tagged w/ News and Information
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Gay Rights, Stem-Cell Research, Taxes, Spending, Iraq, Iran, Immigration, Bain Capital Files.....it's ALL here!
This is why Mitt Romney loves destroying e-mails and shredding documents, because files like this expose where he stands on the issues, and then how he stands on the OTHER side of them, depending on the election.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-book-on-mitt-romney-here-is-john-mccains-entGay Rights, Stem-Cell Research, Taxes, Spending, Iraq, Iran, Immigration, Bain Capital... more
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The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has recommended for many years that animal activists who carry out undercover investigations on farms could be prosecuted as domestic terrorists.
New documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by activist Ryan Shapiro show the FBI advising that activists – including Shapiro – who walked onto a farm, videotaped animals there and “rescued” an animal had violated terrorism statutes.
The documents, which were first published on Will Potter’s website, Green Is the New Red, were issued by the Joint Terrorism Task Force in 2003 in response to an article in an animal rights publication in which Shapiro and two other activists (whose names were redacted from the document), openly claimed responsibility for shooting video and taking animals from a farm.
The FBI notes discuss the videotaping, illegal entry and the removal of animals, then concludes with “there is a reasonable indication that [Subject 1] and other members of the [redacted] have violated the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, 18 USC Section 43 (a).”
Curiously, the name of the act seems to be an error; the act was called the Animal Enterprise Protection Act until 2006, when it was largely superseded by an act called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The crime named in the original 1992 act, however, was always called terrorism. The penalties for such a conviction can include terrorism enhancements which can add decades to a sentence.
Later, in 2004, Shapiro and a colleague, Sarahjane Blum, working as a group called Gourmet Cruelty, were prosecuted for a different but similar act in which they walked onto a fois gras farm, videotaped the operation and took a few ducks. They were prosecuted for felony burglary and pleaded to misdemeanor trespassing.
“Sarahjane and I and everyone with Gourmet Cruelty – the undercover investigation and especially the open rescue were acts of civil disobedience,” said Shapiro by phone. He is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Science, Technology and Society at MIT. “We openly took credit for the things that we were doing in order to expose the horrific cruelty on factory farms and to educate the public about it. So a trespassing charge seemed like a perfectly reasonable price to pay.”
“However, it’s simply outrageous to consider civil disobedience as terrorism,” Shapiro adds. “Civil disobedience is not terrorism. It has a long and proud place in our nation’s history, from Martin Luther King to Occupy Wall Street, and the AETA takes that kind of advocacy that we celebrate from the civil rights movement and turns it into a terrorist event.”
The FBI declined to comment on the documents, though a public information officer did point out that "the FBI cannot collect or retain information on pure 1st Amendment activities unless the collection is pertinent to a legitimate law enforcement activity." Which would indicate that it is the trespassing and theft of animals that would cause the bureau to open a file. But activists and their attorneys are unsure of this interpretation.
Undercover investigations have been a mainstay of activist work, whistleblower activity and even journalism since before the days of Upton Sinclair and his landmark 1906 work about the meatpacking industry, “The Jungle.”
“Some of these investigations don’t even break state laws,” says Rachel Meerpol, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights who is representing Shapiro in a constitutional challenge of the AETA. “It’s possible to gain undercover footage lawfully. The way the FBI is interpreting this law would allow for prosecution of completely lawful, valuable advocacy efforts as an act of terrorism. It’s an issue of public safety as well as animal cruelty. It’s such a waste of time and resources for the FBI to be spending money investigating folks involved in this work.”
State legislatures, however, are also getting into the act. Florida, Iowa, Minnesota and New York all tried to pass bills specifically outlawing photographing and videotaping animal enterprises in 2011, but failed. Florida state Sen. Jim Norman has already reintroduced his bill, SB1184, for 2012, which is more of an omnibus bill but still contains the prohibitions against recording farm operations.
Potter, who has looked into these state laws in more detail, points out, “There’s no shortage of laws that could be used to prosecute someone who is trespassing or someone who is vandalizing property in the process of an investigation. But these new laws are specifically aimed at mainstream animal rights and environmental groups who investigate abuse, such as the Humane Society, Mercy for Animals and PETA.”The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has recommended for many years that animal... more
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Occupy St. Louis tweeted this afternoon that they have received an email from Gary Bess, Parks and Recreation Director of the City of St. Louis, saying:
"I would like to give you notice that effective 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, November 11, 2011 or any time thereafter, the City of St. Louis will begin strict enforcement of all ordinances and regulations pertaining to the use of Kiener Plaza. If you have any questions, please contact me..."
