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Support has fallen again for the Conservative Party's broad surveillance legislation.

As Stephen Harper's controversial anti-terrorism bill clips through Parliament, en route to becoming law by the summer, public opposition is threatening to take wind out of the prime minister's sails.

Of the Canadians who are aware of C-51, 56 percent oppose the bill while just 33 percent endorse it, according to a Forum Research poll provided exclusively to VICE News.

For more, watch today's episode of Daily Vice.

That's an 11-point swing over Forum's last poll, which was conducted for VICE two weeks prior, when only a bare majority of those who were aware of the bill opposed it.

The news gets worse for Harper, as one of the biggest drops in support for the bill is amongst his own kind.

Of those who said they support the Conservative Party, 72 percent support Bill C-51—that's a nine point drop since Forum asked earlier in March. Meanwhile, 13 percent say they disapprove of the bill.

The poll was conducted after marathon committee hearings took place, in which the Conservative majority shot down hundreds of amendments to the bill.

More than three-quarters of Liberal, NDP and Green voters say they disapprove of the legislation.

That's bad news for the grit leader, Justin Trudeau, who has weathered criticism for his decision to support the bill. He spoke to DAILY VICE about his decision to vote in favour of the bill earlier this week.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair says he's not surprised that support has fallen apart for the bill.

"At the beginning the government was coasting on the fact that since it said it was anti-terrorist, a vast majority of Canadians were on board," he told VICE. Mulcair says that's changed. "Everyone I meet from coast-to-coast-to-coast talks to me about the bill by its name. It's really struck a chord with a lot of Canadians."

And, Mulcair says, the NDP are going to keep fighting it. They've made that vow already, and haven't got much to show for it. Party sources, however, say they're looking into what procedural shenanigans are at their disposal to wreak havoc on the bill's progression, like they've done in the past.

The Conservatives maintained that the negative publicity about the bill is inaccurate "fear mongering," as more than one Conservative MP has called it. The Forum poll shows that, even if that's true, they're doing a bad job of convincing Canadians of it.

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, who sat with VICE to address some of the criticisms of the bill, says Canada's spies won't be allowed to ignore the constitution.

"Anytime they could conduct an activity that could infringe on the rights of Canadians they would have to seek a warrant, so this makes all operation legal," he said. "I will invite those groups to carefully read the law and get a good understanding because there has been a lot of misunderstanding."

Blaney was referring to the litany of critics who've come out to oppose the bill, including legal and security experts, a Canadian man who was tortured overseas, a conservative pro-gun group (which was convinced to shut up about it), and a host of others, including those who would normally endorse Conservative policy.

Thanks to that national attention, seven in ten Canadians are aware of the bill. That's a slight bump from the previous poll.

When Forum asked all the respondents whether they think the country needs new anti-terror legislation, not specifically C-51, only 51 percent said yes. That's nearly a 20-point drop over when the firm first asked the question in November.

Forum also asked those who were aware of C-51 if they believed the legislation could have an impact on their daily lives—42 percent worried it could have a negative impact. A quarter apiece said they thought it would have a positive impact, or that it would have no impact at all.

The legislation is now in the Senate for study, but opponents shouldn't hold their breath for changes. The upper chamber rarely amends government bills, and any changes to C-51 would require it to go back to the House of Commons for approval.

Considering that the Conservatives only have about nine weeks left to pass the legislation before summer break, they've got little time to waste.

The Forum Research poll was conducted from March 30 to 31 and surveyed a representative sample of 1,239 Canadians. The results are accurate +/- 3 percent, 19 times out of 20.

Follow Justin Ling on Twitter.

Two of the more unique-looking video games of 2014, both Lumino City, a hand-built puzzler by London-based indie studio State of Play, and Child of Light, an old-school RPG painted in watercolors from developer-publisher giant Ubisoft (made at the company's Montreal base), earned substantial praise for their truly singular visuals. At the 2015 BAFTA Game Awards, held in March, Lumino City won in the category of Artistic Achievement, while Child of Light was a nominee in Best Visual Arts at this year's Game Developers Choice Awards.

I spoke to Katherine Bidwell, co-founder of State of Play, and Patrick Plourde, creative director on Child of Light, about their incredible-looking releases.

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From Paper to Play—How They Made 'Lumino City'

VICE: The physically handcrafted style of Lumino City follows closely in the pattern of its predecessor, Lume. Obviously a sequel to any game is likely to bear aesthetic similarities, but as striking as the look of Lumino City is—and it's bloody gorgeous—were you the slightest bit worried of being seen to "repeat" your visuals, rather than (re)invent in that area?
Katherine Bidwell: To be honest, it never crossed our minds. We were so excited about the possibilities of the style we chose for Lume and we just wanted to embellish and learn from what had excited us about making it. We started with a clean slate, production-wise, with Lumino City. We knew we were scaling up the game, which would mean a reduction in scale of the models, which in turn meant a need for new techniques with our model making. If Lume was a starter for the visual style we knew we could deliver, Lumino City is a main course, dessert, cheese board, coffee, and wine all into one.

The game's design has much in common with animation, I guess mostly the stop-motion discipline in its backgrounds, its stages.
Myself and Luke [Whittaker], our co-director, have an animation background from before we formed State of Play seven years ago, so there are no surprises that there is a comparison. Interestingly, we had never done stop-frame animation before until we did a couple of scenes using this technique in Lumino City, so that was all new to us.

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Were there any key inspirations in the city/character design?
I think working closely with architect Catrina Stewart really influenced the design of the city, and she was an integral part of the game design process. Architecture is a massive part of what Lumino City is about, and both myself and Luke are passionate about the way buildings and architecture can tell a narrative within a game environment. On holiday I am often taking pictures of buildings and thinking, "Who lives there, and why is that designed like that?"

Explain the appeal of creating a virtual world, as experienced by the player, with very physical environments? It seems almost backwards in its approach to being progressive, at a time when CGI has infiltrated all manner of televisual projects.
I think you get an honesty about the world we created for (lead character) Lumi to inhabit in Lumino City. When faced with a blank computer screen, your starting point is a very pristine, perfect world—but we all know the real world isn't like that. When creating a virtual world on screen, you are constantly trying to "rough the edges" to make it more "real." We went about it the other way around, and I think this radiates from the screen in Lumino City. We deliberately left glue marks, scratches, and knocks to give the world life and vitality. Nothing can replace that. For us, if you want to make a light look like it's on in a lighthouse, then we simply flick on a switch, rather than code a lighting engine for a game, which will never quite feel right.

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There's the need in any game to have gameplay, as silly as that sounds. You can create the most wonderful setting, only for it to be inappropriate for the kind of game you want to present. Was there much compromise made in the art department to allow for the game's puzzle elements? Anything that you had to alter to fit the challenges faced by Lumi?
We knew right at the beginning of the development stage that our biggest challenge would be ensuring that the gameplay was not compromised by creating a game in the visual style we wanted to do. So before we made any models we had a simple prototype of all the puzzles and gameplay, which we then tested to death before committing to the final models and designs. This meant that when we making the final models we were confident on the gameplay and narrative flow. I think the biggest challenge was making sure every scene made sense to the player, ensuring we lit the models correctly so that all areas could function in the gameplay space. A scene where this is important is the library, where each shelf needed to be lit to see the letters. So, we had to get the balance between the scene feeling like natural lighting and being clear and concise to the player.

Do you think the handcrafted look lends itself to potential players perhaps otherwise put off by things that don't look easy to just pick up and get on with? That it's more approachable, relatable perhaps, than an array of polygons and pixels?
Yes, I really do. People of all ages and backgrounds have responded to Lumino City in a really positive way. The tactile nature of the game means that it's really approachable, and I think that will be even more apparent when we launch the iOS version later in 2015.

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The making of 'Child of Light,' part one

VICE: Was the intent, from the very outset, to marry this fairy tale-like game with art that looked as if it could have bled from the pages of a book? Or was the final art design something that didn't firm itself up until some way along?
Patrick Plourde: The intention was there from the very beginning. A couple of years before, I had been to see an exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Art, on Disney's sources of inspiration. That was my introduction to the art of the Golden Age of Illustration—from artists like Arthur Rackham to Gustave Doré and John Bauer. I instantly fell in love with them.

So, after finishing Far Cry 3, I sat down to think about what interested me for my next game, and I came back to that exposition and that type of universe.

