DC Council Wants to Give Non-Citizens the Right to Vote

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District of Columbia council members voiced their support Wednesday for a new law that would allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.

“These are residents who are well on their paths to citizenship,” Councilman David Grosso said. “Unfortunately not all of our residents have a say in the politicians who are elected to represent them.”

The bill would allow permanent residents in the city who are not American citizens to vote in elections for mayor, city council, the attorney general and State Board of Education members, among other things.

“They are our neighbors and our friends and they want to see our city flourish, yet they have no say in how the city’s government is run,” said Councilwoman Elissa Silverman.

Silverman went on to say that nearly one in eight D.C. citizens are immigrants, but only about 30 percent of them are American citizens, and that “all long-term residents of a city should have a right to have a choice in who represents them.” (Read more from “DC Wants to Give Non-Citizens the Right to Vote” HERE)

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Leaders of the Largest Association of Psychologists Reportedly Collaborated With CIA to Allow for Torture

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Leaders of the largest association of psychologists in the country reportedly collaborated with Pentagon and CIA officials to weaken the group’s guidelines, allowing psychologists to take part in and cover up their involvement in coercive interrogation tactics after the 9/11 attacks.

The American Psychological Association’s report details findings from a former federal prosecutor that seem to show the complicity of psychologists in interrogation programs that sometimes relied on torture, according to The Washington Post.

The investigation into the association concludes that the APA’s ethics director and others colluded with top level Department of Defense officials to have the association issue “loose, high-level ethical guidelines that did not constrain” the Pentagon in its interrogations of Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The Post reports the investigation also found that “current and former APA officials” had pertinent interactions with the CIA between 2001 and 2004 when the agency used waterboarding and other extreme measures to try and get information from prisoners at the camp.

The scathing 542-page report was commissioned by the psychological association’s board of directors last year base on an investigation led by David H. Hoffman. Hoffman was an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago from 1998 to 2005. (Read more from “Leaders of the Largest Association of Psychologists Reportedly Collaborated With Officials on Abusive Interrogations” HERE)

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Obamacare Administrators Fail to Protect Individuals’ Personal Data Entered on Obamacare Website

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not implement auditor recommendations to protect personal information at HealthCare.gov, Politico reported.

An official told lawmakers that CMS “has not yet implemented auditors’ recommendations that it conduct privacy impact assessments on HealthCare.gov systems that store personal information,” states Politico.

This is cause for concern considering the Office and Personnel Management (OPM) news that more than 21 million individuals had their sensitive information, including Social Security numbers and family and personal data, accessed by hackers because of a data breach.

“The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has identified a cyber security incident potentially affecting personnel data for current and federal employees, including personally identifiable information (PII),” said OPM in a statement on June 4.

At a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on the OPM data breach, Gregory Wilshusen, an information security expert at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said he is not aware of any efforts by CMS to act on GAO’s recommendations regarding the Obamacare website. GAO recommended in September 2014 that CMS and HHS “implement security and privacy controls to enhance the protection of systems and information related to Healthcare.gov.” (Read more from “Gov’t Agency Fails to Protect Individuals’ Personal Data on Obamacare Website” HERE)

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Antipsychotic Use Rising Among Teens and Young Adults

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A growing number of teens and young adults are being prescribed antipsychotics, a new study suggests.

In particular, it appears they’re being used to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – a condition for which the powerful drugs are not approved.

The percentage of teens using antipsychotics rose from 1.10 percent in 2006 to 1.19 percent in 2010. Use among young adults ages 19 to 24 rose from 0.69 percent to 0.84 percent, the study found.

Overall in 2010, approximately 270,000 antipsychotic prescriptions were dispensed to younger children, 2.14 million to older children, 2.80 million to adolescents, and 1.83 million to young adults, the authors write . . .

For younger children, antipsychotic use declined from 2006 to 2010, the researchers report in JAMA Psychiatry. Prescriptions fell from 0.14 percent to 0.11 percent for kids aged one to six, and from 0.85 percent to 0.80 percent for children aged seven to 12. (Read more from “Antipsychotic Use Rising Among Teens and Young Adults” HERE)

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Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Says President Obama Is ‘Ridiculous’ and ‘Dead Wrong’ on ‘Global Warming’

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By Jews News. Dr. Ivar Giaever, a Nobel Prize-Winner for physics in 1973, declared his dissent on man-made global warming claims at a Nobel forum on July 1, 2015.

