AP – by Stephen Braun

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not just Wall Street banks. Most companies and groups that paid Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to speak between 2013 and 2015 have lobbied federal agencies in recent years, and more than one-third are government contractors, an Associated Press review has found. Their interests are sprawling and would follow Clinton to the White House should she win election this fall.

The AP’s review of federal records, regulatory filings and correspondence showed that almost all the 82 corporations, trade associations and other groups that paid for or sponsored Clinton’s speeches have actively sought to sway the government — lobbying, bidding for contracts, commenting on federal policy and in some cases contacting State Department officials or Clinton herself during her tenure as secretary of state.   Continue reading “Firms that paid for Clinton speeches have US gov’t interests”

Think Progress – by CARIMAH TOWNES

Traditionally, hate crime laws in the U.S. protect victims attacked for fixed or perceived traits, including race, religion, color, gender, and sexual orientation. But some Louisiana lawmakers want their state to become the first to officially expand its hate crime law to protect police as well.

Facing no opposition, a Louisiana House committee advanced a “Blue Lives Matter” bill Wednesday, to increase the penalty for attacking current or retired law enforcement officers, as well as firefighters and emergency medical practitioners.   Continue reading “Louisiana Lawmaker Wants To Make It A Hate Crime To Attack A Cop”

Tech Dirt – by Mike Masnick

When you testify before Congress, it helps to actually have some knowledge of what you’re talking about. On Tuesday, the House Energy & Commerce Committee held the latest congressional hearing on the whole silly encryption fight, entitled Deciphering the Debate Over Encryption: Industry and Law Enforcement Perspectives. And, indeed, they did have witnesses presenting “industry” and “law enforcement” views, but for unclear reasons decided to separate them. First up were three “law enforcement” panelists, who were free to say whatever the hell they wanted with no one pointing out that they were spewing pure bullshit. You can watch the whole thing below (while it says it’s 4 hours, it doesn’t actually start until about 45 minutes in):   Continue reading “Why Did Congress Let Law Enforcement Officials Lie About Encryption?”

MassPrivateI

Coming to a city near you, police state paranoia has designed another new app called the ‘French Quarter Task Force‘ (FQTF) which features a drop down menu to make it easier to report “suspicious people”.

FQTF’s “New Crime Reporting App” section, boasts about how easy it is for citizens to Uber-In their crime reports, using a drop pin on a map to report ‘suspicious people’.    Continue reading “Police State Paranoia apps make it easier to report ‘Suspicious People’”

Huffington Post

(Reuters) – Five ex-New Orleans police officers pleaded guilty on Wednesday to various charges in connection with the killings of two unarmed people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a federal prosecutor said.

The former officers were convicted in 2011 over an incident in which police fired on unarmed people walking over the city’s Danziger Bridge in September 2005. A retrial was later ordered due to prosecutorial misconduct.   Continue reading “Ex-New Orleans Cops Plead Guilty In Post-Katrina Killings”

RT

President Barack Obama has said the classified pages of the 9/11 Commission report that do not “compromise major national security interests” may “hopefully” be soon released, but argued against any potential legal action against Saudi citizens.   Continue reading “Obama: ‘If we let Americans sue Saudis for 9/11, foreigners will begin suing US non-stop’”

Denver Post – by John Aguilar

The Douglas County School District plans to arm its security staff with 10 semiautomatic rifles designed to provide a high-powered defense in the event of a shooting or other violent incident.

Richard Payne, director of security, said he made the decision to spend more than $12,000 on the Bushmaster “long guns” in January after noting his security officers, equipped only with handguns, were training “hand to hand” with the sheriff’s office, which used the larger weapons.   Continue reading “Douglas County schools to issue semiautomatic rifles to security staff”

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

Here we go: three invasive searches — each more invasive then the one preceding it — without even the slightest shred of the Fourth Amendment intact by the end of it. Radley Balko has the details.

Here’s what happened: Lakeya Hicks and Elijah Pontoon were in Hicks’s car just a couple of blocks from downtown Aiken when they were pulled over by Officer Chris Medlin of the Aiken Department of Public Safety. Hicks was driving. She had recently purchased the car, so it still had temporary tags.
Continue reading “Police Officer Attempts To Set Record For Most Constitutional Violations In A Single Traffic Stop”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has introduced legislation to stop President Barack Obama from imposing a stealthy gun ban on an estimated 75,000 Social Security beneficiaries.

