Year: 2017

Jon Rappoport

I’m reprinting my article from 2013 below. But first, a quick bit of recent history concerning two little known Israeli companies, Narus and Verint. They have helped the NSA spy on the planet.

Narus, in 2010, was folded into Boeing, one of the largest defense contractors in the world. Then, in 2014, Boeing sold Narus to Symantec. In 2016, Symantec sold half of itself to the Carlyle Group. So Narus, a little engine that could, has been keeping very high-priced company.   Continue reading “Two Israeli companies: spying on the world”

Reason – by Jacob Sullum

Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would expand the attorney general’s unilateral authority to ban psychoactive substances in a vain effort to keep up with inventive underground chemists. The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2017, a.k.a. the SITSA Act, would create a new category under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) known as Schedule A to facilitate the administrative prohibition of new drugs that resemble those in the law’s other schedules. The bill, introduced by Rep. John Katco (R-N.Y.) in the House (H.R. 2851) and by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in the Senate (S. 1327), is both an alarming expansion of bureaucratic power and a vivid illustration of prohibition’s absurdity.   Continue reading “House Advances Bill That Would Expand the DEA’s Power to Make Legal Highs Illegal”

Fox News

The defense attorney for the lone person of interest connected to the search for four missing men in Pennsylvania said his client admitted Thursday to killing the four, and told authorities the location of the bodies.

Lawyer Paul Lang told reporters his client, Cosmo DiNardo, 20, confessed to “the four murders,” and is ready to plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.

“I’m sorry,” a shackled DiNardo said as he left the courthouse.   Continue reading “Cosmo DiNardo confesses to murders of 4 missing Pennsylvania men, will be spared death penalty, lawyer says”

Prison Legal News – by Alex Friedmann

The nation’s two largest for-profit prison companies, Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Florida-based GEO Group (GEO), are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Other private prison firms, including Management & Training Corporation (MTC), Community Education Centers (CEC), LaSalle Southwest Corrections and Emerald Correctional Management, are privately-held and thus do not have public stock.

As of July 2015, CCA had issued approximately 117 million shares of stock with a market cap of $4.05 billion, while GEO had issued around 75 million shares with a market cap of $2.76 billion. So who owns the vast majority of stock in these two companies? The answer is not everyday people or individual investors, but rather other corporations – banks, mutual fund management companies and private equity firms – as well as public employee retirement systems.   Continue reading “Who Owns Private Prison Stock?”

RT

Gun control advocates are celebrating a slew of legislation passed across the country. Domestic abusers are targeted in new bills passed by five states, while other states have enhanced their background checks for purchasing firearms.

Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee and Utah all passed new restrictions on firearms for domestic abusers, according to Everytown for Gun Safety group, which is funded by billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Overall, 23 states have enhanced the laws around domestic abusers since 2013, says the gun control advocacy group.   Continue reading “Flurry of gun control bills pass across US as Everytown delights in ‘winning’ against gun lobby”

The Daily Caller – by Alex Pfeiffer

President Donald Trump indicated he may support amnesty when talking to reporters aboard Air Force One Wednesday night.

The president was asked about Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly’s comments to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that President Obama’s amnesty for illegal immigrants who arrived as minors, DACA, might be terminated due to legal challenges from Republican states.   Continue reading “Trump Backs ‘Comprehensive Immigration’ Reform”

The Daily Sheeple – by Dawn Luger

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who should be more accurately known as the War on Drugs Czar, is firmly stuck in the 80’s. His approval of the old, outdated, and ineffective DARE program proves that he’s out of touch with current realities.

