Politics
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VETO: Missouri lawmakers approve 72-hour wait for abortions
Missouri’s Republican-dominated Legislature voted late Wednesday to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s earlier veto of a bill that institutes a 72-hour waiting period before a woman can have an abortion. Missouri now has the second-strictest waiting law in the US. The Republican-led Missouri House and Senate overrode the Democratic governor during a special veto session at…
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Google, Yahoo, Apple urge US govt to protect email privacy
Dozens of tech giants, including Google, Yahoo, Apple, Facebook and Twitter, have written to the US government urging ‘to bring to the floor’ a bill which gives more privacy protection to their users’ emails and other information stored on their servers. The companies want Email Privacy Act to be approved by the authorities. It was…
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Police agencies that use military weapons at riots may be forced to repay federal grants
A representative of the DHS, one of three federal agencies responsible for allocating military equipment to local police forces, indicated during the first congressional hearing devoted to the last month’s civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri that the department is considering demanding that grant money be repaid should weapons be used to tamp down protests. “We…
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UP IN SMOKE: Philadelphia set to decriminalize marijuana possession
The Mayor of Philadelphia has agreed to endorse legislation that decriminalizes the possession and public consumption of marijuana, making it one of the largest American cities to turn back punitive drug laws. The bill, which Mayor Michael Nutter said he will endorse, was proposed by the city council, and – with the latest amendments –…
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Ferguson public meeting erupts in anger and accusations
The Missouri town’s first public meeting since the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown, 18, killed by a white police officer on August 9, turned chaotic with audience members shouting down Ferguson’s council members. Despite being held inside of a chapel, Mayor James Knowles had trouble from the start maintaining peace and order during…
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NRA goes head-to-head with billionaire Bloomberg’s anti-gun campaign
The National Rifle Association and its 5 million members are attempting to win over US public opinion in the debate over guns against the efforts of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as midterm elections approach. Bloomberg, the media magnate and former New York City mayor, has unveiled his latest attack on American gun…
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REPORT: Congress won’t address NSA reform until after mid-term elections, may delay until 2015
As the November midterm elections inch closer, the chances of Congress taking up a widely supported bill that would reform the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program are gradually shrinking. In a new report by the National Journal, multiple unnamed sources said the reform bill – dubbed the USA Freedom Act – is not a…
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[VIDEO] Bronx man claiming police brutality, incident caught on video
A New York man says multiple police officers beat and pepper-sprayed him for no reason other than that he asked a question – and video footage seems to back him up. News of the beating comes as police unveil new training methods to limit undue force. The incident occurred about three weeks ago, on August…
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RON PAUL: Abuse of presidential powers, imperial presidency has grown since Nixon
In his weekly column, Dr. Ron Paul blasted the Obama and George W. Bush administrations for taking the ‘imperial presidency’ ‒ which was supposed to end after President Richard Nixon resigned ‒ far further than the disgraced politician ever did. The former Republican congressman from Texas took the two most recent presidential administrations to task…
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Snowden extradition from Switzerland unlikely if he appears for NSA testimony
Switzerland will most likely guarantee safety to National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, if he comes to testify against the NSA’s spying activities, Swiss media said. REPORT: Leaks from Snowden helped ISIS evade US intelligence In the document, titled “What rules are to be followed if Edward Snowden is brought to Switzerland and then the…
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OBAMA: ‘We will hunt down ISIS, wherever they are’
US President Obama plans to address the nation on Wednesday, promising to “hunt down” Islamic State extremists “wherever they are,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press. The address will take place one day before the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. READ: ISIS Propaganda Mastermind Said To Be University of Massachusetts Graduate Obama said he believes…
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NYPD officers to begin testing body cameras this fall
The New York Police Department announced it will start outfitting dozens of officers with body cameras this fall – an effort that could potentially see the entire agency embrace the technology. READ MORE: Cop cam: Ferguson police to wear body cameras The initiative will start out small – only 60 of the NYPD’s 35,000 officers…
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LIBERAL ROT: Detroit firefighters forced to use empty cans for emergency alerts
Anyone doubting the scale of Detroit’s bankruptcy woes may be surprised to discover the city’s firefighters have set up intricate, makeshift contraptions involving empty cans just to ensure emergency alerts are delivered properly. Most fire departments in the United States operate using modern systems that announce emergency developments through a series of bells. In Detroit,…
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ILLEGAL ALIENS make up 10% of workforce in California
There were 11.3 million illegal aliens in the US in March 2013, including some 2.6 million living in California ‒ which makes up 10 percent of the state’s workforce, according to two new studies released Wednesday. Overall, people who have moved to the US contribute nearly $650 billion to California’s economy ‒ about 31 percent of…
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Fake cell phone ‘towers’ may be spying on Americans’ calls, texts
More than a dozen “fake cell phone towers” could be secretly hijacking Americans’ mobile devices in order to listen in on phone calls or snoop on text messages, a security-focused cell phone company claims. It is not clear who controls the devices. READ MORE: Tracking everywhere: Private companies offer worldwide spying tools ESD America, which…
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American military conducting aerial strikes against Somali extremists
The Pentagon conducted an aerial strike against the extremist Al-Shabaab group in Somalia on Monday, US authorities said. It is reported the strike was aimed at the leader of the notorious network behind Kenya’s Westgate Mall massacre in 2013. “US military forces conducted an operation in Somalia today against the Al-Shabaab network. We are assessing…
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Secret FBI project trained Alaskans in preparation for Soviet invasion
Declassified documents reveal that in the 1950s the FBI trained Alaskan residents to become agents behind enemy lines if the Soviets invaded. No women, Eskimo, Indians or Aleuts were included, with native peoples considered unreliable. The recently declassified FBI and Air Force documents show that in the early stage of the Cold War the US government feared…
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The ‘gun boom’ in America is over, but firearm sales still high
Gun sales in the United States have slipped in 2014 compared to last year, but they’re still higher than at any other point in the last decade. Over the last three months, sales at the gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson dropped 23 percent, with profits declining 32 percent compared to the same quarter in 2013.…
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Two counties in California petitioning for secession, to form 51st state
Two counties in northern California have submitted a petition for the right to form a 51st State of America, which they want to name Jefferson. They claim a lack of representation and that their grievances aren’t heard at state level. The largely rural counties of Modoc and Siskiyou signed the petition. They are located on…
