All this talk about the U.S. government spying on Americans, secret CIA prisons abroad, FBI roundups of environmental activists in a sting last week, based on informants, rather than evidence, etc., has me thinking people need to know more about spying. Spying is actually a licensed industry in most, if not all, states. I did private detective work in the late 1990’s-2000, and it was an eye opening experience, most certainly. For instance, I learned if you feel you are being followed, SLOW DOWN. It is almost impossible to follow a car going noticeably slow without raising suspicion. I found out about “bumper beepers,” which are devices you can simply slap on someone’s car, under their bumper, and then GPS will track their every move for you. Somehow it seems these are legal for private detectives, not just police, to use.

Tonight children are being born to mothers without health insurance, in neighborhoods politicians don't enter without SWAT teams, news cameras, and latex gloves. The political class has already branded these kids as human waste. But many of them could have found another path, because Stanley Tookie Williams would have been there to intervene in their lives and show another way....Now it's up to those of us who stood with Tookie to keep on pushing. This is (Arnold) Schwarzenegger's "mission accomplished" moment for his right wing, pro-death (penalty) base. But his "mission" will fail. He is part of a 21st century set of rulers who have repeatedly shown, whether in Baghdad or New Orleans, that they are unfit to rule. Their brutality will be met with resistance in the tradition of Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Leonard Peltier, George Jackson... and Stanley Tookie Williams.

The TSA has been reviewing its list of prohibited items since last summer and has debated whether throwing stars (a martial-arts weapon), ice picks and knives should be allowed back on board, according to TSA documents. In past briefings with reporters, Hawley said the agency was considering other changes that would make the airline security system less predictable. For example, he said that he was unsure whether it makes sense for passengers to routinely remove their shoes at the security checkpoint. He said he also plans to incorporate more bomb-sniffing dogs in airports.

Binyam Mohammed, 27, says he spent nearly three years in the CIA's network of 'black sites'. In Morocco he claims he underwent the strappado torture of being hung for hours from his wrists, and scalpel cuts to his chest and penis and that a CIA officer was a regular interrogator.

A 16-year-old boy accused of killing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent has escaped from a juvenile prison for the fifth time in three years - just as he promised, an official said Saturday.

Inspired by Noam Chomsky's book "Hegemony or Survival", the Movements of South America, the World Social Forum, and the Continental Cry of the Excluded, a website called the InterContinental Cry For Unity has recently been created.

The website is among other things, a response to the need for more dialogue in a number of areas fundamental in our common walk. For instance, while there is no shortage of declarations, protests or clear voice about what we do not like or approve of (e.g. what Governments and corporations are doing) there is very little about just what our goals are, or what exactly we need to do for ourselves--after all, our work is not to benefit Empire, but each other.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has hardly been out of the news over the last three years. Numerous brutality allegations, international attention about systematic abuses of human rights, huge budget over runs and an ever increasing proportion of the city budget have insured the VPD stay front and centre in city news. So, the lack of critical discussion around policing in Vancouver is glaring during the current municipal election campaign....The Non Partisan Association (NPA) and Vision Vancouver – the minority split from the city’s governing party -- have raced to outdo one another in insisting that the status quo shall continue in regards to policing. Both of the major mayoral candidates, Jim Green and Sam Sullivan, have come out against elected police boards. Both candidates have rushed to promise more money to a department known for its inability to keep within budget. Both say they want more cops on the beat..."

(Adan) Castillo, who is accused of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine in the US, was detained after arriving in the (US)...Mr Castillo was in the US state of Virginia for a training course on how to fight drug trafficking through ports when he was arrested, Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielman said.

Foreign Policy In Focus - Nov 3, 2005

Amid growing concern over the fate and conditions of inmates engaged in a lengthy hunger strike at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Tuesday said he would not permit UN investigators to interview detainees there.

Pivot Press Release | November 14, 2005

Reliance on biased re-investigation and apparent “back room” deal at heart of application for Judicial Review

Pivot Legal Society is launching a Judicial Review in Supreme Court to overturn Police Complaint Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld’s refusal to order public hearings into complaints of police misconduct filed in June, 2003.

Last night, Seattle Police killed yet another person for no apparent reason. At 70th NE and Roosevelt Way, in the University District last night, a car of people were chased and then one of them was killed, for some macho police chase that makes no sense. Apparently running a stop sign is now cause for deadly force in Seattle. This car was NOT stolen, NO weapons were involved…the only thing that caused this was the Police behaving irresponsibly, yet again.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - An animal rights activist who freed thousands of mink from Midwestern fur farms and then dodged authorities for years was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday after urging his supporters in the courtroom to raid more farms.

Whilst the youth of France are fighting poverty, racism and state oppression, the response from the French government in the ugly shape of Interior Minister Sarkozy is to refer to these people as "scum". They are not scum, they are working class heroes!

MONTREAL (CP) - A United Nations committee has harshly criticized the way Montreal police crack down on protesters at demonstrations.

The report, released by the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, cites the Montreal force's tendency to arrest large numbers of people at demonstrations.