Read More...
http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/post/occupy-st-louis-protesters-receive-24-hour-warning-about-use-kiener-plaza
Call their Parks Dept at (314) 289-5300 and Mayor Slay at (314) 622-3201. Show some solidarity for your brothers and sisters.Occupy St. Louis tweeted this afternoon that they have received an email from Gary... more
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Summary: If you love your Internet, you must read this article. Congress is once again mucking around with our rights, and it ain’t good.
Let me be clear. If you love your Internet, you must read this article. Congress is once again mucking around with our rights, and it ain’t good.
To put it simply, the U.S. House of Representatives is trying to pass SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Now, we all know and accept that online piracy is bad. We all know and accept that it’s wrong to download music we haven’t paid for, and we all know it’s better to pay Netflix or iTunes for our movies than to steal them off Torrent sites.
Stealing is wrong and we accept that on faith. We all believe our artists and creative professionals (and the suits who follow them around with their hands out) deserve to get paid for their work. Heck, I make my living producing content. I like to be able to pay my bills as much as the next guy.
Unfortunately, our elected officials are once again allowing themselves to be led around by their collective noses by the lobbying organizations known as the RIAA and the MPAA. These lobbyists have no problem disrupting the Internet for their own gain, whether or not their efforts will damage our economy, cause jobs to be lost, or destroy one of America’s greatest assets.
It’s interesting when you think about it. The Internet was designed to route around nuclear warfare, but it’s almost defenseless against lawyers and lobbyists.
Here’s where SOPA goes wrong. . . [...]
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/new-house-of-representatives-bill-may-strangle-the-internet-or-nerf-the-first-amendment/10963?tag=nl.e539Summary: If you love your Internet, you must read this article. Congress is once again... more
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Around 5:00 p.m. PST Oakland’s Mayor Jean Quan and her fellow officials held a press conference.
They said that the city had sustained minimal damage during the day’s protest, but that the police were calling in reinforcements from other cities anyway. She also said that the crowds preparing to march on the Port of Oakland were peaceful.
Most importantly, she said there were only around 4,500 marchers. According to pictures, and reports from other media outlets, to us, that estimate seems low.
From here in New York, we at Business Insider watched the protests escalate from a peaceful demonstration, to a powerful show of frustration from police, occupiers, and Oakland residents. There were fires, there was tear gas, and there were people who got very badly hurt. You can see it all in these photos from the Associated Press.
Last night the Occupation showed that it is a force to be reckoned with. That, if it so desires, it can put enough people on the street to cause chaos. Bodies, after all are power. But that power comes at a cost, not just to the city of Oakland, but to the public’s perception of the occupation.
Listen: stay peaceful.Around 5:00 p.m. PST Oakland’s Mayor Jean Quan and her fellow officials held a... more
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Chicago pot smokers may soon be able to light up without fear of jail time.
Several Windy City councilmen said Thursday they plan to introduce a local law that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in order to cut costs and free up police to handle more serious crimes.
Chicago police make about 23,000 arrests each year for possession of the drug, a misdemeanor which nevertheless carries stiff punishment of up to six months in jail, a $1,500 fine and a criminal record.
Under the new law set to be introduced next week, people caught with less than 10 grams of marijuana would instead face a $200 fine and up to 10 hours of community service.
Marijuana has already been downgraded to a lesser offense in several Chicago suburbs and areas of Cook County patrolled by the sheriff's department.
Some 11 US states have also decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot and 18 states allow its use for medical purposes, according to the pro-marijuana group NORML.
Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs US taxpayers $10 billion and results in the arrests of 853,000 people a year, NORML said.
Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey told reporters that the proposed law makes sense.
"It is not time to act tough on crime; it is (time) to be smart on crime. We need our resources spent somewhere else," he said.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.0af8f11acd1989af42a50ede5cf89585.571&show_article=1Chicago pot smokers may soon be able to light up without fear of jail time.
Several... more
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I really don't have any calm words to opine on this statement, except that it's the most despicable hyperbole that has ever been thrown at a modern US President.
Just click the link and watch:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201110060026I really don't have any calm words to opine on this statement, except that... more
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Apple says that company founder Steve Jobs, widely regarded as one of the great innovators of the computer era, has died at the age of 56.Apple says that company founder Steve Jobs, widely regarded as one of the great... more
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BOSTON (AP) -- A Massachusetts man was arrested Wednesday and accused of plotting to destroy the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol by attacking the buildings with large, remote-controlled aircraft armed with lethal amounts of explosives.
Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was arrested Wednesday in Framingham after undercover federal agents delivered materials he'd allegedly requested for his plan, including grenades, six machine guns and what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4 explosive.
According to a federal affidavit, Ferdaus said he wanted to deal a psychological blow to Americans, the "enemies of Allah," by hitting the Pentagon, which he called "head and heart of the snake."
In a conversation with a federal informant, Ferdaus allegedly explained how in ancient times, God uses natural disasters to punish evil civilizations, and he would use them today. "For us, we've gotta do that," he said, according to the affidavit. "Allah has given us the privilege ... he punishes them by our hand. We're the ones."
Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen and Northeastern University graduate, was scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in Worcester on Wednesday afternoon.
Telephone messages were left at the office of his attorney, Catherine Byrne, and at the address listed for Ferdaus in the affidavit.
Law enforcement officials have said they are concerned about potential homegrown terrorists, and several alleged domestic plots have been thwarted since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, including in Lackawanna, N.Y.; Portland, Ore.; and Virginia.
http://t.co/SN2ggrSmBOSTON (AP) -- A Massachusetts man was arrested Wednesday and accused of plotting to... more
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Allan Lichtman, the American University professor whose election formula has correctly called every president since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election, has a belated birthday present for Barack Obama: Rest easy, your re-election is in the bag.
“Even if I am being conservative, I don’t see how Obama can lose,” says Lichtman, the brains behind The Keys to the White House.
Party mandate: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than it did after the previous midterm elections. Says Lichtman, “Even back in January 2010 when I first released my predictions, I was already counting on a significant loss.” Obama loses this key.
Contest: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination. Says Lichtman on Obama’s unchallenged status, “I never thought there would be any serious contest against Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.” Obama wins this key.
Incumbency: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president. Easy win here for Obama.
Third Party: There is no significant third party challenge. Obama wins this point.
Short term economy: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign. Here Lichtman declares an “undecided.”
Long-term economy: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms. Says Lichtman, “I discounted long term economy against Obama. Clearly we are in a recession.” Obama loses this key. [Read: Seven Ways Obama Can Gain Credibility on Jobs.]
Policy change: The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy. “There have been major policy changes in this administration. We’ve seen the biggest stimulus in history and an complete overhaul of the healthcare system so I gave him policy change,” says the scholar. Another win for Obama.
Social unrest: There is no sustained social unrest during the term. Says Lichtman, “There wasn’t any social unrest when I made my predictions for 2012 and there still isn’t.” Obama wins a fifth key here.
Scandal: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal. “This administration has been squeaky clean. There’s nothing on scandal,” says Lichtman. Another Obama win.
Foreign/military failure: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs. Says Lichtman, “We haven’t seen any major failure that resembles something like the Bay of Pigs and don’t foresee anything.” Obama wins again.
Foreign/military success: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs. “Since Osama bin Laden was found and killed, I think Obama has achieved military success.” Obama wins his eighth key.
Incumbent charisma: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. Explains Lichtman, “I did not give President Obama the incumbent charisma key. I counted it against him. He’s really led from behind. He didn’t really take the lead in the healthcare debate, he didn’t use his speaking ability to move the American people during the recession. He’s lost his ability to connect since the 2008 election.” Obama loses this key. [See political cartoons about President Obama.]
Challenger charisma: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero. Says Lichtman, “We haven’t seen any candidate in the GOP who meets this criteria and probably won’t.” Obama wins, bringing his total to nine keys, three more than needed to win reelection.
(See full article at link)
http://current.com/community/93424397_its-official-president-obama-will-win-his-second-term-only-adult-left-in-the-race.htmAllan Lichtman, the American University professor whose election formula has correctly... more
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The Federal Appeals Court has ruled that video recording the police in a public place is a constitutional right for all U.S. citizens. This is a great win for the freedom movement. Public officials need to be held accountable for their actions. See ruling below.
SIMON GLIK,
Plaintiff, Appellee,
v.
JOHN CUNNIFFE, in his individual capacity; PETER J. SAVALIS, in his individual capacity; JEROME HALL-BREWSTER, in his individual capacity; CITY OF BOSTON,
Defendants, Appellants.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
[Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Torruella, Lipez, and Howard,
Circuit Judges.
Ian D. Prior, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Boston Law Department, with whom William F. Sinnott, Corporation Counsel, and Lisa Skehill Maki, Assistant Corporation Counsel, were on brief, for appellants.
David Milton, with whom Howard Friedman, Law Offices of Howard Friedman, P.C., Sarah Wunsch, and ACLU of Massachusettswere on brief, for appellee. To read the rest of this story go to: http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5618/federal-court-rules-videotaping-police-is-a-first-amendment-right/The Federal Appeals Court has ruled that video recording the police in a public place... more
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WASHINGTON - Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid U.S. CEOs earned more last year than their companies paid in federal income tax, a pay study said on Wednesday.
It also found many of the companies spent more on lobbying than they did on taxes.
At a time when lawmakers are facing tough choices in a quest to slash the national debt, the report from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a left-leaning Washington think tank, quickly hit a nerve.
After reading it, Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called for hearings on executive compensation.
In a letter to that committee's chairman, Republican Darrell Issa, Cummings asked "to examine the extent to which the problems in CEO compensation that led to the economic crisis continue to exist today."
