Enforce our Bill of Rights
Here's why Ammon Bundy's lawyers are putting off opening statements until after govt's case in chief: https://t.co/w7WhvHBjrv
AND here's partly what was discussed in Monday's sealed #bundytrial court hearing: pic.twitter.com/tTp16vwvUd
— Maxine Bernstein (@maxoregonian) November 16, 2017
LAS VEGAS — The eldest son of a Nevada rancher and states’ rights figure told a federal jury on Wednesday he believes protesters and self-styled militia members saved his life when they arrived in April 2014 after government agents used dogs and stun guns against his family members ahead of a gunpoint showdown that ended a cattle roundup.
“We didn’t know who they were,” Ryan Bundy said of the hundreds of people who answered a family call for support after news reports and internet accounts of family scuffles with agents and contract cowboys collecting cattle from hardscrabble rangeland northeast of Las Vegas. Continue reading “Rancher Cliven Bundy’s son says militia saved his life”
The Army’s top officer said Wednesday that the service had “rescinded” a controversial memo permitting people with a history of severe mental illness to seek waivers allowing them to join up.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters the memo was “unauthorized” and its author did not have the authority to change the Army’s recruitment policy. Continue reading “Army drops plans to give waivers to recruits with history of mental illness”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has posted two billboards in front of the White House which declare America was built by foreign ‘Dreamers,’ not by native-born Americans, who apparently have no place in the billboards or in America’s society.
“It is absolutely an insult to Americans, but the Chamber knows that, which is why this isn’t a broad-based campaign” conducted outside Washington D.C., said Mark Krikorian, director at the Center for Immigration Studies. He continued: Continue reading “U.S. Chamber: ‘Dreamers’ Make America, Americans Have No Role”
EFF – by Aaron Mackey and Sophia Cope
A federal appeals court has issued an alarming ruling that significantly erodes the Constitution’s protections for anonymous speakers—and simultaneously hands law enforcement a near unlimited power to unmask them.
The Ninth Circuit’s decision in U.S. v. Glassdoor, Inc. is a significant setback for the First Amendment. The ability to speak anonymously online without fear of being identified is essential because it allows people to express controversial or unpopular views. Strong legal protections for anonymous speakers are needed so that they are not harassed, ridiculed, or silenced merely for expressing their opinions. Continue reading “Appeals Court’s Disturbing Ruling Jeopardizes Protections for Anonymous Speakers”
After an Air Force veteran with a criminal history was able to buy guns and kill 29 people in a Texas church, a Pentagon-wide investigation found that the Army is failing to alert the FBI about soldiers’ criminal histories in a “significant amount” of cases.
On Wednesday, Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, told Pentagon reporters that there have been “gaps and failures” on on the part of the Army to report the criminal activity of soldiers to federal civilian law enforcement agencies. Continue reading “Not just the Air Force: US Army fail to report up to 20% of crimes to FBI”
Israel’s Jerusalem affairs minister is calling for sheer numbers to root out the very idea of a sovereign Palestinian state. He says about a million Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank should do the trick.
Speaking at the “On the Way to a Million” conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Ze’ev Elkin said: “This will happen – it is only a question of when.” According to the minister, Israel would require between 10 and 20 years to reach the 1 million mark, depending on the pace of settlement construction. Continue reading “Israel must push for 1mn West Bank settlers, enough talk of two states – minister”
HONOLULU (AP) — More than a dozen escapes have occurred over the past eight years at a Hawaii psychiatric hospital where a patient described as dangerous walked off the grounds and made it to California before he was captured this week.
Many of the 17 escapes between 2010 and this year happened when a patient broke “curfew” and didn’t return from the Hawaii State Hospital after being allowed to leave for a period of time, according to information obtained by The Associated Press from police and the state Department of Health. Continue reading “17 escapes from Hawaii hospital since 2010”
SPINDALE, North Carolina (AP) — Former members of a controversial North Carolina-based church want the state to take legal action to overturn a court-ordered compromise they say has crippled child abuse investigations involving the sect.
The former congregants of Word of Faith Fellowship also want Rutherford County child protection agency director John Carroll to resign, saying he pushed for the 2005 settlement and has failed to protect children from abusive practices inside the church. Continue reading “Ex-members of church urge overturning of court agreement”
Sometimes, being too trusting can be a fatal mistake – especially in diplomacy – as one member of the Australian delegation at the United Nations learned early Wednesday morning, when he plunged to his death from his Manhattan balcony during a night of boozing with friends and his wife. The circumstances of Julian Simpson’s death are bizarre, considering that he died during a “trust game” gone wrong, according to the New York Post. Continue reading “UN Diplomat Plunges To His Death After “Game Of Trust” Gone Wrong”
The News Tribune – by Walker Orenstein
The Mason County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Monday declined to press charges against two Shelton police officers who repeatedly struck, pepper sprayed and used a stun gun on a man who had been sleeping on a staircase behind a homeless shelter in May.
