States Say “No” to Ludicrous Federal Rule That Employers Can’t Check into New Hires’ Criminal Backgrounds

/9 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APAttorneys general across the country are fighting back against new Obama administration guidelines on businesses using criminal background checks for job applicants and two federal lawsuits that followed, calling both “a quintessential example of gross federal overreach.”

The nine attorneys general sent the letter Wednesday to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which in April 2012 voted in favor of the new guidelines that warn such checks can discriminate against African-Americans because they being are arrested at a disproportionate rate compared to the rest of the U.S. population.

Fifteen months after issuing the guidelines — which included the recommendation that businesses eliminate such policies — the commission filed lawsuits against discount retailer Dollar General and a BMW facility in South Carolina for alleged civil rights violations.

“We believe that these lawsuits and your application of the law, as articulated through your enforcement guidance, are misguided and a quintessential example of gross federal overreach,” the attorneys general wrote in a nine-page letter to EEOC Chairman Jacqueline Berrien and the agency’s four commissioners.

The June 11 suits allege Dollar General violated the civil rights of two applicants. In the one case, the applicant alleged she was denied employment even though a felony conviction was incorrectly attributed to her.

Read more from this story HERE.

NSA Surveillance Critics – Including Glenn Greenwald – to Testify Before Congress

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Michael Reynolds/EPACongress will hear testimony from critics of the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices for the first time since the whistleblower Edward Snowden’s explosive leaks were made public.

[Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who first revealed details of the surveillance programmes leaked by Snowden, had also been invited to testify via video-link from his base in Rio.]

Democratic congressman Alan Grayson, who is leading a bipartisan group of congressman organising the hearing, told the Guardian it would serve to counter the “constant misleading information” from the intelligence community.

The hearing, which will take place on Wednesday, comes amid evidence of a growing congressional rebellion NSA data collection methods.

On Wednesday, a vote in the House of Representatives that would have tried to curb the NSA’s practice of mass collection of phone records of millions of Americans was narrowly defeated.

However, it exposed broader-than-expected concern among members of Congress over US surveillance tactics…

Read more from this story HERE.

Bankrupt Detroit Still Going Forward With $444 Million Hockey Arena

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Getty ImagesDetroit’s financial crisis hasn’t derailed the city’s plans to spend more than $400 million in Michigan taxpayer funds on a new hockey arena for the Red Wings.

Advocates of the arena say it’s the kind of economic development needed to attract both people and private investment dollars into downtown Detroit. It’s an argument that has convinced Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Kevyn Orr, the emergency manager he appointed to oversee the city’s finances, to stick with the plan. Orr said Detroit’s bankruptcy filing won’t halt the arena plans.

“I know there’s a lot of emotional concern about should we be spending the money,” said Orr. “But frankly that’s part of the economic development. We need jobs. If it is as productive as it’s supposed to be, that’s going to be a boon to the city.”

But critics say the project won’t have enough economic impact to justify the cost, and that it’s the wrong spending priority for a city facing dire economic conditions.

Detroit city services are already stretched extremely thin. On average, police take about an hour to respond to calls for help, and 40% of street lights are shut off to save money.

Read more from this story HERE.

Tea Party House Members Take on Establishment Senators in Fight to Defund Obamacare

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: majunznkBy Elise Viebeck. The Tea Party is ready to take a stand on defunding the divisive healthcare law and willing to risk a government shutdown in the process.

Establishment Republicans worry the strategy will repeat the Clinton-era government shutdown showdown, which hurt Republicans in the 1996 elections.

Tensions will reach a boiling point after the August recess, when lawmakers start negotiations over how to keep the government open.

In the meantime, old-guard Republicans are sending a clear message to conservatives: The shutdown isn’t worth the risk.

On Friday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said that a plan to shut down the government to block funds for ObamaCare would cost the GOP control of the House and could destroy the party. Read more from this story HERE.

_________________________________________________________________

Sen. Cruz: Defund Obamacare before Americans become ‘addicted’ to subsidies

By Valerie Richardson. Sen. Ted Cruz urged conservatives Saturday to join a petition drive to defund Obamacare, calling it their last chance to stop the national health-care plan before its implementation in January.

“On Jan. 1, the exchanges kick in and the subsidies kick in,” said the Texas Republican in a speech Saturday at the Western Conservative Summit. “Once those kick in, it’s going to prove almost impossible to undo Obamacare. The administration’s plan is very simple: Get everyone addicted to the sugar so that Obamacare remains a permanent feature of our society.”

He asked foes of the Affordable Care Act to sign a national petition launched Saturday that calls for Congress to approve the Sept. 30 continuing budget resolution only if it eliminates funding for Obamacare.

The online petition, called Don’t Fund It, is located at www.dontfundobamacare.com

Opposing Mr. Cruz’s defunding plan was Republican strategist Dick Morris, who urged Republicans to “let the consequences of Obama’s policies happen.” Read more from this story HERE.

New Colorado Gun Control Law Forces Cancellation of Boulder Gun Buy Back Program

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Camera file photoOrganizers have canceled a gun buyback at the request of Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, who said Colorado’s new gun laws would make the Aug. 4 event nearly impossible to stage.