We are telling a modern fairy tale story inspired by ancient, dark, complex folktales that came into being long before Disney. The art style needed to be original and evoke those sources. The inspirations from the Golden Age of Illustration were perfect to conjure up that wild space. The illustrated feel also complemented the storybook-like ballad used to tell the story.

"Poetic" and "nostalgic" were the key words I used to describe the emotion I wanted to create when playing the game. Of course, the graphical style evolved as (art director) Thomas (Rollus) joined the team, and we started to prototype things in the engine, but we remained true to the initial intent.

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Was there a particular process employed to get that look, which didn't require the actual painting of assets? Or, was there art painted, properly, prior to addition to the code?
We've used a proprietary engine called UbiArt. This engine is great to streamline the data creation for the artists and level designers. It's really flexible with what you can do, so at that point it's simply to find the art direction you want, then integrate it.

The game doesn't fit the look of most Ubi projects. Just what potential does the UbiArt Framework have, going forward, after its use here and in Valiant Hearts? And given that a lot of the team came to the game off Far Cry 3, just how much of a cultural and creative shift was necessary to begin piecing the game's look together?
Culturally, the biggest change was that the artists at Ubisoft Montreal have spent so many years working on games with a realistic style— Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six—that it was a drastic departure for them. Some we talked to originally couldn't make the leap. The artists had to create not only the style we were looking for, but also the way to produce it. We had about a year to produce the game, so there was not a lot of time to fool around.

In the end, I think that this process was what most of the artists we worked with were looking for. The fact that it was so different was the main reason for them to join in the first place. It's always fun to challenge yourself to move outside of your boundaries.

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Do you think that aiming for photo-realism is a dangerous pursuit? We've just seen The Order: 1886 maligned for its unremarkable gameplay, but visually it's hugely impressive, like that was the absolute priority during development. That can't be healthy, can it?
Each project is different. I don't think we should think that one style is better than another. If somebody wants to pursue realism, go for it! That's the power that we wield as creators. Then it's up to the players to judge if they like what we created.

How important was the "shock" factor in the game's appeal—that a title that looked the way it did was the work of a studio better known for third-person photo realism?
Internally, it was really important. Child of Light was the game that a lot of people thought we could never make in Montreal. But by simply showing a couple of concept artworks internally, we generated a big buzz. It was a signal that this game was trying to be something else, and we gained a lot of support quickly.

After that, it really helped to put Child of Light on the map with the gaming community. Our marketing has been driven by PR, and the art style was just the best business card we could introduce ourselves with.

In the end, people love beautiful things, and that's what we wanted to create with Child of Light: something beautiful. Games can go in any direction, to convey any type of experience. A triple-A studio producing a game like Child of Light shows off the versatility of this medium we all love!

Both Lumino City and Child of Light are out now across various platforms. Get more information: State of Play / Ubisoft Montreal

Follow Mike on Twitter.

When 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn came out as transgender to her conservative Christian parents, they took away her cell phone and told her "God doesn't make mistakes." Then they sent her to conversion therapy—a widely discredited practice that seeks to "cure" people but unfailingly leaves its victims lonely and unhappy.

In December, Alcorn left a suicide note on her Tumblr before throwing herself in front of a truck. "The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren't treated the way I was, they're treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights," she wrote. "My death needs to mean something."

Turns out, the President of United States listened. Yesterday, in response to a White House petition that had gathered more than 120,000 signatures since Alcorn's death, Obama's senior advisor Valerie Jarrett came out against the practice, calling it "potentially devasting" and praising the efforts of state legislators who are trying to get in banned.

"Tonight, somewhere in America, a young person, let's say a young man, will struggle to fall to sleep, wrestling alone with a secret he's held as long as he can remember," Obama is quoted as saying at the top of the statement. "Soon, perhaps, he will decide it's time to let that secret out. What happens next depends on him, his family, as well as his friends and his teachers and his community. But it also depends on us—on the kind of society we engender, the kind of future we build."

So far, California, New Jersey and Washington D.C. have banned doctors from conducting reparative therapy on LGBT minors, and 18 other states have similar laws in the works. The White House's statement praises these state-by-state bans, saying they are the most effective—and plausible—way to ban the practice, because a federal ban would require congressional action.

There are, though, other ways that conversion therapy can be combatted. In February, a New Jersey judge called bullshit on JONAH, an organization that claims to "fix" young Jewish men who are same-sex attracted, or SSA. Given the overwhelming evidence that this doesn't work, the judge likened it to consumer fraud.

The White House didn't exactly do what the petition asked, which was to call for a federal ban. Still, it's pretty remarkable that in the course of a decade, Obama went from saying he didn't think marriage was a civil right to building an "all-gender restroom" for White House staffers. And while a statement isn't exactly an executive order, it's symbolically important that the President of the United States is, in essence, saying it's okay to be gay or transgender.

Just last month, an 18-year-old transgender activist named Blake Brockington committed suicide by throwing himself in front of several vehicles in South Carolina. Although his high school had elected him homecoming king, Brockington's family was reportedly unaccepting of his gender identity. Nationally, more than 50 percent of transgender youths will have attempted suicide before their 20th birthdays, according to the Youth Suicide Prevention Program. Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers.

"It was tragic, but I will tell you, unfortunately, [Leelah Alcorn] has a lot of company," Jarrett told the New York Times Thursday. "It's not the story of one young person. It is the story of countless young people who have been subjected to this."

Follow Allie Conti on Twitter

This story was co-published with the Marshall Project.

Anthony Ray Hinton was convicted of murdering two fast-food restaurant managers in separate robberies in the Birmingham, Alabama, area in 1985. The only evidence linking Hinton to the crime were bullets the state's experts claimed matched a .38 revolver recovered from Hinton's home. Time cards and other evidence suggested Hinton was working at his warehouse job at the time of the killings. There were no fingerprints. No eyewitness testimony linked Hinton to the killings.

Nevertheless, Hinton, then 29, was sent to death row.

Last year, after years of appeals by Hinton and his attorney, Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, the United States Supreme Court overturned Hinton's conviction and ordered a new trial. (Stevenson is on the Marshall Project's advisory board.)

Last month, three experts from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences concluded the bullets from the three robberies didn't match each other and could not be linked to the supposed murder weapon.

Last Friday, Hinton emerged from his Jefferson County cell, two months shy of his 59th birthday, a free man. In doing so, he became the 152nd person to be exonerated from death row in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

This week, Hinton talked to Corey G. Johnson of the Marshall Project about his 30-year quest for justice, how he kept his sanity during decades of solitary confinement, and his return to an unfamiliar world. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What's it like to be free, Ray?
I went for a walk this morning for the first time. I went where my mom used to live and walked around the yard and come back. It's hard to believe that I can go wherever I want to go without somebody talking about, Well, you can't go beyond that. It's kind of mind-boggling, to tell you the truth. I really haven't gotten quite used to it. I think I'm getting there, but I still have a ways to go.

What's boggling your mind?
I haven't seen the razor wire fence and the guards in the guard towers. Or the police riding around every so many seconds or just patrolling the prison. And [on death row] you're boxed in this like, playground, for normally an hour a day, and that's depending on the weather, if there's enough staff. We don't walk everyday. Sometimes we didn't walk for a week, two weeks because they don't have the staff to keep you outside in order for you to get some exercise. So now I'm able to just walk out without anybody saying, "Hey, it's time to go in."

I've been to the mall and I'm just getting comfortable with people just walking, so many people behind me and in front of me, because you don't have that in there. I don't know who's walking behind me, who's that in front of me or who's beside me. It makes me a little nervous.

And that nervousness is coming from the fear that somebody can harm you?
Yes, yes, yes.

On death row, we had our separate exercise yard. On death row, you walk with a certain amount of groups. For instance, the tier that I was on, you have a total of 28 inmates, and all of us know one another, so you've got some playing basketball, some playing volleyball, some walking around the yard. So you're not constantly where a whole lot of people are around you at one time, as opposed to when I went to the mall last Saturday. They were coming and going from every direction.

You've got to realize something, I stayed in a five-by-seven for 30 years, just about. I was in that cell by myself, no one else but me. I've got to get used to noise and the sounds of everything because it's fairly quiet on death row. Every man is in his own world. You've got some reading books, some drawing, some watching TV, some up under their headphones. We all did our time differently.

