Author: Admin

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

The leaked TPP draft, pried loose from the “open and transparent” grip of the USTR, is generating plenty of commentary all over the web. After getting a good look inside, it’s little wonder the USTR felt more comfortable trying to push this through under the cover of darkness.

As the criticism of the push for IP maximalism mounts, the treaty’s defenders have leapt into the fray, hoping to assure everyone who wasn’t previously aware of the treaty’s contents (which is pretty much everyone) that there’s nothing to see here and please move along.    Continue reading “TPP Defenders Take To The Internet To Deliver Official Talking Points; Inadvertently Confirm Opponents’ Worst Fears”

The Columbus Dispatch – by Patrick Temple-West and Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration proposed new rules yesterday to rein in tax-exempt groups that have transformed the political landscape by harnessing hundreds of millions of dollars in anonymous donations to influence elections.

The proposal would alter definitions in the tax code that allow limited campaign and fundraising activities by the tax-exempt groups, some of which have been at the center of allegations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative tea party groups for extra scrutiny.   Continue reading “New rules proposed for some tax-exempt groups”

ABC News – by PABLO GORONDI Associated Press

The price of oil dropped to near $93 a barrel on Monday as a deal between Iran and six world powers on the country’s nuclear program made it more likely that sanctions choking Iranian oil exports will be lifted.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was down $1.44 at $93.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract fell 60 cents to close at $94.84.   Continue reading “Oil Prices Drop Sharply After Iran Nuclear Deal”

CNN – by Catherine E. Shoichet and Rafael Romo

Mexican authorities set free a former teen cartel hit man on Tuesday and sent him back to the United States.

The release of Edgar Jimenez Lugo, a U.S. citizen known as “El Ponchis” or “The Cloak,” comes less than three years after a Mexican court found him guilty of torturing and beheading at least four people and kidnapping three others as an operative for the South Pacific Cartel.   Continue reading “Mexico: Teen hit man freed, sent to U.S.”

The Courant – by Jenny Wilson

CNN – by Catherine E. Shoichet

Gail Sandidge rushed to help when screams rang out during a stabbing at a Texas medical center on Tuesday.

Horrified patients and family members watched as a man stabbed the nurse in the chest.

“She was just saying…’I’m hurt. He got me,'” witness Jana Jackson told CNN affiliate KLTV. “And that’s when we realized there was blood all on the front of her scrubs.”   Continue reading “Nurse dies protecting patients in Texas surgical center stabbing”

Dallas News – by Robert Wilonsky

One week after workers removed the X that marked the spot on Elm Street where President John Kennedy was gunned down on November 22, 1963, it has returned.

And, says 1500 Marilla spokesman Frank Librio, the city has no intention of removing this X or any other — at least, for the time being.   Continue reading “In Dealey Plaza, the X that marked the spot on Elm Street where Kennedy was killed has returned”

Fox News

Three teenage sisters have been rescued from an Arizona home after reportedly being held captive for two years.

Police tell TucsonNewsNow.com the girls, ages 12, 13 and 17, were discovered after the younger two escaped to a neighbor’s house and claimed their stepfather had threatened them with a knife.   Continue reading “3 teenage sisters reportedly held captive in Arizona home for 2 years”

American Free Press – by Keith Johnson

While the National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal continues to grab national headlines, the equally egregious intelligence gathering on United States citizens by Israeli security firms has virtually flown under the radar.

A recent article in Rolling Stone magazine, entitled “Meet the Private Companies Helping Cops Spy on Protesters,” comes close to scratching the surface by identifying the four major security contractors that have been aggressively hawking their invasive surveillance products at various trade shows and police conferences throughout the nation. However, they fail to mention that at least two of those companies are owned and operated by members of a foreign nation with a long and notorious history of spying on the U.S. government and its citizens.   Continue reading “Israeli Data Spies Have Eyes Focused on U.S. Citizens”

Sydney Morning Herald

The Justice Department has all but concluded it will not bring charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing classified documents because government lawyers said they could not do so without also prosecuting US news organisations and journalists, United States officials say.

The officials stressed that a formal decision has not been taken and a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks remains impanelled, but they said there is little possibility of bringing a case against the Australian, who has sought asylum in the Ecuadoran embassy in London, unless he is implicated in criminal activity other than releasing online top secret military and diplomatic documents.   Continue reading “Julian Assange unlikely to be charged in US”

The Daily Sheeple – by Lily Dane

Courageous passengers stopped an armed robber on a Metro bus in Seattle last night.

Around 6 pm, a man wearing pantyhose over his face got on the bus, sat down, and kept to himself for a little while.

When the bus reached the 600 block of California Avenue SW, the man stood up, pulled out a gun, and began robbing passengers.   Continue reading “Passengers Take Down Armed Robber on Metro Bus”

NBC News

Drivers could possibly be pulled over for snacking, smoking or putting on make-up behind the wheel under a bill that has been advanced in the New Jersey Assembly.

The proposed law would fine drivers found to “engage in any activity unrelated to the operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that interferes with the safe operation of the vehicle.”   Continue reading “New Jersey Proposal Bans Snacking, Smoking Behind the Wheel”

All those gun control laws sure seem to be working.  Any day now, Oakland will be as safe as Chicago.  When they catch the shooters, no doubt they will have all passed a background check to get their guns.

Fox News

OAKLAND, CALIF. –  Seven people were wounded Monday evening in a shooting that extended across several blocks in East Oakland, officials said.   Continue reading “7 shot and wounded near Oakland park, police say”

Statesman – by Ciara O’Rourke

The parents of a Cedar Creek High student who is in a coma after he was shocked by a Taser at the school this week are fearful he could die, a lawyer for the family said Friday.

Adam Loewy, who is representing 17-year-old Noe Nino de Rivera’s family, said the teen has a traumatic brain injury as a result of falling and hitting his head after a Bastrop County sheriff’s deputy shocked him with a Taser during a fight at the school Wednesday.   Continue reading “Lawyer: Family of Cedar Creek student shocked by Taser worried he will die”