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Ars Technica – by Sean Gallagher

A National Security Agency document published this week by the German news magazine Der Spiegel from the trove provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shows that the agency had full access to voice, video, text messaging, and file sharing from targeted individuals over Microsoft’s Skype service. The access, mandated by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant, was part of the NSA’s PRISM program and allowed “sustained Skype collection” in real time from specific users identified by their Skype user names.   Continue reading “Newly published NSA documents show agency could grab all Skype traffic”

USA Today – by Henry Molski

CINCINNATI — An off-duty police officer accidentally shot himself Saturday on his way back from dinner with his wife in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati police said in a news release that Officer Darryl Jouett of the Erlanger (Ky.) Police Department was in an elevator when he tried to adjust the weapon in his holster and shot himself in the stomach.

The duty-issued .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun discharged and the bullet ricocheted off the walls of the elevator, police said.   Continue reading “Off-duty police officer accidentally shoots himself”

Fox News

CHALLIS, Idaho –  A 4.9 magnitude earthquake in a remote Idaho county triggered rock slides that blocked some road lanes Saturday but did not cause any major damage or injuries.

Hours later around midnight, quakes of magnitude 4.0 and 3.6 struck in the same area, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.   Continue reading “4.9 magnitude Idaho earthquake triggers rock slides, no injuries”

Reason – by Scott Shackford

The Miami New Times has investigated years of Taser use by police officers in South Florida and has found all sorts of problems. Contain your surprise. Reporter Michael E. Miller documents officers using them against the homeless and mentally ill to force compliance, not because the officers are being threatened in any way. And some of them are attempting to conceal their misuse of Tasers from their departments.   Continue reading “Being Homeless in Miami May Lead to a Tasering”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Despite the anecdotal evidence plastered daily on financial media channels of a scruffy, young, upstart working from his parents’ basement and creating the next great social, mobile, analytics, cloud app worth a cajillion dollars, from nothing but tween eyeballs, the sad reality is the ‘American Dream’ for young Americans is over. As The WSJ reports, the share of people under age 30 who own private businesses has reached a 24-year-low, according to new data reflecting a generation struggling to find a spot in the workforce. While there are numerous possible reasons, one professors worries about the systemic aspect as “the fear of failure is the measure we should be most concerned about.”   Continue reading ““Peak Dream” – The Death Of The Young American Entrepreneur”

Police State USA

The FBI has proven that it can legally dodge even the sparse amount of judicial checks and balances on its ability to search the records of Americans.  After being denied twice in FISA Court for an order to collect records from an individual, a secret report reveals that the Bureau subsequently wrote its own order and went through with the surveillance, regardless of the court rejection.

This revelation was found in a recently declassified document, titled “A Review of the FBI’s Use of Section 215 Orders for Business Records in 2006″ (PDF).  It was written in 2008 by the DOJ Office of the Inspector General but not declassified until December 2014.   Continue reading “FBI bypasses denial in FISA court by writing its own search warrants”

From uninformedLuddite’s house in the bush.

Raw Story – by Travis Gettys

Police fatally shot an Alabama “sovereign citizen” Tuesday during an altercation at an animal shelter.

Investigators said 30-year-old Robert Earl Lawrence became disorderly as he attempted to turn over a stray animal about 12:30 p.m. to the Dothan City Animal Shelter when an employee told him he could not leave without showing identification.   Continue reading “Police fatally shoot ‘sovereign citizen’ after he refuses to show ID when turning over stray animal”

Fox News

JERUSALEM –  Jewish settlers attacked American consular officials Friday during a visit the officials made to the West Bank as part of an investigation into claims of damage to Palestinian agricultural property, Israeli police and Palestinian witnesses say.

The incident is likely to further chill relations between Israel and the United States, already tense over American criticisms of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and Israeli perceptions that President Barack Obama is only lukewarm in his support of Israeli diplomatic and security policies.   Continue reading “Israel police say Jewish settlers stone US consular officials during West Bank visit”

Boing Boing – by Xeni Jardin

In what looks to many in the information security community like a bizarre face-saving gesture with little basis in reality, the Obama administration today announced new sanctions on 10 senior North Korean officials and several organizations.

