Month: February 2015

Sea Coast Online – by Elizabeth Dinan

PORTSMOUTH — A 78-year-old man was Tased twice after driving into several parked cars, including a police cruiser, while suffering a medical emergency and refusing police commands to stop driving, said police and fire officials.

First responders were called about the incident on Sunday at 11:37 a.m., when they were dispatched to the BJ’s Wholesale Club store on Woodbury Avenue, said Deputy Police Chief Corey MacDonald. Initial reports were that a man crashed his car into a couple of parked cars in the BJ’s parking lot and when officer Andre Wassouf arrived, the man was starting to drive away, MacDonald said.    Continue reading “NH Cop uses Taser on elderly man suffering diabetic episode: ‘Our police officers are not paramedics’”

China Daily – by Jack Freifelderin

The number of Chinese citizens receiving the new extended United States B1 business and B2 tourist visas surged in December and January, just a few months after the US and China announced a change to their international visa reciprocity agreement.

The US issued 351,650 business and tourist visas to Chinese citizens in December and January, a year-over-year jump of 68.2 percent. At this time last year, the US had given 209,100 visas, a US State Department official said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.   Continue reading “Chinese swarm for new 10-year US visas”

Huffington Post – by Ali Watkins

WASHINGTON — When the new Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Richard Burr (R-N.C.), announced that, allegedly unbeknownst to him, the former chairwoman had widely distributed the panel’s study of CIA torture, he said he was perturbed. A sensitive document — one whose validity he has vehemently challenged — now being spread within the executive branch? Concerning, Burr said, to say the least.

Except most of the recipients that Burr is concerned about never even opened their copy.   Continue reading “CIA Torture Report Sinks A Little More, As Agencies Don’t Bother To Read It”

Huffington Post – by Matt Sledge

The federal government this week announced a reform to an investigative tool that gives the FBI sweeping surveillance power. But a target of that surveillance said the change appears to leave investigators with vast power to snoop — in secret.

The FBI uses national security letters to force business owners to hand over records on their customers, as long as the records are related to a national security investigation. No court approval is needed, and the FBI can impose a gag order on recipients, forbidding them from revealing even the existence of a letter.   Continue reading “The Gaping Hole In Obama’s FBI Surveillance Reform”

Washington’s Blog

Putting the Terror Threat In Perspective

The terror threat is greatly exaggerated. After all, the type of counter-terror experts who frequently appear on the mainstream news are motivated to hype the terror threat, because it drums up business  for them.

The same is true for government employees.  As former FBI assistant director Thomas Fuentes put it last week:   Continue reading “There Are Far Fewer Terror Attacks Now Than In the 1970s”

AZ Central – by Laurie Roberts

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is asking for dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a teacher who was brutally assaulted and raped after being left in an unguarded prison classroom with a convicted sex offender.

The AG’s reasoning is essentially this: the woman knew she was in a prison, so what did she expect?   Continue reading “AG’s Office: Raped teacher should have known better”

The Onion [Satire]

VATICAN CITY—Saying he’s appeared uneasy and distracted while delivering masses in recent days, Vatican insiders reported Wednesday that His Holiness Pope Francis is “getting pretty anxious” about his upcoming annual performance review with God.

Francis, who is employed as Vicar of Christ, Successor to the Throne of Saint Peter, and Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, is required by Vatican workplace guidelines to meet at least once a year with his immediate superior, God, and participate in an official evaluation of his strengths and weaknesses on the job, a formality of the position that, by all accounts, has led to a bout of nerves for the pope.   Continue reading “Pope Nervous For Annual Performance Review With God”

Homewood-Flossmoor Patch – by Lauren Traut

Park Forest police officer Craig Taylor, accused of bean-bagging an irate, confused, knife-wielding 95-year-old man to death in his nursing home, has been found not guilty of reckless conduct charges.

“There was nothing criminal about his actions,” said Cook County Associate Judge Luciano Panici in his ruling Wednesday.

Taylor, 43, bowed his head, then hugged his wife. Both were in tears. Wrana’s family also wept and embraced as the verdict was announced. The Associated Press reports that the courtroom was filled with Taylor’s fellow officers.   Continue reading “Cop Cleared in Beanbag Shooting of 95-Year-Old World War II Vet”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Just what the market had hoped would not happen…

• *ECB SAYS IT LIFTS WAIVER ON GREEK GOVERNMENT DEBT AS COLLATERAL
• *ECB SAYS IT CAN’T ASSUME SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF GREECE REVIEW  

Continue reading “ECB Pulls The Trigger: Blocks Funding To Greece Via Debt Collateral – Full Statement”

Computerworld – by Patrick Thibodeau

Information technology workers at Southern California Edison (SCE) are being laid off and replaced by workers from India. Some employees are training their H-1B visa holding replacements, and many have already lost their jobs.

The employees are upset and say they can’t understand how H-1B guest workers can be used to replace them.

The IT organization’s “transition effort” is expected to result in about 400 layoffs, with “another 100 or so employees leaving voluntarily,” SCE said in a statement. The “transition,” which began in August, will be completed by the end of March, the company said.   Continue reading “Southern California Edison IT workers ‘beyond furious’ over H-1B replacements”

Reuters

China will ban from March 1 internet accounts that impersonate people or organizations, and enforce the requirement that people use real names when registering accounts online, its internet watchdog said on Wednesday.

China has repeatedly made attempts to require internet users to register for online accounts using their real names, although with mixed success.   Continue reading “China to ban online impersonation accounts, enforce real-name registration”

Breitbart – by ILDEFONSO ORTIZ

MCALLEN, Texas – For three days warring factions of the Gulf Cartel have turned a number of cities just south of the Texas border into a warzone that has left at least 14 gunmen dead with the true number of casualties remaining unknown.

The fighting comes after what seemed to have been a short period of peace. Members of the Gulf Cartel have once again taken up arms against each other as they fight for control of the criminal organization. Most of the battles are taking place within miles of the Texas border.   Continue reading “CONFIRMED: 14 Dead in Cartel War Raging at Texas Border”

Breitbart – by JORDAN SCHACHTEL

European officials have reportedly relayed a message to Israeli officials about the Obama administration’s plans concerning the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. The U.S. and Iran are reportedly closing in on a deal that would allow the Ayatollah’s regime to keep the vast majority of its centrifuges running, while also allowing for Iran to be in charge of stabilizing its surrounding region.

Israeli Army Radio reports that the deal is being brokered between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The Iranians would purportedly have to make sure that there are no flare-ups in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. It remains unclear how Iran would rein in the three countries, all of which remain hotbeds of sectarian violence. In exchange for Iran agreeing to terms that appear to very much empower its regime, the United States will also agree to lift its economic sanctions against Iran, according to reports.   Continue reading “Report: U.S. Prepared To Rely Upon Iran For Regional Stability In Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria”

Wired – by Tom Wheeler

After more than a decade of debate and a record-setting proceeding that attracted nearly 4 million public comments, the time to settle the Net Neutrality question has arrived. This week, I will circulate to the members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed new rules to preserve the internet as an open platform for innovation and free expression. This proposal is rooted in long-standing regulatory principles, marketplace experience, and public input received over the last several months.   Continue reading “FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler: This Is How We Will Ensure Net Neutrality”