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Small government promoter Rick Perry sends Texas $2.6 million bill for promotional travel

“Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) likes to talk tough about his small government credentials, but the numbers he’s been racking up lately tell a different tale: according to The Houston Chronicle, the arch conservative’s out-of-state security detail has cost Texas taxpayers a whopping $2.6 million since he was reelected in 2010. All that money has gone to pay for Perry’s security details as he tours the country trying to poach jobs from other states, and from his ill-fated bid for the Republican nomination to the presidency, according to data released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS).” Continue reading →

Democrat seeks to defund Obama’s expansive war powers

“Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) amendment would prohibit the use of funds pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) effective on December 31, 2014.
The Bush and Obama administrations have used the AUMF as a legal justification for vast electronic surveillance and targeted drone strikes against suspected terrorists. The AUMF has also been used to deploy troops to various countries — including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Georgia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen — and justify indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay.” Continue reading →

Man facing criminal charges for swimming across river from Canada to U.S.

“Around 11:30 p.m. Monday night, a neighbor called police saying that she had lost sight of Morillo in the river. Morillo came ashore in the U.S. at Detroit’s Renaissance Park, turned around and started home. It was then that he saw the rescue boats and helicopter. ‘As soon I saw the helicopters going by and the boats looking for me, I was like ‘Oh, this is really stupid,’’ Morillo told the Star. The Canadian Coast Guard picked up Morillo on the Ontario side of the river. He was arrested and charged with public intoxication and swimming in a shipping channel, which carries fines from $5,000 to $25,000. The Canadian Harbor Authority is inspecting the incident.” Continue reading →

Federal appeals court overturns Texas ordinance blocking undocumented tenants from renting

“The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that an ordinance adopted in Farmers Branch in 2008 requiring renters to show legal residence in the country before becoming tenants conflicted with federal immigration law. The Dallas Morning News reported that Farmers Branch officials are unsure whether to continue their fight to uphold the measure. The Dallas County suburb has spent $6 million over the past seven years on legal fees connected to the ordinance.” Continue reading →

Federal report: E-Verify errors could wrongly exclude Americans from jobs

“Reports published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reveal that the so-called E-Verify programme, which allows employers to check whether new workers are properly documented, is so inaccurate that if replicated across the country it could wrongfully exclude more than 200,000 people from the workforce. With more than one in 10 employers using E-Verify to weed out applicants before making a job offer, the potential for abuse is greatly increased. It is possible for applicants to be turned away from a post without ever finding out that they have been wrongly flagged as unauthorised on the database.” Continue reading →

Pennsylvania police chief: ‘F*ck all you libtards out there, you take it in the a**’

“The mayor of Gilberton, Pennsylvania is standing by her city’s police chief despite a series of profanity-laced and threatening videos. In a video that has received wide attention, police chief Mark Kessler repeatedly tells those upset by his use of profanity to ‘go f*ck yourself’ as he fires various automatic weapons. Mayor Mary Lou Hannon told The Morning Call that Kessler had the right to express himself. The city would ‘not take action to quash free speech, whether or not each member of council or any member of council agrees with it.’ In one video, Kessler berates ‘libtards’ and warns of an armed rebellion against the government.” Continue reading →

NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly defends stop-and-frisk in appeal to public

“With his law enforcement legacy hanging in the balance, New York City’s police chief has turned to the media to defend his most controversial initiatives. Kelly has come under intense criticism for the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices – which disproportionately impact communities of color – and surveillance of Muslims both in and out of the department’s geographic jurisdiction, resulting in multiple lawsuits. With Bloomberg’s tenure coming to an end, Kelly’s future is uncertain. President Barack Obama said Kelly would be ‘very well qualified’ to head the Department of Homeland Security. Others have disagreed.” Continue reading →

US tech firms say they are losing business over NSA surveillance

“Revelations about the US government’s vast data collection programs have already started hurting American technology firms, according to an industry survey released this week. The Cloud Security Alliance said 10 percent of its non-US members have cancelled a contract with a US-based cloud provider, and 56 percent said they were less likely to use an American company. In the survey, 36 percent of US firms polled said the revelations would make it more difficult for their company to do business outside the United States, while 64 percent said it would not.” Continue reading →