“The bottom line is what we anticipated doing would still be legal — but procedurally we can’t follow through with it at this time,” Pelle said Tuesday.

A stricter law that went into effect July 1 requires buyers to go to a licensed firearms dealer and undergo a background check. The InstaCheck systems used in the checks are not mobile, which means they couldn’t be used at the sheriff’s compound where the buyback was planned.

“It’s not a portable system,” Pelle said. “It can’t be done at the site.”

Essentially, for the event to work, Pelle said the group would have to find a licensed firearms dealer to host the event and then pay the dealer per transaction, “which becomes very unproductive,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Can Software that Predicts Crime Pass Constitutional Muster?

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: APTypically, police arrive at the scene of a crime after it occurs. But rather than send cops to yesterday’s crime, a new trend in law enforcement is using computers to predict where tomorrow’s crimes will be — and then try to head them off.

The software uses past statistics to project where crime is moving. Police in Los Angeles say it’s worked well in predicting property crimes there. Now Seattle is about to expand it for use in predicting gun violence.

It all started as a research project. Jeff Brantingham, an anthropologist at UCLA, wanted to see if computers could model future crime the same way they model earthquake aftershocks. Turns out they can.

“It predicts sort of twice as much crime as any other existing system, even going head-to-head with a crime analyst,” Brantingham says…

Brantingham and his colleagues are now selling the predictive system to police departments with the name PredPol. At this point, you may be thinking about the sci-fi movie Minority Report. But this is different. No psychics sleeping in bathtubs, for one. More to the point, this doesn’t predict who will commit a future crime, just where it is likely to happen.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dear President Obama, the Loss of Glen Doherty’s Life is Not a Fake Scandal, America Doesn’t Take it Lightly

/13 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Irish CentralThe President referred to scandals that are plaguing his administration as “fake scandals” in his speech the other day … as if by denigrating them they will lose their gravity and importance.

But many Americans are incensed by the cuffing aside by the President, to what they believe are attacks on the very foundation of what our country stands for.

Using powerful and feared tools of the government to attack political opponents is a gross abuse of power by the executive branch.

As each day rolls by, it is becoming evident the IRS was unleashed on groups and individuals that politically oppose the President. Evidence so far goes right up to the White House’s political appointees having full knowledge of this abuse.

The wiretapping and snooping of email accounts by the Justice Department of members of the press who write unfriendly pieces about the administration, is an astounding abuse of power and the Attorney General still has not been held accountable for this.

There are many other scandals simmering and being dragged out because the administration fights investigators trying to get to the truth…every step of the way.

But what is particularly galling to many Americans, is President Obama’s brushing aside the tragic death and injury of Americans during the attack on our consulate in Benghazi Libya.

No, these deaths and injuries are not just a “fake scandal” and cannot be swept under the rug.

America wants answers as to why Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith and Ambassador Stevens were killed that night in Benghazi.

Americans want to know exactly how many Americans were wounded as a result of this attack and simply, what are their names? Even that information is being withheld from the public. Why are you forcing everyone connected with the attack to sign non disclosure agreements?

Glen Doherty’s friends and family loved him and miss him very much and want to know why he heroically gave his life. A new video with him in it was just released to the public by his family… Perhaps this will personalize it for you Mr. President. See the video courtesy of Fox News.

Something smells bad in Benghazi Mr. President…Step up and be a leader, give us the truth, don’t hide behind underlings, executive privilege and the letter of the law. We demand answers and so do the family members of the dead and wounded.

_____________________________________

Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Accused Fort Hood Shooter Releases Statement Saying US at War With Islam

/15 Comments/in , /by

Acting as his own attorney, accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan has released a statement to Fox News claiming that the U.S. military is at war with his religion.

However, he does not directly address the shooting at the Texas Army Base in November 2009 that killed 13 and injured more than 30 others.

“My complicity was on behalf of a government that openly acknowledges that it would hate for the law of Almighty Allah to be the supreme law of the land,” the 42-year-old Army psychiatrist said. Hasan then apparently asked if this was a war on Islam. “You bet it is,” he said. “I participated in it.”

The statement, which begins “In the name of Almighty Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful, my name is Nidal Hasan, Major Nidal Hasan, and I would like to convey a message to the world,” runs more than six pages.

Hasan also says he regrets his years in the Army, claiming that his service was inconsistent with his religious beliefs. “I would like to begin by repenting to Almighty Allah and apologize to the (Mujahideen), the believers, and the innocent. I ask for their forgiveness and their prayers. I ask for their forgiveness for participating in the illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims, their religion and their lands,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Half of Americans Supposedly Approve of NSA Surveillance Program

/6 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APBy James Arkin. Most Americans are suspicious they aren’t being told the full truth about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program, but half still approve of the program overall, according to a new poll released Friday.

Fifty percent of Americans approve of the NSA program while 44 percent disapprove, according to the poll from the PEW Research Center.

