolutions include “stop trying to ban guns,” “read the Constitution,” and “meet an actual gun owner in person.”

The ad then shows Clinton drawing an x over the resolutions, crumpling up the paper, and laughing. The ad then asks viewers to help the NRA achieve its New Year’s resolutions by donating to the group.

NRA Releases New Year’s Ad Mocking Hillary Clinton

What’s in the Ashley Madison database that hackers released online

The hackers who claimed to have stolen every bit of data from Ashley Madison, a dating website intended for adulterers, have made good on their promise to release the full database if the site didn’t shut down.

 Identifying themselves as Impact Team, the hackers have made available a frighteningly vast amount of data on Ashley Madison’s users and inner workings. Impact Team produced the information Tuesday, August 18, through the Tor network, a sort of parallel internet or “dark web” that keeps all traffic data anonymous.

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http://qz.com/482875/whats-in-the-ashley-madison-database-that-hackers-released-online/