On 9/14/16 6:05 PM, Razer wrote:

On 09/14/2016 05:27 PM, Stephen D. Williams wrote:


but inevitably toward less abuse and more transparency.

You don't get out much do you?

All the time.  Do you?  What are you implying that you have observed?

I run, bike, or skate hundreds of miles on the road every year.  In high school, I ran 3000 miles a year.  I get out a lot, at least in some sense.

In the last or two year, I've been in multiple cities in Virginia, DC, NY / NYC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Ohio, Indiana, Nevada, California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Florida.  Not long after the big protests in Baltimore last year, I talked to locals in Baltimore, NYC, DC, Oakland, LA, etc. about local protests, police interaction, etc.  A self-professed gang member in Baltimore wanted to take selfies with my skate group at a 7-11, specifically to inspire young kids that follow him.

Multiple times, I've taken things to court pro-se, including police and police departments.  I have appealed both civil and traffic cases (won, lost).  I have about a 50% lifetime win rate, which isn't bad for pro-se.  I've taken pictures of many police officers, although I've never witnessed them doing anything wrong, other than a few minor dangerous abuses on the highway here and there.  Most of the problem with police comes from what they are encouraged to do, ticket quotas etc.  Although often that's minor stuff, that's all I've seen.  The serious problems are in areas and with police I never see.

A speeding ticket in California is often a fine > $500 now.  Although I haven't had a ticket for a while, at that level of fine, my policy is to always take everything to court.  I might as well get my money's worth and a little entertainment, plus a chance I will prevail.  I won on the last one, with good reason.  I have a thing for police that cause dangerous conditions so that they can garner a few tickets.  I called the highway patrol once a few years ago to ask about making a citizen's arrest after observing very dangerous behavior by an officer while everyone was driving safely down the highway.  They told me I should have stopped behind the officer to positively identify him!  While police stonewall those things when they can, I imagine the officer gets a talking to anyway.  I have a traffic camera in my vehicle now.


Rr


On 9/14/16 5:13 PM, Razer wrote:

On 09/14/2016 12:55 PM, Sean Lynch wrote:

On Tue, Sep 13, 2016 at 7:23 AM, Razer <rayzer@riseup.net
<mailto:rayzer@riseup.net>> wrote:

    ...
    So he returns home to a hero's welcome and a year later he's been
    involved in a fatal car wreck, or airplane crash, or, as a cover story
    when he's found dead in a ditch on a back road in Florida, tortured and
    beaten to an unrecognizable pulp, "the Russians did it".

    I think there's a serious underestimation here of just how murderous the
    US government is if someone betrays them... Hell! You don't even have to
    betray them. Just annoy the wrong people.

    Sorry Edward Snowden is in Exile for life whether he likes it or not, if
    he wants to stay alive.


I agree that if I were Snowden I wouldn't ever trust the USG, but I
don't see how it serves the government's purposes to have him die in any
way where would-be whistleblowers don't at least strongly suspect is
connected to his leaks. They want to make an example of him, because
leaks are the thing the USG is by far the most vulnerable to.


I was talking in terms of a pardon or commutation received. OFC they'd
try him if he simply returned.

Rr

Ps. They don't care how obvious it is that they killed him if they did
as long as there's plausible deniability. It has the added bonus of
terrorizing other whistlebowers and dissuading new ones no matter how
blatant the assassination. Aamof, the more blatant the better from the
terrorism perspective. I'm REALLY surprised they haven't already begun
doing it to his friends and rela... Oh WAIT!

If that is ever found to be true, Americans would freak out.  Government
only has authority to the extent that they follow the rule of law.  It's
already the stuff of conspiracy theories.  Any solid proof of unchecked
ongoing abuse not explained away sufficiently, which would inevitably
leak eventually for anything happening consistently, would cause
gigantic backlash.  The ultra-right gun lobby and the liberal
sophisticates and others would unite and squash anyone responsible.  Now
that we have instances of clear video proof to actually get at the truth
more consistently, look at the reform cycle happening with police. 
Messy, slow, annoying, but inevitably toward less abuse and more
transparency.


Ioerror.

Institutional assassination

Rr

sdw
sdw