World News

on June 21, 2013 in World News

Sen. Mike Lee: ‘Banana Republic Quality’ to Harry Reid Rushing Immigration Bill

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said on the Senate floor Thursday evening that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s tactics rushing through the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill are like those that would be used by a third-world dictator. Lee’s fiery comments came during a colloquy with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in which the two were fighting against Reid’s rush to pass the immigration bill. “I find it repugnant to the system of government under which we are supposed to be operating,” Lee said of Reid allegedly pushing the bill to a vote in less than a week. “I find it even… View Article

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on June 20, 2013 in World News

NSA Boss Asks Congress For Blanket Immunity For Companies That Help NSA Spy On Everyone

This will come as no surprise to anyone, but NSA boss General Keith Alexander is pestering Congress for a new law which would provide blanket immunity for companies helping the NSA collect data on everyone. Gen. Keith Alexander has petitioned Capitol Hill for months to give Internet service providers and other firms new cover from lawsuits when they rely on government data to thwart emerging cyberthreats. Basically, he’s arguing that if the NSA orders companies to do something illegal, the companies shouldn’t be liable for that.  There’s some logic behind that, because when you get an order from the government,… View Article

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on June 20, 2013 in World News

Big Brother alert: Cameras in the cable box to monitor TV viewers

It hardly gets more Orwellian than this. New technology would allow cable  companies to peer directly into television watchers’ homes and monitor viewing  habits and reactions to product advertisements. The technology would come via the cable box, and at least one lawmaker on  Capitol Hill is standing in opposition. Mass. Democratic Rep. Michael Capuano has introduced a bill, the We Are  Watching You Act, to prohibit the technology on boxes and collection of  information absent consumer permission. The bill would also require companies  that do use the data to show “we are watching you” messages on the screen and to … View Article

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on June 20, 2013 in World News

‘We were told to lie’ – Bank of America employees open up about foreclosure practices

Employees of Bank of America say they were encouraged to lie to customers and were even rewarded for foreclosing on homes, staffers of the financial giant claim in new court documents. Sworn statements from several Bank of America employees contain a  number of damning allegations, the latest claims entered as  evidence in a multi-state class action lawsuit that challenges  the bank’s history with foreclosures. According to testimonies obtained by journalists at ProPublica,  supervisors at various Bank of America branches across the United  States encouraged employees to regularly deny loan modification  applications with no reason. At times, they were told to… View Article

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on June 20, 2013 in World News

Gallup Poll Shows Only One in Four Americans Trusts Newspapers, TV News

A  new poll conducted by the Gallup Organization contains some very bad  news for the news industry. The survey indicates that only 23 percent  of American adults have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in  newspapers and television news, the worst results since 2007. According  to Elizabeth Mendes, deputy managing editor at Gallup, newspapers have  been trending downward since 1979, when they reached a high of 51  percent, but TV news bounced up slightly from its all-time low  of 21 percent a year ago. Confidence in newspapers declined from 28 percent in 2011 and 25 percent in … View Article

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on June 20, 2013 in World News

California in the red by $127.2 billion, state auditors say

A financial report  issued by state auditors finds that the state of California is in the red by an  unsustainable $127.2 billion. The report says that the state’s negative status increased that year, largely  because it spent $1.7 billion more than it received in revenues and wound up  with an accumulated deficit of just under $23 billion in fiscal year 2011-2012,  the Sacramento Bee stated. Gov. Jerry Brown has referred to the  deficit and other budget gaps, mostly money owed to schools, as a “wall of debt”  totaling more than $30 billion, the Sacramento Bee reported. About half of the… View Article

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on June 20, 2013 in World News

Study: 70 Percent Of Americans On Prescription Drugs

Rochester, Minn. (CBS ATLANTA) – Researchers find that nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half receive at least two prescriptions. Mayo Clinic researchers report that antibiotics, antidepressants and painkiller opioids are the most common prescriptions given to Americans. Twenty percent of U.S. patients were also found to be on five or more prescription medications. The study is uncovering valuable information to the researchers about U.S. prescription practices. “Often when people talk about health conditions they’re talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes,” Dr. St. Sauver stated in a… View Article

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on June 20, 2013 in World News

Citizens Seek Security Alternatives as Police Forces Downsize

As cities across the U.S. face police shortages and violent crime rebounds, some communities have begun to police themselves through other means. One such watch group was created in a neighborhood in Milwaukee, Oregon and calls itself a “Glock Block.”KOIN News reports: “We’re starting a new group,” said Coy Tolonen, who lives in unincorporated Clackamas County. “We don’t feel neighborhood watch is sufficient, and we don’t feel the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is sufficient.” Tolomon and a group of Jennings Lodge neighbors say they’re responding to escalating crime on their block by also making fliers that read “This is a… View Article

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on June 19, 2013 in World News

CT Governor Tries to Crash Rick Perry’s Meeting with State Gun Manufacturers

While Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) was meeting with gun manufacturers in Connecticut on June 17, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) dropped in to show some “Yankee hospitality.” The gun manufacturers are considering leaving the state because of gun control measures Malloy signed into law on April 4. Perry is trying to be sure that if they do leave, their next stop is Texas. According to CT News Junkie, when Malloy spoke to reporters gathered outside the meeting between Perry and firearms manufacturers, he said: “I just thought it would be an appropriate thing, since you guys were so… View Article

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on June 19, 2013 in World News

FBI: We Use Drones to Monitor Targets in the US

On Wednesday, FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the agency was already using drones to monitor specific targets inside the United States. “Our footprint is very small,” Mueller said. “We have very few and have limited use.” Mueller said that the FBI was only in the initial stages of developing privacy guidelines – an uncomforting assertion as the United States undergoes heavy debate over the nature of privacy invasions from the National Security Agency. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who has been staunchly in favor of NSA snooping, said that drones were extremely problematic in her view…. View Article

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