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Justice Department Electronic Monitoring Rises

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Phone calls, emails and social networks have all been places where the government, or the Justice Department have been monitoring with increasing frequency.

These instances are occurring without a warrant and have been increasing over the last 4 years according to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).

ACLU’s data shows that government tracking from 2009 to 2011 increased surveillance of phone calls by 60% and emails or other electronic computer related communications by a whopping 361%.

According to the Justice Department, these occurrences have been authorized by a federal judge on “every instance”.

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California outlaws gay-to-straight therapies

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California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a ban on gay-to-straight therapy which focuses on minors.

This therapy is also called “conversion therapy” which seeks to change a person’s feelings away from an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) orientation.

The American Psychiatric Association says that these types of therapies do more harm than good and cite their research showing those who have been subjected to it have an increased risk of suicide, anxiety, depression and other self-destructive type behaviors.

In signing the law Governor Brown stated “This bill bans nonscientific ‘therapies’ that have driven young people to depression and suicide,”.

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Are North and South Korea on the brink of nuclear war?

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At a meeting at the UN in New York, a senior North Korean diplomat has said relations between North and South Korea are “totally bankrupt”, adding “a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war”.

His was the first public address to the UN since Kim Jong Un took power in North Korea, after the death of his father last December. Since that time relations between North and South have been tense. Earlier this year the US and South Korea conducted naval exercises off the coast of South Korea, a move seen as highly provocative by Pyongyang.

Pak Kil-yon, Pyongyang’s vice-foreign minster, was responding to the UN Security Council’s condemnation of North Korea’s failed ballistic missile launch in March, saying, that the excerise was a “legitimate and peaceful”, attempt to launch a satellite into space.

Pak, further attacked the US, saying, “Today, due to the continued US hostile policy towards the DPRK, the vicious cycle of confrontation and aggravation of tensions is an ongoing phenomenon on the Korean Peninsula, which has become the world’s most dangerous hot spot and where a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war,”

Reports from South Korea suggest the North is increasing military operations across the border, whilst the South is responding by sending more submarines to sea and is preparing for more large scale military operations.

Via The Telegraph

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2012 Presidential Debate Schedule « 2012 Election Central

October 3, 2012
Topic: Domestic policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: University of Denver in Denver, Colorado (Tickets)
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Jim Lehrer (Host of NewsHour on PBS)

The debate will focus on domestic policy and be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator and announced several weeks before the debate.

The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the topic.

October 11, 2012
Vice Presidential
Topic: Foreign and domestic policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: Centre College in Danville, Kentucky (Tickets)
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan
Moderator: Martha Raddatz (ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent)

The debate will cover both foreign and domestic topics and be divided into nine time segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the question.

October 16, 2012
Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York (Tickets)
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Candy Crowley (CNN Chief Political Correspondent)

The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which citizens will ask questions of the candidates on foreign and domestic issues. Candidates each will have two minutes to respond, and an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate a discussion. The town meeting participants will be undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization.

October 22, 2012
Topic: Foreign policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida (Tickets)
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS)

The format for the debate will be identical to the first presidential debate and will focus on foreign policy.

More Info

 

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Convicted TSA Officer Reveals Secrets of Thefts at Airports – ABC News

By MEGAN CHUCHMACH (@megcourtney) , RANDY KREIDER and BRIAN ROSS (@brianross)

Sept. 28, 2012

A convicted TSA security officer says he was part of a “culture” of indifference that allowed corrupt employees to prey on passengers’ luggage and personal belongings with impunity, thanks to lax oversight and tip-offs from TSA colleagues.

“It was very commonplace, very,” said Pythias Brown, a former TSA officer at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey who admits he stole more than $800,000 worth of items from luggage and security checkpoints over a four-year period.

“It was very convenient to steal,” he said.

We want to hear from you. Tell us about your experience with the TSA by joining the conversation on Facebook.

Speaking publicly for the first time after being released from prison, Brown told ABC News his four-year-long crime spree came to an end only because he tried to sell a camera he stole from the luggage of a CNN producer on E-bay but forgot to remove all of the news networks’ identifying stickers.

“It became so easy, I got complacent,” Brown said.

READ: ABC News Tracks Missing iPad to Florida Home of TSA Officer

Brown is one of almost 400 TSA officers who have been fired for stealing from passengers in the past decade. According to the TSA, 381 TSA officers have been fired for theft between 2003 and 2012, including 11 so far in this year.

via Convicted TSA Officer Reveals Secrets of Thefts at Airports – ABC News.

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PIMCO: America could resemble Greece before 2020 – Telegraph

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PIMCO (the world’s largest bond fund) chief, Mr Gross, said that the United States must cut spending or raise taxes by 11pc of gross domestic product GDP over the next five to ten years, in order to preserve it’s role as a financial safe haven.

If we continue to close our eyes to existing 8pc of GDP deficits, which when including Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare liabilities compose an average estimated 11pc annual ‘fiscal gap,’ then we will begin to resemble Greece before the turn of the next decade,”

The warning comes after Moody’s has also warned the US that if it fails to control debt, then it will loose it’s AAA rating.

via PIMCO: America could resemble Greece before 2020 – Telegraph.