So, you get out here and there's people all over the place, making all kinds of noise, all up in your personal space.
Absolutely. I felt out of place, I was wondering who was really watching me. That first Friday, people were recognizing me and pointing at me, and in one way I was like, OK, they've seen me on the news, and I'm thinking, What are they thinking? Do they think: There's that man that got away with it, or, There's that man that was innocent? So I'm trying to eat, and every now and then, I would look up and see people just pointing at me and looking at me, and I want to say, "I'm a human being, yeah you've seen me on TV, I'm trying to adjust."

It took me a little while to remember how to use a fork. You know we don't use forks in the penitentiary. You get a spoon. And the spoon is plastic, so I haven't used a fork in 30 years. I just really tried to order something that didn't make me look like I didn't have any home training. It's like learning everything over again.

What did you order?
I got me some baked beans. We had baked beans down there, believe it or not. I got some fried chicken. I wanted some fish and hush puppies, and I really wanted a salad. I looked at the salad, and I couldn't never just like adjust to sticking the fork down, so I kinda put that back to the side. I just stayed with something that was natural to me—a piece of chicken. I picked it up with my hands and then bit it off. Pretty much what we would have in the penitentiary. We do have fried chicken occasionally. And like, say, every fourth of July, we'd have baked beans. I stayed with food I could get on death row.

Now that you're a free man, what do you want to do?
I would love to be able to be a motivational speaker for young black kids. If I could, I'd go to high schools throughout the state, or churches. I think that somebody that has been through what I've been through can look kids in the eye and tell them: "Even if you're obeying the law, you stand a greater chance of going to prison. I wasn't breaking the law, and I went to prison—not just to prison, I went to death row—for 30 years. And I'm here to ask y'all to go to school and get good grades, go to college and don't end up where I ended up. Once you get in there, you can't have mama, you can't call for your brother."

I want to talk to these young people in a language that they can understand, and I want to save as many as I can. I know I wouldn't be able to save everybody, but the person that goes to prison, if he ever heard me talk and he went to prison, he'll at least say, "A guy tried to tell me about prison." Nobody told me about places like that, and I feel like even on some Sunday, I want to be able to get in my car—once I get one, if I ever get one—and just go out try to be an inspiration to the young blacks, because I think they need it more than any other race, just living in Alabama.

In solitary confinement, a lot of people break up. They lose their mind, they give up, they commit suicide. Tell me about your experience. How you were able to hold onto yourself?
I come from a Christian background. My mom was strict. She always would instill in us that we don't need anybody to actually play with. Get outside and play by yourself. She taught me to lean on Jesus and no one else. And when I got to death row, believe it or not, I witnessed people hanging. I seen people cut their wrist. I seen blood leaking from under the cell. I seen men who hung themselves. And so I became a person that got wrapped up in my sense of humor, and I tried to make everybody that I came in contact with—from prison guard to the wardens to the inmates—I tried to make everybody laugh. I would see a guard come by and I would say, "Hey officer." He'd say, "Yeah Anthony, what can I do for you?" I'd say, "I need to run to the house for about an hour, and I'm gonna need to use your car. I'll bring it right back, but I need to go." And they would laugh.

You have to understand something: These crooked DAs and police officers and racist people had lied on me and convicted me of a horrible crime for something I didn't do. They stole my 30s, they stole my 40s, they stole my 50s. I could not afford to give them my soul. I couldn't give them me. I had to hold onto that, and the only thing that kept me from losing my mind was my sense of humor.

There's no man who's able to go in a cell by yourself, and you're there for 23, sometimes 24 hours a day, and you don't come out. There's not a human being that can withstand that pressure unless there's something greater inside of him. And the spirit was in me where I didn't have to worry about killing myself.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that Satan didn't come up on me and tell me, "Well you ain't never gonna get out of here." When I saw people going to be executed, every man in there would tell you he questions himself— is that ever going to happen to me? And when that little voice comes and says, "Well they're going to get you the next time," I would immediately tell him to get thee behind me, and I would turn on that switch of laughter. And I didn't ever turn it off. To this day, even though I'm free, I still haven't turned that sense of humor off.

If you could have seen me in those 30 years, you would have said this guy can't be human. This guy is crazy. This guy laughs and plays like he ain't on death row. I didn't accept the death penalty. You can't make me take the death penalty. You can give it to me, but you can't make me take it in my heart.

And you never did take it in your heart because you knew you were innocent?
I knew I was innocent. And I believed that the God that I served would not let me die for something that I didn't do. I live by one particular Bible verse: The book of Mark, chapter 11, verse 24: "What things you ever so desire, when you pray, believe in them, and you shall have them." And my prayer was: Lord, deliver me from this place.

And how often did you pray that prayer?
Every night. I woke up on it. I went to sleep with it on my mind. Every night. That's why I can tell you that I know it was the grace of God, and I know he heard my prayer.

Your case and what happened to you is one of the worst examples of injustice that I've ever seen.
One of the white men that came to carry me to jail said, "Oh I don't care if you did it or didn't do it, you're gonna pay the price for it." I said, "How is that, when I haven't done nothing?" And he said, "Well let me tell you, on account of you're black, you're going to have a white lawyer, a white judge, more than likely a white jury, and you have a prior conviction for theft of property. You know what that spells?" I said, "No sir." He said, "It spells Conviction. Conviction, Conviction, Conviction, Conviction."

Did you end up with an all-white legal situation?
The judge was white. Both of the prosecutors were white. But the jury was mixed. I might have had five blacks on the jury, but I'm not sure.

Do you think those prosecutors deserve to lose their license?
Most definitely they deserve to lose their license. And the reason I say that, Mr. Stevenson will tell you if you talk to him, the same prosecutor told the newspaper that if I ever got out, he would be waiting on me, with a brand new .38 pistol, and he would gun me down in the parking lot. It's all in the Birmingham News.

Were there any days behind bars where you felt overwhelmed or down?
Yes. When I got the word sent to me that my mother had passed in 2002. That was the saddest day of my life. Here's a woman that raised you, fed you, clothed you, and she passed. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye, I never got a chance to hug her. I didn't know where they were burying her, all of these things were on my mind, and that was the saddest thing. People say she died of a broken heart because she never could get over me. That worried me, and I believe it with every fiber of my body that she was never the same when I went to prison. She didn't understand, she wasn't very educated so she didn't understand. She would say, "When are these people going to let you go?" So that is a hurting thing. [Crying] They didn't just take me, but they did this to my mama.

How did you pull through that?
When they buried her, I had to fight even harder with that sense of humor because I knew she wouldn't ever want me to give up. I knew if anybody was going to be in God's ear, I knew that from the day my mother arrived in heaven, she was going to be on him constantly. And so I pulled myself back together and I put this wall around me. I just couldn't feel sad no more. I knew that one day God was going to deliver me. And I believed when I had done ten years, I believe God called my name and said, "Ray come forth." Twenty years went and he said, "Ray come forth." And when that 30 years came, he said, "Ray come forth," and then I came out the door just like Lazarus did. That's what I believe. So those devils, those liars, those racist people, they will get their just reward one day. I'm at home.

Tell me about the day you received the news the Supreme Court had ordered a new trial.
I can still hear my voice screaming on death row: "I got a new trial! I got a new trial!" I don't do drugs, period. Never have. But it was a high that you can't even explain. I felt like I was walking on water, I felt like I could walk on air.

Has anyone from the state of Alabama or associated with this case ever apologized to you?
No. I haven't even had a black senator or anyone from the legislature apologize. Nobody. Nobody who worked with the state has said, "I'm sorry for what happened to you." Nope. Nobody

Are you going to sue or seek compensation for what you went through?
I haven't talked about it, and Mr. Stevenson hasn't talked about it. Believe it or not, I would feel relieved if they would just come clean and somebody would say, "Hey, we're sorry." But you know, this is Alabama. I don't think we should have to make them pay me, but if that's what it takes and if that's what Mr. Stevenson thinks we should do, then that's what we'll do.

For other people who are on death row, or have been wrongfully convicted, what advice would you give them?
I would tell them just hold on, pray, keep the faith, work with their lawyer, question their lawyer, go to the law libraries whenever they could. Never give up. If you know you're there for something you didn't do, I would give them my favorite scripture, Mark 11:24, and I wouldn't want them to just read it. I would want them to believe it. And if they believe, I assure them they can walk out of there, just like I did. Because what's done in the dark will come to light.