“I would say that basically global warming is a non-problem,” Dr. Giaever announced during his speech titled “Global Warming Revisited.”

Giaever, a former professor at the School of Engineering and School of Science Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, received the 1973 physics Nobel for his work on quantum tunneling. Giaever delivered his remarks at the 65th Nobel Laureate Conference in Lindau, Germany, which drew 65 recipients of the prize. Giaever is also featured in the new documentary “Climate Hustle”, set for release in Fall 2015.

Giaever was one of President Obama’s key scientific supporters in 2008 when he joined over 70 Nobel Science Laureates in endorsing Obama in an October 29, 2008 open letter. Giaever signed his name to the letter which read in part: “The country urgently needs a visionary leader…We are convinced that Senator Barack Obama is such a leader, and we urge you to join us in supporting him.”

But seven years after signing the letter, Giaever now mocks President Obama for warning that “no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change”. Giaever called it a “ridiculous statement.” (Read more from “Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Says President Obama Is ‘Ridiculous’ and ‘Dead Wrong’ on ‘Global Warming'” HERE)

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UN Climate Official: Fighting Global Warming Is “Creating a New Reality for the World”

By P.W. Adams. Christiana Figueres, the same United Nations Climate official who stated that we should “make every effort” to reduce the World’s population in order to fight Climate Change, is now also praising the leaders of local governments for taking up the fight against man-made Global Warming.

Business Insider reports that while speaking to a gathering in France, Secretary Figueres not only voiced that she is pleased with the actions of local governments on the Climate Change..errr, Global Warming front, but that their actions are actually creating a “new reality for the world” . . .

Considering that “new reality” consists of making every effort to reduce the population of the world while simultaneously redistributing the wealth, I would like to say they can keep it. I’m sure most Americans prefer their reality the way it is. Or at least, the way it was before Progressives began to fundamentally change it. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Agency’s Request for 52,000 Rounds of Ammo for Hoover Dam Prompts Inquiry

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In a move that’s prompting questions about the stockpiling of weapons by the federal government’s nonmilitary agencies, the Bureau of Reclamation wants to buy 52,000 rounds of ammunition for use in law enforcement at Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.

After learning about the purchase request, Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei vowed to inquire with the bureau about its operations, number of officers carrying firearms and how much ammunition it uses, according Brian Baluta, a spokesman for Amodei.

Department officials declined to provide specific information to the Sun regarding details of the ammunition purchase request. “We want to limit the amount of information any bad guys might have about our protection capabilities,” said Rose Davis, a Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman.

A review of federal procurement records by the Sun shows that the Bureau of Reclamation, best known for its management of Western waterways and dams, solicited bids in June for 41,600 rounds of hollow-point ammunition along with 10,400 rounds of shotgun ammunition.

The agency declined to say how many armed officers work at Hoover Dam and how many security threats it faces each year, but according to a 2008 review of federal law enforcement, the bureau had 21 officers patrolling Hoover Dam. (Read more from “Agency’s Request for 52,000 Rounds of Ammo for Hoover Dam Prompts Inquiry” HERE)

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‘Death Panels’ Reappear on Capitol Hill [+video]

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The White House has announced the revival of a proposal that almost put an end to passage of Obamacare – the widely criticized “death panels” that press physicians to have talks with their patients about end times, and to advise accordingly.

The Obama administration said it’s proposed a reimbursement scale for doctors who do have that talk with their patients, the Los Angeles Times reported. The plan, stemming from the Department of Health and Human Services, was tucked inside a massive Medicare regulatory bill unveiled on Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

Under the proposal, patients would not be required to talk to their doctors about end-of-life care. Rather, the measure only provides a means for doctors to bill Medicare for “advance-care planning,” should the patient have such discussion, the news outlet said . . .

Critics, however, say such notions actually put the federal government in charge of deciding how medical care will be provided for the elderly or those with incurable diseases and ailments. Critics also say the plan will actually pressure the elderly or ill to sign documents they otherwise might not. (Read more from “‘Death Panels’ Reappear on Capitol Hill” HERE)

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Hillary Clinton: We Must Address the Uncontrollable Use of Guns in America

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By Awr Hawkins. Speaking at a house Party in Ottumwa, Iowa, on July 7, Democrat presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said we must address the “uncontrollable use of guns” in America.

