Tech Fears Shadow Campaign to Seize Global Control of Internet

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Photo Credit: Getty ImagesFearing a power grab for control of the Internet, members of the tech industry are pleading with Congress to pay attention to the domain name expansion that is underway at a little-known nonprofit.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), led by its CEO Fadi Chehade, last year began rolling out thousands of alternatives to the traditional .com ending used by most websites. New endings using the Latin alphabet, such as .clothing and .singles, became available in January, and hundreds of others are on the way.

ICANN says it is focused on making the Internet more broadly available and has prioritized creating domain names in languages such as Chinese, Arabic and Cyrillic.

But critics say the nonprofit betrayed broader ambitions last year when it endorsed a statement calling for the globalization of ICANN and other domain name technical work that is currently managed by the United States.

By signing the statement, Chehade put “a target on ICANN’s back,” said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice.

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‘A Part of Me Died With You’: Mom’s Moving Apology Letter to the Baby She Aborted Comes Under Scrutiny (+video)

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Photo Credit: Hannah Rose Allen via FacebookHannah Rose Allen, the woman who authored a letter of remorse and apology to Luke, the baby she aborted, has come under scrutiny over allegations of plagiarism after her note was published and covered on various news sites over the past few days.

The contents of her letter, which has some similarities to another note written by a woman named Carla Stream about her own past abortion experience, are now being questioned.

In a post on her Facebook page Saturday, Allen admitted to “copying a few … sentences and ideas” from Stream’s letter, noting that she is “genuinely sorry” for what she described as a “hurtful blunder.” Allen’s complete statement is below:

“While I was in the midst of writing a long letter of love, from my grieving mother’s heart, to Luke Shiloh in February 2013, I Googled “letters to aborted babies” and came across a sweet letter written to “Aubrey” in 2008 from her grieving mother, Carla Stream (https://outcrywisconsin.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-girl.html?m=1).

The letter deeply resonated with me because I had felt and expressed some of the same words about my beloved baby that she wrote in her brief letter to her beloved baby. I realize now that I crossed the line of simply being inspired by her letter to the point of actually copying a few of her sentences and ideas. I want to apologize for making such an unwise choice. Even though I shared some of her thoughts and feelings, I should have clearly expressed them in my own words, rather than using someone else’s. I am genuinely sorry for my hurtful blunder. I think it would be best for my letter to be removed from the news sources where it’s been shared, and I will post my original letter on my personal blog.”

Allen also published a blog post offering similar sentiment, expounding upon the scenario.

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Guess Who’s Calling for Taxpayer-Financed Campaigns

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Photo Credit: AP/Susan WalshJonathan Soros, son of progressive billionaire investor George Soros, is among a group of 60 wealthy Democratic donors who signed a letter to members of Congress calling for taxpayer-financed political campaigns.

“We urge you to fix today’s broken campaign finance laws. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake,” the letter said. “We who sign this letter raise and give substantial sums for elections. The influence that people like us have will be curtailed by the changes we seek, but our democracy must return to the First Amendment principle that all Americans, not just the wealthy, must have their voices heard.”

Some of the other signatories include Craigslist founder Craig Newmark; Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen; Democratic mega-bundler Naomi Aberly, who raised $500,000 for President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign; tech executive David DesJardins, who gave about $1 million to Democratic campaigns in 2012; and businessman Arnold Hiatt, Politico reported.

The letter was coordinated by three pro-public financing groups: Public Campaign Action Fund, Voices for Progress and the Jonathan Soros-founded Friends of Democracy, and correlates with the introduction of the “Government by the People Act” in the House, sponsored by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.).

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American Sage Kotsenburg Wins First Gold Medal at Sochi Olympics in Slopestyle

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Photo Credit: APSage Kotsenburg of the United States won the first gold medal of the 2014 Olympics on Saturday, soaring to victory in the men’s snowboarding slopestyle final.

Kotsenburg had a score of 93.50 to edge Staale Sandbech of Norway. Mark McMorris of Canada, who barely made the finals, took bronze.

Canadian Max Parrot, who topped qualifying on Thursday, missed the podium. He washed out at the end of his first run and his second run wasn’t quite crisp enough. Parrot finished fifth.

Kotsenburg needed to navigate the semifinals early Saturday but seemed to find his stride. He placed second in the semifinals then rolled with a medal on the line. The 20-year-old clasped his hands over his head in disbelief after his score was revealed.

The laid-back kid from Couer d’Alene, Idaho — nicknamed “second-run Sage” because of his tendency to come through at the last minute — didn’t waste time putting together the run of his life. He tamed the treacherous course that chased away teammate Shaun White earlier in the week and sent several other contenders to the medical tent.

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Eric Holder to Accord More Recognition to Same-Sex Couples

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Photo Credit: APAttorney General Eric Holder plans to announce added recognition for same-sex married couples Saturday, vowing to treat same-sex spouses just like opposite-sex spouses in court proceedings, prison visitation and law-enforcement benefit programs even in states that don’t recognize same-sex marriages, a Justice Department official said.

