Stolen Identity: DOJ to Pay $134K Over Fake Facebook Profile the Feds Created

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The Justice Department will pay $134,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who was impersonated online by a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officer without her knowledge.

The settlement was revealed in a court filing made available on Tuesday. It was first reported by the Associated Press.

The woman, Sondra Arquiett, was arrested as part of a drug case in 2010. An agent with the DEA used her name and images from her phone to create a sham Facebook profile designed to target others they suspected were involved in the case while she was awaiting trial. (Read more about the DEA’s fake Facebook profile HERE)

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Obama Issues Veto Threat on House GOP Abortion Bill

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By Paige Winfield Cunningham. President Obama would likely veto a ban on abortion past the midway point of pregnancy, the White House said Tuesday.

The GOP-led House plans to vote Thursday on a bill restricting abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on the idea that a fetus can feel pain beyond that point. The vote will take place the same day as anti-abortion activists participate in the annual March for Life.

While supporters of the bill say it’s a reasonable limit on mid- and late-term abortions — and one that a majority of the public supports — the administration called it an “assault on a woman’s right to choose.” (Read more about the possible veto on the GOP abortion bill HERE)

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Ban on Abortions Past 20 Weeks Would Save Down Syndrome Babies Targeted in Abortion

By Penny Nance. 327,653: the number of babies who did not get to experience a first Christmas last year thanks to Planned Parenthood. On average, taxpayers gave an enormous $528 million in 2013 to fund the inhumane killing of innocent babies. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, this year’s taxpayer-funded abortion rates may be even higher.

The upcoming March for Life theme “Every Life is a Gift” comes at an opportune time as the upcoming New Year will mark the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The act should have reinstated dignity to the lives of disabled people both young and old. Yet, babies diagnosed with a disability like Down syndrome in the womb are still being aborted at rates near 90 percent.

Sickening statistics such as these stress the important job legislators have to make sure that the 20-week abortion ban is passed into law. This act would prohibit the termination of a child’s life past 20 weeks gestation for any non-fatal reason—including diagnosed disabilities. According to disabilities groups, the majority of abortions typically occur after 20 weeks due to the fact that most disability testing procedures are done between 18 and 20 weeks gestation. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Hillary Clinton’s Refusal to Put Murderous Boko Haram on Terrorist List Will Hurt Her in 2016

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Hillary Clinton will have yet another decision as secretary of state scrutinized during her upcoming run for president.

Boko Haram, the Islamic terrorist group that Secretary of State John Kerry called one of the most evil in the world, was not always treated as a significant threat by the Obama administration.

As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton refused to put the group on the official U.S. terrorist list.

Many officials have said the decision not to put Boko Haram on the terrorist organization list limited what the United States could do to stop their atrocities . . .

“This is going to be a problem for Hillary Clinton because Boko Haram has been around for quite a while,” MSNBC analyst China Okasi said. “When Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, she was a bit reluctant to put the group on the terrorist list because she did not want to give the group the validation.” (Read more about the refusal to put Boko Haram on terrorist list HERE)

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State of Alaska Ignores Canadian Threat, Goes Forward with Project

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Photo Credit: CBC News Alaska is refusing to budge after the Harper government issued a legal threat over the state’s plan to build on Canadian soil with exclusively American iron and steel.

In fact, the Alaskans insisted Tuesday that they’re moving ahead with their project to build a new ferry terminal in British Columbia — protectionist provisions and all.

This week, the Canadian government took the unusual step of signing a legal order to prevent Alaska from imposing “Buy American” policies on the construction work in the B.C. coastal city of Prince Rupert.

International Trade Minister Ed Fast went on the offensive after the state rejected Ottawa’s demands that it abandon a rule requiring the Prince Rupert project to use only U.S.-made materials.

The rarely used Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act would enable Ottawa to impose fines and take legal action against the project’s winning bidder if it complies with the Buy American provisions. (Read more from “Alaska Ignores Canadian Threat” HERE)

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Machine Gun Granny Ready to Fight Russian Backed Rebels (+video)

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This Ukrainian grandma packs a punch!

Newly trained Kateryna Bilyk, 68, said she decided to take up arms after seeing the horrific carnage left behind when Russian-backed separatists clashed with pro-Ukraine fighters, Central European News reported.

“I wanted to set an example to show young people that no matter how old you are, you can make a difference, and that was why I decided to sign up,” said the mother of three and grandmother of five.

“I have lived here all my life and we survived the Nazi occupation and the Soviets, and I believe in standing up for what’s right and making sure we never see occupation again,” said Bilyk, of Zhidaev.

Nataliya Ishenko, an army spokeswoman, said the assault rifle-wielding grandma had received the same training as other young recruits and passed all the marksmanship tests. (Read more about the Ukraine grandma who is ready to fight Russian rebels HERE)

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Watch: A Small School in Kansas Makes a Big Difference in a Teenage Girl’s Life

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As she smiled broadly, blue and gold pom poms clutched in her hands, it is hard to believe this is an experience Council Grove High School freshman Kolbie Davis nearly didn’t have.

Her mom, Jeannette, says she and her husband, Jamie, considered holding their 15-year-old daughter out of high school. Kolbie was born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a condition which cut off oxygen to her brain. It caused permanent damage and developmental delays. Jeannette feared Kolbie wouldn’t be able to handle the high school environment.

“I was very concerned for her being in the hallway with a lot of kids and all the noise and the interaction between teenagers,” Jeannette said.

While Jeannette, Jamie and Kolbie’s eight-year-old brother Will, knew how loving and positive Kolbie could be, they worried how she would do around other teenagers. Plus, Jeannette says, Kolbie would not speak very much and was often frightened or confused by loud noise or a lot of activity.