Earlier allegations by the U.S. that the North Korean government was behind the hacking of Sony Pictures have been met with increasing skepticism by infosec specialists around the world. The FBI hasn’t released anything of substance publicly that bolsters its claims that Kim Jong-Un is to blame, but that isn’t stopping administration officials from delivering on President Obama’s promise of a “proportional response” against the regime.   Continue reading “Obama administration: North Koreans probably not responsible for Sony Hack, but hey, let’s sanction them anyway”

Town Hall – by Leah Barkoukis

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a one-year pilot program into law on Friday that tests welfare recipients and applicants suspected of substance abuse.

Those suspected of using drugs will be tested using an “empirically validated substance abuse screening tool.” If the results come back positive, they’ll be referred to a treatment program and will have to continue submitting periodic drug tests. When those tests come back negative, their benefits can be restored. Those who refuse to comply will be suspended from receiving benefits for a six-month period.   Continue reading “Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder OKs Drug Testing Welfare Recipients”

ABC News

California on Friday will start taking driver’s license applications from the nation’s largest population of immigrants in the country illegally.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles expects 1.4 million people will seek a license in the first three years of a program aimed at boosting road safety and making immigrants’ lives easier.   Continue reading “Illegals to Seek California Driver Licenses”

USA Today – by Doug Stranglin

The two bodies found in the back of a pickup truck have been identified as a North Carolina couple allegedly shot by a father and son from Texas who went on a multi-state crime spree that ended in the bizarre roadside shooting of two West Virginia police officers.

The rampage unraveled Thursday when the two Lewisburg officers pulled over a white Chevy SUV that allegedly had stolen plates from North Carolina. After stopping the vehicle, a man later claiming to be the first driver’s father pulled over nearby in a red pickup truck, according to N.C. Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins Jr, WRAL-TV reports.   Continue reading “Bodies found in pickup after shootout with W. Va. cops”

Global Post

(Reuters) – Two police officers exchanged fire with a hidden gunman early on Thursday morning in South San Francisco, California, then arrested a man on charges of attempted murder, police said.

Two South San Francisco officers responding to reports of gunshots at 3 a.m. PST were fired upon by a hidden gunman, the South San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.   Continue reading “California man arrested, charged with shooting at police”

CNN – by Kevin Conlon

When the cops showed up to a subdivision Wednesday night in Oldsmar, Florida, it wasn’t to break up a loud party or for any sort of bacchanalian revelry typical of New Year’s Eve.

No, Mario Gomez called 911 to report something far more sinister and ghastly: His brother had just cut off their mother’s head with an ax.   Continue reading “Son decapitated mother over ‘nagging,’ Florida sheriff says”

NBC News – by Shamar Walters

Two suspects are in custody after two police officers were shot during a traffic stop in West Virginia. Authorities in Lewisburg said both officers are expected to survive and that one was hit in the rib but was wearing a protective vest, and the second officer was grazed by a bullet.

The names of those taken into custody were not immediately released. The shooting happened after Lewisburg police stopped a vehicle with stolen plates on Interstate 64 and were fired upon, Donna Hinkle, director of administration at the Greenbrier County 911 Center, told NBC News.   Continue reading “Two West Virginia Cops Shot During Vehicle Stop”

ABC News – by Michael S. James

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo died today at age 82, multiple sources confirmed to ABC News.

Cuomo, a Democrat who served as governor of the Empire State from 1983 to 1994, is the father of current New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo was sworn in to a second term as governor today, becoming the first Democrat to enter a second term as New York governor since his father, who reportedly was too frail to attend the ceremony.   Continue reading “Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo Dead at 82”

Sent to us by the author, Gary Bertnick

As the sun rises faithfully
And dramatic colors streak across the sky
Eyes brighten as the day becomes suddenly richer and fuller
A breath of fresh air fills the lungs
While a light breeze moves around the body
New strength invigorates
The mind so much clearer
Creative thoughts easily move and laugh   Continue reading “A New Man”