Government Priorities

FBI’s 5-Step Process to Criminalize First Amendment Activity as “Terrorism”

The recent FBI arrests of animal rights activists as “terrorists” for chalking sidewalks, protesting and making fliers marks a drastic turning point in the Green Scare, and in the history of this country. The government and corporations are clearly hoping to set a legal precedent for the sweeping power of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. […]

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Connecting the RNC 8 “Terrorism” Case to the Green Scare

When I was in Minneapolis, I sat down with a few local Indymedia journalists and Friends of the RNC 8 to talk about the connections between the RNC 8 case (above-ground community organizers facing terrorism charges for organizing mass protests against the Republican National Convention) and the broader Green Scare. “The government has been starting […]

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The Government’s 7-Step Process for Convicting Environmentalists as Terrorists

Despite my deep-seated distaste for all things Baltimore (my apologies to folks in Bawlmor, but your town and I don’t seem to get along), I’ve been watching HBO’s The Wire on Netflix. The series—created by David Simon, a 13-year-veteran of the The Baltimore Sun—is structured so that each episode is a small piece in a […]

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Vegan Terrorists Eat Hummus, Just Like Al Qaeda

By former Los Angeles Times cartoonist Tony Peyser:

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FBI Still Investigating Traffic Jam From 4 Years Ago

If anyone is looking for work in this failing economy, you might consider sending your resume to the FBI. Times are getting tight for everyone, but it seems the bureau has enough resources lying around to investigate a box left near the highway four years ago. [“The FBI and the Box of Secrets”… wasn’t that […]

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FBI: “Eco-terrorists” Are Bigger Threat Than Osama bin Laden, Hate Crimes, and Attempts to Assassinate Obama

Come December 7, it will have been three years since the “Operation Backfire” arrests of Earth Liberation Front members, for a string of arsons and property crimes in the Northwest that caused upwards of $48 million in damages. Those defendants were hit with “terrorism enhancement” penalties for their crimes, which never harmed anyone, and are […]

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Palin Says “I Don’t Know” If Anti-Abortion Murderers are Terrorists

First, an apology for being AWOL, and the lack of blog posts. This election–you might have heard of it, between Barack Obama and Emperor Palpatine?–is kicking my ass. And some of you know that I’m in school at night at Johns Hopkins, finishing my master’s, and my final draft of my thesis is due Monday. […]

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Local Sheriff Buys a Tank, Others Clamor to Fight “Domestic Terrorists”

In what I can only attribute to one-too-many viewings of Red Dawn, the Sheriff Leon Lott of Richland County, South Carolina bought his department a tank. Oh, excuse me, an “armored personnel carrier”… with a .50-cal turreted machine gun. For all you city slickers, .50-cal means f’n HUGE. From Reason: Sheriff Leon Lott has charmingly […]

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Homeland Security Says Timothy McVeigh Isn’t a Terrorist, But Peace Activists Are

This is what fighting “terrorism” in this country has become. Timothy McVeigh is responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombing, the deadliest act of terrorism in this country prior to 9/11, killing 168 people, but a Homeland Security official says he’s not a terrorist. Neither is Eric Rudolph, who killed two people and injured hundreds others […]

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Insane Terrorism Drill: Animal Rights Activists With Hostages

A terrorism scenario in the nation’s largest homeland security drill involved animal rights activists holding hostages, at gun point. Seriously. From The Daily Californian, “Urban Shield Tests Police Ability”: The atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed, despite the fact that terrorists protesting animal research have taken a hostage in a UC Berkeley building and are threatening to […]

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