The Eagle – by Paul Waldman, The Washington Post

When the new year begins next week, President Donald Trump will have an acting chief of staff, an acting secretary of defense, an acting attorney general, an acting EPA administrator, no interior secretary, and no ambassador to the United Nations. The officials originally in all those positions have either been fired or have quit in various measures of disgust or scandal. His former campaign chairman, deputy campaign chairman, national security adviser and personal lawyer have all pleaded guilty to crimes.  Continue reading “This is what we were afraid of”

Sputnik

On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Privacy International and Civil Liberties and Transparency Clinic at the University of Buffalo filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against seven federal criminal and immigration enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

According to a press release by the ACLU, the lawsuit demands that the agencies reveal “which hacking tools and methods they [these agencies] use, how often they use them, the legal basis for employing these methods and any internal rules that govern them.” It also calls for internal audits or investigations of the agencies.   Continue reading “‘Shine a Light’: ACLU Sues 7 US Federal Agencies to Expose Government Hacking”

Congress.gov

Rep. Beyer, Donald S., Jr. [D-VA-8] (Introduced 12/10/2018)

Committees: House – Natural Resources; Armed Services; Agriculture; Transportation and Infrastructure

Latest Action: House – 12/11/2018 Referred to the Subcommittee on Readiness.   Continue reading “H.R.7232 – Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of 2018”

AOL

Former television star Roseanne Barr says she will travel to Israel in January to learn more about Jewish history and address the country’s parliament.

Barr’s longtime friend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, first announced her plans this week on social media. Boteach’s pro-Israel organization, the World Values Network, said it is sponsoring the trip.   Continue reading “Roseanne Barr plans to visit Israel, address its parliament”

Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian blogger critical of the authorities was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday, his lawyer said, in an extortion case critics say is politically-motivated.

Alexander Valov, whose blog had been critical of the authorities in the southern Russian city of Sochi, was charged earlier this year with extorting money from federal lawmaker Yuri Napso.   Continue reading “Russian blogger critical of authorities jailed for six years: lawyer”

Axios

The U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against ISIS in Syria are continuing, and the coalition announced that attacks Dec. 16-22 “severely degraded” the group’s facilities and “removed several hundred ISIS fighters from the battlefield,” per CNN.

Why it matters: It’s a sign that the coalition’s military strategy hasn’t changed since President Trump announced last week that the U.S. would withdraw from Syria. There’s also an unspoken message: the coalition doesn’t consider the terrorist group to be defeated.   Continue reading “Syria airstrikes continue despite Trump withdrawal announcement”

Herald Net – by Zachariah Bryan

MARYSVILLE — The plan was simple: Steal tools and pawn them for money.

That’s what two men, 22 and 23, reportedly had in mind when they showed up to the Coastal Farm & Ranch store in Marysville on Saturday afternoon, according to a police report. They allegedly took four nail guns, each worth over $400, walked out of the store and got into a Honda Civic.   Continue reading “The plan was to steal tools. Then customers drew their guns”

Welfare families with children are not only at the short end life’s stick, but are stuck with the lowering of their benefits on a yearly basis. The main costs being their rent and child care. If you have a couple of kids and on welfare, you’re probably feeding them out of tins 3 or 4 times a week, inadequate to say the least. Fresh veggies and meat is a luxury, and that is what needs to change and fast. The world is not a safe place, families living under stress more than ever. Long ago kids never had the problems we have today. Why is it that our kids live under more stress than ever before? Watching their parents self worth evaporate, the pain being passed on to their kids.   Continue reading “The Money Trap – Welfare Verses Common Sense”

NCPR

Apr 12, 2018 — This week, we’re taking a close look at a part of the justice system we don’t hear much about. That’s your local village or town court and the justices who preside over them.

In the North Country, an overwhelming majority  — about 85 percent — of our local judges were not lawyers before they took the bench. They don’t have to be, according to state law.   Continue reading “How does NY go about turning a regular person into a judge?”

The Great Recession

Until you got to this tax and spending deal a year ago, it was one of the most hated bull markets. The markets steadily climbed one wall of worry after another, and the problem was that the economic data did not confirm it.

–Bloomberg

That’s right. The market was not rising for the past ten years due to a healthy underlying economy. On the contrary, the market was rising due to the Federal Reserve pumping out stratospheric amounts of thin-air money, all of which needed somewhere to land.   Continue reading “Fed Med is Dead: How We Went from Fake Recovery to Freefall”

The Jamestown Sun

After 40 years of dairy farming, I sold my herd of cows. The herd had been in my family since 1904; I know all 45 cows by name. I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to take over our farm – who would? Dairy farming is little more than hard work and possible economic suicide.

A grass-based organic dairy farm bought my cows. I couldn’t watch them go. In June, I milked them for the last time, left the barn and let the truckers load them. A cop-out on my part? Perhaps, but being able to remember them as I last saw them, in my barn, chewing their cuds and waiting for pasture, is all I have left. Continue reading “Dairy farming is dying. After 40 years, I’m done.”

Station Gossip

Five years ago the U.S. Supreme Court refused to endorse a principle that could have allowed any cop with a dog to search any home. The court ruled that deploying a drug-detecting canine at the doorstep of a suspected marijuana grower’s house in the hope of obtaining probable cause for a warrant (which requires nothing more than a claim that the dog “alerted”) itself constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment.  Continue reading “Kansas Supreme Court Says Cops Can Search Your Home Without a Warrant If They Claim It Smells Like Pot”

CBS News

SHAMOKIN, Pa. (CBS) — A northeastern Pennsylvania man gave a porch pirate a gift he will never forget and a surveillance camera got it all. Robert Lynch left boxes filled with kitty litter and feces on his porch in Shamokin and the boxes were stolen.

He got a good look at the thief thanks to recently installed cameras.   Continue reading “Pennsylvania Man Dupes Christmas Package Thieves With Boxes Filled With Cat Poop”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler  Durden

Women fleeing socialist Venezuela have taken to capitalism in order to survive; selling sex, hair and breastmilk as they make the perilous journey into neighboring Colombia in search of a better life.

As Fox News‘ Hollie McKay reports, the Colombian border city of Cucuta is virtual chaos – as “Rail-thin women cradle their tiny babies, and beg along the trash-strewn gutters. Teens hawk everything from cigarettes to sweets and water for small change.”   Continue reading “Venezuelan Women “As Young As 14” Escape Socialism By Selling Sex, Hair And Breastmilk”

Observer – by Sissi Cao

Whether cryptocurrencies are the future of money—or even a legitimate investment asset—is still up for debate. But at least one of the early winners of the Bitcoin boom has already cashed out enough to join the ultra-wealthy league of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Elon Musk to self-label as a billionaire philanthropist.

Last week, Brian Armstrong, the 35-year-old co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency trading app Coinbase, signed the Giving Pledge, started by Buffett and Gates in 2010, to give away the bulk of his net worth to philanthropic causes.   Continue reading “Newly Minted Billionaire Coinbase CEO Is Already Tired of His Wealth”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

That didn’t take long.

On Christmas Day, Israel launched what Bloomberg described as its first airstrike in Syria since President Trump’s “shocking” announcement that he would withdraw all US troops from Syrian territory (to the disgust of US national security officials and every neo-con anywhere). The strike targeted an ammunition depot in the Damascus countryside believed to belong either to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, or its Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah.   Continue reading “Israel Strikes Syria In First Attack After US Announces Pullout”