Sessions has embarrassed himself when it comes to drugs; especially cannabis since becoming the Attorney General of the United States. He’s such an embarrassment, that some even suggest he smoke some marijuana and relax a little.  But the longer he’s in office, the more humiliating it is to watch him flop around like goldfish in the sand.  Continue reading “War On Drugs Czar Jeff Sessions Can’t Get Out of the 80s”

Waking Times – by Christina Sarich

Forget spraying pesticides on your food, now they’ll be genetically engineered to be in your food, thanks to Monsanto’s latest quiet approval via the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA just told Monsanto they could go ahead and bypass spraying our crops with carcinogenic chemicals like Round Up and just go ahead and breed them right into the crops themselves. Using a process called RNA interference, Monsanto’s RNAi plant will supposedly kill pesky rootworms when they come along to chomp on them- but what else will these genetically modified crops do to beneficial bugs, the soil, and human health? The EPA has no idea, because they haven’t done a single trial on RNAi-altered crops.  Continue reading “GMO’s Just Got a Lot More Frightening with Approval of New Monsanto Product”

Chicago Tribune – by Katherine Skiba, David Heinzmann and Todd Lighty

Republican donor and operative from Chicago’s North Shore who said he had tried to obtain Hillary Clinton‘s missing emails from Russian hackers killed himself in a Minnesota hotel room days after talking to The Wall Street Journal about his efforts, public records show.

In mid-May, in a room at a Rochester hotel used almost exclusively by Mayo Clinic patients and relatives, Peter W. Smith, 81, left a carefully prepared file of documents, including a statement police called a suicide note in which he said he was in ill health and a life insurance policy was expiring.
Continue reading “Peter W. Smith, GOP operative who sought Clinton’s emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide, records show”

The Daily Caller – by Jonah Bennett

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi slammed Republicans for trying to “rip away” health care for transgender service members.

In a statement Thursday, Pelosi said the “disgusting” attempt to restrict funds from being used to provide gender transition treatments is “unprecedented, unacceptable and undermines our national security.”   Continue reading “Pelosi: Restricting DOD Funds From Being Used For Gender Transition Treatments Hurts National Security”

We Hold These Truths

Editor CEC reports: Other Mainline denominations are following the tiny Mennonite’s long held pro-peace example. It reported by Twitter that: Members of the Mennonite Church USA voted overwhelmingly in support of a resolution condemning Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. (Mennonite Palestine-Israel Network)

In addition to supporting divestment, the Mennonites encourage their members to work with elected US officials to advocate to end military aid and arms sales to Israel as well as to pressure Israel to freeze settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.  Continue reading “Mennonite Church to Divest in Protest of Israeli Policies”

Gun Watch – by Dean Weingarten

The Australian gun law requires two things that are often cited as “common sense” by those without an understanding of everyday gun use. They are universal gun registration and “safe storage”.  Both have been weaponized against gun owners in Australia. They are an object lesson of what to avoid for those fighting for the right to arms in America and elsewhere.

Registration does nothing to prevent crime. Both New Zealand and Canada had extensive gun registration schemes similar to Australia’s. Both concluded that gun registration is costly and not effective in preventing crime. Both repealed their gun registration schemes in favor of gun owner registration systems.   Continue reading “Australian Gun Culture: “Safe Storage” and Registration: Part 4″

Market Watch – by Tonya Garcia

Fresh off its biggest Prime Day yet, the Whole Foods Market Inc. bid, and a slew of announcements including Amazon Wardrobe, Amazon.com Inc. was the subject of two investor calls Thursday that raised concerns that it is getting too big.

In one case, hedge-fund manager Douglas Kass said government intervention could be imminent.   Continue reading “Amazon is getting too big and the government is talking about it”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Americans who rely on Social Security can expect to receive their biggest payment increase in years this January, according to projections released Thursday by the trustees who oversee the program.

But older Americans shouldn’t get too excited.

The increase is projected to be just 2.2 percent, or about $28 a month for the average recipient. Social Security recipients have gone years with tiny increases in benefits. This year they received an increase of 0.3 percent, after getting nothing last year.   Continue reading “Trustees project biggest Social Security increase in years”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. prosecutors announced Thursday that they have charged more than 400 people with taking part in health care fraud and opioid scams that totaled $1.3 billion in false billing.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the collective action the “largest health care fraud takedown operation in American history” and said it indicates that some doctors, nurses and pharmacists “have chosen to violate their oaths and put greed ahead of their patients.”  Continue reading “US charging 412 in health fraud schemes worth $1.3 billion”