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Obama is winning the money race | Washington Free Beacon

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BY: Matthew Continetti

September 28, 2012

 

For months now I’ve been receiving fundraising emails from the Obama campaign, the Democratic National Committee, the various Democratic congressional committees, and the occasional Democratic campaign. The apocalyptic message of these emails has been mind-numbingly repetitive: A cabal of superrich businessmen is out to deny Barack Obama reelection and install as president Mitt Romney, who will line their pockets in return. Nothing less than the future of democracy is at risk. Donate now—before it’s too late. Recently, though, the emails have been less apocalyptic. And this is why:  The Democrats’ hysterical solicitations have worked. Not only did Obama outraise Romney in the month of August, he has outraised and out-spent Romney altogether. Listen to Ken Vogel and Dave Levinthal of Politico: “Through the end of August, Romney’s campaign and the party committees and Super PAC supporting it had raised $736 million, compared to $774 million raised by Obama’s campaign and its party and Super PAC allies.” So forget about the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson. If you want to know how to buy an election, ask the Democrats. The saga of Obama and campaign finance is a case study in cynicism. Throughout his career, Obama has portrayed himself as an opponent of money in politics, even as he has exploited the system at every turn. He said in 2008 that he would take public financing, but then became the first nominee in history to opt out. He said in this cycle that he would not allow his associates to fundraise for a Super PAC, but then changed his mind. He has attacked anonymous political giving, but dispatched Joe Biden to appeal to the shadowy Democracy Alliance last November. He pays no price when he makes such reversals. He and his supporters meekly lament that he is a victim of circumstance. The press nods….. to read the rest of this article click on the link below:

via Obama is winning the money race | Washington Free Beacon.

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Sears, Olive Garden To Offer Employees Money To Pay For Health Care (UPDATE)

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Two major employers are offering workers more control over their health benefits, a switch that could mean less coverage.

Sears and Darden Restaurants — the parent company of the Olive Garden, Red Lobster and other chain eateries — plan to start giving their employees a pot of money and letting them choose both their insurer and level of coverage from an online marketplace, The Wall Street Journal reports. The move may mean that employees end up paying more for their coverage out of pocket if the sum provided by their employers doesn’t go up as quickly as health care costs.

In a statement to The Huffington Post, Sears’ spokesman Chris Brathwaite disputed the WSJ report and clarified the change.

“We are ABSOLUTELY still providing health care benefits and we are not giving employees money to buy health insurance. In fact, in 2013 we will be subsidizing eligible associates and their family members’ medical benefits at the same level that we are this year.” Brathwaite wrote in part in an e-mail. “The corporate exchange model brings increased flexibility to group health coverage for our associates, giving participants a chance to choose both the level of coverage and the insurance company that best meets their needs.”

via Sears, Olive Garden To Offer Employees Money To Pay For Health Care (UPDATE).

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Napolitano: Executive order on cybersecurity is ‘close to completion’ – The Hill’s Hillicon Valley

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Napolitano: Executive order on cybersecurity is ‘close to completion’ – The Hill’s Hillicon Valley.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said the cybersecurity executive order that the White House is drafting is “close to completion”, it will then be reviewed by the President.

This draft executive order is aimed at protecting the nation from cyberattacks. It is focusing on protecting key infrastructure: electric grid, water systems, and transportation networks. The order would create a voluntary program, with security standards developed, in part, by the government.

However, some business leaders and Republicans are critical of the order, believing it will open the door for regulatory agencies to, in the future, force companies to meet the security standards.

 

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Senators join suit over Obama’s constitutional powers

U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns along with 41 other senators has filed an amicus brief in a challenge to challenge constitutionality of President Obama’s “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January. Republicans argue that the Senate was still in session, not in recess, making the Presidents appointments illegal.

Obama made the appointments whilst Senators were still on their Christmas and New Year break, and the Senate was operating on a pro forma basis. Obama therefore decided the Senate was on recess.

If the appeals court sides with the Republicans it could invalidate a host of decisions already passed by the National Labor Relations Board.

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Saudi Petrodollars Fuel the Rise of Radical Islam

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(source: France 24)

When Muslim extremists stormed the US embassies in Libya and Cairo protestors pulled down the US flag and replaced it with the black banner of Salafism.

Salafism is a puritanical branch of Islam which teaches a literal interpretation of the Koran. Salafism has been on the rise throughout the Arab world since the Arab Spring, and it is being bank rolled by Saudi Arabia.

“There is plenty of evidence pointing to the fact that Saudi money is financing the various Salafist groups,” said Samir Amghar, author of “Le salafisme d’aujourd’hui. Mouvements sectaires en Occident” (Contemporary Salafism: Sectarian movements in the West).

To find out more about the projects funded by Saudi petrodollars see France 24

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UCLA Study: Republican Congresswomen Look More Feminine

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A recently released study by psychology researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), indicates that Republican congresswomen look more feminine when compared to Democrat congresswomen.

What’s more, the features and correlation increase the more conservative they are in their actual actions i.e. voting, according to Colleen M. Carpinella.  Carpinella is the study author, a UCLA graduate student in psychology.

Taking the same photos to other students, the results were duplicated easily and with a high percentage of accuracy.

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Random Events, Free Will, Pre-destiny or Something Darker ?