How would you improve the criminal justice system given what you've experienced?
First of all, there needs to be a overhaul of racial diversity in these criminal cases. Second of all, there should be a committee that overlooks every case that ended with the death penalty to make sure the person got a fair trial and was given adequate funding to have experts. Most people don't realize, I went to trial for two capital murders. Now, the state had every available agency that it needed at its disposal. My lawyer didn't have anything like that. So the playing field isn't fair. Not even halfway level. You've got to make the playing field level. I think if the state is going to spend, let's say $500,000, then the defense should get $500,000. Imagine if I had had the money that my lawyer knew I needed to have experts. This case would have never got off the ground.

But now, here's the thing that most people don't understand. They say, "Well, you have a right to an attorney." They didn't lie about that. They'll give you any attorney. But is he going to work for you? Is he going to do for you what you need to do? I don't think so. Number two is, they tell you justice is blind. I am telling you that justice can see. She sees what race you are, she sees where you went to college, she sees economics, she sees everything there is to see. And it all depends on what she sees, depends on whether or not you go back home or not. And when she saw me, she knew I was going to death row.

But she didn't see the power of God.
No she didn't. And that was her biggest mistake.

This interview was conducted by Corey G. Johnson for the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization focused on the US criminal justice system. You can sign-up for their newsletter, or follow the Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter.

Last week, Jerry Brown, the governor of drought-stricken California, decreed that water usage in his state's cities and towns should be cut down by 25 percent. That's likely a necessary measure in a bona fide crisis—California has been in an official drought emergency since January 2014—but the order doesn't cover farms, which use 80 percent of the state's water. Agriculture makes up a small percentage of the California economy, but big-time farmers still wield a lot of political power, which may have helped them escape the restrictions placed upon everyone else.

Some activists are understandably pissed off about this. Liam Cronin, a PETA spokesman, told me that Brown's order is "kind of like treating a splinter when someone has cut your arm off." He has a different plan for fighting the drought: go vegan. On April 3, PETA sent a letter to Brown urging a ban on meat and dairy at all state-run institutions.

"It's irresponsible to restrict water to local homes, businesses, and schools while allowing its free flow to the water-intensive production chains of the meat and dairy industries," Tracy Reiman, PETA's Executive Vice President, wrote. "The production of a single pound of beef requires more than 1,500 gallons of precious water. Thirsty feed crops such as alfalfa are among the largest water users in California—yet they are cultivated to feed cattle, not California's residents."

It's not as if the drought has motivated PETA to change its stance on anything, of course. Cronin readily concedes that his group had been pushing for a boycott "well before the drought became a topic of conversation," adding that "it's kind of our thing." But the numbers seem to back him up. According to the most recent report from the Pacific Institute, from 2012, 47 percent of California's water goes toward the production of meat or dairy in some way.

And that's really saying something, because California grows some insanely thirsty plants. Almonds are California's little teardrop-shaped water-wasting whipping boys right now, and they make pretty good villains, since they require about one gallon of water per nut; almond crops are reportedly responsible for three times the water consumption per year as the entire city of Los Angeles. An infographic in the LA Times about water-wasting foods showed that vegetarian staples like chick peas take a lot of H2O to grow.

But even that Times report pointed out that "cutting food derived from animals from our diet can significantly help water conservation efforts." According to food historian James McWilliams's analysis of a 2012 report on worldwide water usage in agriculture from the University of Twente in the Netherlands, growing a ton of vegetables costs 11,300 gallons of water, compared to 38,000 gallons for a ton of root crops like potatoes—but it takes an incredible 121,000 gallons to produce a ton of pork, and 145,000 gallons for a ton of beef. A different study out of that same university found that a soy burger's water footprint is an eye-popping 7 percent that of a beef burger.

But it's not just meat. The dairy industry is shockingly inefficient in terms of its water usage. About a year ago, Mother Jones crunched numbers on a few different milk-style beverages. Granted, almond milk stacked up poorly at 23 gallons of water per glass, compared to soy milk's nine gallons. But despite all the recent demonization of almonds, milk was even worse at 30 gallons of water per glass.

It's not that I want to ban dairy farms and ranches. There are surely many places where cows get treated well on their way to becoming burgers or giving us milk. But the California dairy industry is built around a high-density model that's been copied by Saudi farmers. "The Californian model is simply that you don't have to grow all your grass and raise your own feed crops, you can import feed and water and all your input and house a thousand head of dairy cattle on just 40 acres of land," dairy economist Leslie Butler told CNN in 2013.

California cows generally eat alfalfa brought in from other Golden State farms. Alfalfa is a moderately water-intensive crop, but hungry cows demand so much of it, it consumes an astounding 15 percent of the state's water. Bizarrely, even in the midst of an historic drought, alfalfa, is being exported in huge quantities to markets in Asia, which means California is essentially sending away 100 billion gallons of water in the form of alfalfa.

So what can we do about this? You can start by becoming a vegan.

There all sorts of arguments for becoming a vegan under normal circumstances, but the drought surely gives us an extra incentive to avoid eating meat and dairy—the production of these foods is sucking the state dry. And while you may not agree with PETA on everything, they've got the numbers on their side when it comes to the water wasted on cows.

There are, of course, finer points about being a vegan, like whether to wear leather—which is usually made in China or India—and whether oysters really count. Those issues might not link up with the drought. You don't even have to call yourself a "vegan" if that term conjures up some overly self-righteous associations for you; if you like, you could even merely cut way down on meat and milk rather than eliminating those things from your life entirely, which is what many of America's non-vegetarian food gurus already do.

If there's one lesson we can learn from the broader trend of climate change, it's that our consumption habits have an effect on the world. Brown's decree limited water usage is step in the right direction—we need to cut back in the face of severe drought. But it's not just enough to look to our lawns and toilet-flushing habits; we need to look in our grocery carts too.

Follow Mike Pearl on Twitter.

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The cops marching through UQAM behind a spray-painted message. All photos by Willie Wilson

Last night, I arrived at l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) shortly before the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) invaded UQAM's J.-A.-DeSève pavilion as student journalists took over my Twitter feed with their protest coverage.

On Wednesday, there had been reports of fighting between students who wanted to go to class and protesters favouring a boycott, and the university had obtained an injunction to stop protesters from blocking building entrances.

Between 300 and 500 UQAM students had taken control of the J.-A.-DeSève pavilion UQAM building on Ste. Catherine St. and Sanguinet, creating a party atmosphere with an underbelly of tension. Throughout Wednesday evening more and more students congregated and eventually turned the building into a fortress as a steel drum provided the rhythm for the erection of barricades.

When I got there, the police, looking more akin to a military force, were gradually converging en masse on the building from all four corners.

The doors to the pavilion were wide open, and after my friend and I circled on our bicycles we decided to investigate for ourselves as anti-austerity protesters buzzed within the building that they had been holding for three days.

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Police walking toward UQAM

Brandishing crowd-dispersal weapons and other artefacts in their militarized arsenal, the SPVM have spent much of the past 24 hours suppressing student activists who were hard picketing classrooms at UQAM.

Inside the pavillion, "Occupe" was emblazoned in red on a corridor wall, a giant flag reading Lutter c'est oser vaincre, or "Fighting is to dare to overcome," draped over the stairs. Photographers were shooting clandestinely after the mostly masked inhabitants had implored journalists to leave, and grassroots political groups set up recruitment points in front of a truly anarchic backdrop.

Windows had been smashed, barricades blocked almost every artery, graffiti adorned many walls, and the floors were scattered with candy that had no doubt been liberated from vending machines.

There was a palpable sense of both nervousness and stubbornness, which will most likely live on in Quebec students after last night. There was undoubtedly a lot of unnecessary damage. It was carnage; this was an expression of rage toward provincial governmental policy.

Percussion instruments created a wall of sound after Dead Prez had filled the airwaves, and some students moved to the music. Others acted in some sort of loose formation to brace themselves for the SPVM's entrance as they strode through the building as its rightful owners.

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Police lined up outside in advance of their clash with the students

The scene reached a fever pitch around 11:30 PM, when a garrison of SPVM officers in riot gear stormed the J.-A.-DeSève pavilion. They clunked their batons against their metal shields, poised to protect themselves from the unarmed students as they sprinted into the building in an almost farcical fashion amid the fumes of several tear gas cannisters. I had excused myself shortly beforehand, feeling an impending sense of doom and tear gas.

Immediately after storming the building, police flushed a large group of around 100 protesters out with the haste, efficiency, and competency of a reasonably priced toilet plunger.

