New York Daily News

The South Carolina cop who triggered national outrage after hurling a high school student across a classroom will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said in a jaw-dropping Friday report that claims the shocking incident looked “worse in the video.”

Ben Fields, a former Richland County police officer, was booted off the force after he was caught on camera ordering a Spring Valley high school student to give up her phone in October.   Continue reading “Disgraced South Carolina officer will not face charges for hurling student across classroom”

MassPrivateI

DHS wants to control our food supply, this sounds like a ‘fake news’ story but unfortunately it’s all too real.

Last year, DHS gave the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center (NABC) $331,118 to develop the ‘National Livestock Readiness Program‘.   Continue reading “DHS creates the ‘National Livestock Readiness Program’ to control our food supply”

The News Tribune – by Kate Martin

Public records advocate Arthur West has filed a lawsuit against the city of Tacoma.

This time, West says he wants access to more information about the Tacoma Police Department’s use of a controversial piece of surveillance equipment called a cell site simulator, commonly known by the brand name Stingray.   Continue reading “Lawsuit says city interferes with cellphone service when it uses surveillance tech”

The Newspaper

The Second Circuit US Court of Appeals upheld the government’s confiscation of James B. Ferrari’s Ferrari in a ruling last week. Officials in Suffolk County, New York had grabbed the 2003 Ferrari Modena coupe, valued at $95,000, after Ferrari was stopped and accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) on May 26, 2009.   Continue reading “Federal Appeals Court Upholds Ferrari Confiscation”

Inc.com – by Erik Sherman

Web ads are a major component of online marketing. Google is probably the biggest conduit of digital ads, and that makes it tough when a small company runs afoul of the giant’s standards.

One of those standards is the demand websites not place Google-served ads on the same page as “inappropriate” content. It’s reasonable, as advertisers often insist that their promotions don’t appear in such contexts. What isn’t reasonable, though, is how often Google will label something as inappropriate when the call seems wildly overreaching. Such popular and long-standing sites as Fark.com, BoingBoing, and Skepchick have found themselves suddenly without ad revenue — or a clear way to rectify what ultimately turned out to be a mistake on the part of Google.   Continue reading “You Won’t Believe the Reason Google Pulled Ads from these Big Sites”

AlterNet – by Sarah Lazare

Originally launched as a tool of trench combat during World War I, tear gas has been used around the world over the past century to enforce colonial rule, quell popular protests and aid in ethnic cleansing of civilians. This “riot control agent” was banned as a “method of war” by the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty that went into effect in 1997 and now binds nearly 200 countries (although numerous states are in violation). Yet in prisons and jails across the United States, far from any conventional battlefield or public scrutiny, tear gas and other chemical weapons are routinely used against people held captive in enclosed spaces, including solitary confinement.   Continue reading “The Scandal of Chemical Weapons in U.S. Prisons”

The Guardian – by Medea Benjamin

Most Americans would probably be astounded to realize that the president who has been painted by Washington pundits as a reluctant warrior has actually been a hawk. The Iran nuclear deal, a herculean achievement, and the opening of diplomatic relations with Cuba unfortunately stand alone as President Obama’s successful uses of diplomacy over hostility.

While candidate Obama came to office pledging to end George W Bush’s wars, he leaves office having been at war longer than any president in US history. He is also the only president to serve two complete terms with the nation at war.   Continue reading “America dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016. What a bloody end to Obama’s reign”

Courthouse News – by Matthew Reynolds

LOS ANGELES (CN) — After shooting an unarmed Latino teenager 19 times, killing him, two Los Angeles police officers concocted a phony story that he had pointed a sawed-off shotgun at them, the boy’s parents say in a federal lawsuit.

