New York Times – by Ron Nixon

WASHINGTON — Leslie James Pickering noticed something odd in his mail last September: A handwritten card, apparently delivered by mistake, with instructions for postal workers to pay special attention to the letters and packages sent to his home.

“Show all mail to supv” — supervisor — “for copying prior to going out on the street,” read the card. It included Mr. Pickering’s name, address and the type of mail that needed to be monitored. The word “confidential” was highlighted in green.   Continue reading “U.S. Postal Service Logging All Mail for Law Enforcement”

Fox News

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:

Egypt’s top military commander says the army is now in full control of the country and President Mohammed Morsi has been replaced by the chief justice of the constitutional court as the interim head of state.

He made the announcements in a Wednesday night speech — the latest twist in an all-out power struggle inside Egypt that Morsi’s national security adviser is describing as a military coup.   Continue reading “Top Egyptian military commander says Morsi ousted as president”

Tech Dirt – by Tom Cushing

On what was presumably a hot, sweltering night in the nation’s Texas’ capital, a senator’s epic filibuster temporarily derailed an abortion bill. This all went far from smoothly as time stamps were changed post-vote, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (whose pet legislation was being talked over) briefly threatened to have media members arrested for “inciting a riot” and a 74-year-old woman was arrested for assaulting an officer.   Continue reading “Texas Trooper Shoves 74-Year-Old Then Arrests Her For Felony Assault When She Hits Him With Her Purse”

july-4th-lakewood-banStory Leak – by Anthony Gucciardi

The City of Lakewood Ohio will be celebrating July 4th with mandatory bag searches and a ban on all Fourth of July related fun — including fireworks, drinks, grills, pets, sports, and just about everything else.

The anti-independence regulation is a real testament to the current state of our nation, which now stands for heavy bans on all forms of person freedom. But I would have never actually known about this insane ban if it weren’t for a Storyleak reader who sent me the amazing image above. And following my inquiry as to where the image came from, doubting that any city could be so draconian and downright wicked, I was amazed when the reader went and linked me to a page on The Lakewood Observer website which listed all of the same nonsense with official quotes from the city.   Continue reading “Ohio City Bans Fireworks, Drinks, Grills, and Enacts Mandatory Bag Searches for July 4th”

AllGov – by Noel Brinkerhoff

While the Obama administration decides whether to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, Americans have no way to find out exactly where more than a thousand miles of pipe would be laid.

That’s because neither the U.S. government nor the Canadian company pushing the pipeline will reveal the proposed route.

What is known is that the pipeline would travel about 1,700 miles while crossing six states: Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.   Continue reading “The Mysterious Route of the Keystone Pipeline”

21st Century Wire – by Thierry Meyssan

While the world focuses on Washington’s pursuit of NSA whistleblower Ed Snowden, another much more high ranking member of the US power structure has been indicted for espionage this week…

US General James Cartwright was regarded by Washington insiders as ‘Obama’s General’, and now he’s facing prosecution for blowing the whistle on ‘Operation Olympic Games’ which planted the Stuxnet and Flame viruses in Iranian nuclear facilities in order derail Iran’s civilian nuclear program. At closer examination, it appears that Cartwright’s revelations didn’t so much harm US interests per say, but they hindered Israeli ambitions towards a war with Iran.   Continue reading “Beyond Snowden: US General Cartwright has been indicted for espionage”

edward snowdenGuardian – by Miriam Elder

Edward Snowden has withdrawn his request for political asylum from Russia, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, further adding to the uncertainty over the US whistleblower’s future.

A spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin said Snowden withdrew the request after Putin’s statement making clear that he would be welcome only if he stopped “his work aimed at bringing harm” to the United States.   Continue reading “Edward Snowden withdraws Russian asylum request”

American’s Journey

Our Crisis

We do indeed live in “interesting times.”  But are we interested in the right things?  What are the “right” things we should be interested in?  After all, it seems that in an ostensibly free country with “liberty and justice for all” bandied about as a foundational credo – the opposite has somehow become the status quo – that is – if YOU or I my dear citzen – dare to become interested in the “wrong” things.   Continue reading “Saving America: Turning Lemons into Lemonade”

Article imageNation of Change

Something is looming in the shadows that could help erode our basic rights and contaminate our food.  The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has the potential to become the biggest regional Free Trade Agreement in history, both in economic size and the ability to quietly add more countries in addition to those originally included.  As of 2011 its 11 countries accounted for 30 percent of the world’s agricultural exports.  Those countries are the US, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Viet Nam.  Recently, Japan has joined the negotiations.   Continue reading “Trans-Pacific Partnership and Monsanto”

Huffington Post – by Hunter Spirit

A University of Virginia student says she was put in jail after buying cookie dough, ice cream and a pack of bottled water that state agents mistook for beer, according to multiple reports.

Elizabeth Daly, 20, says she was in her car in the parking lot of a Charlottesville, Va., grocery store in April when she was approached by seven plainclothes agents from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, one of whom she says pulled a gun on her, according to the Charlottesville Daily Progress.   Continue reading “Elizabeth Daly, College Student, Says She Spent Night In Jail After Buying Bottled Water”