Not too many students were left inside when the SPVM stormed the building—breaking a large window to avoid the barricade, which proved impregnable. Most had left via the back entrance to stage a spur-of-the-moment protest.

Shouting slogans like "A nous la rue" ("The street is ours"), "This is what democracy looks like," and various anti-austerity chants, the protestors' demands were obvious.

Huddled in groups of dozens, the SPVM sent a forward team to take aim and fire tear gas canisters from the tip of their formation. Then, as a ubiquitous cloud enveloped the fleeing protesters, who ran from Ste. Catherine St. until Rue Beaudry into the Gay Village, the police—banging their batons on their shields and firing several noise grenades—charged towards the scattered mass of sputtering students. They chased students down several side streets to ensure their dispersal.

As the police trudged back towards UQAM's campus, they swiftly joined the effort to sweep through the no longer student-occupied building, a building which had previously resembled a festival with a spirit of both anarchic chaos and a genuinely positive, peaceful atmosphere.

Follow Mattha Busby on Twitter.

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Blackwater mercenaries are icons of the post-9/11 era. Photo via Flickr user Chuck Holton

Major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan might be long over, but Western countries—including Canada—are still buying services from the infamous company formerly known as Blackwater, a company often described as a mercenary army.

VICE Canada has recently learned Academi, the latest iteration of the private defence contractor linked with a string of war crimes and atrocities in Iraq, is still training Canadian soldiers from the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM)—a wing of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) overseeing all commando operators.

"Yes, the Academi does provide a small portion of CAF members with highly unique and specialized training," said Ashley Lemire, a Department of National Defence spokesperson, in a statement to VICE Canada. "CANSOFCOM personnel conduct precision shooting and defensive driving training at the Academi facility in North Carolina. This type of training is a critical component of basic special operations training."

Part of the reason for using these services is cost benefit, according to DND. Not only do the many types of Academi facilities not exist in Canada, the CAF, at times, takes advantage of the company's instructors because Canadian personnel are often "not available due to a high operational tempo."

"Utilizing facilities such as the Academi for short periods of time is the most cost-effective alternative to meet the training requirements necessary in order to maintain CANSOF's high level of proficiency and readiness," said Lemire, adding it is a positive impact on CAF to prepare for some of the most hostile environments in the world. "This type of [Academi] training is a critical component of basic special operations training."

Joint Task Force Two (JTF2) is Canada's version of Delta Force, while the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) is the Green Berets of the CAF—both falling under the command of CANSOF, the users of Academi services.

Aside from training, government contract sites show Canada recently spent over half a million dollars to purchase what's described as a "Portable Mechanical Target Trailer system" to "support simultaneous training of up to ten (10) individuals" from Academi.

The latest contract records indicate CANSOF was the end user of the technology, and the government confirmed that Canadian special forces soldiers requested up to five different units, helping them "gain and maintain the highest standards of marksmanship."

VICE Canada also found another separate DND contract from last year, worth nearly $50,000, for miscellaneous items.

"The Portable Mechanical Target Trailer is a steel target system designed to help develop pistol and carbine shooting skills at ranges up to 300 metres," said Lemire. "The trailers contain a number of targets including steel 'Pie Plate,' 'Turner,' and a number of fixed targets. The trailers are designed to be towed behind a vehicle or can also be used in a static location."

It's expected Academi instructors will train CANSOF personnel on the safe-use of the target trailer and "best practices in order to maximize the benefits of the various target systems."

In the past, Canada sent soldiers to Blackwater for training before deployment in Afghanistan, something the government defended as appropriate to properly train soldiers before a dangerous mission.

CANSOF is the same army wing responsible for overseeing the current training mission of Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers in Iraq, which has resulted in one casualty and gunfights between Canadian commandos and Islamic State militants.

Academi did not respond when asked if CAF members were still trained by their mercenaries, or whether or not the Canadian government buys security services for its officials on foreign tours.

The company, which still resides in North Carolina, didn't provide details on the military items purchased by the CAF, either.

In recent years, Academi was controversially hired by the Greek government during the domestic turmoil following harsh austerity measures—while it continued to be in service in places like Afghanistan, even after its third name change.

Follow Ben Makuch on Twitter.

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All photos by Keith Race

Police intervention and arrests at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) on Wednesday have led to more protests today and calls for the rector's dismissal.

Tensions escalated when Montreal Police made 22 arrests Wednesday afternoon after protesters clad in black masks and donning umbrellas entered and disrupted classes.

There has been a series of protests on campus despite an injunction that prevents students from interrupting classes. Some student faculties at UQAM are on strike to condemn the provincial government's adoption of austerity measures.

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A line of professors protected students by standing in front of them during what was a tense standoff between protesters and police officers on university grounds.

"There's definitely some freedom that is taken away from those students, and the fact there are masked individuals is because UQAM has started to criminalize dissent," said Jill Pittman, a civilian who participated in the occupation.

In the evening, a sit-in consisting of professors, students, and Montreal activists that formed in the J.-A.-DeSève building at UQAM resulted in barricaded doors and points of entrance. The atmosphere was festive, at first, among the about 300 people present.

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Robert Proulx, the rector of UQAM, emailed staff and students asking for a calm return to classes Wednesday evening during the occupation.

"As rector, and I have said this during many occasions and I say it again today, acts of intimidation have no place at UQAM," said Proulx in the email.

After midnight, the situation quickly devolved as Montreal police forced their way into the building while protesters outside vandalized police cars.

"Obviously people get very scared when you see 60 militarized police officers with gas masks and guns coming towards you. There was definitely some fear and people did leave," said Pittman.

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The intervention resulted in the arrest of one protester and four tickets distributed to others. The building remains closed while employees clean up dismantled property, shattered glass, and ransacked vending machines.

The situation and use of police intervention on campus has resulted in demands for Proulx's resignation.

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On Thursday morning, a press conference involving students and professors criticized the decisions of Proulx. A silent protest was also held on campus to condemn UQAM's actions.

"It is the administration, above all, who has the power to defuse the conflict," said Marcos Ancelovici, a sociology professor at UQAM.

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Political science student Fannie Poirier accused the administration of fanning the flames. The university's decision to expel nine students for strike involvement and hire additional security has been subjected to criticism from teachers and students.

"We're being intimidated in our classes by Garda and private security agents hired by UQAM," said Poirier.

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Quebec Education Minister François Blais stands by UQAM's decision to ask for police intervention during the pair of protests on Wednesday. In a press conference on Thursday, Blais said the government would not intervene in the protests on campus but that he supports Proulx.

"The issue at UQAM is one of security and safety," said Blais.

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He also said that Proulx had the support of the entire Quebec population. He denounced the actions of protesters, saying that the blocking of access to classes should not take place at a university.

Protests on and around UQAM's campus have continued into Thursday evening with one group of protesters blocking the exit from a classroom, before marching three blocks away and being kettled by the cops.

Follow Kalina Laframboise on Twitter.

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Rand Paul speak to Fox News's Sean Hannity. Photos by the author

As the excitement over Rand Paul's presidential campaign announcement died down Tuesday, downtown Louisville was once again quiet, slipping back into sleepy normalcy after the afternoon's momentary media circus. The news trucks had packed up, the protesters had dispersed, and Sean Hannity was on his way back to New York. The new candidate was long gone too, trailed by a herd of reporters who will follow him like locusts for the next 18 months. Anyone left in the city was hiding from a torrential thunderstorm that had suddenly opened up over Western Kentucky.

But at one dingy pizza parlor, the party hadn't stopped yet. Undeterred by the weather or the Senator's departure, die-hard fans gathered Tuesday night for Liberty Karaoke, a singalong campaign fundraiser at which giddy young conservatives could blow off steam and celebrate Paul's entry into presidential politics. As I walk in, two dudes in red Stand With Rand shirts are yelling a Rage Against the Machine song out into the restaurant next to a screen projecting how much Paul's campaign "money bomb" has raised so far. The bartenders looked on, appearing alternately amused and like they want to run for the hills.

The crowd is relatively sparse, although organizers swear at least 50 people have come through over the course of the night. Most of them are college-aged and cluster together in groups of threes and fours eating hush puppies and perusing the song list. When I walk over to one group, they happily pull out a chair and launch into explanations about why Rand is the only candidate that speaks to "their generation." Each of their reasons vary—foreign policy, surveillance, minority outreach—but each issue gets nods all around the table.