The decision runs counter to advice from Thurston County Sheriff’s Office investigators, who in July recommended assault charges after concluding the use of force that left 25-year-old Nicholas Heflin with a broken nose, eye injuries and broken bones in his face “was not necessary or reasonable.” Continue reading “Two Shelton officers fired, but won’t face criminal charges after beating homeless man”
Mexican cartels smuggle more drugs into the U.S. than any other criminal group, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said in a new report.
The 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment released in October lists six cartels as having major influences across the country and Texas.
Cartels’ influence in Texas is far-reaching, affecting cities hundreds of miles from the state’s border with Mexico. Continue reading “New report shows how Mexican cartels are infiltrating Texas”
Sent to us by Atrax.
A short story. I used to do property maintenance for a slum lord here in Wyoming. One time while doing some plumbing upgrades to one of his multiplex properties, I wanted to check on the weatherproofing and winterizing on what used to be an old coal chute.
I found an old manila folder in there. It seemed to be from the mid to late 50’s. There were magazine adverts of women’s dresses, tea sets, the usual girl stuff. But one advert caught my eye. It was an advert for linoleum flooring. showed a happy family spending time in the kitchen. Youngest daughter was on the floor playing with a doll, son was at a desk there doing homework, mother was cooking dinner, and dad was at the dining room table cleaning a rifle. in a FLOORING advertisement. Continue reading “How gun culture used to be AMERICAN!”
A new CNN investigation has uncovered a network of slave markets operating in warehouses in various cities across Libya six years after NATO-led intervention in the country toppled the government of Muammar Gaddafi in support of US and UK backed rebels. And not only did CNN confirm the presence of slave auctions where human beings are being sold for as little as $400 in “liberated” Libya, but CNN’s crew was actually able to film a live auction in progress, while also gathering the testimonies of multiple victims. Continue reading “Libya’s Slave Auctions And African Genocide: What Hillary Knew”
Global Research – by Peter Koenig
President Trump’s 5-country Asia tour has nothing to do with seeking peace anywhere, it has not even to do with diplomacy – it is entirely a warmongering business trip for the Military Industrial Complex. It is amazing that the world doesn’t catch on.
We know about Obama’s several years of pivoting to Asia. It resulted largely in the TPP, the Transpacific Partnership, a trade agreement between 12 countries including the US. The first thing Trump did when he came on board is canceling it, claiming that it would only harm the US. Canceling it, in fact, was a good thing, since contrary to what Trump understands, or claims to understand, of US-made international trade, the Asian partners would have suffered, not the US. Continue reading “Trump’s Pivot to Asia: An Arms Sales Bonanza, An Anti-Peace Trip”
Question: I’m alone in a city. How can I possibly prepare for what’s coming?
Answer: You are an American, use your mind and be sneaky.
CHINA’S army of keyboard propagandists have set the standard for manipulating public opinion online — and a growing number of countries are trying the emulate the model.
The iconic image of a man holding his shopping while obstructing the path of a tank in China’s Tiananmen Square in 1989 became the defining image of China’s censorial government. But in the age of the internet, social media has become the front line in the Communist Party’s battle to control and suppress dissent.
The goverment’s so called keyboard army overwhelms social media sites with positive stories about the Communist Party — described by researchers as “cheerleading content” — to control the message and drown out criticism and negative stories about the regime.
Continue reading “How China is defining the way governments manipulate their people via the internet”
Free Thought Project – by Jay Syrmopoulos
Las Vegas, NV – With the 24/7 news cycle constantly in full swing, important stories at times get lost in the constant onslaught of non-stop information. The mainstream media gatekeepers essentially dictate what social and cultural memes are injected into the public consciousness, what topics are discussed, and which cases are given publicity and thoroughly investigated with journalistic rigor.
With such oligarchical control of the mass media – the media gatekeepers of information decide what stories stay in the glare of the public spotlight, and which ones are allowed to fade from the headlines.
Continue reading “10 Compelling Reasons Why the Vegas Shooting Has Disappeared from Headlines”
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s army said Wednesday it has President Robert Mugabe and his wife in custody and is securing government offices and patrolling the capital’s streets following a night of unrest that included a military takeover of the state broadcaster.
The night’s action triggered speculation of a coup, but the military’s supporters praised it as a “bloodless correction.”
For the first time, this southern African nation is seeing the military oppose Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state and one of the longest-serving authoritarian rulers. Mugabe has been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence from white minority rule in 1980. Continue reading “Zimbabwe Army Has Mugabe, Wife in Custody, Controls Capital”