Illinois Policy – by Amy Korte

On Sept. 5, two lawsuits were filed in Cook County Circuit Court alleging that Wow Bao, a restaurant chain owned by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., and gas station and convenience store chain Speedway LLC violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA, by collecting and storing people’s biometric, or biologically derived, information without complying with the consent and notice procedures mandated by the law.

In the suit against Wow Bao and Lettuce Entertain You, the plaintiff has alleged the restaurant violated the BIPA by improperly collecting and storing customers’ facial scans through self-order kiosks.  Continue reading “Two More Companies Sued Under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act”

ABC News

A judge on Tuesday dismissed criminal charges against the engineer in an Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight people, citing a lack of evidence in a case that prosecutors initially refused to pursue.

Brandon Bostian, 34, had faced charges that included involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment after his Washington-to-New York train rounded a curve at more than twice the speed limit and flew off the tracks in a violent derailment that crumpled cars and flung passengers into the woods. About 200 people were hurt.  Continue reading “Judge tosses charges against Amtrak engineer in deadly wreck”

The Newspaper

States are more than happy to receive their annual share of $450 million in federal cash used to run speed traps and roadblocks, but they are now actively resisting efforts to increase the transparency and accountability of the programs being funded. Congressional lawmakers attached a provision requiring states to clarify how automated ticketing machines are used within the 558-page law that provides transportation grants (view law). The surveys are to be conducted at federal expense.   Continue reading “States Resist Speed Trap Transparency”

Red Alert Politics – by Jackson Richman

Maryland Congressman Anthony Brown announced last week a bill he plans to introduce that, if enacted, would seek to curb hate speech in higher education.

At an event at the University of Maryland – College Park, the Democratic congressman — who recently stated that President Donald Trump is “unfit for office” and blamed the president for an increase in prejudicial behavior on college campuses nationwide — said the legislation would mandate universities to demonstrate they have the means to define “what is acceptable speech and what is not acceptable speech.”   Continue reading “Banning “not acceptable” speech: Rep. Brown to introduce CAMPUS HATE Crimes Act”

MassPrivateI

A nightmare driving scenario, is slowly making its way across the country. As states begin installing ‘Variable Speed Limits’ (VSL) which allows law enforcement to change speed limits on a whim.

Imagine you are cruising down the highway, obeying the posted speed limit of 75 MPH only to find out that you’re being ticketed for driving 15 miles over the speed limit.

How can this happen you ask?   Continue reading “‘Variable Speed Limits’ allow police to change speed limits on a whim”

The Newspaper

The Indiana Court of Appeals decided Thursday that police officers can pull over motorists for having expired tags before their registrations actually expire. Indiana registrations lapse at midnight on a day determined by the owner’s last name, but an Indianapolis police officer decided to test the limits on October 21, 2015 by pulling over a car before midnight.

Officer Cameron Taylor says that he saw a car, ran its plate, and the computer said the plate was “expired,” though the date of expiration was October 21. During the ensuing stop, Officer Taylor asked the passenger, Kevin L. Dowdy, now 32, to show identification. Although he did not need to do so, Dowdy gave his name and birthdate. When the officer looked it up, he found that Dowdy had an outstanding warrant for driving on a suspended license. As Dowdy was placed under arrest, the officer found a narcotic pill in his pocket.  Continue reading “Indiana: Court Upholds Stop For Unexpired Registration”

Seattle Times – by Jessica Lee

Seattle is set to enact a ban on plastic straws and utensils.

All businesses that sell food or drinks must offer compostable or recyclable options — or ask patrons to forgo the tools altogether — come next July as part of a citywide ordinance to curb plastic waste across the city.
Continue reading “The last straw? Seattle will say goodbye to plastic straws, utensils with upcoming ban”

The Last American Vagabond – by Kalee Brown

Time and time again I’ve heard people complain about their iPhones or Mac laptops getting slower and slower, forcing them to purchase entirely new products. However, many people who have experienced this technological lull also noticed that the deterioration of their Apple products coincided with the launch of Apple’s new products.

To be honest, if Apple was doing this, it would be a pretty smart business move. They launch new products periodically, and all of them are really just slightly fancier versions of their older models. People don’t often need these products, they simply want them. They only become a “need” when their older models break or malfunction.   Continue reading “Study Suggests That Apple Deliberately Sabotages Old Products, “iPhone Slow” Peaks After Every New Release”

Eric Peters Autos – by Eric

Whenever Congress does something unanimously (or nearly so) you can rest assured it’s in their interests, not ours.

The USA Patriot Act comes to mind.

Another is the Safely Ensuring Lives Future Deployment and Research in Vehicle Evolution Act – aka the SELF DRIVE Act – which was rubber stamped through Congress the other day. This is the law that exempts automated cars from the safety requirements that apply to autonomous cars – that is, the cars which are independentof government control and controlled by us.   Continue reading “The Four-Wheeled Patriot Act”

Chicago Tribune

United Airlines won’t be punished by the federal government over the forced removal of a passenger from a flight in April that put a spotlight on the growing tensions between airlines and travelers on crowded flights.

