Mercury Of The Dead | Incestuous Innuendos of Partisan Politics is Pornographic

Student Faces Town’s Wrath in Protest Against a Prayer

2012-01-27T16:32:00.003-06:00

New York Times | She is 16, the daughter of a firefighter and a nurse, a self-proclaimed nerd who loves Harry Potter and Facebook. But Jessica Ahlquist is also an outspoken atheist who has incensed this heavily Roman Catholic city with a successful lawsuit to get a prayer removed from the wall of her high school auditorium, where it has hung for 49 years. A federal judge ruled this month that the prayer’s presence at Cranston High School West was unconstitutional, concluding that it violated the principle of government neutrality in religion. In the weeks since, residents have crowded school board meetings to demand an appeal, Jessica has received online threats and the police have escorted her at school, and Cranston, a dense city of 80,000 just south of Providence, has throbbed with raw emotion.

NJ Community To Install Spotlight Cam Surveillance System

2012-01-26T14:56:00.003-06:00

NJ.com | Picture this: You’re walking down the street at night when suddenly a spotlight flashes onto someone lurking beside a parked car and appearing to be jimmying the lock. Or maybe the light hits two people standing on a corner as they try, discreetly, to exchange cash and a packet of drugs. If the suspects run, successive lights can follow them — all while a surveillance camera records the action. That light show is coming to East Orange as new crime-fighting technology the police plan to install in the next three months, acting Police Chief William Robinson said Tuesday. East Orange will be the first police department in New Jersey to implement the "cutting edge technology," Robinson said.

Italian 'Pitchfork Movement' On the Verge Of Revolt

2012-01-26T14:39:00.005-06:00

Alexander Jousse | This past week has been a very turbulent time for Italy. And it wasn't just the grounding of the Concordia cruise ship by a playboy captain; but the grounding of the country by Euro-technocrat usurper Darth Monti, trying to impress his Keynesian buddies with his latest attempts to ‘Save Italy’!This week saw the launch of a popular uprising in Sicily, by a group known as the ‘Movimento dei Forconi’ or ‘Pitchfork Movement’. This is not an uprising of self absorbed youth who want more government handouts; but of producers who are being pushed into poverty by government taxes and regulation. The organizers are middle aged and older; this is significant, as most power and wealth is held by this generation and they have now drawn a line in the sand. On the 16th of January these protesters began "Operazione Vespri Siciliani", a blockade of the Island of Sicily. Within two days the transportation of all goods was stopped. Over the next week, nothing entered or exited Sicily. This was no mean feat given that Sicily is not a small Island.

Creating American Terrorists

2012-01-22T20:15:00.004-06:00

Philip Giraldi | Defenders of the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, which declares the entire world to be a “battlefield” against terrorism and authorizes the U.S. military to detain indefinitely anyone suspected of being a terrorism supporter, have claimed that the White House will only use its new power carefully and with due process. Opponents note that the White House has never hesitated to use any new authority, no matter how outrageous, and that the trend of law enforcement and security agencies is to expand on powers granted, not to rein them in or limit them. The track record of the Obama administration on civil liberties is particularly bad, as it has broadened its definition of war powers, reneged on its promise to close Guantanamo Prison, and supported numerous dubious terrorism prosecutions. It has also become adept at silencing critics through the repeated exploitation of the state-secrets privilege, which effectively dismisses any case accusing the government of abuse or malfeasance.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet

2012-01-18T15:41:00.001-06:00

Organic Farmers' Suit Against Monsanto Gets Hearing

2012-01-18T11:16:00.002-06:00

Grainews | A court hearing in New York City at the end of this month will determine if a "pre-emptive" lawsuit by a clutch of U.S. and Canadian organic producers against seed and ag chem firm Monsanto will go ahead. U.S. District Judge Naomi Buchwald said she will hear oral arguments Jan. 31 in Manhattan on a motion by St. Louis, Mo.-based Monsanto to dismiss the suit filed last March 31 by a group of 83 farmers, seed growers and farm organizations. The suit "seeks court protection for innocent family farmers who may become contaminated by Monsanto seed," according to a release last week from the Colorado-based lead plaintiff, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association. The suit, the plaintiffs claim, is "to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement should their crops ever become contaminated by Monsanto's genetically modified seed."