The way the police tell it, two officers approached a Honda parked in an East L.A. driveway when the driver’s door opened. Sixteen-year-old Jose Mendez emerged and pointed a sawed-off shotgun at one officer. They responded with multiple rounds and the teen was pronounced dead at the scene on Feb. 6, 2016.   Continue reading “Parents Call LAPD ‘Cowardly’ Killers”

MuckRock – by Curtis Waltman

One of the tactics used by North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple to try and quell the #NoDAPL protests at Standing Rock was the Emergency Management Assistance Compact or EMAC. EMAC, which was originally intended for inter-state cooperation in the case of natural disasters and terrorism, has been increasingly used to combat protests such as in Baltimore and Cleveland, and in this case allowed almost 40 police departments and sheriff’s offices to flock to Morton County, ND and participate in crowd control.   Continue reading “Police across the country looked at Standing Rock as a sort of law enforcement laboratory”

Tenth Amendment Center – by Mike Maharrey

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Jan. 11, 2017) – A bill introduced in the Indiana House would end government licensing of marriages in the state, effectively nullifying in practice both major sides of the contentious national debate over government-sanctioned marriage.

Rep. Jim Lucas introduced House Bill 1163 (HB1163) on Jan. 9. The legislation would eliminate three marriage requirements currently in place in the state.   Continue reading “Indiana Bill Would Eliminate State Marriage Licenses, Nullify Federal Control in Practice”

Tenth Amendment Center – by Mike Maharrey

SALEM, Ore. (Jan. 11, 2017) – A bill introduced in the Oregon House would allow local school districts to opt out of Common Core standards. Passage of the legislation would take an important step toward nullifying the nationalized education program in the state.

Rep. Carl Wilson (R-Grants Pass) and Rep. Sal Esquivel (R-Medford) introduced House Bill 2368 (HB2368) on Jan. 9. The legislation would prohibit the Oregon Department of Education from requiring school districts to align instruction or assessments with Common Core state standards and from penalizing school districts for failure to align instruction or assessments with these standards. Passage of the bill would give local school districts the option of opting out of Common Core.   Continue reading “Oregon Bill Would Set Foundation to End Common Core”

Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund – by Pete Kennedy, Esq.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has filed a complaint with the Livingston County Circuit Court asking that the court order the destruction of, among other foods, 18 homemade oatmeal cookies and 17 homemade apple muffins.1 MDARD seized the cookies, muffins, and other foods during a September 1, 2016 raid of Dairy Delight Cow Boarding, LLC, a herd share dairy farm owned and operated by Kris Unger in CohoctahTownship.2   Continue reading “Michigan MDARD Seeks Destruction Order for 18 Oatmeal Cookies and 17 Apple Muffins”

Sun Sentinel – by Lisa J. Huriash

Federal marshals have seized the car, furniture and other belongings of a Palm Beach sheriff’s sergeant who was found liable by a jury for shooting an unarmed man, leaving him paralyzed.

The property was seized Saturday at Deputy Adams Lin’s house, according to Barry Golden, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service.
Continue reading “Marshals seize deputy’s car, clothes to help pay $22.4 million awarded in shooting”

Reuters

Some U.S. companies are reviewing potential mergers while others are rethinking job cuts or looking at their manufacturing operations in China for fear of being cast as “anti-American” by President-elect Donald Trump, according to Wall Street bankers, company executives and crisis management consultants.

Having seen some of America’s largest companies, including General Motors Co, Lockheed Martin Corp and United Technologies Corp, bluntly and publicly rebuked by Trump on Twitter, many others are worried they may be his next target – especially if they have significant overseas manufacturing, have had U.S. job cuts or price increases for consumers.   Continue reading “U.S. companies have new business risk – being labeled ‘anti-American’ by Trump”

Courthouse News – by ERIK DE LA GARZA

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CN) – An Arkansas couple says they are being ordered to leave their community because their $1,500 trailer is too cheap to comply with a new city ordinance that criminalizes struggling residents “simply because they are poor.”

David Watlington and Lindsey Hollaway say their $13,000 combined annual income places them below the federal poverty line and they cannot afford a trailer with a value of at least $7,500, as the city of McCrory’s trailer-banishment ordinance requires.   Continue reading “Arkansas City Accused of Targeting Poor”

KING 5 News – by Jake Whittenberg

A new proposal being considered by Washington State lawmakers aims to strengthen distracted driving laws.

The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Seattle, and Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, would further clarify the existing law which makes it illegal to text while driving. It proposes making it illegal to even touch your phone.   Continue reading “Distracted drivers beware, new law in the works”