USA
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Reading, Writing, M16s, and MRAPS: US education getting schooled over militarization
Just one month after the shooting death of African-American teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer, which brought military-grade vehicles and weapons onto the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, in response to an outbreak of protests and riots, Americans are wakening to the realization that their school districts are also being militarized. Although many Americans…
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Florida city drops saggin-pants law after NAACP lawsuit
A controversial ban on saggy pants in Ocala City, Florida, has been pulled up after a threatened lawsuit from the civil rights group NACCP. The NACCP had criticized the law, which came into effect in July 2014, and said it would take action against the city for unfairly profiling African-American men, according to WKMG radio.…
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US will have ‘many more’ 9/11s if it fails to act against Islamic State
If the US fails to attack Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria, the country could face the prospect of “many” terrorist attacks similar to September 11, a top-ranking Democrat says. It comes as the House debates arming Syrian rebels to fight IS. Speaking during a floor debate at the House of Representatives on…
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Mike Brown jury gets extension, charges for Ferguson officer may be delayed until January
A St. Louis judge has granted an extension to the grand jury that has been tasked with deciding whether to charge a Ferguson police officer in the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown. The jury now has until January 7 to decide on an indictment. St. Louis County Judge Carolyn Whittington made the decision on…
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Occupy group abolishes nearly $4 million in student loan debt
On the third anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, an offshoot group announced that it has erased $3.8 million worth of private student loan debt. The group, Strike Debt, said in a press release issued on Wednesday this week that its Rolling Jubilee initiative has purchased nearly $4 million in private student debt owed…
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Satanic Temple to distribute materials to school children in Florida
The Satanic Temple has announced that it will provide pamphlets on Satanism to students in Florida, following the school board’s decision permitting the distribution of religious materials. Among the materials that are set to be distributed are pamphlets on the philosophy, practice of Satanism, the Satanic Temple’s tenets. Also, the sect tells school children about…
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US Department of Justice launches new intel-gathering program to ‘counter extremism’
The US Department of Justice said it is launching a national pilot program in a number of cities to try and detect American extremists interested in joining terrorist organizations and fighting in countries like Syria and Iraq. US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a video message Monday that the program is designed to bring…
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Texas Gunshop Creates Controversy With ‘Obama Family Beheading’ sign
A Texas gun shop known for its controversial signs has managed to raise eyebrows once again by criticizing President Barack Obama and bringing up the gruesome issue of beheadings to do it. Outside of the Katy, Texas-based Tactical Firearms, the company currently has a sign asking, “Does one of Obama’s family members have to be…
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[WATCH] US Navy nurse facing expulsion and losing career after refusing to force feed Gitmo detainees
A Navy nurse who refused to force feed hunger-striking Guantanamo detainees over the summer, once threatened with court-martial, could now lose his career. The nurse, a Navy lieutenant who has never been publicly identified, refused to force feed hunger strikers shortly before July 4 at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay prison complex. The decision reportedly followed months…
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SUPERBUG TIME BOMB: FDA only vets 10% of antibiotics that farm animals share with humans
The regular administration of antibiotics to US farm animals could have disastrous effects for humans, scientists fear. Many of the drugs are same as those given to humans and there are worries that the bacteria could become resistant due to overuse. Major US poultry firms have been carrying out this process for years. They give…
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FBI’s facial recognition program hits ‘full operational capability’
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Next Generation Identification System, a biometric database reliant on tens of millions of facial-recognition records, is now fully operational, the agency announced Monday. The NGI system, after three years of development, is billed by the FBI as a new breakthrough for criminal identification and data-sharing between law enforcement agencies. “This…
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SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: ‘Drones will create Orwellian future’
US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has voiced concerns that, without sufficient protections, the age of unmanned drones and ubiquitous surveillance will usher in an “Orwellian world.” Sotomayor told faculty and students at Oklahoma City University last week that technological capabilities allow devices to monitor“your conversations from miles away and through your walls.” “We are…
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DEMOCRAT LAWMAKERS: Burger King ‘unpatriotic’ to avoid high corporate tax rate
US lawmakers are keen to prevent the fast food giant Burger King from taking advantage of lower tax rates in Canada, arguing that it is ‘unpatriotically’ moving its operations there after “profiting” from taxpayer-funded benefits in the US. In August, the Whopper-maker announced its plans to buy Tim Hortons, Inc. – a Canadian coffee and…
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[WATCH]DC cop under fire by own chief after harassing man filming arrest
The Police Chief in Washington, DC, is speaking out against one of her officers and in support of a man who stopped to record police arresting a man on a sidewalk only to be harassed by police and suspected of involvement in a crime for doing so. Metropolitan Police Department Police Chief Cathy Lanier said…
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[VIDEO]’His hands were up!’ New footage shows Ferguson witnesses reacting to teen’s death
New footage of the moments just after Ferguson, Missouri teenager Michael Brown was killed by a local police officer indicates that a witness on the scene said the unarmed 18-year-old’s hands were raised while he was fatally shot. The video, released by CNN, shows several witnesses gathering in the vicinity of Brown’s slaying, attention focused…
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CIA estimates 20k-30k fighters in Syria, Iraq after Obama pledges to destroy ISIS
The Central Intelligence Agency believes the Islamic State militant group “can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters” throughout both Iraq and Syria, CNN reports. If true, that would mean the Islamic State’s numbers have more than doubled compared to the agency’s last estimate, which pinned the group’s total amount of fighters at roughly 10,000. “This…
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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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FBI: Entirety of US gov’t has been hacked, leading to ‘unprecedented’ collaboration with industry
Every sector of the United States government has likely been hacked at some point, according to the FBI, which has lent to “unprecedented” partnerships with private industry to protect financial interests targeted by “a wide range of cyber adversaries.” Top cybersecurity officials in the federal government told a Senate panel on Wednesday that high-profile cyberattacks…
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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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[PHOTOS] Police arrest Ferguson protesters blocking major highway
At least a dozen people have been arrested during a protest along a major interchange on Interstate 70 in Ferguson, Missouri. Demonstrators tried to shut down the highway to demand a special prosecutor for the Michael Brown court case. The protest started at 3 p.m. Central time, with people gathering at the Hanley Road interchange.…