Year: 2019

Daily Caller – by Kevin Daley

The Supreme Court seemed to think that North Carolina unlawfully pirated copyrighted images of an 18th century shipwreck during oral arguments Tuesday morning.

The case, arising from the discovery of Blackbeard’s famed pirate ship, asks whether an underwater production company can sue North Carolina for distributing its copyrighted images of the wreck. Several justices appeared troubled by the possible consequences.  Continue reading “Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Blackbeard’s Pirate Wreck”

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

Cops have discovered a new source of useful third-party records: DNA databases. Millions of people have voluntarily handed over personal information to a number of services in exchange for info on medical markers or distant family members.

Investigators are submitting DNA samples from cold cases in hopes of tracking down criminals who’ve managed to evade them for years. It has led to the closing of some cases, which is all agencies need to argue for continued access to DNA samples from millions of users.  Continue reading “Cops Now Using Warrants To Gain Access To DNA Services’ Entire Databases”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Almost 1000 people in the U.S. have been shot and killed by police in 2018. In 2017 and 2016, about an equal amount of people died this way, according to the Washington Post. As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz shows in the below infographic, most of those killed by police are male and white.

While around 450 of the deceased were white, 229 were Black. This is a relatively high share, keeping in mind that close to 13 percent of Americans belong to that race group.  Continue reading “How Many People Are Killed By Police In The US?”

RT

The long-awaited US pullout from Syria appears to have been postponed, with Pentagon sources claiming some 800 troops will stay behind to “guard” Syria’s oil, in a mission even pro-war US politicians are calling “reckless.”

US troops will occupy a large, oil-rich area stretching 150km from Deir ez-Zor to al-Hasakah, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday. A total of about 800 troops will be stationed in the country, with some 600 in the Kurdish-controlled northeast plus the 200 currently garrisoned at al-Tanf in the south, anonymous administration officials told the AP.   Continue reading “US ‘pullout’ from Syria looking more like permanent occupation with 800 troops reportedly tasked to ‘protect’ oil”

LifeSiteNews

ROME, November 6, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – A reconstruction of a pagan idol who demanded child sacrifice was stationed at the entrance of Rome’s Colosseum as part of a secular historical exhibition.

The presence of the idol raised particular concern among Catholics, as it was erected nine days before the Amazon Synod and the subsequent scandal over the veneration of the Pachamama idol at the Vatican.  Continue reading “Statue of ancient god of child sacrifice put on display in Rome”

Off the Grid News

Big government’s plans to modernize electricity by creating a smart grid appear to be a recipe for disaster. Consequently, a grid such as this would be more vulnerable to hacking and sabotage.

A smart grid will be more prone to failure because it relies on the cloud – a fragile and complex network of data centers. Therefore, it would be more likely to suffer blackouts than the traditional system.  Continue reading “The Danger From The Smart Grid That No One Is Talking About”

Business Insider – by Rob Price

An explosive trove of nearly 4,000 pages of confidential internal Facebook documents has been made public, shedding unprecedented light on the inner workings of the Silicon Valley social-networking giant.

On Wednesday, the investigative reporter Duncan Campbell released a vast swathe of internal emails, reports, and other sensitive documents from the early 2010s that detail Facebook’s internal approach to privacy and how it worked with app developers and handled their access to user data.  Continue reading “Facebook fought to keep a trove of thousands of explosive internal documents and emails secret. They were just published online in full.”

Mann Packing

Salinas, CA. – November 3, 2019 – Mann Packing Co., Inc. (Mann) announced today the voluntary recall of a series of vegetable products sold to select retailers in the United States and Canada. The voluntary recall is a response to a notification by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency of a potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. To date, public health officials have not reported any illness associated with these products.  Continue reading “Mann Packing Co., Inc. Voluntarily Recalls Vegetable Products Sold in the United States and Canada Due to Potential Health Risks”

The Eagle – by Karin Brulliard / The Washington Post

Police dogs spend all day working with handlers. They typically live together.

But when law enforcement K-9s in Texas have retired, they haven’t always gone home with their handlers. Laws in the nation’s second-largest state treated the dogs as surplus public property that, like firearms or police cars taken out of commission, needed to be auctioned off, donated to charity or destroyed.  Continue reading “Retired Texas police dogs had to be sold or destroyed under state law. Voters just changed that.”

Breitbart – by Sean Moran

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said Wednesday that “enough is enough” and called on the U.S. government to sanction Mexican officials and cartel members complicit in trafficking meth and killing Americans.

Hawley called for harsh retribution against the Mexican cartels complicit in ambushing and murdering nine American women and children near the New Mexico border. Continue reading “‘Enough Is Enough’: Josh Hawley Calls for Sanctions on Mexican Cartels”

Reason – by Eric Boehm

An 83-year-old retired engineer in Michigan underpaid his property taxes by $8.41. In response, Oakland County seized his property, auctioned it off to settle the debt, and pocketed nearly $24,500 in excess revenue from the sale.

Under Michigan law, it was all legal. And hardly uncommon.  Continue reading “A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Turkey’s state-run media is reporting the United States is planning two new military bases in Syria’s oil-rich Deir ez-Zor province, which are currently under construction, after US special forces convoys were seen patrolling the area in the past days.

Anadolu Agency, citing local sources, said the bases were under construction as evidenced by the influx of heavy equipment:  Continue reading “US Constructing Two New Bases In Syria’s Oil-Rich Region: Report”

Smart Cities Dive – by Katie Pyzyk

Dive Brief:

• San Jose, CA Mayor Sam Liccardo and other city council members approved a proposal to prohibit natural gas infrastructure from being installed in many new residential buildings. The measure covers single family homes, accessory dwelling units and low-rise multi-family buildings.

Continue reading “San Jose, CA to become largest US city to ban natural gas”

Gun Watch – by Dean Weingarten

In 2018, Detroit had 25 times the national average of reported justifiable homicides. The police chief of Detroit, James Craig, supports the residents’ right to self defense. He supports the issuance of concealed carry permits. From detroitnews.com:

The county’s report shows there were 289 homicides in Detroit in 2018, although the county lists all homicides, whereas Detroit, like most cities, doesn’t include justifiable homicides in its report because those aren’t crimes. Continue reading “Detroit Justifiable Homicides 25 times the National Average, Murders lowest in 50 years”