CLibertyC

Colorado Springs bans recreational marijuana shops

"Officials in Colorado’s second-largest city voted on Tuesday to ban recreational marijuana shops, becoming the largest community in the state to utilize an opt-out provision of a law that legalized the non-medical use of pot. Colorado Springs has a population of about 420,000 with a large military and evangelical Christian presence and is one of the most conservative and Republican areas in a state which in recent election cycles has turned leftward. The federal government lists cannabis as a dangerous narcotic and considers it illegal for any purpose, a point underscored by Colorado Springs residents who spoke on Tuesday in favor of the ban." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingColorado Springs bans recreational marijuana shops

Brazil becomes world’s 7th most violent country with 1 million murders in 30 years

"More than one million people were murdered in Brazil between 1980 and 2011, making it the world’s seventh most violent country, a survey showed Thursday. During the period, homicides soared 132 percent to claim 1,145,208 lives, from a rate of 11.5 murders for 100,000 inhabitants in 1980 to 27 per 100,000 in 2011, according to the Map of Violence report, In 2011, Brazil, now home to 194 million people, recorded 51,198 homicides, ranked seventh among the world’s most violent nations after El Salvador, the US Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia and Guatemala." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrazil becomes world’s 7th most violent country with 1 million murders in 30 years

Al-Qaeda claims Iraq prison raids, says 500 inmates freed

"Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for simultaneous raids on two Iraqi prisons and said more than 500 inmates had been set free, in a statement posted on militant forums on Tuesday. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was formed earlier this year through a merger between al Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out the attacks on Abu Ghraib and Taji jails after months of preparation. Sunni Islamist militants have in recent months been regaining momentum in their insurgency against Iraq‘s Shi’ite-led government, which came to power after the U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAl-Qaeda claims Iraq prison raids, says 500 inmates freed

Yemeni journalist who reported U.S. drone strike released from jail

"A Yemeni journalist who was kept in prison for years at the apparent request of the Obama administration has been released in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, according to local reports. Abdulelah Haider Shaye was imprisoned in 2010, after reporting that an attack on a suspected al-Qaida training camp in southern Yemen for which the Yemeni government claimed responsibility had actually been carried out by the United States. Shaye had visited the site and discovered pieces of cruise missiles and cluster bombs not found in Yemen’s arsenal, according to a Jeremy Scahill dispatch in the Nation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYemeni journalist who reported U.S. drone strike released from jail

Bloomberg vetoes bill to halt New York’s stop-and-frisk policy

"New York City Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday vetoed two measures meant to curb the city’s controversial stop-and-frisk policing policy, setting up a likely showdown with the City Council. One measure would create an independent inspector general to monitor the New York City Police Department. The other would expand the definition of racial profiling and allow people who believe they have been profiled to sue police in state court. Opponents of stop-and-frisk, among them minority groups, civil libertarians and some of the Democratic mayoral candidates, have said police officers disproportionately target young black and Hispanic men." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBloomberg vetoes bill to halt New York’s stop-and-frisk policy

Congress moves towards arming Syrian rebels

"President Barack Obama’s plan to provide vetted Syrian rebels with weapons and strategic military aid has gained traction in Congress, US lawmakers said Tuesday. The United States is currently providing humanitarian and non-lethal military aid to rebel groups battling the regime of strongman Bashar al-Assad. Obama’s administration promised an expansion of military aid to Syria’s rebel forces in June after accusing the regime of using chemical weapons, but such aid has yet to be disbursed. Lawmakers have been split on the proposal, but on Monday House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers said a 'consensus' had been reached." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress moves towards arming Syrian rebels

Feinstein, Chambliss object to proposal to defund NSA mass phone surveillance

"The heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday voiced their opposition to a proposal that would defund some of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance programs. 'The FISA business records program has contributed to disrupting numerous terrorist attacks against our nation. It has been reviewed and authorized by all three branches of government and is subject to strict controls,' Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said in a joint statement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeinstein, Chambliss object to proposal to defund NSA mass phone surveillance

Experiment finds D.C. residents are the least honest Americans

"George Washington famously said he could not tell a lie, but people in the city that bears his name don’t seem to feel so conflicted. One in five in the US capital failed to drop a suggested $1 in an honor box when they helped themselves to tea at unmanned kiosks set up by Honest Tea, a beverage company. In a statement, Honest Tea said it set up 61 such kiosks around the country, including at least one in every state plus the District of Columbia, over 11 days in July. The most honest folks were in Alabama and Hawaii, where everyone paid without exception, followed by Indiana and Maine with a 99 percent honesty score." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExperiment finds D.C. residents are the least honest Americans

Meredith Whitney: ‘Detroit Will Start A Wave of Municipal Bankruptcies’

"At the root of the problem is the incentive system that elected officials used to face. For decades, across the US, local leaders ran up tabs for future taxpayers; they promised pensions and other benefits for public employees that have strong legal protection. That has been a great source of patronage for elected officials: they can promise all sorts of future perks to loyal supporters with very little accountability on the delivery of those promises.[...] Leaders across the country cannot continue as they have. They must choose sides because there is simply not enough money to go around. Will they side with taxpayers, unions or the municipal bondholders?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMeredith Whitney: ‘Detroit Will Start A Wave of Municipal Bankruptcies’