Breitbart News previously reported last July that Obama’s gun ban would hit Social Security beneficiaries who are labeled as having “mental health” issues. That category is so broad that it includes people who need help to handle personal finances. Continue reading “Rand Paul Pushes Bill to Block Obama’s Social Security Gun Ban”

Reuters

A former New York City police officer avoided prison on Tuesday for the killing of an unarmed black man in an unlit stairwell, prompting demonstrations outside a Brooklyn courthouse.

State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun sentenced Peter Liang to 800 hours of community service, after prosecutors recommended six months of home confinement.   Continue reading “N.Y. officer avoids prison for fatal shooting of man”

NextGov – by Mohana Ravindranath

A new online portal would let scientists access vast amounts of genomic data from patients involved in heart, lung, blood and sleep research studies.

The hub, called GenPort, is supposed to help researchers look into the results of several studies at once, tracking individuals in different trials who might share the same characteristics, known as “synthetic cohorts.”   Continue reading “Federal Researchers Build Massive Online Database Of Genomic Data”

ABC News

Two overdue library books have landed a married couple in Tecumseh, Michigan, afoul of the law. Not only have the husband and wife been fined more than $200, but they were arraigned in court Thursday, each charged with larceny of rental equipment.

“We were appalled, totally appalled,” Catherine Duren, 44, told ABC News today. “We didn’t commit a crime.”   Continue reading “Michigan Couple Arraigned on Larceny Charges for Late Library Books”

MassPrivateI

The Illinois Supreme court overruled an Appeals court that said making a U-turn to avoid a police checkpoint (roadblock) is not suspicious.

“A divided panel of the appellate court agreed and found that, absent any other suspicious activity, the U-turn itself did not provide specific, articulable facts that a criminal offense had been or was about to be committed.”    Continue reading “Police are allowed to stop motorists who avoid checkpoints”

Intellihub – by Ramola D.

Note from editor: The subsequent article is written by a well-educated mother who has a history of contributing to her community in a positive manner and has also been involved in activism. She, like many of us, is now a target of illegal harassment, being funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars.

This operation is multi-level (federal, state and local) and also involves many different federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies. These activities constitute outrageous government conduct and crimes against humanity. Below you can find the detailed account of “Ramola D.,” who has experienced the terrors of extra-judicial targeting first-hand.   Continue reading “Targeted Individuals: Testimony of current government covert torture and control experiments”

NBC News

Sheriff Nick Finch let a pistol-packing man out of the Liberty County, Florida, jail, a decision that led state authorities to charge Finch with a crime — but also made him a hero to a radical and growing movement among sheriffs across the country.

It’s a movement that doesn’t just reject gun control — it encourages law enforcement officers to defy laws they decide are illegal. And it sometimes puts police on the same side as “sovereign citizens,” a fringe group that the FBI considers one of the most serious domestic terrorism threats.   Continue reading “Constitutional Sheriffs: The Cops Who Think the Government Is Our ‘Greatest Threat’”

Professional Troublemaker – by Jonathan Corbett

If you ask a random person living in NYC how hard it is to get a gun license, they will probably tell you that if you want a license to carry a gun, you have to be a cop, work as a security guard, or “know someone” (i.e., be rich and have donated to the right politician or organization).  The thing is, I couldn’t find anyone who didn’t fit into one of those categories who had actually tried, and in light of semi-recent Supreme Court rulings that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right, not limited to “militias,” I figured it was about time to put it to the test.   Continue reading “Is It *Really* Impossible To Get A Gun License in NYC? (Part I)”

Pacific Liberty Blog – by Ethan Blevins

Friday, Judge Beth Andrus held a hearing to determine whether inspections of Seattle residents’ garbage violates the Washington Constitution’s right to privacy. We relied on a Washington Supreme Court case that said government agents cannot sift through garbage cans without a warrant. That includes garbage collectors. They have an invitation to collect–not to inspect.   Continue reading “Washington Supreme Court ruled cops can’t sift through garbage cans without a warrant”

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

Hey, it’s only someone’s freedom at stake. Why try harder? (via Fusion.net)

A lab technician for the State Police allegedly faked results in a drug case, and has drawn into question 7,827 criminal cases on which he worked, according to state officials.
Continue reading “Over 7,800 Prosecutions Questioned After NJ Lab Tech Caught Faking Drug Test Results”