He also asked "why CEO pay and corporate profits are skyrocketing while worker pay stagnates and unemployment remains unacceptably high," and "the extent to which our tax code may be encouraging these growing disparities."
more at link...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/ceo-taxes-company-income-study_n_943063.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk3|91574WASHINGTON - Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid U.S. CEOs earned more last year than... more
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Here is my story about my arrest Friday night and the reasons for it. I met Chris Nielsen, owner of Electric Cab of Austin, during my recent campaign.
He told me about his 3 year long battle with the City of Austin in which he had an idea to start a green energy business giving people rides on a “tips only” basis. He did not charge for his services, and really the business is a mobile marketing company that generates revenue from advertising on the side of his low speed electric vehicles.... Complete article can be found here... http://peacefreedomprosperity.com/5590/continual-arrests-for-operating-without-a-permit-when-city-doesnt-provide-permit/Here is my story about my arrest Friday night and the reasons for it. I met Chris... more
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Obama just cant get a brake this week. After the FoxNewsPolitics Twitter page was hacked the Obama campaign website was hacked on Tuesday and invited supporters to two fake anti-government events hosted by an unnamed "Commy Obama."
The campaign's application for mobile devices, such as iPhones and iPads, directed users to two events titled "Rules of Politics" scheduled for noon on Tuesday in Washington.
"1. Politicians and other public servants lie," reads the event description provided on the Obama campaign website. "2. Politicians tell you what you want to hear and offer to provide things for 'free' to get votes. 3. When government buys, the people pay."Obama just cant get a brake this week. After the FoxNewsPolitics Twitter page was... more
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A new study by researchers at the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development at Penn State shows that “lower taxes are statistically insignificant in explaining state economic performance, and that targeted tax incentives and financial assistance — as currently practiced — are more likely to harm growth and income inequality.” “Although our results are primarily suggestive, they indicate that lower taxes across the broad economy and the use of tax incentives and financial assistance programs do not stimulate state economies,” the researchers wrote. Several states have tried cutting taxes in the last few months — or are looking at new tax cut packages — in an attempt to spur economic growth.A new study by researchers at the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development at... more
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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/24/253569/reagan-1982-flashback-economy-boomed/
By Pat Garofalo
Yesterday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) walked out of deficit reduction negotiations being led by Vice President Joe Biden, on the justification that Democrats were insisting on some sort of new revenue being part of the deal, while Republicans have ruled taxes “off the table.” “There is not support in the House for a tax increase, and I don’t believe now is the time to raise taxes in light of our current economic situation,” Cantor said in a statement.
Cantor’s sentiment was echoed by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), who said, “raising taxes is going to destroy jobs. If you raise taxes on the people that we need to grow our economy and to hire new workers, guess what: they’re not going to do it if they have to pay higher taxes to the federal government.” But the GOP needs to check the history of one of its icons to see if this is really the case.
After all, in 1982, the Reagan administration implemented the first of several tax increases that it would endorse in order to reduce the deficit. (Reagan raised taxes in seven of the eight years that he was President.) Republican lawmakers and conservative economists screamed that the tax increase would slam the economy and hinder growth. But as former Reagan and George H.W. Bush economic official Bruce Bartlett noted, “It would be hard to find an economic forecast that was more wrong in every respect“:
Looking at real gross domestic product, it grew 4.5 percent in 1983 and 7.2 percent in 1984 – an exceptionally strong performance. The stock market had one of its best years ever in 1983 – both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index rose 35 percent. There was no increase in the rate of inflation, which was exactly the same in 1983 and 1984 as it was in 1982. The unemployment rate fell from 10.6 percent in December 1982 to 8.1 percent by December 1983 and 7.1 percent in December 1984.
The 1982 tax increase is the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history. And the same thing happened around President Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax increase: dire warnings from Republicans about economic Armageddon, followed by a booming economy.
As Center for American Progress Director of Tax and Budget Policy Michael Linden noted, over the last 50 years, lower top tax rates have coincided with weaker growth, while the strongest growth was during periods when the top tax rate was substantially higher than it is now. As he explained, “These numbers do not mean that higher rates necessarily lead to higher growth. But the central tenet of modern conservative economics is that a lower top marginal tax rate will result in more growth, and these numbers do show conclusively that history has not been kind to that theory.”
Of course, it’s not really surprising that the GOP has no idea what went on during Reagan’s term. After all, House Republicans scoffed and rolled their eyes when presented with the fact that taxes were higher under Reagan than they are under Obama.http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/24/253569/reagan-1982-flashback-economy-boomed... more
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Al Gore, as a pioneer in the new media of entertainment and programming, also plays a vital role at Current. Watch and see where this article links current events and entertainment. Follow the trail to unlock the channels to the creative process.Al Gore, as a pioneer in the new media of entertainment and programming, also plays a... more
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