Reuters

A U.S. appeals court will weigh a constitutional challenge on Wednesday to a warrantless government surveillance program brought by an Oregon man found guilty of attempting to detonate a bomb in 2010 during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

The case before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the first of its kind to consider whether a criminal defendant’s constitutional privacy rights are violated under a National Security Agency program that allows spying on Americans’ international phone calls and internet communications.   Continue reading “U.S. court to hear arguments in warrantless NSA spying case”

Yahoo News

Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes, alleging that the network’s chairman and chief executive fired her after she refused to sleep with him.

According to the suit filed Wednesday in New Jersey Superior Court, Carlson alleges that she was terminated by Ailes on June 23 after she complained about a toxic workplace environment and “rebuffed his sexual advances.”   Continue reading “Gretchen Carlson files sexual harassment suit against Fox News chief Roger Ailes”

Western Rifle Shooters – by Matt Bracken

The FBI today officially becoming a willing Soviet-Stasi stooge and tool, even if under duress, brings home how fast things can change in a volatile political environment. I judge 2016 as being as dangerous as 1860 or 1913. In European terms, a “Night of Long Knives” is now not an impossibility. Fast and Furious (300+ dead, no repercussions, media holding) emboldened them to betray Benghazi station, to write it off and lie about it, (no repercussions, media holding). Now the perception, real or imagined, is that even the FBI has been forced to toe the party line.   Continue reading “Bracken: Coward Comey Takes a Dive”

Waking Times – by Maureen Nandini Mitra

Many of the toxic chemicals escaping from fracking and natural gas processing sites and storage facilities may be present in much higher concentrations in the bodies of people living or working near such sites, new research has shown.

The study found traces of volatile organic compounds such as benzene and toluene are linked to chronic diseases like cancer and reproductive and developmental disorders.   Continue reading “High Levels of Toxins Found in Bodies of People Living Near Fracking Sites”

NRA-ILA

While perhaps not the most publicized recent development regarding the European Union, in recent weeks the political bloc has pushed forward with its plans to severely curtail gun rights across its 27 member states. On June 10, the European Council endorsed a version of the proposed changes to the European Firearms Directive pushed by the European Commission late last year in the wake of terrorist violence. The European Parliament still has a chance to weigh in on the issue, with a final vote scheduled for later this year.   Continue reading “EU Moves Forward with Plan to Restrict Semi-Autos”

The Hill – by Scott Wong

Facing a conservative revolt, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday expressed confidence that anti-terrorism legislation would receive a vote on the House floor before Congress leaves town next week for the long summer recess.

“I think there is still a path forward …” Ryan said at a news conference after a closed-door meeting with rank-and-file Republicans. “Yes, we are [confident] because we feel this issue needs to be addressed.”   Continue reading “Speaker: Anti-terror bill will get vote”

AOL

A Navy SEAL trainee drowned after being repeatedly “dunked” underwater by an instructor, according to a San Diego medical examiner’s report that labels the death a homicide.

The May 6 death of Seaman James Derek Lovelace had not been announced by the Navy until after officials were questioned about it by NBC News and The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. Navy officials portrayed it as a training mishap. But sources told NBC News and The Pilot the death was caused by an instructor going too far.   Continue reading “Navy SEAL trainee’s drowning death ruled a ‘homicide’”

Fox News

FBI Director James Comey will explain Thursday to House lawmakers his bombshell decision not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton over her handling of sensitive emails.

Comey, who took no questions after announcing his decision Tuesday, agreed to go before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee after several lawmakers sought an explanation. In saying he would not press the Justice Department to pursue an indictment against the likely Democrat nominee for president, Comey nonetheless laid out a strong case that she had violated laws regulating government employees’ safeguarding of sensitive emails.   Continue reading “FBI director to appear Thursday before lawmakers to explain Clinton decision”

220px-Barbara_Boxer,_Official_Portrait,_112th_CongressBarbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is the junior United States Senator from California (since 1993). A member of theDemocratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1983–1993).

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Boxer graduated from Brooklyn College. She worked as a stockbroker for several years before moving to California with her husband. During the 1970s, she worked as a journalist for the Pacific Sun and as an aide to U.S. Representative John L. Burton. Continue reading “Swine Target”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

New FBI figures show June 2016 is the 14th consecutive month of record background checks for gun sales.

