Alternative News

Then They Came For the Prosecutors….

"Prosecutors in New Jersey have a long history of abuse, playing by their own rules, and (of course) always getting away with their dishonest actions, since the courts for the most part have covered for the worst of the bunch. However, it seems that the state's prosecutors have been a bit too successful in their relentless pursuit of gun owners, as an appeals court in New Jersey has ruled that retired prosecutors are 'not entitled the same concealed carry permits afforded retired law enforcement officers.'" Continue reading →

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Police Intervention Always Makes Things Worse — Continued

"Last April, a Brooklyn landlady named Karen Brim was mopping the floors in her apartment building when three police officers suddenly materialized in pursuit of several local teenagers. The officers claimed that the teens were trespassers. Brim said that they were guests and were welcome on her property. The police, however, were not. The officers responded by throwing the 42-year-old woman to the floor, shattering her leg. She was taken to a local hospital where she was shackled to a bed and held under armed guard for seventeen days. Brim, who was the victim, was charged with five offenses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice Intervention Always Makes Things Worse — Continued

How the System Treats a Good Cop

"As a New York City Police Officer assigned to the 81st Precinct, Adrian Schoolcraft became disillusioned when supervisors talked about manipulating crime statistics and carrying out illegal arrests. Schoolcraft blew the whistle – and immediately paid a steep price. A police strike force raided Schoolcraft’s apartment and forcibly confined him to a mental ward at Jamaica Hospital under the care of Dr. Isak Isakov, supposedly to prevent him from harming himself. He was held there for six days. An internal investigation validated nearly all of Schoolcraft’s claims – yet nobody has ever been punished for his abduction and false imprisonment." Continue reading →

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Anti-marijuana New York assemblyman busted for weed possession

"A Republican lawmaker in New York who has a record of voting against medical marijuana legalization has been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. State police said that a suspicious odor was noticed in Assemblyman Steve Katz’s vehicle when they pulled him over for driving around 80 mph in a 75 mph zone at around 10 a.m. Thursday morning. Katz was given an appearance ticket for having less than 25 grams and is scheduled to appear in Coeymans Town Court on March 8. He also faces charges for speeding." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnti-marijuana New York assemblyman busted for weed possession

New York police running criminal checks on domestic abuse victims

"New York City police have been ordered to run criminal background checks on domestic abuse victims, The New York Post reported on Friday. According to a March 5 memo obtained by the newspaper, Chief of Detectives Phil Pulaski has directed detectives to run background checks on both the accuser and the alleged perpetrator in domestic violence cases. If victims are found to have outstanding warrants, police are ordered to arrest them. The new policy is already drawing criticism from victims’ advocates." Continue reading →

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Veteran Faces Jail Time For Using Marijuana As Treatment For PTSD

"Former U.S. Navy Corpsman Jeremy Usher came home in 2003 from Iraq and Afghanistan to sleepless nights and panic attacks, with vivid flashbacks of combat, horrifying nightmares, anxiety and depression, all amid memory loss and a severe stutter. He's doing well in counseling and school, he says, but he faces jail time for using marijuana medicinally while on probation to manage his PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Jeremy finds himself in legal limbo. Medicinal marijuana is the one treatment that's helped him with his PTSD, but he violates his probation when he uses it, which puts him at risk of going back to jail." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVeteran Faces Jail Time For Using Marijuana As Treatment For PTSD

The Case Against Government Bans on Feeding the Homeless

"Cities like New York City, Philadelphia, and Houston have banned residents from sharing food with the homeless and less fortunate. In Chicago, for example, at least one politician, Ald. James Cappleman, recently tried to banish a Salvation Army food truck from feeding the homeless in his neighborhood. I called such laws 'unconstitutional, discriminatory, and wrongheaded' in a column I wrote over the summer. They remain so. But since I wrote that widely read column in June, I’ve noticed a welcome pattern emerging. These unjust laws are under attack." Continue reading →

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Federal Judge Finds National Security Letters Unconstitutional, Bans Them

"Ultra-secret national security letters that come with a gag order on the recipient are an unconstitutional impingement on free speech, a federal judge in California ruled in a decision released Friday. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered the government to stop issuing so-called NSLs across the board, in a stunning defeat for the Obama administration’s surveillance practices. She also ordered the government to cease enforcing the gag provision in any other cases. However, she stayed her order for 90 days to give the government a chance to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal Judge Finds National Security Letters Unconstitutional, Bans Them

Libor Scandal to Reveal Metals Manipulation?

"Gold is being sucked directly into the Libor scandal. Of course, we are on record as pointing out that it can hardly be much of a scandal when central banks set the price and volume of money every day. But nonetheless, the mainstream press has been buzzing about the idea that commercial banks were setting LIBOR rates in ways that accommodated their business practices. It is ultimately all about control. Gold and silver prices are apparently not subject to open marketplace competition for a reason. And now the Libor scandal threatens to unearth the seamy side of metals manipulation from the standpoint of the world's biggest banks." Continue reading →

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150,000 Greek Public Sector Job Cuts Pending As Greece Launches Another Grexit “Plan B” Movement

"Greece is locked in talks with international creditors in Athens about shrinking the government workforce by enough to keep bailout payments flowing. Identifying redundant positions and putting in place a system that will lead to mandatory exits for about 150,000 civil servants by 2015 is a so-called milestone that will determine whether the country gets a 2.8 billion-euro ($3.6 billion) aid installment due this month. More than a week of talks on that has so far failed to clinch an agreement." Continue reading →

Continue Reading150,000 Greek Public Sector Job Cuts Pending As Greece Launches Another Grexit “Plan B” Movement