Mail.com

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s socialist government claimed a popular mandate to dramatically recast the country’s political system even as the United States pledged potentially devastating oil sanctions on Monday and condemnations of the process poured in from governments around the world and the opposition at home.

Electoral authorities said more than 8 million people voted Sunday to create a constitutional assembly endowing President Nicolas Maduro’s ruling party with virtually unlimited powers — a figure widely disputed by independent analysts.   Continue reading “Venezuela defiant as US moves to sanction oil industry”

Mail.com

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An official crucial to running Kenya’s presidential election next week has been found tortured and killed, the electoral commission chairman said Monday, as concerns grew that the East African nation’s vote again would face dangerous unrest.

Wafula Chebukati helped identify the body of Christopher Msando at the city morgue and said he had injuries to the neck and head. Mssando had been reported missing a few days ago. “This is a brutal murder of our employee and we are demanding to know who killed him and why,” Chebukati said. “We are demanding government provide security to all IEBC (electoral commission) staff.”   Continue reading “Kenya election official tortured, killed days before vote”

Broadway World

BroadwayWorld has just learned that playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director Sam Shepard has passed away. Shepard, who had been ill with ALS for some time, died peacefully on July 27 at his home in Kentucky, surrounded by his children and sisters. He was 73 years old.

Survivors include his children, Jesse, Hannah and Walker Shepard, and his sisters, Sandy and Roxanne Rogers.   Continue reading “Playwright, Director and Actor Sam Shepard Passes Away at 73”

Huffington Post – by Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump received applause on Friday when he endorsed police brutality while delivering a speech to law enforcement officers on Long Island, New York.

The president suggested that officers should hit suspects’ heads on the doors of their police cars.

“When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’” Trump said.
Continue reading “Donald Trump Declares War on the People’s Bill of Rights, Sanctions Red Terror Police State”

Activist Post – by Jason Ditz

Sen. Rand Paul (R – KY) has blocked a motion by majority leader Mitch McConnell (R – KY) to advance the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the massive military spending bill, saying that the bill should instead face debate and possible amendments. This sets the bill back for 6 weeks, at least.

In particular, Sen. Paul is seeking two amendments, one which ends NDAA authorization for indefinite detention of suspects, and another related to the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), something that was added to the House version but later quietly removed by the Speaker.   Continue reading “Rand Paul Blocks NDAA Over Indefinite Detention”

Yahoo News

In northern Siberia, rising temperatures are causing mysterious giant craters — and even more dire consequences could be in store, say climate scientists.

The Russian province’s long-frozen ground, called permafrost, is thawing, triggering massive changes to the region’s landscape and ecology. It could even threaten human lives.

“The last time we saw a permafrost melting was 130,000 years ago. It’s a natural phenomenon because of changes in the earth’s orbit,” said professor of earth sciences at the University of Oxford, Dr. Gideon Henderson.   Continue reading “Mysterious craters blowing out of Russia could mean trouble for the whole planet”

Showbiz 411 – by Roger Friedman

The “Roseanne” reboot is under way, with new characters being added– the children of Darlene (Sarah Gilbert) and David (Johnny Galecki).

I’m told they will have two kids– a son and a daughter. The daughter, named Harris, is supposed to be 14 or 15 years old and aspirational and upwardly mobile– she’s determined to do better than her parents but she’s not snotty about it, says a source. “She has a big heart.”   Continue reading ““Roseanne” Revival Will Feature “Gender Creative” 9 Year Old Son of Darlene and David”

Washington Post – by Elizabeth Dwoskin, Craig Timberg

A prominent privacy rights watchdog is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate a new Google advertising program that ties consumers’ online behavior to their purchases in brick-and-mortar stores.

The legal complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, to be filed with the FTC on Monday, alleges that Google is newly gaining access to a trove of highly sensitive information — the credit and debit card purchase records of the majority of U.S. consumers — without revealing how they got the information or giving consumers meaningful ways to opt out. Moreover, the group claims that the search giant is relying on a secretive technical method to protect the data — a method that should be audited by outsiders and is likely vulnerable to hacks or other data breaches.  Continue reading “Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint”

Yahoo News

Istanbul (AFP) – Thousands of supporters of a conservative Turkish party rallied in Istanbul on Sunday to protest measures taken by Israel in Jerusalem and show solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel had angered Turkey by installing metal detectors and security cameras at the Haram al-Sharif holy site in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, following a July 14 attack in which gunmen killed two policemen.   Continue reading “Mass rally in Istanbul over Israel’s Jerusalem measures”

Tucson.com

A former airman at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was sentenced Thursday to 100 years in prison on child pornography charges.

Jesse Ryan Swaffar, 34, was convicted by a jury in Pima County Superior Court of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after Tucson police found thousands of videos and images of child pornography on his computer.

Continue reading “Former D-M airman sentenced to 100 years in child porn case”

NPR – by Rae Ellen Bichell

This spring, 16 state patrol officers from Colorado and Wyoming took a couple days off their usual work schedule to do something special. They assembled in a hotel conference room in Denver. As instructed, they wore street clothes for their first assignment: going shopping at nearby marijuana dispensaries.

“It’s a brave new world,” said instructor Chris Halsor, referring to the years since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana.

There are now more marijuana dispensaries in Colorado than there are Starbucks shops, said Halsor, a Denver lawyer and former prosecutor. And though consuming cannabis is legal across the state, driving under its influence is not.   Continue reading “Scientists Still Seek A Reliable DUI Test For Marijuana”

Fox News

Authorities in Alabama were still on the hunt for one inmate Monday morning after a dozen prisoners, including two incarcerated on attempted murder charges, escaped from a jail the day before.

Brady Andrew Kilpatrick, 24, is still being sought. Kilpatrick is in jail on drug charges.

Authorities were able to recapture the other 11 inmates and return them to the jail. Christopher Micheal Smith, 19, was the latest inmate taken into custody, at 4:21 a.m., the Walker County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook.    Continue reading “Alabama jail break prisoner still on the run after 11 others caught”