Animal Farm

Louisiana Deputies Bust Gays with Unconstitutional Sodomy Law

"Baton Rouge, Louisiana suffers from the eighth highest murder rate in the nation, and yet local law enforcement apparently considers it a top priority to conduct sting operations on gay men seeking consensual sex. According to an investigation by The Advocate, deputies have been going undercover and busting gay men using an anti-sodomy law the Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional ten years ago. (Sheriff Sid Gautreaux says he hadn't heard about the Supreme Court decision.) Meanwhile, the local murder rate has jumped 40 percent over the past decade." Continue reading →

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Iranian Electoral Candidate Disqualified for Being Too Attractive

"27-year-old Nina Siahkali Moradi received 10,000 votes during the city's most recent election, placing her 14th out of the 163 candidates, which landed her the title of 'alternate member of council.' However when one of those ranked above her was elected as mayor, Moradi was instead disqualified. A senior office in Qazvin has been quoted as saying, 'We don't want a catwalk model on the council.' Moradi, a graduate student in architecture ran what many consider a successfully forward-leaning and high-profile election campaign, leading many to cite her disqualification as another blatant example of Iran's sexist policy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIranian Electoral Candidate Disqualified for Being Too Attractive

Audit finds NSA violated ‘thousands’ of its own privacy rules

"The National Security Agency (NSA) has breached privacy rules or acted outside its authority several thousand times since being granted sweeping new powers five years ago, the Washington Post reported. The breaches had been revealed after analysis of an internal audit and other top secret documents, the details of which were made available to the Post by US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. It cited an instance in 2008 when a 'large number' of calls from Washington were monitored after a programming error mixed up the area code for the US capital — 202 — with the international dialing code for Egypt — 20." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAudit finds NSA violated ‘thousands’ of its own privacy rules

Rising Inequality and Poverty: Can They Be Fixed?

"Societies can choose between two forms of relatively stable but impoverishing feudalism--stagnant backwater or financial--or accept the existential risks of embracing innovation and experimentation, not just in narrow technological fields but across the entire economy, society and government. Incentivizing the values that favor wealth creation--thrift, investing, improving skills, entrepreneurial drive, flexibility, strong families--may be just as important as leveling the playing field, i.e. maintaining opportunity via maintaining access to education and social capital building." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRising Inequality and Poverty: Can They Be Fixed?

‘London Whale’ Bruno Iksil Won’t Be Prosecuted By Justice Department

"Former JPMorgan Chase employee Bruno Iksil will not be prosecuted by the Justice Department, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing a person close to the situation. Iksil is the so-called 'London Whale' at the center of the trading scandal that lost JPMorgan, the country's biggest bank by assets, some $6.2 billion in 2012. The New York Times reported Friday that U.S. authorities planned to arrest two former JPMorgan employees for their roles in the scandal, and Iksil will need to play a role in any arrests related to the trades, Reuters reported Thursday." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘London Whale’ Bruno Iksil Won’t Be Prosecuted By Justice Department

Pfc. Bradley Manning Unsworn Statement during Sentencing Trial

"I did not truly appreciate the broader effects of my actions. Those effects are clearer to me now through both self-reflection during my confinement in its various forms and through the merits and sentencing testimony that I have seen here. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was gonna help people, not hurt people. The last few years have been a learning experience. I look back at my decisions and wonder, 'How on earth could I, a junior analyst, possibly believe I could change the world for the better over the decisions of those with the proper authority?'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPfc. Bradley Manning Unsworn Statement during Sentencing Trial

Firefighter handcuffed and threatened with taser for waving at police while black

"Evansville firefighter George Madison Jr. has filed a formal complaint about an Evansville Police Department officer who he said stopped him during a bicycle ride Tuesday afternoon, threatened him with a stun gun and handcuffed him. The father of four said he feared for his safety during the stop by two officers on South Weinbach Avenue. 'I remember looking down the barrel of a Taser, because (the officer) was gritting his teeth and saying, ‘Don’t make me pull this trigger,’' Madison said Wednesday afternoon. Evansville Police Chief Bolin told Madison the department would 'look into it.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFirefighter handcuffed and threatened with taser for waving at police while black

White House rejects petition calling for ‘Gun Free Zone’ around Obama, Biden

"President Obama needs armed security because he faces 'serious, persistent and credible threats on a daily basis,' the White House said in response to a petition meant to undercut his push for new gun controls. The petition garnered more than 40,000 signatures. The White House dismissed the call to disarm the president's security detail, noting that Congress mandated full-time protection of the president after the third assassination of a sitting president in 1901. 'Those who are the subject of ongoing threats must receive the necessary and appropriate protection,' the White House wrote in its response." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhite House rejects petition calling for ‘Gun Free Zone’ around Obama, Biden

Corrupt Cops Protecting Rodeo Board Caught by Their Own Cruiser Camera

"Oregon's Malheur County Sheriff's Deputies will apparently do anything to protect the cruel Jordan Valley Big Loop Rodeo. The sheriff's department raises money at the rodeo, and sheriff's deputies sit on the rodeo board. The sheriff's department will even make illegal traffic stops, and openly talk about what they are doing. Too bad they forgot about that cruiser camera, which recorded every word." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCorrupt Cops Protecting Rodeo Board Caught by Their Own Cruiser Camera

Security video shows Iowa cops beating mother in front of infant daughter

"In the video, obtained by Chicago-based watchdog group the Better Government Association, Redell is sitting in a chair exchanging words with the cops when an officer identified as Scott Crow pounces on her and appears to punch her several times in the head with both fists. The other officer, who has not been identified, doesn't strike her, but has his hands on her legs and waist. Meanwhile, Redell's infant daughter sits in a stroller just a few feet away. Redell eventually ends up on the floor with her hands cuffed behind her back. In his report, Crow claimed that he pounced on Redell because her 'hands were clenched' and she appeared 'willing to fight.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecurity video shows Iowa cops beating mother in front of infant daughter