How Big Corporate Money Pushes Net Neutrality

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

On one side: Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and the other companies you love to hate. On the other side: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and the other companies you don’t quite trust.

This is net neutrality.

The debate is typically framed as big corporate interests against humble public-good advocates like… Google. The reality is that this is a clash of giant, self-interested corporations on both sides. Exhibit A is a piece on Gawker-owned Gizmodo about the money that big cable has thrown around:

Minutes after President Obama unveiled his plan for net neutrality yesterday, Republicans leaders like Ted Cruz came out swinging. You can chalk up the backlash to more than just partisan spite; Cruz has taken his share of campaign money from telecom giants. And he’s far from the exception.

Democrats and Republicans alike received over $8 million from the four major telecom companies and their trade group in the 2014 election alone. For some context, the top five pharmaceutical groups spent only half as much in the same cycle.

Read more from this story HERE.

Senate Keystone XL Backers Shy Two Votes

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Photo Credit: Tom Pennington / Getty

Photo Credit: Tom Pennington / Getty

Supporters of a Senate bill that would approve the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline are two votes shy of the 60 needed to proceed to a vote.

The targets leading up to the expected Tuesday vote are Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla. If they back the bill, it could give lead sponsor Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a victory that might give her a boost in her Dec. 6 runoff contest against Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy, who is leading in polls.

Bennet, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is charged with getting Democrats elected to the upper chamber, refused to answer reporters when asked which way he would vote. Nelson, whose seat is up for grabs in 2016, told the Washington Examinersimply, “Stay tuned.”

All 45 Republican senators back the bill, which has Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., as the lead Republican sponsor. It would approve the Canada-to-Texas pipeline, which has been in administrative limbo for six years as builder TransCanada Corp. awaits a cross-border permit to complete the northern leg.

National Republican organizations have pointed to Landrieu’s struggles to pass her Keystone XL legislation as proof that she lacks clout, though she has based much of her campaign on her dealmaking abilities and her senior position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She would be the top Democrat if she wins re-election.

Read more from this story HERE.

Heartbreaking Video Shows Dad Singing to Dying Newborn Days After Losing Wife in Childbirth

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chrispicco4Childbirth is normally a wonderful and beautiful process. But, every once in a while, it goes tragically wrong.

A video a father has made showing him singing to his dying newborn baby after losing his wife in childbirth is making the rounds on social media because of the heartbreaking story behind it. Tragically, Chris Picco, who is 30, lost his wife Ashley on September 30 after an emergency C-section to deliver the couple’s son, Lennon James.

Days later, Picco took to his guitar to gently sing Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird” to his prematurely born baby. Lennon was born at 24 weeks and unfortunately did not survive either.

He reportedly died hours after the video, below, was recorded and posted on YouTube.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rifles Stripped from Border Patrol Agents; Officials Say it's a 'Recall,' Agents Say They're in Danger

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Perry Chiaramonte.

Border Patrol officials have pulled thousands of rifles from field agents in a large-scale effort to refurbish the weaponry, prompting the rank-and-file to complain that they’ve been left with the dangerous options of sharing guns or being disarmed altogether.

Nearly one-third of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s 16,300 M4 carbine rifles were tested by the agency’s office of training and development, which determined that more than 2,000 had the potential for malfunction. The rate of nearly 40 percent was “more than we are comfortable with,” said CBP Deputy Chief Ron Vitiello.

“Our top priority is to make sure our agents are safe,” said Vitiello, adding that the agency intends to eventually cycle through all of the rifles to ensure that those in need of repair are fixed. “They will be like new when they are refurbished.”

But in the meantime, Border Patrol agents are dubious about the department’s claims, given that the guns’ manufacturer, Colt, has not issued a recall. And they are vehemently opposed to “pool guns” — weapons shared by two or more agents.

Read more from this story HERE.

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N4T Investigators: Border Patrol stripping agents of their rifles

By Lupita Murillo and Michel Marizco.

The News 4 Tucson Investigators have uncovered that some U.S. Border Patrol agents have lost a key part of their arsenal. And that has agents who patrol along the border here, extremely worried.

We learned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Offices of Border Patrol and Training and Development are inspecting the quality of agents’ M4 carbines throughout Border Patrol sectors nationwide. But agents tell us, some of those M4s have not been replaced. And, we’ve learned, agents are required to share rifles amongst each other.

“There’s a lot of agents that are pretty upset over it,” said Art del Cueto, president of the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector union. “We know it’s a dangerous job. We know what we signed on for but we want to have as much of the equipment as we need to perform the job.”

The M4 carbine is used by the U.S. military and by Border Patrol agents. It’s even used by the Border Patrol’s tactical unit, BORTAC. Agent Brian Terry was carrying the M4 when he was shot and killed in December 2010.

Del Cueto tells us that because some of those M4s have not been replaced, agents are pooling their weapons, which makes it difficult to personalize the settings on a rifle, such as the sights.

Read more from this story HERE.

Man Tells Cops He's Uploading Video of Them, Gets Arrested (+video)

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

The arrest of a man who videoed police officers violently serving an arrest warrant across the street from his home indicates Americans no longer are masters of their own country, contends a leading constitutional lawyer.

“In fact, you’re not even the servant – you’re the slave,” said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute.

Rutherford is representing Gresham, Oregon, resident Fred Marlow, 27, who is facing charges and fines of up to $5,000 after his Sept. 2 arrest.

“Clearly, when police officers cease to look and act like civil servants or peace officers but instead look and act like soldiers occupying a hostile territory, it alters their perception of ‘we the people.’ However, those who founded this country believed that we were the masters and that those whose salaries we pay with our hard-earned tax dollars are our servants,” Whitehead said.