Provoking Iran into "Firing the First Shot"

2012-01-17T13:33:00.001-06:00

Global Research | While the possibility of a war with Iran is acknowledged in US news reports, its regional and global implications are barely analyzed. Very few people in America are aware or informed regarding the devastation and massive loss of life which would occur in the case of a US-Israeli sponsored attack on Iran. The media is involved in a deliberate process of camouflage and distortion. War preparations under a "Global Strike" Concept, centralized and coordinated by US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) are not front page news in comparison to the most insignificant issues of public concern, including the local level crime scene or the tabloid gossip reports on Hollywood celebrities. The "Globalization of War" involving the hegemonic deployment of a formidable US-NATO military force in all major regions of the World is inconsequential in the eyes of the Western media. The broader implications of this war are either trivialized or not mentioned.

UK Pushes Iran Oil Ban - Military Action On The Table

2012-01-16T13:06:00.002-06:00

RT | The military showdown in the Persian Gulf seems even more inevitable, with the UK foreign secretary not ruling out military action against Iran. Applying even more pressure to the country, Europe may ban Iranian oil imports by the end of the month.The UK will continue to pursue a diplomatic solution to bringing Iran to the negotiating table, although, according to the UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, his country has not “ruled out any option, or supporting any option.” “We believe all options should be on the table, that is part of the pressure on Iran, but we are clearly not calling for or advocating military action," Hague said. European foreign ministers are expected to meet on January 23 and Hague believes that the EU will come to an agreement on the measures against Iran. His remark of a military action still being on the table is the latest play in the game of threat and counter-threat unfolding around Iran.

DHS Given Green Light To Monitor Journalists

2012-01-14T14:35:00.000-06:00

RT | Freedom of speech might allow journalists to get away with a lot in America, but the Department of Homeland Security is on the ready to make sure that the government is keeping dibs on who is saying what. Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that came out of DHS headquarters in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms. Specifically, the DHS announced the NCO and its Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) can collect personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters or anyone who may use “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.” According to the Department of Homeland Security’s own definition of personal identifiable information, or PII, such data could consist of any intellect “that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information which is linked or linkable to that individual.”

The BVO Flame Retardant Chemical in Soft Drinks

2012-01-08T17:19:00.002-06:00

ConsciousnessTV | Quenching your thirst could wipe out your memory, thanks to a flame retardant chemical. Patented as a flame retardant for plastics, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, a brominated chemical called BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States. Research on its toxicity dates back to the 1970s, and some experts now urge a reassessment. After a few extreme soda binges – not too far from what many video gamers regularly consume – a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine. Other studies suggest that BVO could be building up in human tissues. In mouse studies, big doses caused reproductive and behavioral problems.

Researchers Demonstrate Time Cloaking

2012-01-08T17:07:00.000-06:00

TechNewsWorld | Researchers at Cornell University's School of Applied and Engineering Physics have demonstrated a way to cloak, or hide, an event in time. The phenomenon is similar to what happens when you remove frames from a film by cutting and splicing, except that instead of losing data about an event, you hide that information. "We've split a [light] beam, slowing down the back end and speeding up the front end, so you get a gap in time," Alexander Gaeta, a professor at the school, told TechNewsWorld.

Obama's Illegal Non-Recess Appointments

2012-01-06T16:31:00.001-06:00

Daily Caller | Obama’s tightly choreographed media blitz around the historic non-recess appointment of Richard Cordray was designed to disguise a reckless, lawless and unconstitutional action — a purported “recess appointment” while the Senate is clearly still in session — into a virtuous, bold move. And to the president’s far-left supporters, surely it will be seen as just that. But another special interest in the Democrats’ corner was served later in the day, more quietly. Union bosses won a big victory when the president made even more outrageous non-recess appointments to pack the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with union lawyers. That action deserves the same scrutiny as the Cordray move, if not more. Republicans never obstructed the two Democrats Obama installed on the NLRB. They couldn’t have even if they wanted to; Obama only named them as nominees on December 15, less than three weeks before he made the move.

Privacy Group Suing DHS Over Social Network & Blog Scanner

2012-01-04T11:35:00.004-06:00

LeakSource | The Department of Homeland Security makes fake Twitter and Facebook profiles for the specific purpose of scanning the networks for 'sensitive' words - and tracking people who use them.