Still, they took a chance. One day, the school’s cheerleading coach filled in as Kolbie’s para and brought her to practice. Kolbie was immediately hooked, saying she loves everything about cheerleading. (Read more on how the small school in Kansas makes a big difference HERE)

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Elderly Man Finds Son After Discovering Hidden Letter

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An elderly Grand Rapids man has finally met his son.

The man had tried having kids all his life, but thought it was a life goal he never accomplished.

A letter was sent by the child’s mother more than 50 years ago that told him of his then 5-year-old son. That man is now 61-years-old.

It was a message believed to have been hidden by his wife for decades.

Tony Trapani, 81, said that after his wife passed away, he was cleaning out one of her old filing cabinets when he came across the letter. (Read more about the man who found his son after he finds a hidden letter HERE)

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Japan Prime Minister Vows to Save Hostages Captured by ISIS

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By Fox News. Japan’s Prime Minister vowed Tuesday to save the lives of two Japanese hostages, one a freelance journalist and the other a soldier for hire, threatened with beheading in an online video purportedly released by the Islamic State terror group.

In the video, identified as being made by the Islamic State group’s al-Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, a militant threatened to kill the men unless a $200 million ransom was paid within 72 hours. If confirmed to be from Islamic State, better known as ISIS, the video would mark the first public demand for ransom from the group in exchange for the release of captives.

Speaking in Jerusalem, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on ISIS to immediately release the hostages, saying that “their lives are the top priority.” Abe is in the midst of a six-day visit to the Middle East, accompanied by more than 100 government officials and presidents of Japanese companies.

“It is unforgivable,” he said. “Extremism and Islam are completely different things.”

Abe said he would send Yasuhide Nakayama, a deputy foreign minister, to Jordan to seek the country’s support and to resolve the hostage crisis. The premier also said the Israeli government, which Japan promised Sunday to cooperate with on counterterrorism, are sharing information to aid in the hostage crisis. The Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment. (Read more about the Japanese Prime Minister vowing to save hostages captured by ISIS HERE)

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ISIS Executing ‘Educated Women’ in New Wave of Horror

By AFP. The UN on Tuesday decried numerous executions of civilians in Iraq by the Islamic State group, warning that educated women appeared to be especially at risk.

The jihadist group is showing a “monstrous disregard for human life” in the areas it controls in Iraq, the UN human rights office said.

The group, which controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and in neighbouring war-ravaged Syria, last week published pictures of the “crucifixions” of two men accused of being bandits, and of a woman being stoned to death, allegedly for adultery.

Numerous other women have also reportedly been executed recently in ISIS-controlled areas, including Mosul, spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.

She said “educated, professional women, particularly women who have run as candidates in elections for public office, seem to be particularly at risk.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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New Police Radars Can See Inside Homes

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Photo Credit: USA Today
At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies have secretly equipped their officers with radar devices that allow them to effectively peer through the walls of houses to see whether anyone is inside, a practice raising new concerns about the extent of government surveillance.

Those agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, began deploying the radar systems more than two years ago with little notice to the courts and no public disclosure of when or how they would be used. The technology raises legal and privacy issues because the U.S. Supreme Court has said officers generally cannot use high-tech sensors to tell them about the inside of a person’s house without first obtaining a search warrant.

The radars work like finely tuned motion detectors, using radio waves to zero in on movements as slight as human breathing from a distance of more than 50 feet. They can detect whether anyone is inside of a house, where they are and whether they are moving.

Current and former federal officials say the information is critical for keeping officers safe if they need to storm buildings or rescue hostages. But privacy advocates and judges have nonetheless expressed concern about the circumstances in which law enforcement agencies may be using the radars — and the fact that they have so far done so without public scrutiny.

“The idea that the government can send signals through the wall of your house to figure out what’s inside is problematic,” said Christopher Soghoian, the American Civil Liberties Union’s principal technologist. “Technologies that allow the police to look inside of a home are among the intrusive tools that police have.” (Read more about the radars being able to see inside homes HERE)

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ISIS Plans on Killing Hundreds of Millions in ‘Religious Cleansing’

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Photo Credit: The Blaze By Jordan Schachtel. Todenhofer lived side by side with the jihadist fighters for ten days in the Islamic State-stronghold city of Mosul, Iraq. He was accompanied only by his son, who served as his cameraman.

“I always asked them about the value of mercy in Islam,” but “I didn’t see any mercy in their behavior,” explained Todenhofer. He added, “Something that I don’t understand at all is the enthusiasm in their plan of religious cleansing, planning to kill the non-believers… They also will kill Muslim democrats because they believe that non-ISIL-Muslims put the laws of human beings above the commandments of God.”

The German reporter then elaborated on how shocked he was about how “willing to kill” the ISIS fighters are. He said that they were ready to commit genocide. “They were talking about [killing] hundreds of millions. They were enthusiastic about it, and I just cannot understand that,” said Todenhofer. (Read more about the plans of ‘religious cleansing’ HERE)

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ISIS Kills 13 Teenage Boys for Watching Soccer Game

By Jason Howerton. For 13 teenage boys in the Iraqi city of Mosul, watching the Asian Cup soccer match between Iraq and Jordan would reportedly cost them their lives.

Under the Islamic State’s barbaric ideology, the act of watching the game on television was an offense punishable by death. The young boys were grabbed by terrorists and then publicly executed by a firing squad, according to the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.

Before being shot to death by machine guns, the terrorists reportedly announced the boys’ “crime” of breaking religious laws by watching sports over a loud speaker. (Read more from this story HERE)

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