Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican and Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation on Thursday to impose stiff new sanctions on Russia and combat cyber crime, the latest effort by lawmakers to punish Moscow over interference in U.S. elections and its activities in Syria and Ukraine.

The bill includes restrictions on new Russian sovereign debt transactions, energy and oil projects and Russian uranium imports, and new sanctions on Russian political figures and oligarchs.   Continue reading “U.S. senators introduce Russia sanctions ‘bill from hell’”

Yahoo News

Gun rights activist groups found a way around the temporary halting of 3D-printed gun blueprints by publishing another set of blueprints on a new website Tuesday, which they say is activity protected under the First Amendment.

“Through CodeIsFreeSpeech.com, we intend to encourage people to consider new and different aspects of our nation’s marketplace of ideas – even if some government officials disagree with our views or dislike our content – because information is code, code is free speech, and free speech is freedom,” reads a statement on the site, which was created by a variety of groups including the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Firearms Policy Foundation.    Continue reading “Gun Rights Activists Defy Court Ruling, Post 3D-Printed Gun Blueprints Online”

Army Times

WASHINGTON — Under the gun to increase the size of the force, the Army is issuing more waivers for past drug use or bad conduct by recruits, and pouring an extra $200 million into bonuses this year to attract and retain soldiers.

According to data obtained by The Associated Press, nearly one-third of all the waivers granted by the Army in the first six months of this fiscal year were for conduct and drug problems, mainly involving marijuana use. That number is significantly higher than the other three military services, and represents a steady increase over the past three years.

Continue reading “Army using drug waivers, bonuses to fill ranks”

The Great Recession

As we pass from early summer into late summer today, stocks on all the major indices open the day on the slide. The “Tech Wreck,” as it is being called, has been noted by many, as I’ll detail here. That is in spite of the fact that the last of the great FAANGS just reported its most stellar quarter ever. (See below.)   Continue reading “Icarus Flies, but FAANGs Fall from the Gaping Maw of US Stock Market – And My Blog is Still Here”

Fox 2 News

DETROIT (WJBK) – Detroit Police Chief James Craig said on Thursday that he is concerned by video that shows an officer punching a naked woman at Detroit Receiving Hospital, specifically because the woman’s back is turned and the officer continued to punch her.

Video was sent only to FOX 2 from a woman who was inside Detroit Receiving Hospital, visiting a family member. She heard the commotion break out in the hall near the room she was in and recorded video of three police officers trying to subdue the naked woman.  Continue reading “Detroit police chief concerned about video showing officer punching naked woman”

Anti-Media – by Carey Wedler

In January of 2016, a 12-year-old girl was killed after her father pointed a gun at a Pennsylvania constable and the constable fired his own weapon. The officer’s bullet hit the young girl, and she later died from the wounds. Last week, a jury found the father guilty of his daughter’s murder.

On January 11, 2016, constable Clark Steele arrived at the apartment Donald Meyer, 60, who was subject to eviction for not paying rent. When he opened the door, he pointed a semi-automatic weapon at Steele, and Steele responded by pulling his own weapon and firing.   Continue reading “An Officer Shot and Killed a 12-Year-Old Girl. Her Father Was Just Convicted of Her Murder”

I don’t think so. I’m referring of course, to the “news” of 450 people having their guns confiscated in Florida, without anyone firing a shot. I don’t believe a word of it, but at the same time, I could have predicted that this, or a similar story would have appeared sooner or later, because it serves their purposes so well.

I remember two instances of these “red flag” gun confiscation laws being applied, and if I’m not mistaken, they both ended with police being shot. Now we’re expected to believe that 450 were taken without so much as a complaint, because this is exactly the type of myth they’d be looking to propagate.    Continue reading “450 Sniveling Cowards?”

Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will deploy its military police on the Golan Heights frontier between Syria and Israel, its defense ministry said on Thursday, after weeks of mounting volatility in the area.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sweeping away of rebels in southwestern Syria has worried Israel, which believes it could allow his Iranian backers to entrench their troops close to the frontier.   Continue reading “Russia to deploy military police on Golan Heights”

RT

Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at Israel’s arch-foe Iran, vowing that any attempt by Tehran to block the key waterway off Yemen’s coast would be met by force from the “international coalition” and Israel in particular.

The harsh statements by the Israeli PM, who was speaking at a graduation ceremony for naval officers on Wednesday, were referring to the recent Houthi attack on a Saudi oil tanker off Yemen’s western coast. The Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly said the Houthis are armed and supported by Iran, but both the group and Tehran deny the claims.   Continue reading “Netanyahu threatens Iran with ‘all Israel’s arms’ if Tehran blocks key waterway off Yemen”

Capitol Soup

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) filed legislation today to block the online publication of blueprints that can be used to make fully functioning 3D-printed guns.

“These 3D-printed plastic firearms can evade our detection systems and are a direct threat to our national security,” Nelson said at a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday to announce the legislation. “And we are going to let these go up on the internet tonight at midnight?”   Continue reading “Nelson files bill to block publication of 3D-printed gun blueprints”

Forbes

In a landmark decision, a federal court ruled that the Albuquerque’s civil forfeiture program “violates procedural due process” because it forced hundreds of property owners to prove their own innocence. With his ruling spanning over 100 pages, Judge James Browning also found that the city’s “forfeiture officials have an unconstitutional institutional incentive to prosecute forfeiture cases,” since the program has “de facto power over its spending…the more revenue it raises, the more revenue it can spend.”

Thanks to this incentive to police for profit, the city’s forfeiture program “generated $11.8 million in revenue ‘in the form of forfeitures, settlements and fees,” between fiscal 2009 and 2016. The program was so lucrative, revenues actually exceeded expenses for four of those years.   Continue reading “Judge Rules Albuquerque Civil Forfeiture Law Unconstitutional, Upholds Innocent Until Proven Guilty”

Charlotte Observer

Almost 2,400 North Carolina elementary school teachers have failed the math portion of their licensing exams, which puts their careers in jeopardy, since the state hired Pearson publishing company to give the exam in 2013, according to a report presented to the state Board of Education Wednesday.

Failure rates have spiked as schools around the state struggle to find teachers for the youngest children. Education officials are now echoing what frustrated teachers have been saying: The problem may lie with the exams rather than the educators.   Continue reading “Hundreds of NC teachers are flunking math exams. It may not be their fault.”