“If daring to question, challenge or even hesitate when a cop issues an order can get you charged with resisting arrest or disorderly conduct, you’re not the master in a master-servant relationship. If fact, you’re not even the servant,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Feds Ban Cod Fishing in Northeast for Six Months, Could be Permanent

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Photo Credit: ROBERT F. BUKATY / AP FILE

Photo Credit: ROBERT F. BUKATY / AP FILE

In an effort to halt dramatic declines in the cod population, federal officials overseeing the fishing industry on Monday announced unprecedented measures that effectively ban all commercial fishing of the region’s iconic species in the Gulf of Maine.

The new rules, which fishermen say will be devastating for their livelihood, will take effect this week and last for at least the next six months.

They expand areas where commercial fishing for cod was already banned and now also apply the ban to recreational fishermen. The restrictions reduce the allowed accidental catch of cod to just 200 pounds per boat, tighten reporting requirements, and reduce the size of nets that fishermen are allowed to use.

“We’re trying to absolutely shut down fishing where there are concentrations of cod, so there will be zero cod caught,” said John Bullard, Greater Atlantic regional administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Anything that can catch cod is not allowed in these areas.”

The temporary measures could be made permanent when the next fishing season begins in May, Bullard said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Judge Served On the Board of Planned Parenthood and Pro-Kids Inc. At the Same Time

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Photo Credit: LifeSiteNews

Photo Credit: LifeSiteNews

Pro-life advocates in Cincinnati say a federal judge who once served on the board of Planned Parenthood has a blatant conflict of interest if he hears a case to determine whether a Cincinnati Planned Parenthood abortion facility will remain open. Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati found the disclosure on a questionnaire filed with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee when President Obama named Black to the bench in 2010.

But that’s not the only conflict the questionnaire presents.

At the same time that Judge Timothy S. Black was president of Planned Parenthood, he also served on the board of a group called Pro-Kids Inc.

Read more from this story HERE.

Another Tape Surfaces of ObamaCare Architect Calling American People ‘Stupid’

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber apparently doesn’t think much of the intelligence of the American people.

A new tape has surfaced showing Gruber, once again, claiming the health care law’s authors took advantage of the “stupid” American public.

The tape, played on Fox News’ “The Kelly File,” showed Gruber speaking at an October 2013 event at Washington University in St. Louis.

Referring to the so-called “Cadillac tax” on high-end health plans, he said: “They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand the difference.”

Gruber specifically was referring to the way the “Cadillac tax” was designed — he touted their plan to, instead of taxing policy holders, tax the insurance companies that offered them. He suggested that taxing individuals would have been politically unpalatable, but taxing the companies worked because Americans didn’t understand the difference.

Read more from this story HERE.

Christian School’s ROTC Under Attack

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Do Christian colleges have the right to require that ROTC officers be followers of the Christian faith?

That’s the crux of a controversy surrounding the ROTC program at Wheaton College, one of the nation’s most prominent Christian schools.

The U.S. Army says they have launched a review of ROTC policies nationwide after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation raised concerns about an ROTC assignment listing for an assistant professor of military science at Wheaton.

The MRFF noted that the person hired “must be of Christian faith.”

“While Wheaton is a private Christian college, and can impose a religious test on its own faculty members, it cannot impose that same religious test on the faculty members provided by the U.S. Army for its ROTC program, and the U.S. Army unequivocally cannot require a religious test for any ROTC assignment, regardless of the religious preference of the college at which that ROTC assignment exists,” MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein wrote in a letter sent in November to Secretary of the Army John McHugh.

Read more from this story HERE.

UN Official Rips US States Over Legal Pot Policies

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

By Fox News.

A Russian diplomat who heads the United Nations’ drug policy office reportedly chided U.S. states for legalizing recreational marijuana and vowed to take up his concerns with officials in Washington — in the latest incident of a U.N. official meddling in local U.S. affairs.

In response, one American advocacy group suggested the U.N. agency has no authority here, and has outlived its usefulness.

Yury Fedotov, director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, addressed the ballot measures on Wednesday, on the heels of last week’s midterm elections. Last Tuesday, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., voters approved measures allowing marijuana use – following the pot path blazed by Colorado and Washington state.

But according to Reuters, Fedotov told reporters that the moves defy international drug “conventions.”

“I don’t see how [the laws] can be compatible with existing conventions,” he reportedly said, claiming he would take it up with State Department and U.N. officials next week.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: M.Scott Mahaskey / POLITICO

Photo Credit: M.Scott Mahaskey / POLITICO

Marijuana Patient Sues After Firm Won’t Hire Her

By MICHELLE R. SMITH.

A graduate student has sued a textile company for refusing to hire her for a two-month internship because she uses medical marijuana to treat frequent and debilitating migraine headaches, a decision her lawyer calls discrimination.

Christine Callaghan, who is studying textiles at the University of Rhode Island, sued Westerly-based Darlington Fabrics Corp. and its parent, the Moore Company, on Wednesday. The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Callaghan, said it believes it’s the first lawsuit of its kind in the state.

A lawyer for the company, Timothy Cavazza, said it had not yet been served with the lawsuit and it was company policy not to comment on litigation. He added that they were confident they acted in compliance with state and federal law and that the lawsuit would be dismissed.

Carly Iafrate, the attorney who filed the lawsuit for Callaghan, said if employers are allowed to discriminate against medical marijuana patients, then its legalization would become “an empty promise.”

“People with disabilities simply cannot be denied equal employment opportunities on the basis of the type of medication required to treat their particular condition,” she said.

Read more from this story HERE.