At the bar, a fresh-faced kid tells me he recently graduated from college in Indiana and is on his way to Austin, where he hopes to get a job working for the Paul campaign. Further down the bar, one guy warns his friend against talking to a reporter: ""Here we are trying to change the country, trying to do something amazing, and a lot of it is undercover," he tells me. "And I'm sure you want to know about that."

Another activist, having just wrapped up a particularly horrifying rendition of Korn's "Freak on a Leash," asks the waitress to put on Fox News so he can watch Paul's interview with Hannity. "I was smart enough to stand behind the Senator the whole time," he informs her.

"It's about us wanting to get people together after Senator Paul launched his campaign, to socialize and hang out with each other," said Sebastian Torres, an Eastern Kentucky University student who tells me he helped organize the event. "Also to get people together to let them know that the campaign is really starting, to fundraise—and basically to see how the grassroots would react."

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Young Rand Paul volunteers

The brainchild of libertarian activist Matt Hurtt, Liberty Karaoke is a weekly ritual for conservatives in the DC area that raises money for politicians sympathetic to the so-called Liberty Movement. For Paul's campaign launch, the idea went national, with at least 60 karaoke events popping up in more than 35 states on Tuesday to coincide with the announcement. Paul even made his first official campaign stop at one of the sing-alongs, stopping by a bar in New Hampshire to mingle with fans. "We started reaching out to friends in different cities," Hurtt says, "and pretty soon we were just getting organic requests."

Liberty Karaoke, like Paul "money bombs," are an obvious outgrowth of the Ron Paul campaign. Leaderless, apparently spontaneous displays of grassroots activism like this were a defining feature of both of Ron Paul's campaigns, driving his relative ascension from a figure on the libertarian fringe into a national political figure.

Surprisingly, Ron Paul's name never comes up Tuesday night. In fact, despite his presence on stage for official announcement, the elder Paul—his ideas, his fans, his slogans—was remarkably absent from this son's presidential campaign launch. There were no End the Fed signs in the audience, no reflexive chanting, no guys trying to show me their Declaration of Independence back tattoos. The Senator didn't even mention his father by name, referring instead to his "parents" (the line nevertheless drew prolonged cheers from the crowd.)

Members of the Paul team take issue with the idea that Ron Paul was somehow silenced, or ignored. The old guard was there, I was told, just more difficult to distinguish among the Senator's new supporters.

"They weren't absent," said Jesse Benton, a longtime Paul advisor who ran Ron's 2012 campaign and has been tapped to run the Super PAC supporting Rand's 2016 run. "They just have a lot of company these days. I was on stage and saw and heard plenty of Liberty activists and all the old chants. But the Liberty activists have been joined by businessmen, professors, teachers, and so many other Americans who want government off their backs."

As Paul kicks off his own presidential run, it makes sense that he would want to distance himself—or at least damper—the weirder elements of the Ron Paul Revolution, and also from their higher-proof version of capital-L Libertarianism. Since being elected to the Senate in 2010, and particularly since his father retired in 2013, Paul has taken pains to mainstream his political positions, couching his ideology in language the Republican Establishment might understand and, he hopes, even like.

But Paul's more moderate positions on libertarian issues—particularly those related to military intervention and foreign aid—have drawn the ire of some of his father's supporters. In a Los Angeles Times op-ed titled " 'Stand with Rand Paul?' But where, exactly?," writer and activist Justin Raimondo, editor of the libertarian news site antiwar.com, criticized the Senator for his shifting views, particularly on foreign policy.

"I'm a libertarian and I was, as recently as a few months ago, enthusiastic about Paul," Raimondo wrote. "He started out as 'a different kind of Republican'— a characterization his campaign never tires of invoking. But Paul's response to the barrage of attacks unleashed by GOP mandarins has been to deny this difference. This strategy threatens to nullify his attempt to broaden his appeal beyond conservative voters even as he alienates his libertarian base."

With libertarians skeptical that Paul is pandering to the GOP Establishment, and Establishment types concerned that he secretly harbors his father's more hardcore positions on foreign policy, the Kentucky Senator risks entering the Republican primary without a natural base among the party's voters. "That's always been the challenge for Rand Paul," said GOP strategist Rick Wilson. "How do you take an iconoclastic guy and put him in a presidential primary that isn't always rewarding to iconoclastic guys?"

Whether Paul will able to bring together this libertarian rainbow coalition is an open question. It's clear, however, that these Rand Paul voters don't exist yet.

As he made clear in his speech Tuesday, Paul is banking on appealing to an invisible majority of Americans whose views on the size and role of government lean libertarian, even if the voters themselves don't identify as such. "This message of liberty is for all Americans," Paul told an audience in Louisville. "Americans from all walks of life. The message of liberty, opportunity and justice is for all Americans, whether you wear a suit, a uniform or overalls, whether you're white or black, rich or poor."

Whether Paul will able to bring together this libertarian rainbow coalition is an open question. It's clear, however, that these Rand Paul voters don't exist yet. The challenge for him now—and for every Republican presidential campaign—will be to convince those people who might be swayed by the Kentucky eye doctor and his libertarian ideas, and then give them the right pitch.

There are lots of ways a campaign can accomplish that. But for now at least, some of that task falls on the wide-eyed Stand with Rand fans who have been tailing Paul for months, and who flocked to Liberty Karaoke nights across the country to celebrate his nascent White House run.

At DiOrio's Pizza and Pub in Louisville, the activists are eager—if perhaps not wholly prepared—for the challenge. "He believes in civil liberties, not just for white Americans, but for all Americans," red-headed 22-year-old Brandon Shepherd tells me fervently, pulling his chair in closer. "He's trying to change the face of the party. He's not the same Republican candidate that you've seen since the Bush administration. And the Establishment hates that."

Follow Grace Wyler on Twitter.

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Photo via WABC-TV New York

On Friday, two plainclothes New York City police officers raided Yemen Deli and Grocery in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, arresting two workers there for selling untaxed cigarettes. But according to the store's manager Ali Abdullah, one of the cops—a detective named Ian Cyrus—noticed a Dutch Masters box under the counter. When he opened it, he discovered nearly $3,000 in cash inside, and—Abdullah is alleging—quickly stuffed the money into his coat pocket.

What Cyrus apparently didn't realize is that Abdullah has a 12-camera security system installed in his store. After noticing the secret stash had been lifted, he checked the footage. "I was thinking it was a robbery, because I never seen the video," Abdullah told a local news reporter.

The Daily News reports that Cyrus has been suspended pending an investigation, and that his supervisor, Sergeant Fritz Glemaud—among the most-sued cops in NYC—has been placed on modified duty.

The deli raid comes nine months after an order from Chief of Department Philip Banks to crack down on untaxed cigarette sales set off the chain of events that led to Eric Garner's death on Staten Island via police chokehold. The NYPD did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the incident, whether that directive remains in place, or whether it was part of a larger initiative. (Banks has since resigned.)

In New York State, 56.9 percent of cigarettes are smuggled. That's because they cost more here than anywhere else in the country, with a $4.35 tax per pack, and the prices are even higher in the city because there's an additional $1.50 tax per pack tacked on.

NYPD Internal Affairs and the Brooklyn DA's office are both reportedly investigating Friday's bust.

"When I look at my system, I see the officer took the money," Abdullah, the store manager, said. "It's crazy."

Follow Allie Conti on Twitter.

Airport security looms large in the American imagination. Since the 9/11 hijackings, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security procedures have become more onerous—some say invasive—and the feds have developed a massive intelligence-gathering operation that spans agencies like the NSA, FBI, and local police departments. It's routine to see large military men with assault rifles at airports. Tubes of toothpaste are not as innocuous we once thought, and open water bottles are most certainly unchill.

But an Associated Press investigation published Thursday reveals that it's still incredibly easy to break onto airport runways—and even board planes about to take off:

In all, an Associated Press investigation found 268 perimeter security breaches since 2004 at airports that together handle three-quarters of US commercial passenger traffic. And that's an undercount, because two airports among the 31 that AP surveyed didn't have data for all years, while four others—Boston's Logan and the New York City area's three main airports—refused to release any information, citing security concerns.

Until now, few of these incidents have been publicly reported. Most involved intruders who wanted to take a shortcut, were lost, disoriented, drunk or mentally unstable but seemingly harmless. A few trespassers had knives, and one man who drove past a raised security gate at O'Hare in January had a loaded handgun on the vehicle console. He told police he was bypassing train tracks.

