Alternative News

Hope in Hawley

"Hawley, Massachusetts. A small little town in a rural New England area west of the Berkshires. A recent article run by the Associated Press stated that: 'Select Board member Tedd White resigned Thursday, the fourth official in the town of about 330 residents to step down since a March 12 special election to replace a selectman who died in office. White said in his resignation letter he would rather ‘pound my thumbs with a hammer’ than attend ‘crooked, rigged’ board meetings. The town clerk, town moderator and a member of the regional school committee have also resigned this month, saying they cannot work with the board.'" Continue reading →

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Apple’s iMessage encryption trips up feds’ surveillance

"Encryption used in Apple's iMessage chat service has stymied attempts by federal drug enforcement agents to eavesdrop on suspects' conversations, an internal government document reveals. An internal Drug Enforcement Administration document seen by CNET discusses a February 2013 criminal investigation and warns that because of the use of encryption, 'it is impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices' even with a court order approved by a federal judge." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingApple’s iMessage encryption trips up feds’ surveillance

Judge declares using Google Maps for driving directions illegal in California

"Judge Hamlin reasoned that the law's intent was to prevent all manual operation of the cellphone to curb distracted driving. Hamlin felt this even though Sprigg argued that when the original law specified voice calls, it was felt necessary to append the law to add texting to its purview. Using that example, if the law didn't specify the other operations it covered, then it shouldn't apply to those other operations. Hamlin's decision countered that there was no legislative history that demonstrated the bill's original supporters didn't want texting covered by the law originally." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge declares using Google Maps for driving directions illegal in California

Given The Chance, All Governments Would Abolish Freedom Of Speech

"Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter filed a complaint with that city’s Human Rights Commission accusing a magazine of 'racial incitement' for publishing a story dealing with race relations. Downey, California resident Hashim Bomani was hit with a restraining order after using his blog to criticize Steven Golightly, director of the LA County Child Support Services Department. Dominic Ray Aguilar, a 37-year-old cab driver from Roseville, California, has been charged with making 'terroristic threats' against Police Officer John Moody in a Facebook post condemning Officer Moody for gunning down an unarmed man named Ernesto Duenez." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGiven The Chance, All Governments Would Abolish Freedom Of Speech

Environmental activist re-jailed after writing blog post about prison conditions

"Environmental activist Daniel McGowan was taken back to prison on Thursday after he wrote a Huffington Post op-ed post while in a halfway house asserting that his fellow inmates were imprisoned for their religious or political beliefs. After publishing his op-ed, McGowan was then sent back to a high-security prison facility Thursday morning. His wife, Jenny Synan, told the Huffington Post, 'If this is indeed a case of retaliation for writing an article about the BOP retaliating against his free speech while he was in prison, it is more than ironic, it is an outrage.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEnvironmental activist re-jailed after writing blog post about prison conditions

Feds Seize Property; Tell Owner, “Prove It’s Yours!”

"Eight years ago this week, on a sunny, clear, but windy and hence cold day, near a wide spot in the road called Garryowen an hour north of the Wyoming border, vans full of armed, SWAT-geared federal agents sped down I-80. Garryowen is a private town owned by Christopher Kortlander that features, among other structures, a gas station, a convenience store, a fast-food outlet, an arts and crafts store ('The Trading Post'), and the Custer Battlefield Museum. The vans skidded to a stop before the museum and the agents leaped out as they drew weapons, surrounded and stormed into the museum, and held its employees at gun point." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds Seize Property; Tell Owner, “Prove It’s Yours!”

Eight month pregnant woman tasered by cops

"In Springfield, Illinois, Lucinda White was tasered by a cop after her boyfriend's dispute with another individual over a fender bender went south. The 29 year-old called the police in an effort to settle the dispute, but later the eight months pregnant woman was brought down and tasered. According to the police report White was yelling, cursing and resisting arrest. RT's Margaret Howell brings us more on the video that has gone viral." Continue reading →

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German Family Seeking Asylum to Continue Homeschooling Kids in US Fights Deportation

"On April 23, 2013, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the case of Romeike v. Holder, where the family will attempt to have the deportation order made against them set aside. While the Romeikes had originally been granted asylum in the United States, on the grounds Germany prevented them from homeschooling their children, that decision was overturned by a panel of the Board of Immigration Appeals. German parents have not been able to legally homeschool their children since the practice was banned by the Nazis in 1938." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerman Family Seeking Asylum to Continue Homeschooling Kids in US Fights Deportation

18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children

"I wanted my kids integrated and socialized. I wanted their eyes opened to the realities of the world. I wanted the values we taught at home put to the test in the real world. But necessity drove me to consider homeschooling for my 2nd and 4th graders, and so I timidly attended a home school parent meeting last spring. Surprisingly it was full of doctors, lawyers, former public school teachers, and other professionals. These were not the stay-at-home-moms in long skirts that I expected. The face of homeschooling is changing. We are not all religious extremists or farmers, and our kids are not all overachieving academic nerds without social skills." Continue reading →

Continue Reading18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children

School forces 25 hungry students to throw away lunches when they couldn’t pay

"A group Massachusetts parents are outraged and at least one worker has been placed on administrative leave after about 25 students Robert J. Coelho Middle School in Attleboro were forced to throw away their lunches over concerns that they could not pay for the food. Parents said that some students cried and went home hungry. School officials told The Sun Chronicle that Whitson’s, the contractor responsible for providing lunches, made the decision to stop students from eating their lunch if there was not enough credit in the student’s pre-paid account or they were not able to provide cash for the meal." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSchool forces 25 hungry students to throw away lunches when they couldn’t pay