Month: August 2017

The Daily Sheeple – by Will Porter

A former chief investigator at Guantanamo Bay is accusing the Defense Department of withholding the publication of his book, which covers the use of “enhanced interrogation” techniques at the facility, as well as the advocacy of what the author deems torture from top U.S. officials, Reuters reports.

The book, entitled “Unjustifiable Means,” according to its author Mark Fallon, contains no classified information, but instead details the internal decision-making process regarding the use of “enhanced interrogation” and identifies officials who advocated such techniques.   Continue reading “Pentagon Suppresses Release of Book on Torture”

The Guardian – by Jonathan Watts and John Vidal

Last year was the most perilous ever for people defending their community’s land, natural resources or wildlife, with new research showing that environmental defenders are being killed at the rate of almost four a week across the world.

Two hundred environmental activists, wildlife rangers and indigenous leaders trying to protect their land were killed in 2016, according to the watchdog group Global Witness – more than double the number killed five years ago.   Continue reading “Environmental defenders being killed in record numbers globally, new research reveals”

This is pretty interesting.

Even if Miles Mathis is only half right in what he wrote about Benjamin Franklin, he’s still probably closer to the truth than anything we read in history books in school.

Benjamin Franklin – Premier British Spook

Bloomberg – by Jennifer Kaplan

American Green Inc., a maker of cannabis products, is taking an unusual step to attract new customers as it capitalizes on California legalizing marijuana: It’s buying an entire town.

The company has acquired the tiny burg of Nipton, California, for about $5 million and plans to invest as much as $2.5 million over the next 18 months to create a pot-friendly tourist destination. The purchase includes 120 acres of land with a general store, a hotel, a school building and mineral baths.   Continue reading “Cannabis Grower Buys California Town to Build Pot-Friendly Outpost”

Fox News

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury to investigate Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The move is seen as a sign the investigation into election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign is heating up and entering a new phase. Reuters also reported that grand jury subpoenas have been issued in connection with the meeting Donald Trump Jr. had with a Russian lawyer and others last year.    Continue reading “Mueller reportedly impanels grand jury in Russia probe”

CBS Denver

DENVER (CBS4)– Dozens of people filled the room where the Denver City Council met on Wednesday to consider taking a stance on protecting immigrants from federal agents. The safety committee passed the ordinance by a vote of 6-1.

This comes on the same day as Pres. Donald Trump endorsed the RAISE Act, an immigration bill aimed at reducing legal immigration overall, and give priority to English-speaking applicants.   Continue reading “Denver City Council Considers Stance On Protecting Immigrants From Federal Agents”

SHTF Plan – by Mac Slavo

Stating that the content is “controversial,” not the censorship itself, YouTube has taken the first few steps to censor dissenting views. But it gets worse.  YouTube will also begin to censor your searches and fill the results with propaganda while on its website.

Last night, YouTube took to its “Official Blog” to more or less announce that they would be taking steps to censor content they determined to be “controversial,” even if that content didn’t break any laws or violate the site’s user agreement.  The message made a pledge to be part of an effort to “fight terror content online.” But the move was rightly met with widespread skepticism among YouTuber’s as nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to censor conservative speech.   Continue reading “YouTube Takes Controversial Steps To Censor Non-Leftists”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

It will probably not come as a surprise that days after the biggest shake up among White House communications personnel, the Washington Post obtained transcripts of President Trump’s classified calls with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from the early days of his presidency back in January. While details of the calls had been made public previously, this is the first time entire transcripts have leaked out.   Continue reading “Trump Phone Call Transcripts Leaked”

The Jerusalem Post

Following the removal of the metal detectors from the entrances to Temple Mount, Rami Hamdallah, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, said, “Our nation showed that through steadfastness, national unity, and peaceful struggle, Jerusalem will remain our eternal capital city, and the crown of the identity uniting us.”