None of the incidents involved a terrorist plot, according to airport officials.

The investigation uncovered five cases where intruders actually made it onto airplanes, suggesting it might be time to focus less on what happens inside airports and more on their surroundings. Then again, as the AP notes, these security breaches didn't result in anything truly awful happening, which means it may not be necessary to achieve the same level of security as, say, Israel, where Ben Gurion airport is essentially a military base. (While the TSA handles everything that goes on between the moment you step foot in an airport and get off at the other end, perimeter security is left to a mix of airport cops and private security guards.)

The AP report did not cover airports in New York City because officials with the Port Authority refused to disclose the number of breaches, but it seems likely that those airports have had similar security lapses involving people who had no idea what they were doing—like Craig Gallo, the New Jersey boat captain who crashed into the runway at La Guardia airport last year while indulging in a drunken threesome.

It's too early to tell whether public officials will respond by heightening security, but Bay Area Congressman Eric Swalwell, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, wasted no time in denouncing the situation.

"We're very vulnerable to people wandering around the airport grounds before they're confronted," he told San Francisco's CBS affiliate.

Follow Matt Taylor on Twitter.

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Photo by Danika Maia

This article originally appeared on VICE UK.

The Eurovision Song Contest, or ESC, is an old-school, pre-internet-era version of virtually every [Insert Country] Got Talent—and just like that show, it used to feature loads of grumpy experts, bad soundstage designs and people who couldn't necessarily sing. But then, two things happened: One, we collectively got into guilty pleasures and two, the gay community embraced the show. Since then, the ESC has become a modern day club kid party—without actually doing anything much different than before.

Last year, Austria's cross-dressing artist Tom Neuwirth—a.k.a. Conchita Wurst—won the contest and brought the ESC to Vienna (for the first time since 1967). But before the old Imperial city, with its soft spot for tacky costume parties, gets invaded by the dressed-up hordes, we wanted to know what the people of the contesting countries actually think about their musical representatives.

We asked each VICE office in Europe to give us the lowdown on their local entrants.

UNITED KINGDOM

Electro Velvet—"I'm Still in Love with You"
A lot of old cynics are finding reasons to criticize the choice of the clinically enthusiastic duo Alex Larke and Bianca Nicholas—a.k.a. Electro Velvet—as this year's UK entry. Yes, Bianca once auditioned so unimpressively on The Voice she barely adjusted Will.i.am's eyebrows. Granted, Alex's credentials come from being a pound-shop Mick Jagger in a Rolling Stones tribute band. Agreed, their song "I'm Still in Love with You" is the anxious and desperate sound of a small child lost in a cabaret themed M&S advert. And fine, it's weird that it was written by the guy who composed the theme song to Jim'll Fix It.

But—let's be real here—it's the delusions of fame, troubling past and epic publicized failures that make Electro Velvet the most quintessentially British Eurovision entry the 21st century has ever seen.

POLAND

Monika Kuszyńska—"In the Name of Love"
No amount of rock-ballad-swells-at-the-finish could diminish the sad truth that this is the most dull song ever recorded. It sounds like it was written for the funeral of hordes of Eurovision fans who are likely to die of boredom halfway through it.

The song aside, we can't condone the watching of the video on pure principle. You can't just go and make a music video with the sheer intention of making its viewers feel like assholes. Here we are, minding our own business, silently judging this Celine Dion caricature for sitting on the floor singing and taking selfies, and in the end we see in reality that she's in a wheelchair. That's information that needs to be delivered in the first scene, people, come on.

AUSTRALIA

Guy Sebastian—"Tonight Again"
Yep, Australia competes in the European song contest. No idea why. To give a little context to our entrant, Guy Sebastian won our first series of Australian Idol. His reign was memorable for his famous 'fro, a Beyonce cover, and an unshakeable commitment to his virginity.

Even by the standards of the pre-2000s-mean-meme-revolution era, our country has gone uncharacteristically easy on Guy. Despite a lackluster career after Idol, he has remained a heavyset industry darling. And what better way to honor a baby-faced, inoffensive, almost-celebrity than sending him out for Eurovision. Good luck Guy! You're a proud example of our nation's commitment to the middle of the road.

FRANCE

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Lisa Angell—"N'oubliez Pas" (Never Forget)
Last year's French contestant was probably the most embarrassing thing our country has had to endure since the national team refused to get off a bus in 2010. But this year, the French people are finally hoping to get their revenge by betting on a solid heartfelt banger, courtesy of singer Lisa Angell. Her song "N'oubliez Pas" is about that one time soldiers destroyed her childhood village, how it was all fun and games before the war and why we should refrain from trusting the Germans. If this doesn't crack the Eurovision Top 20, then we probably have no choice but to bring back Céline Dion.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Marta Jandová and Václav Noid Bárta—"Hope Never Dies"
Marta Jandova is the daughter of local proto-garage rock 'n' roll hero Petr Janda, who was amazing in the 1960s but has done nothing but suck since then. Marta is a B-grade celebrity in Czech Republic and sings in a German band called Die Happy.

Vaclav Noid Barta, her Eurovision colleague, used to be cool amongst small town youngsters, when he was in a nu-metal band called Dolores Clan. The best thing about that particular band was that it prevented Vaclav from making nonsense like "Hope Never Dies."

ROMANIA

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Voltaj—"De La Capat" (All Over Again)
Romania's entry for 2015's ESC boasts the return of has-been 90s pop band Voltaj, who are now trying to milk the ever-trendy social issue of Romanians abandoning their children at home in order to work abroad.

It's kind of like UK's Channel 4's The Romanians Are Coming, only without the slightest trace of irony. The fact that the first half of their song is sung in Romanian pretty much sums up just how little they could be bothered trying to win the competition.

THE NETHERLANDS

Trijntje Oosterhuis—"Walk Along"
Back in the 1990s, Trijntje Oosterhuis was one of Holland's biggest stars, riding the tail end of the Dutch-house trend with her band Total Touch. Since then, she's matured her sound into something infinitely more boring, and let's face it, crap. Her entry track "Walk Along" comes across a bit like a recording of someone's mom drunkenly making their way home from a 1990s revival party. It's really annoying, but it's also really catchy.

BELGIUM

Loic Notte—"Rhythm Inside"
Loic Notte is barely old enough to enter this—or any—competition. "Rhythm Inside" sounds like Lorde after you've accidentally left her album on repeat for an entire workday: irritating.

SWEDEN

Måns Zelmerlöw—"Heroes"
Måns Zelmerlöw rose to stardom by scoring the coveted fifth-place spot on the Swedish version of Idol. He's since become a television presenter and an all-around poster boy for pre-teen girls to drool over. He's been a top candidate in pre-ESC competition Melodifestivalen three times but this is the first time he actually won it, and managed to do so with the biggest margin of votes in the history of the competition.

SPAIN

Edurne—"Amanecer" (Sunrise)
Edurne became famous after participating in a Talent Show called Operación Triunfo, a sort of mash-up of Pop Idol and Big Brother. The prize of this program being to participate in the Eurovision. She didn't win that time but that doesn't matter because here she is. That said, Spaniards have zero confidence in her, and this Evanescence ripoff isn't doing anything to help the fact. If you don't speak Spanish, count yourself lucky, because the lyrics are painfully kitsch.

DENMARK

Anti Social Media—"The Way You Are"
Denmark's contribution to this year's Eurovision glitter extravaganza is four-piece Anti Social Media. Aside from the obvious wit that went into their snarky, nauseatingly post-modern name, they've managed to capture the hearts of the Danes with their blinding smiles and ever so wholesome pop-rock anthem " The Way You Are." Basically, it's a track loosely held together by budding teenage boys, oblivious choir girls, and a lead singer who looks like Josh Homme if he'd gone to business school.

GERMANY

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Anne Sophie—"Black Smoke"
First things first: We don't know one single person that actually gives a shit about Anne Sophie. The singer, who already has a botched acting Hollywood career on her CV, only secured a Eurovision spot because her closest competitor backed out. Not a hugely dignified way to qualify, is it?

GREECE

Maria Elena Kyriakou—"One Last Breath"
Greece's entry for Eurovision 2015, "One Last Breath," is by Cypriot singer Maria-Elena Kyriakou. The song is about, believe it or not, a woman who has had her heart broken. It's all begging her man to come back to her—yawn. Nope, our hopes aren't particularly high for this bit of audio narcolepsy.

