"Many of the heavily-armed activists who flocked to the scene feared that the FBI snipers had a license to kill the Bundys. Their reaction cannot be understood without considering a landmark 1990s case that continues to shape millions of Americans’ attitude towards Washington: the federal killings and coverups at Ruby Ridge."
"ELUCD uses location (tracking) technology to ask citizens questions like "do you feel safe in your neighborhood? Do you trust the police? Are you confident in the New York Police Department? 24 hours a day 7 days a week. One should assume that law enforcement is using ELUCD's data to identify individual cell phone users. As Tech Crunch revealed, the NYPD is keeping all the data they collect a secret. ELUCD hopes that police departments across the country will use ELUCD to gauge people's sentiments."
" In Iraq, a population that numbered more than a million in the 1990s dwindled to less than a third of that in the wake of the US-led invasion and removal of the secular government of Saddam Hussein. In Syria, under threat since 2011 by Salafist groups armed and funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other countries – the US shamefully included – Christians seemed to be facing a similar fate."
"Despite the PKK being listed as a terrorist group by the U.S., European Union, and U.K., the U.S.-led coalition supports the PYD and YPG as the most effective partner against Daesh, overlooking their proven links with the PKK."
"Trump and his unabashedly Iranophobic generals have allowed the United States to become a patsy for Saudi Arabia, actively abetting or tacitly endorsing MBS’s ambitions. Yet whatever the administration’s purported intent, throwing in with the Crown Prince will only exacerbate the disorder that previous U.S. administrations have done so much to create."
"Nine people in California have been charged after they handed out food to the homeless, violating a rule about sharing food in public places. The group were protesting against an emergency ordinance in the city of El Cajon which was introduced in response to California's hepatitis A outbreak. They handed out food, clothes and toiletries on Sunday before police arrived and issued citations."
"The Yoder family, like others of their sect, shun the use of electricity, especially when it is from the grid. For years, the Yoders have been fighting the sewer connection order because it requires them to install an electric grinder pump to shunt waste from their home into the Sugar Grove Area Sewer Authority's system in Warren County. Rejected was the family's argument that they should simply be allowed to keep using their outdoor privy, which lacks electricity and running water."
"Federal officers would look to arrest more than 1,500 undocumented people while sending a message that immigration policy will be enforced in the sanctuary state, according to a source familiar with the operation. Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, declined to comment Tuesday on plans for the operation. The campaign, centered in the Bay Area, could happen within weeks, and is expected to become the biggest enforcement action of its kind under President Trump, said the source, who requested anonymity because the plans have not been made public."
"In just one extraordinary year, Trump has destabilized the delicate duality that has long been the foundation for U.S. foreign policy: favoring war over diplomacy, the Pentagon over the State Department, and narrow national interest over international leadership. But in a globalizing world interconnected by trade, the Internet, and the rapid proliferation of nuclear-armed missiles, walls won’t work. There can be no Fortress America."
"Jorge Garcia pulled his family close for one final hug by security gates at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. His wife and 15-year-old daughter sobbed in his arms. His 12-year-old son stood stoically. Garcia was silent. Soon after, the 39-year-old landscaper from Lincoln Park, Michigan, boarded a plane bound for Mexico, deported to his home country on Monday after three decades of living, working and raising a family in the United States."