All over the Arab world, nations are uniting against what Jordan’s King, Abdullah II, called the “Judaization of holy sites” in Jerusalem. In downtown Amman, the crowd called on the Arab and Islamic worlds to unify in support of Islam’s third holiest site. In Turkey, protests were held in Ankara and Istanbul in solidarity with Al-Aqsa. Even in Kuala Lumpur, thousands of Malaysian Muslims participated Friday in a demonstration to “save Al-Aqsa,” according to al-Jazeeranet.   Continue reading “When A Debate Turns Into Hate, We Are Sealing Our Fate”

NPR

Philip Kirby says he first used heroin during a stint in a halfway house a few years ago, when he was 21 years old. He quickly formed a habit.

“You can’t really dabble in it,” he says.

Late last year, Kirby was driving with drugs and a syringe in his car when he got pulled over. He went to jail for a few months on a separate charge before entering a drug court program in Hamilton County, Ind., north of Indianapolis. But before Kirby started, he says the court pressured him to get a shot of a drug called Vivitrol.   Continue reading “To Grow Market Share, A Drugmaker Pitches Its Product To Judges”

NPR

Americans have been waiting for a solid pay raise for years. Maybe there’s good news awaiting them as the country employs more people.

The U.S. economic recovery has gone on for eight long years, and the unemployment rate is at a low 4.4 percent. But wage gains have barely budged.

That’s got economists scratching their heads.   Continue reading “Why America’s Wages Are Barely Rising”

NPR

Wells Fargo is back in the spotlight for another scandal. This time, for signing up 490,000 auto-loan customers for insurance they didn’t need.

This comes less than a year after the bank generated a massive public outcry for opening millions of unwanted accounts for customers.

Customers who already had car insurance say they had no idea they were being charged for this insurance from Wells Fargo. And the bank acknowledges that tens of thousands of people wound up in default, which affected people’s credit scores, and thousands had their cars repossessed.   Continue reading “Who Snatched My Car? Wells Fargo Did”

Blade-Tribune – by Kevin Reagan

FLORENCE — A grand jury has indicted a Florence man for sexually abusing children and documenting the acts through digital videos.

Anthony Caldera, 29, was indicted last week on 14 counts of sexual conduct with a minor and sexual exploitation. He allegedly abused at least two victims under the age of 15 between January 2016 and July 2017.   Continue reading “Florence man indicted for videotaping his sex abuse of children”

My Central Jersey – by Suzanne Russell

Nearly 5,000 weapons were taken off streets in New Jersey following a two-day gun buyback program last weekend in Newark, Camden and Trenton.

A total of 4,775 guns were turned in for cash, according to Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and Acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick. Union County residents were encouraged to participate in the Newark program.

Turned in were 1,973 handguns, 1,142 shotguns and 1,025 rifles. A total of 129 assault weapons were received and received the highest payout of $200 each at buyback events at Antioch Baptist Church in Camden, the Friendship Baptist Church in Trenton and the Greater Abyssinian Baptist Church in Newark.    Continue reading “NJ gun buyback effort nets 4,775 weapons”

The Hill – by Max Greenwood

New York federal prosecutors subpoenaed Kushner Companies, the real estate development company owned by the family of President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, over its use of a visa program that offers green cards to wealthy foreign investors.

The subpoena was received by Kushner Companies in May, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, and regards the company’s use of the EB-5 visa program to finance a development in Jersey City, N.J., called One Journal Square.   Continue reading “Kushner Companies subpoenaed over use of visa program: report”

NBC News

The Justice Department unveiled a new unit Wednesday to tackle the national opioid epidemic and announced that it is dispatching a dozen federal prosecutors to hard hit states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio to combat the crisis.

“If you are a doctor illegally prescribing opioids for profit or a pharmacist letting these pills walk out the door and onto our streets based on prescriptions you know were obtained under false pretenses, we are coming after you,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “We will reverse these devastating trends with every tool we have.”   Continue reading “DOJ Unveils New ‘Opioid Fraud And Abuse’ Unit To Combat Crisis”