False Sense Of Security

Twice-fired TSA manager gets his job back AGAIN after judge rules he was unfairly sacked

"A Transportation Security Authority baggage-checking manager has got his job back a second time after he was unfairly fired twice. Raymond Ware and 35 other TSA employees were let go from Honolulu International Airport in 2011 after an investigation revealed that for several months, some officers failed to hand-screen checked baggage for explosives. But Ware challenged the dismissal, and has become the fourth TSA manager to win a settlement or successfully challenge his firing after the baggage-checking scandal." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTwice-fired TSA manager gets his job back AGAIN after judge rules he was unfairly sacked

To protect restaurants, D.C. may curb food trucks

"Should D.C.'s food laws try to protect consumers and public safety? Or should they try to protect brick-and-mortar restaurants from competition? D.C.'s restaurant lobbyists, along with many local politicians and bureaucrats, seem to thi nk the government's job is to save the delis and diners, bistros and brasseries from the scourge of falafel trucks, barbecue buses and weenie wagons. Most of downtown D.C., according to the Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington, would be off-limits to food trucks under new regulations proposed by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTo protect restaurants, D.C. may curb food trucks

Major supermarket chains promise not to sell genetically engineered salmon in the U.S.

"The US Food and Drug Administration is in the final stages of deciding whether to allow GM salmon onto the market. If approved, AquaBounty Technology’s salmon would be the first genetically engineered animal to enter the food supply. The GM salmon is the first in some 30 other species of transgendered fish under development, including tilapia. Researchers are also working to bring GM cows, chickens and pigs to market. However, those plans could be blocked by Wednesday’s commitment from national grocery chains, such as Trader Joe’s, Aldi and Whole Foods, as well as regional retailers, not to sell genetically engineered seafood." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMajor supermarket chains promise not to sell genetically engineered salmon in the U.S.

Frankenfish and Other Stupid Industrial Food Tricks

"Genetically engineered salmon is one step closer to your unsuspecting plate. First came the farm-raised fish lacking the health benefits of wild-caught fish, and now food culture is taking one more step toward lunacy by creating genetically modified animals in the form of Frankenfish. The FDA will likely approve this untested experiment for human beings for consumption as food, thanks to a biotech company called AquaBounty Technologies. The company created this so-called food product via a new gene construct that combines Chinook salmon growth with a regulator gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrankenfish and Other Stupid Industrial Food Tricks

Milk Machine Aims to Hook Kids on Chemical Sweeteners

"As a solution to sagging milk sales, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) are petitioning the FDA to 'amend the standard identity of milk' and other dairy products. Dairy special interests want to be able to add high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and other chemicals to milk while bypassing the requirement that the products be labeled 'artificially sweetened.' The attempt is to pass this off as a health benefit for children because the chemical sweeteners are not considered to be sugar." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilk Machine Aims to Hook Kids on Chemical Sweeteners

Texas Women Subjected to Roadside Cavity Search Speak Out After Troopers Indicted

"Angel and Ashley Dobbs say they’re relieved and pleased two state troopers now face criminal charges after this controversial traffic stop caught on dashcam video last July. It shows trooper Kelly Helleson conducting a body cavity search of both women on an off-ramp of the Bush Turnpike in Irving last July. A Dallas County Grand Jury charged Helleson with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of official oppression. If convicted, she would have to register as a sex offender. The other trooper, David Farrell, who initiated the traffic stop, is charged with theft. Angel Dobbs says her bottle of prescription pills was stolen during the traffic stop." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas Women Subjected to Roadside Cavity Search Speak Out After Troopers Indicted

Most Consumer Complaints Come From Boca Raton, Upper West Side

"When U.S. officials began collecting consumer complaints about credit cards, one goal was to identify patterns that could help them write rules protecting families with low and moderate incomes. Nearly two years later, it’s the well-to-do neighborhoods of Florida and New York that are supplying the most grievances to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an analysis of agency data shows. Almost 60 percent of complaints originated in zip codes where the median household income is higher than the national median of $52,762, according to the analysis." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMost Consumer Complaints Come From Boca Raton, Upper West Side

Cyprus and the Unraveling of Fractional-Reserve Banking

"The 'Cyprus deal' as it has been widely referred to in the media may mark the next to last act in the the slow motion collapse of fractional-reserve banking that began with the implosion of the savings-and-loan industry in the U.S. in the late 1980s. This trend continued with the currency crises in Russia, Mexico, East Asia, and Argentina in the 1990s in which fractional-reserve banking played a decisive role. Even more than the unprecedented financial crisis of 2008, however, recent events in Cyprus may have struck the mortal blow to fractional-reserve banking. For fractional-reserve banking can only exist for as long as the depositors have complete confidence." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCyprus and the Unraveling of Fractional-Reserve Banking

Betray Your Bank Before Your Bank Betrays You

"The way it’s supposed to work at failing banks is that shareholders get wiped out first. Next the losses go up the ladder from junior debt holders to senior bondholders, and then all the way to uninsured depositors, if need be. Taxpayers and insured depositors shouldn’t have to absorb others’ losses or put money at risk to spare them. Troubled banks should have to fend for themselves. This was the approach imposed on Cyprus. In ordinary circumstances, it would be considered fair. The best argument for why it wasn’t is that Cyprus had been lulled into believing it would be treated just as well as Europe’s other bailout recipients." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBetray Your Bank Before Your Bank Betrays You

What Happens to Good Cops

"Justin Hopson was involved in a traffic stop in which his training officer carried out an unlawful arrest and ordered him to submit a false police report. He confronted his trainer and informed him that he would not testify when the case went to trial. His refusal to perjure himself in court, combined with a dashcam video that contradicted the falsified arrest report, led the prosecutor to dismiss the charges. It also led to severe retaliation against Hopson by a cult-like gang within the New Jersey State Patrol that called itself the 'Lords of Discipline.' Hopson was targeted for physical abuse, vandalism, petty theft, and harassment –and eventually driven from the force." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Happens to Good Cops