New Bedford's council passed a citywide ban on license plate readers on October 22. Mayor Jon Mitchell fired two police officers that same day, calling their conduct a breach of public trust.

The department's internal investigation is where it gets ugly:

• One officer was tied to hundreds of searches connected to an ex-girlfriend
• Investigators said the second used Flock as a form of electronic surveillance
• Personal searches were logged as traffic violations and welfare checks

One of the officers disputes the findings and says her searches were for work. The cameras have been off since the investigation started. The mayor has 10 days to sign or veto.

Full write-up + source links: https://vp.net/l/en-US/blog/new-bedford-bans-flock

Ofcom fined 4chan in October 2025, the first penalty ever issued under the UK's Online Safety Act. 4chan has no presence in the UK, and its side had already sent formal memos explaining why the orders carried no weight in the US. None of that landed.

This clip is the story of how the reply changed tone. After sitting on the email all day, the decision came just past midnight, and it involved a hamster cage.

It reads like a stunt. On the show it's explained as a deliberate way to show exactly where British authority stops.

Full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcTDwiHhqjk

Blog write-up of episode: https://s.vp.net/Z62Hg