statism

Indiana education commissioner made sure GOP donor’s charter school got top marks

"The new grading system had initially given Christel House a 'C' grade, because of the school’s poor test scores in algebra. 'This will be a HUGE problem for us,' Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12, 2012 email. At the urging of Bennett, the grading system was quickly altered so that Christel House ended up with an 'A' grade. Bennett told the Associated Press that he wasn’t trying to tilt the system in favor of Christel House because of DeHaan’s contributions. He said Christel House was a top-performing school and its 'C' grade indicated the grading system was flawed. Bennett is currently serving as Florida’s education commissioner." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndiana education commissioner made sure GOP donor’s charter school got top marks

Disturbing Video Shows Court Officer Sexually Assaulting, Then Arresting Mother, Judge Does Nothing

"The initial events took place in 2011, when Monica Contreras was led from the court into a waiting room for a supposed, though unexplained, drug search. She then says a court marshal named Ron Fox touched her and ordered her to lift up her shirt. When she fled back into the courtroom and complained to the hearing master, asking at least for a female marshal, Fox had her arrested for 'making false accusations against a police officer.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDisturbing Video Shows Court Officer Sexually Assaulting, Then Arresting Mother, Judge Does Nothing

‘Hacker heroin frame plot’ foiled by security blogger

"A respected US-based internet security expert says he has foiled an attempt to frame him as a heroin dealer. Brian Krebs says the administrator of a Russian cybercrime forum hatched a plan to order heroin to his home, then tipped off the police, making it look as if the call had come from a neighbour's house. In March he was visited by a heavily armed police unit tricked into responding to a 911 call that had been made to look as if it originated from his home. Mr Krebs says he opened the front door to find a squad of policemen pointing a battery of guns at him. After being hand-cuffed and questioned, he managed to persuade the police they had been hoaxed." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Hacker heroin frame plot’ foiled by security blogger

Court Eases Prosecutors’ Burden of Proof in Leak Cases

"In a new interpretation of the Espionage Act, a federal judge made it easier for prosecutors in leak cases to meet their burden of proof, while reducing protections for accused leakers. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the prosecution in the pending case of former State Department contractor Stephen Kim need not show that the information he allegedly leaked could damage U.S. national security or benefit a foreign power, even potentially. Her opinion was a departure from a 30-year-old ruling in the case of U.S. v. Morison, which held that the government must show that the leak was potentially damaging to the U.S. or beneficial to an adversary." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCourt Eases Prosecutors’ Burden of Proof in Leak Cases

Meet “The People’s Court”

"Frisler was a lawyer and was later appointed by Adolph Hitler as the People’s Court President. It has been said that he Frisler constantly proving himself as a super Nazi to counter those who questioned his changing loyalties. Frisler was ruthless and merciless as he sent over 5,000 German men, women and teenagers to the guillotine or gallows for even the most minor acts of resistance. Evidence presented before the court was often simple hearsay. The People’s Court court acquitted only a scant few before it. Frisler was also one of Hitler’s Judges that made sure everything done by the Nazi government was legal." Continue reading →

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New EPA chief: Can we stop talking about regulations killing jobs, please?

"'Can we stop talking about environmental regulations killing jobs, please?' McCarthy said in a speech at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Embracing the need to cut carbon emissions should be seen not as a threat but as a 'way to spark business innovation,' she said. At the heart of Obama’s plan will be new EPA regulations that will target carbon emissions from existing power plants, which account for more than one-third of U.S. greenhouse gases and in many cases are fired by coal. McCarthy said the agency will try to replicate the success it had with the U.S. automotive industry." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew EPA chief: Can we stop talking about regulations killing jobs, please?

American Dream Slipping as Homeownership at 18-Year Low

"Housing industry and consumer groups are pressing lawmakers to make the American Dream more inclusive by ensuring new mortgage standards designed to prevent another crash are flexible enough that more families can benefit from the recovery. Regulators are close to proposing a softened version of a rule requiring banks to keep a stake in risky mortgages they securitize. Lawmakers currently shaping housing finance are seeking to reduce the government’s role in keeping rates affordable for riskier borrowers while ensuring homeownership is within reach of minorities and first-time buyers who could be needed to sustain the housing recovery." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerican Dream Slipping as Homeownership at 18-Year Low

J’ACCUSE … !

"I address you as 'president' only as a concession to popular convention. In truth, your claimed authority is a fraud, and your actual status is that of defendant in the matter of the persecution of Bradley Manning. It was clear to all who cared to notice that Manning is no criminal but rather the worthy nemesis of a crime syndicate formally headed by yourself. He was wrongfully arrested, illegally detained without charge for a period far in excess of the legally prescribed maximums, and finally and illegally put on trial not for his alleged criminal acts but for exposing your crimes and the crimes of your gang, 'the government of the United States.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJ’ACCUSE … !

Glenn Greenwald Tears Into Toobin Over Manning, Snowden

"Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald faced off against CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin over the sentencing of ex-Army private Bradley Manning and his acquittal on the charge of 'aiding the enemy.' Greenwald brought up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and people who exposed Bush administration scandals, telling Toobin that if he's going to make all these assertions about what whistleblowers shouldn't do, 'you're essentially calling for the end of investigative journalism.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald Tears Into Toobin Over Manning, Snowden

Copper theft ‘like an epidemic’ sweeping US

"An electrical power station in Wichita, Kan., or half a dozen middle-class homes in Morris Township, N.J. Even on a Utah highway construction site, crooks managed to abscond with six miles of copper wire. Those are just a handful of recent targets across the U.S. in the $1 billion business of copper theft. The five leading states for the thefts are Ohio, Texas, Georgia, California and Illinois, the NICB said. The FBI says copper theft is 'threatening U.S. critical infrastructure by targeting electrical substations, cellular towers, telephone land lines, railroads, water wells, construction sites, and vacant homes for lucrative profits.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCopper theft ‘like an epidemic’ sweeping US