SERBIA

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Bonjana Stamenov—"Beauty Never Lies"
Bonjana, or the Serbian Arethra Franklin as she is apparently known, will be Serbia's first English-singing entrant. Her overly enlightening Eurovision biographyboasts mad lute skills, renaissance singing, crocheting, and an insatiable interest in cooking. Not sure if that'll help her chances but it's always good to know.

FINLAND

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät—"Aina mun pitää" (I Always Have To)
Pertti Kurikan Nimipäiväta are a Finnish punk rock band formed in 2009. All four members have some sort of disability. The band rose to nationwide fame in the 2012 documentary The Punk Syndrome. In Finland, their work has raised a series of important questions on how people with disabilities are perceived. Their winning song "Aina mun pitää," which means "I always have to," is the shortest song to ever compete in the history of Eurovision Song Contest.

Switzerland

Mélanie René—"Time to Shine"
Mélanie isn't bad or anything. It's just that she's even less colorful than Swiss cheese. Her song, "Time to Shine," is just as boring and replaceable as the previous thousand Swiss ESC entries.

Considering all the media backlash Austria seems to have with hosting the song contest this year, it almost seems like a conscious decision to send somebody who's a really safe bet for those who don't want Switzerland to host anytime soon.

MOLDOVA

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Eduard Romanyuta—"I Want Your Love"
Moldova's entry for ESC 2015 is a run-of-the-mill 80s love song. Which is fine and all that but what isn't run of the mill is the fact that Eduard is singing in Ukrainian, is supposedly financially sponsored by Ukraine, and claims to be some sort of human bridge that will unite Ukraine with the Western world. Fancy that.

AUSTRIA

The Makemakes—"I Am Yours"
Word on the street has it that Austria's National Broadcast Company—ORF—can't financially afford to win and host the ESC a second time. So it's not really that much of a surprise that people voted for a rather uncontroversial rock band in the public pre-ESC election. Optimists say the Makemakes won because they actually know how to play music and Austria wants to represent itself with a modest song at its home game. Then again, some say they won because the lead singer looks like Conchita Wurst.

There's probably some truth in all of these theories. Either way, it seems like a lot of people are fascinated by skinny jeans (one of the most distinctive visual properties of the Makemakes). It's almost like they've never even seen men wearing tight pants before. Also, local journalists can't seem to stop mentioning their extraordinary facial hair. Seems like regular guys with beards are still a sensation in Austria, even in a post-Wurst era.

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Still of David Lynch playing Gordon Cole on ABC's 'Twin Peaks.'

The internet threw a fit of BOB-like proportions on Tuesday when David Lynch announced he had pulled out of directing episodes for the upcoming Showtime revival of Twin Peaks . "I left because not enough money was offered to do the script the way I felt it needed to be done," he tweeted. Cast members even came together in a video montage to express just how un– Twin Peaks–y Twin Peaks would be sans Lynch. ("Twin Peaks without David Lynch is like a log without its bark," said Log Lady Margaret Lanterman—or, shall we say, like a Log Lady without her log?)

The internet may not remember, however, that of the original 30 episodes, Lynch only directed six and co-wrote four. He did direct Fire Walk with Me, the 1992 movie that was supposed to give fans closure at the time, though about the best thing that can be said of it now is that David Bowie is in it.

So would a Lynch-less Twin Peaks really be the worst thing to happen to Twin Peaks since the Black Lodge? (Keep in mind that Lynch has already co-written all of the new nine episodes with Mark Frost.) Amongst YouTube's cache of dudes soulfully playing the theme song on their guitars (and one on an accordion), cats bathing themselves to the theme song , the Sesame Street parody "Twin Beaks" featuring Cookie Monster, Silent Drape Runners music videos, Lego "Twin Bricks," and gamers recreating Twin Peaks in Minecraft, there are clips from the actual series. We've embedded a few below. Can you correctly identify which ones Lynch directed? For the answers, scroll down towards the bottom.

1) The scene where a fight breaks out during Laura Palmer's autopsy

2) The scene where Ben and Jerry (ha! I just got that joke) Horne go apeshit over some sandwiches

3) The scene where Mike, the one-armed man, gets rhymey

4) The scene where Major Briggs and the Log Lady bond over a bear claw

5) The scene where the Horne brothers reminisce in some prison bunk beds about their first childhood sexual stirrings

6) The scene where Cooper bitches to Diane about some raucous Icelanders

7) The scene where Agent Cooper dreams of Laura Palmer and a dwarf in a red room

1. Answer: Season 1, Episode 3, "Rest in Pain," directed by Tina Rathborne

If curmudgeonly forensic pathologist Albert Rosenfield calling Sheriff Truman "a hulking boob" and then getting punched in the face seems Lynchy to you, then you'd be wrong. This iconic moment wasn't even written by the auteur but is brought to you by Harley Peyton.

2. Answer: Season 1, Episode 2, "Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer," directed by David Lynch

If it involves food, it's a good bet that Lynch probably directed/wrote it. Cooper exclaiming, "This must be where pies go to die" is also him. But apparently you shouldn't try to eat the pie at the real-life Double-R Diner since it is abysmal. But perhaps that's to be expected, considering the joint has been sold, robbed, and set on fire since the show went off the air.

3. Answer: Season 2, Episode 13, "Demons," directed by Lesli Linka Glatter

Mike waxing poetic that "He is BOB, here for fun. / He wears a smile—everybody run," then discussing the nature of parasites fits within the ethos of the series but also wasn't even written by Lynch. Bonus points if you got it right and also spotted Lynch here in the role of the hard-of-hearing FBI boss Gordon Cole.

4. Answer: Season 2, Episode 9, "Coma," directed by David Lynch

Classic Lynchy uncanniness and humor here. ("You wear shiny objects on your chest. Are you proud?" and "I do not introduce the log.") My log has something to tell you, though: This was directed by Lynch but written by Harley Peyton.

5. Answer: Season 2, Episode 15, "Drive with a Dead Girl," directed by Caleb Deschanel

While the brothers eating sandwiches was all Lynch, this tender scene of grinning boys watching Louis Dubrowski doing her sexy flashlight dance on the hook rug is brought to you by Caleb Deschanel and Scott Frost. "Lord, what's become of us?"

6. Answer: Season 1, Episode 5, "Cooper's Dreams," directed by Lesli Linka Glatter

This one was a bit of a giveaway if you were reading the credits. Otherwise, Diane, please inform them that this is 100 percent non-Lynch and just proves the point that it's often hard to tell which clips he directed.

7. Answer: Season 1, Episode 2, "Zen or the Skill to Catch a Killer," directed by David Lynch

OK, also an easy one—the surreal dream sequence is written and directed by Lynch, of course. In fact, a majority of the iconic moments from the show are in this episode (spoiler alert—though you have had 25 years to watch it, c'mon): the introduction of the Giant, the reveal of Leland as BOB, the finale in the Black Lodge, Major Briggs passing along the wisdom that "The owls are not what they seem).

How many did you score? It's clear that many minds (not just one) were involved in the making of Twin Peaks and Showtime could feasibly produce the third season without Lynch if need be. But, really, for such a beloved show, they should just pony up the money so he can follow through with his vision and produce it the way he sees fit.

Personally, I hope for the following from Twin Peaks in 2016:

1. Ray Wise. Leland is dead, but Ray Wise rocks. Just look at him singing "Mairzy Doats." Maybe he can pop up in the Black Lodge at some point?

2. Absolutely no mention whatsoever of nemesis Windom Earle. He talks to himself and laughs maniacally while playing chess. At this point, can't we just permanently ban villains from playing chess? Unless your name is "Ingmar Bergman," you do not get to have a character playing chess in a film/show.

3. No stereotyped depictions of minority characters. As much as I think David Duchovny looks hot in drag and as much as he wants in on the new eps , DEA Agent Denise was played for laughs and being trans is not a joke. Also, Hawk explaining that the White and Black Lodge come from Native American myth in order to give the concepts faux-spiritual legitimacy, only for Coop to swoop in and figure out the mystery, is uncomfortable.

4. No Ben Horne freaking out and restaging Confederacy battles with Warhammer figurines.

5. Cooper eating lots of stuff and commenting on it .

6. Everything. Everything else that made the show so great.

Follow Mary South on Twitter.

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