Year: 2015

Reason – by J.D. Tuccille

Cops in Big Sky Country aren’t happy about it, but Montana lawmakers look ready to ban the use of license plate cameras by government agencies to track motorists’ movements. The legislative move comes after a stream of revelations of local, state, and federal tracking and databasing of Americans’ movements by car, without cause or warrant.

A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security killed a solicitation for bids to establish and maintain “a National License Plate Recognition (NLPR) database service” after a chorus of public outrage. The DHS plan may actually have been duplication of effort, since the DEA already has a national license plate scanning system maintained with the cooperation of local police. If passed, the Montana measure couldn’t block such efforts from D.C., but it would prevent agencies within the state from contributing to those schemes. Continue reading “Ban on Government License Plate Cameras Nears in Montana”

BBC News

Jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says.

Exactly who these people were and why they were killed is not clear, but Col Qasim al-Obeidi said he believed some were members of the security forces.

IS fighters captured much of the town, near Ain al-Asad air base, last week.   Continue reading “Islamic State militants ‘burn to death 45 in Iraq’”

Reuters – by Steve Gorman

West Coast ports that were closed to incoming cargo vessels during the holiday weekend reopened in full on Tuesday as Labor Secretary Tom Perez arrived in San Francisco seeking to broker a settlement ending months of shipping disruptions.

Perez was sent to meet with the two sides in the conflict at the behest of President Barack Obama, who has come under mounting pressure to weigh in on a labor dispute that has cascaded through the U.S. commercial supply chain and beyond.   Continue reading “West Coast ports reopen as labor secretary arrives for talks”

The Watchers

A dangerous Tropical Cyclone “Lam” formed in the Arafura Sea, between Australia and Indonesian New Guinea, on February 16, 2015. The system is expected to make landfall in Northern Territory, Australia on February 18 or 19 as a powerful Category 4 storm on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.

There is already significant rainfall, around the 20 – 50 mm range, and there will be much heavier falls along the coast as the cyclone nears and intensifies over the next 36 hours to a peak intensity of about 166 km/h (103 mph).   Continue reading “Dangerous Tropical Cyclone “Lam” formed near Northern Territory, Australia”

BBC News – by Ross Hawkins

Young people out of work, education or training for six months will have to do unpaid community work to get benefits if the Conservatives win the election.

David Cameron said about 50,000 18 to 21-year-olds would be required to do daily work experience from day one of their claim, alongside job searching.

The welfare shake-up would make sure young people “don’t get sucked into a life on welfare”, he said in a speech.   Continue reading “David Cameron: Unemployed young ‘should do community work’”

The New American – by Alex Newman

Over the last decade in the United States, the deaths of over 100 children — at the very least — have been linked to receiving a measles vaccine, compared with zero children dying from the disease itself, according to the U.S. government’s own compiled data. Put another way, an American child would have been infinitely more likely to die after receiving a measles shot, percentage-wise, than from getting the actual measles disease in the last ten years. Thousands more have suffered from adverse reactions to the measles shot and other vaccines. The explosive numbers have massive implications for public health efforts, analysts said.   Continue reading “Over 100 Measles Vaccine Deaths, Zero Measles Deaths, Since ’04”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman

Perhaps the most questionable statistic to come out of the air war against ISIS so far is one that actually doesn’t exist, officially.

To date, no civilian casualties have been recorded, according to the U.S. military. That’s because American commanders aren’t counting them.

Lieutenant-General James L. Terry, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, has said that his people were “tracking no civilian casualties.”   Continue reading “In Battle against ISIS, U.S. Reverts to Not Counting Civilian Casualties”

Opposing Views – by Michael Allen

While politicians warn America every day of an impending attack by the terrorist group ISIS, police in the U.S. are killing one American every 8 hours.

According to the online database Killed By Police, 136 people have been killed by American police from Jan. 1 to Feb.15. The database is citizen-run because there is no federal law requiring local police departments to report how many people they kill.   Continue reading “Police Have Killed One American Every 8 Hours In 2015”

LA Times – by MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE, KATHLEEN HENNESSEY AND MICHAEL MUSKAL

The Obama administration on Tuesday said it would appeal a move by a federal judge in Texas that temporarily stopped the president’s executive actions on immigration, an anticipated judicial roadblock that was greeted with partisan reactions.

In a decision released late Monday night, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen put on hold Obama’s executive action to protect between 4 million and 5 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally from deportation. The first of the actions, expanding a program that protects young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, was set to launch on Wednesday.   Continue reading “White House to appeal ruling blocking Obama’s immigrant protections”

The Hill – by Martin Matishak

The White House on Tuesday will begin hosting a three-day summit to examine ways to counter violent extremism.

The meeting will put a special emphasis on domestic and international efforts to prevent extremists and their backers from radicalizing young people.   Continue reading “White House hosts summit on extremism”

Liberty’s Torch – by Francis W. Porretto

This morning, the great Victor Davis Hanson deposeth and sayeth:

For bewildered and increasingly quietist Americans, the center holds mostly in family, religion, a few friends, the avoidance of the cinema and nightly news, the rote of navigating to work and coming home, trying to stay off the dole and taking responsibility for one’s own disasters — as the world grows ever more chaotic in our midst.All sorts of escapism from the madness is now epidemic. Home-schooling. Gun ownership. A second home in the mountains. A trunk of freeze-dried food. Kids living in the basement. A generator. Some gold coins. A move to Wyoming. An avoidance of the old big cities. A tough choice between death and going to the nearby emergency room (at least your relatives are safe as you pass away at home). A careful and narrow selection of channels on cable TV. A safe room or escape plan. And on and on. Continue reading “Quietism, Or “Hunkering Down?””

Activist Post

Last Wednesday, Tennessee legislators filed bills to directly take on NSA spying by withholding vital state resources and material support from any federal agency engaged in warrantless surveillance.

Sen. Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) introduced SB782 in the Tennessee Senate and Rep. James Van Huss (R-Jonesborough) and Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) introduced an identical companion bill (HB679) in the House. The legislation would ban “material support or resources” from the state to warrantless federal spy programs.    Continue reading “Tennessee Bill Takes On NSA Code-Breaking Facility, Bans Material Support and Resources”

End of American Dream – by Michael Snyder

U.S. public schools have become houses of horror for many special needs students. According to the Virginia Commission on Youth, special needs students account for only 12 percent of all public school students in the United States, but they “represent 75 percent of those physically restrained and 58 percent of those secluded“.  At some schools, physical restraints used on special needs children include handcuffs, duct tape and bungee cords. And often the scream rooms that these children are “isolated” in are so horrifying that it scars many of them for life. One of the key measures for any society is how it treats those that are most vulnerable.  And the way that we are treating our special needs children is sorely lacking.  Hopefully articles like this one will help bring awareness and change.   Continue reading “How Public Schools Treat Special Needs Students: Handcuffs, ‘Scream Rooms’ And Duct Tape”