The Department of Transportation has concluded its investigation into the dragging of passenger Dr. David Dao and found no reason to fine the airline, the department said in a letter to United dated May 12.   Continue reading “United Airlines won’t be fined for passenger-dragging incident, feds say”

Next Gov – by Frank Konkel

Despite progress over the past month, the National Background Investigations Bureau still faces a backlog of approximately 700,000 security clearance seekers, and it’s forcing one department to issue riskier interim clearances, according to top officials.

NBIB Director Charles Phalen, speaking Wednesday at the Intelligence and National Security Summit, said the clearance backlog has decreased in recent weeks after it ballooned in the spring. Of the 700,000 Americans awaiting a security clearance to handle varying levels of sensitive government data, 300,000 are being cleared for the first time and 170,000 seek employment in the military services.   Continue reading “Murderers, Pedophiles Among Applicants Issued Interim Security Clearances, Defense Official Says”

The Verge – by James Vincent

Is your digital assistant taking orders behind your back? Scientists from China’s Zheijiang University have proved it’s possible, publishing new research that demonstrates how Siri, Alexa, and other voice-activated programs can be controlled using inaudible ultrasound commands. This provides a new method of attack for hackers targeting devices like phones, tablets, and even cars. But don’t get too worried — the technique has a number of key limitations that means it’s unlikely to cause chaos.   Continue reading “Inaudible ultrasound commands can be used to secretly control Siri, Alexa, and Google Now”

The Last American Vagabond – by Joe Martino

Hurricane Harvey has been making headlines all over due to the scale of destruction it has caused in Texas. While covering Harvey for Al Jazeera, reporter Shihab Rattansi told MSNBC host Ali Velshi last week that fossil fuel companies have been robbing locals in the Texas, Louisiana, and Gulf Coast area of infrastructure funds that could have lessened their suffering dramatically.

Shihab says himself that as an “Al Jazeera guy,” his job is to “get to the point.” Al Jazeera has always been known for creating news and media focused on openness, transparency, and calling out corruption — things we don’t often see in North American mainstream media.   Continue reading “MSNBC ‘Loses Connection’ Right As Reporter Exposes Oil Industry For Robbing Locals Of Infrastructure Funding”

NEO – by Phil Butler

Google wants to be Big Brother’s eyeballs on you. All us Internet gurus knew this since before the NSA was found out spying on everybody. But now the Mountain View boys are more determined than ever to filter your information, and to obliterate any semblance of truth reaching people.

If I had led into an article with that paragraph even five years ago, I’d have been instantly labeled a “conspiracy theorist” or worse. How about know dear reader? Is the idea the technocrats and their huge monied handlers want to run you crazy? I didn’t think so. But if you need proof beyond the obvious, Google’S 160-page handbook tells us all exactly how they plan to spoon feed us only “their” news. The lengthy handbook is a heavy read for the average person, but the book does lay out an Orwellian machination unlike anything seen since the Nazi propaganda machine of Hitler. Pay close attention to the “instructional” on page 108 where Google dictates who does and does not meet rating criteria. The section under Fails to Meet (FailsM) is a steamrolling of the free press, and suggested hiding certain kinds of sites:   Continue reading “We Told You So: Google Is NSA”

Yakima Herald – by Mike Carter

President Donald Trump last week lifted Obama-era restrictions on the transfer of surplus military hardware to police departments; however, a review of Defense Department data shows the flow of materiel actually increased in Washington state despite the prohibition on some items.

Since the inception of the Department of Defense’s so-called “1033 Program” as part of Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs in 1991, more than $30.2 million in surplus military gear has been given to state law-enforcement agencies.

Continue reading “Police in Washington state got military hardware even under Obama-era restrictions”

Courthouse News – by Britain Eakin

WASHINGTON (CN) – A D.C. man with cerebral palsy can continue to press his claim that police officers followed him home from a bus stop without  cause, and then assaulted him with a stun gun as they beat him, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson rejected an argument that Michael Robinson’s case should be tossed out because he failed to identify the precise actions of the 38 officers involved in the altercation, calling it an “odd proposition.”   Continue reading “Disabled Man Can Press Case Against DC Officers He Claims Beat Him”

MassPrivateI

A 1956 Oscar winning movie called, wait for it… ‘The Red Balloon’ shows a French mute kid chasing a balloon through the streets of Paris. And not one police officer or person was ‘terrified’!


Continue reading “Police are “terrified” of red balloons and terrorist clowns”

The Daily Caller – by Rob Shimshock

University students are not “innocent until proven guilty” at approximately 75 percent of America’s top schools, announced a civil liberties non-profit organization Tuesday.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) released this figure and others in its Spotlight on Due Process 2017, a study scoring U.S. News & World Report’s 53 top universities on 10 criteria of due process.   Continue reading “Students Not ‘Innocent Until Proven Guilty’ At 3/4 Of America’s Top Universities”