Furthermore, Mrs. Clinton said Democrats need not let fear of the “gun lobby” get in the way of doing this.

According to the Associated Press, Clinton said that “she believes most Americans … support universal background checks,” which is something she will pursue if elected. She added, “Let’s not be afraid of the gun lobby, which does not even really represent the majority of gun owners in America.”

These statements are in addition to others Clinton made least year at a June 17 townhall meeting, in which she claimed gun owners “terrorize the majority of people.” In that speech, Clinton also renewed her support for an assault weapons ban and a ban on “high capacity” magazines. (Read more from “Hillary Clinton: We Must Address the Uncontrollable Use of Guns in America” HERE)


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Seattle To Explore Gun & Ammo Tax

By Michael Strickland. Seattle city council president Tim Burgess has concocted the latest scheme to stem “gun violence”, and it has gun rights supporters upset.

Burgess has put together a plan that involves implementing a city wide tax on firearms and ammunition purchases. A gun purchase would get a $25 tax added to the cost, and ammo would be charged an additional 5 cents per round.

His official press release includes the following:

The revenue proceeds from the gun violence tax would be dedicated to prevention programs and research intended to reduce the burden of gun violence on Seattle residents and neighborhoods.

“Taxpayers in Seattle pay for millions of dollars in emergency medical care every year for people who have been shot,” said Council President Burgess. “It’s time for the gun industry to chip in to help defray these costs.”

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Feds Spent $2 Million on Sexist Program to Have Wives Nag Men About Chewing Tobacco

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Since 2012 the government has spent nearly $2 million on a campaign to get women to nag the men in their lives to quit using smokeless tobacco.

The National Institutes of Health has sponsored a continuing grant for the Oregon Research Institute to “evaluate an innovative approach that encourages male smokeless tobacco users to quit by enlisting the support of their wives/partners, both to lead smokeless tobacco users to engage in treatment and to help them sustain abstinence.”

Researchers had already “established that women can be readily recruited” to get their husbands to quit chewing tobacco, but now the project is going a step further with a multimedia push that includes a website with an interactive and tailored support plan . . .

The program is raising eyebrows among taxpayer watchdogs, health advocates and activists on women’s issues, who see the expenditures as wasteful and gender pandering.

“American women don’t need the federal government spending money to get us to nag our husbands to stop using tobacco, we do that just fine on our own,” said Penny Nance, president and CEO of Concerned Women for America, a conservative women’s group. “Even if it were a worthwhile effort, we are $18 trillion in debt. We simply can’t afford it.” (Read more from “Feds Spent $2 Million to Have Wives Nag Men About Chewing Tobacco” HERE)

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Obama’s Progressive America: Politico Calls for Ethnic, Cultural Cleansing of Southern Whites

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Politico Magazine, edited by former Washington Post reporter Susan Glasser, published an amazingly racist and culturally bigoted article by contributing editor Michael Lind last Friday entitled, “How the South Skews America, We’d be less violent, more mobile and in general more normal if not for Dixie.”

Politico bemoans conservative, religious white Southerners whom the magazine accuses of preventing the U.S. from being more like Britain, Canada and other liberal, English speaking democracies. The article concludes with the hope that the South will be ethnically and culturally cleansed by immigrants from other countries and liberals relocating from other parts of the U.S.

“The United States would be much less exceptional in general, and in particular more like other English-speaking democracies such as Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were it not for the effects on U.S. politics and culture of the American South.

“I don’t mean this in a good way. A lot of the traits that make the United States exceptional these days are undesirable, like higher violence and less social mobility. Many of these differences can be attributed largely to the South.

Minus the South, the rest of the U.S. probably would be more like Canada or Australia or Britain or New Zealand—more secular, more socially liberal, more moderate in the tone of its politics and somewhat more generous in social policy. And it would not be as centralized as France or as social democratic as Sweden.”

(Read more from “Obama’s Progressive America: Politico Calls for Ethnic, Cultural Cleansing of Southern Whites” HERE)

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