In a speech to a gay rights group in New York, Holder will promise that Justice Department lawyers will respect spousal privilege for same-sex couples in court proceedings and that officials will award full benefits to same-sex spouses of police officers and other public safety personnel killed in the line of duty.

“In every courthouse, in every proceeding, and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States — they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections, and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law,” Holder is to tell a Human Rights Campaign dinner, according to excerpts of his speech released in advance.

“The department will recognize that same-sex spouses of individuals involved in civil and criminal cases should have the same legal rights as all other married couples – including the right to decline to give testimony that might incriminate their spouse. The government will not object to an individual in a same-sex marriage invoking this right on the ground that the marriage is not recognized in the state where the couple lives,” Holder plans to say.

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California Elementary School Parents Warned About Pass-Out Game

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Parents at a Roseville school were warned about a dangerous game students are playing that sent one student to the hospital.

The urgent message from the principal at George Sargeant Elementary School came after paramedics were called when a student passed out in class.

The principal says that student was playing something called the pass-out game. It’s where students see how long they can hold their breath.

In this case, it went too far.

“Several students then told me some of the fourth- and fifth-graders had been playing the pass-out game for the last several months,” the message said.

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Hamptons Group Home Workers Allegedly Ran ‘Developmentally Disabled Fight Club’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: Modern RelicsFour workers at a group home allegedly encouraged a person with developmental disabilities to attack another disabled person on Long Island, prosecutors said.

As CBS 2’s Carolyn Gusoff reported, prosecutors called it a disturbing abuse of their position for group home workers who were supposed to be taking care of disabled residents instead of taking advantage of them.

Erin McHenry of Brookhaven, Justin McDonald of Lindenhurst, Stephen Komara of East Moriches and Rosemary Vanni of Eastport face felony charges of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, prosecutors said.

“These defendants encouraged two developmentally disabled adults to participate in, what I said on record, is a developmentally disabled fight club,” said special prosecutor Jacqueline Kagan, of the New York State Justice Center for Protection of People with Special Needs.

Kagan said one group home worker shot cell phone video while three others raucously laughed, as they encouraged two severely disabled men to fight.

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‘Caught Red-Handed’: Sekulow Details New ‘Smoking Gun’ IRS Emails (+video)

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsJay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, testified before a House committee yesterday on the IRS scandal. He’s representing 41 of the conservative groups that say they were illegally targeted by the IRS.

During his testimony, he pointed to emails sent by former IRS official Lois Lerner that appear to contradict the administration’s assertions that the targeting was not a coordinated effort from Washington.

The emails were released by the House Ways and Means Committee as part of its probe of the IRS scandal. Sekulow explained that the emails show Lerner in contact with the IRS’ chief counsel and other top lawyers at least a year before the scandal became public. He said that Lerner wrote about coming up with new rules to restrict non-profit groups.

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Ben Carson: Obama Officials ‘Acting Like Gestapo’

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Photo Credit: WNDDr. Ben Carson, the brain surgeon turned popular political analyst, told WND Obama administration officials are “acting like the Gestapo” with the Justice Department indictment of Dinesh D’Souza coupled with the Internal Revenue Service’s political targeting of the administration’s critics.

“I believe we are dealing with an extremely corrupt administration,” he said.

Dr. Carson himself became the subject of an IRS audit after criticizing Barack Obama’s policies at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington last year.

“I’ve always been someone who has been very careful about my finances and the way I take care of my business,” said Dr. Carson. “I’ve never undergone this kind of scrutiny before, but then it comes after the prayer breakfast. They’re harassing my family. They’re harassing my colleagues. And they’re not finding anything – so that just makes them dig a little deeper.”

In a telephone interview today, Dr. Carson, who is talked about as a potential new brand of non-politician presidential candidate himself in 2016, said he was also disturbed by Obama’s comments in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly before the Super Bowl game last week.

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Obama Admin Files Papers to Force Notre Dame to Comply With HHS Mandate

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Photo Credit: LifeNewsThe Obama administration is not content to force Obamacare on the nation but it’s also not going to relent when it comes to religious businesses, schools and organizations that want to opt out of complying with the HHS mandate, that compels them to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs.

The Obama administration is fighting the University of Notre Dame’s request for a reprieve from complying with the HHS mandate and filed papers on Tuesday with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opposing the Catholic university’s attempt to get out from under it.

According to Politico:

The school, which is complying with the coverage mandate while fighting the policy in court, was denied a similar stay by the 7th Circuit late last year. Notre Dame re-filed its petition after the Supreme Court granted an injunction to the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged last month.

The school said its case is nearly identical to the Little Sisters; the Justice Department said Tuesday that the facts are not the same.

Notre Dame “Employees and other beneficiaries are currently receiving contraceptive coverage,” Justice Department officials wrote in their brief (posted here).The school “offers no reason why this Court should disrupt the status quo by entering an injunction pending appeal while it is considering the merits of the appeal on a highly expedited basis.”

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