JPMorgan Sued For $95 Million Over Mortgage Securities

2012-01-03T17:33:00.000-06:00

Reuters | JPMorgan Chase & Co has been sued for $95 million by the trustee for securities marketed in 2005 by the former Bear Stearns Cos over alleged misrepresentations regarding the underlying mortgage loans. US Bank NA wants to force JPMorgan to buy back the mortgage loans because of alleged breaches of representations and warranties regarding the Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities Trust 2005-4, for which it serves as trustee. It also accused the largest U.S. bank by assets of refusing to provide the underlying loan files, as the trust documents require, so it can investigate the extent of the alleged breaches. The unit of US Bancorp said it made its request at the direction of a majority certificate holder in the trust. US Bank also sued Bear Stearns and its former EMC Mortgage Corp unit. JPMorgan bought Bear Stearns in 2008.

Feds Pressuring Agents To Rush Immigrant Visas – Even If Fraud Is Suspected

2012-01-03T13:39:00.001-06:00

The Daily | Higher-ups within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are pressuring rank-and-file officers to rubber-stamp immigrants’ visa applications, sometimes against the officers’ will, according to a Homeland Security report and internal documents exclusively obtained by The Daily. A 40-page report, drafted by the Office of Inspector General in September but not publicly released, details the immense pressure immigration service officers are under to approve visa applications quickly, sometimes while overlooking concerns about fraud, eligibility or security. One-quarter of the 254 officers surveyed said they have been pressured to approve questionable cases, sometimes “against their will.” The report does not call out any particular officials and indicates that the agency has had a problem with valuing quantity over quality since at least the 1980s.

Appeals Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops

2011-12-31T15:37:00.001-06:00

ABCNewz | A man whose bid to become a police officer was rejected after he scored too high on an intelligence test has lost an appeal in his federal lawsuit against the city. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a lower court’s decision that the city did not discriminate against Robert Jordan because the same standards were applied to everyone who took the test. “This kind of puts an official face on discrimination in America against people of a certain class,” Jordan said today from his Waterford home. “I maintain you have no more control over your basic intelligence than your eye color or your gender or anything else.” Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, took the exam in 1996 and scored 33 points, the equivalent of an IQ of 125. But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training. The average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an IQ of 104, or just a little above average.

Obama Signs $30 Billion Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia

2011-12-29T21:19:00.002-06:00

Reuters | The United States has signed a $29.4 billion deal to sell 84 new F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a long-expected move that the Obama administration said on Thursday would boost Gulf security amid mounting tension with Iran. The deal is the single priciest U.S. arms sale to a foreign country, dwarfing previous multibillion-dollar sales to Saudi Arabia, for years the biggest U.S. arms buyer. The sale includes the 84 advanced Boeing F-15SA fighters with cutting-edge Raytheon Co radar equipment and digital electronic warfare systems for which BAE Systems Plc is the key supplier. Also included are upgrades that will bring Saudi Arabia's 70 older F-15s up to the new standard, as well as HARM AGM-88 Anti-Radiation Missiles, Laser JDAM and Enhanced Paveway munitions and related equipment and services.

Vote Against Obama In Iowa

2011-12-29T13:34:00.001-06:00

Cenk Uygur | The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a crime against our constitution. It allows for the indefinite detention of US citizens by the military inside the US -- without a trial. It's one of the worst laws ever passed in the US and it passed with nary a peep of opposition. I'm positive that a huge percentage of the population is not even aware of it, partly because the establishment media didn't even bother covering it. But it appeared for a while that the one guy fighting against it was President Obama. I was incredibly encouraged by that. I shouldn't have been. It turned out at the end that he was threatening to veto the bill because he wanted it to have even more executive power, not less. This president has been a disaster for civil liberties. Every time I think about the fact that he used to be a constitutional law professor, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

- Obama Fed Nominee Former Wall Streeter, Bush Sr Exec & Carlyle Partner

FBI Says Activists Investigating Factory Farms Can Be Prosecuted as Terrorists

2011-12-28T21:02:00.007-06:00

Green Is The New Red | The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has kept files on activists who expose animal welfare abuses on factory farms and recommended prosecuting them as terrorists, according to a new document uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act. This new information comes as the Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a lawsuit challenging the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) as unconstitutional because its vague wording has had a chilling effect on political activism. This document adds to the evidence demonstrating that the AETA goes far beyond property destruction, as its supporters claim. The 2003 FBI file details the work of several animal rights activists who used undercover investigation to document repeated animal welfare violations.