The previous FBI record for June — set in June 2o15 — was 1,529,057. The number of background checks in June 2016 was 2,131,485.   Continue reading “FBI: June Is 14th Consecutive Month of Record Background Checks”

This Post is hereby dedicated and directed to our dear and trusted Brother, Mark Schumacher, who has apparently failed to understand the long-accepted concepts known as Liberty of Conscience and Equality of Right as applied to frank and sincere Differences of Opinion … there being no Trespass that I can see and no Common Judge among us at this time!

Accordingly, when Mark can die for us then he can demand or compel all to yield to his Opinions … if he must pick up his Shovel and Pail, run away and refuse to play in this Sandbox then he effectively admits to his own immaturity, or insecurity (in my Humble Opinion and without Dishonor)!   Continue reading “FEAR Is The Prison Of The Mind”

CNBC

President Barack Obama said Wednesday the U.S. will keep 8,400 troops in Afghanistan through the end of the year.

“Maintaining our forces at this specific level, based on our assessment of security conditions and the strength of Afghan forces, will allow us to continue to provide tailored support to help Afghan forces continue to improve,” Obama said.   Continue reading “Obama says 8,400 US troops will remain in Afghanistan at the end of 2016”

MassPrivateI

Police are using DHS’s  Electronic Recovery and Access to Data (ERAD) reader to spy on your credit, debit, commuter train and bus card balances without a WARRANT!

“The ERAD Prepaid Card Reader is a small, handheld device that uses wireless connectivity to allow law enforcement officers in the field to check the balance of cards. This allows for identification of suspicious prepaid cards and the ability to put a temporary hold on the linked funds until a full investigation can be completed.”    Continue reading “Police use DHS’s automatic warrant creator to access bank accounts without a warrant”

Wall Street Journal – by JENNY GROSS and ALEXIS FLYNN

LONDON—A high-profile inquiry into the U.K.’s role in the Iraq war delivered a scathing account of the decision by the government under then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to join the invasion, saying the legal basis for doing so was “far from satisfactory.”

The long-awaited findings, published in a roughly 6,000-page report Wednesday, concluded that policy on Iraq was made on the basis of flawed assessments of intelligence and that the seriousness of the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction was presented with a certainty that wasn’t justified.   Continue reading “U.K.’s Long-Awaited Chilcot Report into Iraq War Criticizes Legal Basis for Invasion”

Daily Mail

It has now been 20 years since TWA Flight 800 exploded in mid-air just 12 minutes after taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport en route to Paris, and many are still questioning just what caused the crash that killed all 230 people on board.

The National Transportation Safety Board spent four years looking into the cause in what would become the lengthiest and most expensive investigation in the history of American aviation before publishing their findings in 2000, which stated the explosion was likely caused by a short circuit in the plane’s fuel tank.   Continue reading “TWA 800: The Crash, the Cover-Up, and the Conspiracy”

Opposing Views – by Michael Allen

An unidentified man reportedly refused to roll his car window all the way down at a DUI checkpoint on July 3 in Hawthorne, California, so police had his car towed with him and his passenger inside (video below).

The man rolled his window down three-quarters and gave a California Highway Patrol officer his driver’s license. However, a Hawthorne Police Lieutenant said the driver was a not obeying “the rules of the checkpoint,” and had the car towed, notes Photography is Not a Crime.
Continue reading “Cops Tow Car, Driver Inside, At DUI Checkpoint”

Vocativ – by Kevin Collier

A ten-year study of how state and federal law enforcement wiretaps suspects shows that the government is extremely efficient at the practice, and is only getting better.

The new report, conducted by the Federal Judiciary, looked at the prevalence of the FBI and state and local police petitioning for a warrant to surveil someone. Methods range from tracking their computer activity to bugging a home telephone or a room, though it overwhelmingly—96 percent of the time 2015—meant tracking or listening to their cell phone calls. It has become a common enough practice that in a ten-year span, a wiretap request has been denied only eight times, and never more than twice in a year. According to the report, “No wiretap applications were reported as denied in 2015.”   Continue reading “US Government Approved 100% Of Wiretap Applications In 2015”