Despite the overall approval, 70 percent of those surveyed said they thought the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism. Similarly, 63 percent of those surveyed said they believed the government was collecting information about content of communications, not just metadata. Of that group, 27 percent said they thought the government had listened to their calls or read their emails, while 28 percent did not. Read more from this story HERE.

___________________________________________________________________

Photo Credit: Michael Reynolds/EPANSA surveillance critics to testify before Congress

By Paul Lewis. Congress will hear testimony from critics of the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices for the first time since the whistleblower Edward Snowden’s explosive leaks were made public.

Democrat congressman Alan Grayson, who is leading a bipartisan group of congressman organising the hearing, told the Guardian it would serve to counter the “constant misleading information” from the intelligence community.

The hearing, which will take place on Wednesday, comes amid evidence of a growing congressional rebellion NSA data collection methods.

On Wednesday, a vote in the House of Representatives that would have tried to curb the NSA’s practice of mass collection of phone records of millions of Americans was narrowly defeated.

However, it exposed broader-than-expected concern among members of Congress over US surveillance tactics. A majority of Democrat members voted in support of the amendment. Read more from this story HERE.

FBI Letter to Rand Paul Reveals Drones Used 10 Times in US (+video)

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Daily CallerBy Alec Hill. The Federal Bureau of Investigations has used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, at least ten times in the United States, a letter from the agency to Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul revealed on Thursday.

“Since late 2006, the FBI has conducted surveillance using UAV’s in eight criminal cases and two nationals security cases,” the letter reads. A footnote at the end of the sentence noted that in three additional cases, drones were authorized, but “not actually used.”

In addition to their public response, the FBI also sent Paul’s office a different, classified version of their letter containing more details.

The FBI sent the letter to Paul’s office after Paul’s insistent and much-publicized stand against drone use on American citizens both at home and abroad, which dates back to a filibuster Paul conducted on March 6. On that date, Paul, assisted by a bipartisan group of senators, protested the Obama administration’s use of drones by holding up John Brennan’s nomination for CIA director for almost 13 hours. Read more from this story HERE.

______________________________________________________________

Photo Credit: APRand Paul maintains hold on FBI nominee

By Burgess Everett. The FBI has used domestic drones for surveillance in eight criminal and two national security cases since 2006, an FBI official wrote in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul, who is maintaining his hold of the nominee to lead the agency.

The letter came in response to a list of questions Paul sent to the director about domestic drone use. Paul had said he would delay the nomination of FBI Director Robert Mueller’s potential successor, James Comey, until he received specifics on the domestic drone program.

Now, Paul says the answers are “insufficient” and he sent a follow-up with additional questions, meaning the hold remains in place. Paul’s been known to get drone answers before, filibustering the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan for 12 hours over the question of whether the government could kill Americans not engaged in combat on U.S. soil.

Stephen Kelly from the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs said drones — or unmanned aerial vehicles — have been used in the United States in “very limited circumstances,” such as locating a missing 5-year-old child held in an underground Alabama bunker earlier this year. Kelley also said the FBI does not arm its drones, nor does it have plans to do so, and does not conduct “bulk surveillance.” Read more from this story HERE.

______________________________________________________________

Photo Credit: telegraph.co.ukEU planning to ‘own and operate’ spy drones and an air force

By Bruno Waterfield. The European Union is planning to “own and operate” spy drones, surveillance satellites and aircraft as part of a new intelligence and security agency under the control of Baroness Ashton.

The controversial proposals are a major move towards creating an independent EU military body with its own equipment and operations, and will be strongly opposed by Britain.

Officials told the Daily Telegraph that the European Commission and Lady Ashton’s European External Action Service want to create military command and communication systems to be used by the EU for internal security and defence purposes. Under the proposals, purchasing plans will be drawn up by autumn.

The use of the new spy drones and satellites for “internal and external security policies”, which will include police intelligence, the internet, protection of external borders and maritime surveillance, will raise concerns that the EU is creating its own version of the US National Security Agency.

Senior European officials regard the plan as an urgent response to the recent scandal over American and British communications surveillance by creating EU’s own security and spying agency. Read more from this story HERE.

________________________________________________________

Why Do Women Disapprove of Drone Strikes So Much More Than Men Do?

Photo Credit: the atlantic

By Alexis C. Madrigal. Pew’s out with an international poll that shows, across countries and overall levels of support, a striking gender gap exists on support for American drone strikes.

Women were much less likely to approve of “the United States conducting missile strikes from pilotless aircraft called drones to target extremists in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.”

In Japan, for example, support for drone strikes was 30 percentage points lower than their male counterparts. The smallest gaps — in France, South Korea, and Uganda — were 14, 14, and 13 percentage points, respectively. On average, there was a 22-point gap between male and female support for drone strikes, and it didn’t matter if there was considerable overall support for strikes or not.

“Gender gaps are also often seen in global surveys over the use of military force, with women far less likely than men to say that force is sometimes necessary in the pursuit of justice,” wrote Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes at the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, in introducing the data. “But the gender difference over drone strikes is unusually large.” Read more from this story HERE.