- Ag Gag Bill Introduced In Flordia To Criminalize Animal Abuse

- Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

"A Corporation Is Not A Person!" Sen. Sanders Offers A Constitutional Amendment

2011-12-28T13:24:00.003-06:00

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) December 08, 2011 C-SPAN

China-Bound Ship Packed With Patriot Missiles Discovered in Finland

2011-12-22T13:17:00.001-06:00

NewsCore | Finnish authorities are investigating a British-registered cargo ship bound for China after a cache of US-made missiles and explosives was found on board. Sixty-nine surface-to-air Patriot missiles, manufactured by the Raytheon Company based in Waltham, Mass., were found on the Thor Liberty ship Wednesday at the Finnish port of Kotka, about 75 miles from Helsinki, Finnish authorities said. A load of 150 tons of improperly packed nitroguanidine -- a low-sensitivity explosive with a high detonation speed -- was also uncovered. The ship was heading to Shanghai when customs officials in Finland discovered the weapons on board during routine checks, Finnish police said. Exporting weapons across Finland's borders without permission is illegal.

Us Government's 'Legal Authority' To Shut Down Social Media Accounts

2011-12-21T13:27:00.001-06:00

Glenn Greenwald | The Obama administration and The New York Times are teaming up to expose and combat the grave threat posed by a Twitter account, purportedly operated by the Somali group Shabab, and in doing so, are highlighting the simultaneous absurdity and perniciousness of the War on Terror. This latest tale of Dark Terrorist Evil began on December 14 when the NYT‘s Jeffrey Gettleman directed intrepid journalistic light on the Twitter account maintained under the name “HSMPress,” which claims to be the press office of Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahedeen, the Shabab’s full name. Gettleman’s article included this passage early on in its account: "But terrorism experts say that Twitter terrorism is part of an emerging trend and that several other Qaeda franchises — a few years ago the Shabab pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda — are increasingly using social media like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter."

Regulation For Dummies

2011-12-19T10:29:00.001-06:00

WSJ | The White House is on the political offensive, and one of its chief claims is that it isn't the overregulator of business and Republican lore. This line has been picked up by impressionable columnists, so it's a good time to consider the evidence in some detail. Jan Eberly, an Assistant Treasury Secretary, kicked off the Administration campaign with a white paper in October that purported to debunk the "misconceptions" that "uncertainty is holding back business investment and hiring and that the overall burden of existing regulations is so high that firms have reduced their hiring." Then the Administration mobilized some of the worst offenders, such as Kathleen Sebelius of HHS and Lisa Jackson of the EPA. To answer the most basic question—has regulation increased?—we'll focus on what the government defines as "economically significant" regulations. Those are rules that impose more than $100 million in annual costs on the economy, though there are hundreds if not thousands of new rules every year that fall well short of that.

Singapore Air Force Tests Smart Bomb In Arizona

2011-12-13T12:48:00.005-06:00

The Star | Within mere minutes of spotting a car travelling on a dusty track in the United States’ south-western desert, the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) latest and most lethal “smart” bomb found and hit its target. The 1.6 million-hectare Barry M. Goldwater Training Area in Arizona – about 19 times the size of Singapore – was where the RSAF dropped the Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (Jdams) bomb for the first time on Friday. The area was also the battleground for one of the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) biggest war games – and the most complex unilateral one – in the United States. Codenamed Forging Sabre, the exercise, the third since the series started in 2005, was a dry run for the modernised or third-generation SAF.

Hezbollah Identifies Undercover CIA Agents

2011-12-13T12:39:00.002-06:00

AP | The militant group Hezbollah has revealed the identities of CIA officers working undercover in Lebanon, a blow to agency operations in the region and the latest salvo in an escalating spy war. Hezbollah made the names public in a broadcast Friday night on a Lebanese television station, al-Manar. Using animated videos, the station recreated meetings purported to take place between CIA officers and paid informants at Starbucks and Pizza Hut. The disclosure comes after Hezbollah managed to partially unravel the agency's spy network in Lebanon after running a double agent against the CIA, former and current U.S. intelligence officials said. They requested anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.