Author: Admin

NPR – by Tovia Smith

A scandal in a Massachusetts crime lab continues to reverberate throughout the state’s legal system. Several months ago, Annie Dookhan, a former chemist in a state crime lab, told police that she messed up big time. Dookhan now stands accused of falsifying test results in as many as 34,000 cases.

As a result, lawyers, prosecutors and judges used to operating in a world of “beyond a reasonable doubt” now have nothing but doubt.   Continue reading “Crime Lab Scandal Leaves Mass. Legal System In Turmoil”

Deal Book NY Times – by JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG AND BEN PROTESS

JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, ignored internal controls and manipulated documents as it racked up trading losses last year, while its influential chief executive, Jamie Dimon, briefly withheld some information from regulators, a new Senate report says.

The findings by the Congressional investigators shed new light on the multibillion-dollar trading blunder, which has claimed the jobs of several top executives and prompted an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.   Continue reading “JPMorgan Faulted on Controls and Disclosure in Trading Loss”

Federal Times – by SEAN REILLY 

Some 60,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and other employees will be furloughed for up to 14 days, according to notices dated Thursday. The furloughs could begin April 21 and last through the end to the fiscal year in September, according to the notice, which attributes the move to across-the-board budget cuts that began taking effect March 1.   Continue reading “60,000 Customs, Border Patrol agents face furloughs”

NPR – Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The head of a U.N. team investigating casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan declared after a secret research trip to the country that the attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the Pakistani government made clear to him that it does not consent to the strikes — a position that has been disputed by U.S. officials.   Continue reading “UN Says US Drones Violate Pakistan’s Sovereignty”

Reuters – by Emily Flitter and Stella Dawson and Mark Hosenball

(Reuters) – The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.   Continue reading “U.S. to let spy agencies scour Americans’ finances”

New York Daily News -by CHELSIA ROSE MARCIUS AND SHANE DIXON KAVANAUGH

Protesters enraged over the fatal shooting of a teenager by police poured into Brooklyn streets for a third straight night Wednesday, pitching bricks, bottles and garbage in furious clashes with cops.

At least 18 demonstrators were arrested along Church Ave. in East Flatbush. Police struggled to control a hostile crowd that broke away from a planned peaceful vigil for Kimani (Kiki) Gray, 16, killed by police on Saturday night.   Continue reading “Enraged protesters battle cops in Brooklyn streets during third night of rioting after it’s revealed that 16-year-old Kimani Gray was shot in the back”

The Daily Caller – by Nicholas Ballasy

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told The Daily Caller that his department is “making reductions everywhere” to deal with the sequester, including furloughing Federal Aviation Administration workers.

But less than seven months ago, LaHood said he was “very proud” of putting 65,000 people to work with $48 billion in federal stimulus funds — a figure that amounted to $738,461 per job.   Continue reading “After proudly bingeing on stimulus dollars, Ray LaHood now says his Transportation Dept. is cutting ‘everywhere’ for sequester”

PJ Media – by Bridget Johnson

With Office of Management and Budget fact sheets in hand, President Obama warned of dire cutbacks and consequences should sequestration go into effect March 1.

The cuts happened, White House tours have been halted, and the administration swears it’s not overreacting to the bare-bones budget directive.   Continue reading “Government advertises for nearly 2,600 new jobs since sequestration”

Mass Private I

Monterey Park, CA – On a cold and drizzly morning at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau, a 25-year-old social media dispatcher is sitting at a computer station in a dimly lit room skimming social media feeds on three large screens.

The tech-savvy civilian dispatcher is part of the bureau’s new, 24-hour Electronic Communications Triage or eComm Unit that monitors social media and Internet content, shares information with the public and trains sheriff’s officials to use such platforms.

“They’re watching social media and Internet comments that pertain to this geographic area, watching what would pertain to our agencies so we can prevent crime, help the public,” LASD Capt. Mike Parker said. “And now they’re going to be ramping up more and more with more sharing and interacting, especially during crises, whether it’s local or regional.”

Since launching last September, the eight-member eComm unit has identified a suicidal teen on Instagram, intercepted bomb threats made on Twitter and discovered plans for hundreds of illegal drug parties via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Continue reading “Police are spying on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, PInterest & other social media platforms.”

Washington’s Blog

Trillions In Subsidies to the Giant Banks Are Continuing to This Day

Preface: Bloomberg’s recent estimate that the big banks are subsidized to the tune of $83 billion dollars per year created tremendous controversy.  But – as shown below – the real number is many times larger.   Continue reading “Top Banking Analyst: Subsidies to Giant Banks Exceed $780 Billion Dollars Per YEAR”

LA Times Editorial

The U.S. needs to keep a close watch on the growing threat of home-grown extremist groups.

There are, in increasingly frightening numbers, cells of angry men in the United States preparing for combat with the U.S. government. They are usually heavily armed, blinded by an intractable hatred, often motivated by religious zeal.   Continue reading “Peril from ‘patriots’”

Fox News Insider

Police are searching for a suspect wanted in connection with a series of shootings that took place Wednesday morning in upstate New York. Six people are believed to have been shot, and four of those people were killed, police say.

Village of herkimer NY 3 separate shootings .. The first of three shootings took place in a house in the village of Mohawk, where a house went up in flames after shots were fired. The Fire Department responded to that scene. The suspect, however, then is believed to have fled to the neighboring village of Herkimer, and proceeded to shoot people at both a local barber shop and an oil lube shop.   Continue reading “New York Manhunt Underway for Suspect in Shooting Deaths in Herkimer, Mohawk Villages”

Consumerist – by Chris Morran

Remember way back in 2010 when people were up in arms about Google collecting and storing data — including e-mails, texts, browsing histories, and other fun, private stuff — while tooling around taking photos for Google Street View? Well, the multi-state lawsuit over that mess has finally been settled.   Continue reading “Google To Pay States $7 Million For Privacy Violations Related To Street View”

CNN – by Catherine E. Shoichet

The dark claim on the day Hugo Chavez died took many by surprise.

Someone, Venezuelan government officials said, may have deliberately infected him with cancer.

Critics dismissed the accusation — first floated by then-Vice President Nicolas Maduro on March 5 — as an eleventh-hour attempt to distract Venezuelans and drum up popular support as leaders prepared to announce Chavez’s death.   Continue reading “Scientists will study possible Chavez poisoning, Venezuelan leader says”

Huffington Post – by Teresa Carson, Reuters

PORTLAND, Ore., March 12 (Reuters) – Police stormed a motel room in Oregon on Tuesday to end an eight-hour standoff and arrest an ex-convict accused of killing his grandparents after they had thrown him a party to celebrate his release from prison, authorities said.

The suspect, Michael “Chadd” Boysen, 26, was taken into custody by police in the coastal town of Lincoln City, 76 miles (122 km) southwest of Portland, at about 7 p.m. local time suffering from self-inflicted knife wounds, Police Chief Keith Kilian said.   Continue reading “Michael Boysen Captured: Police Storm Oregon Motel, Arrest Fugitive Accused Of Slaying Grandparents”