Trump said, “We need people to be afraid. Right now many Americans are surprised when protestors are killed, but they’ll get used to it.” Trump did add one suggestion: “Try not to kill white people. That gets too much attention. Stick to protestors of other colors.”   read more

While having little or no presence in Luxembourg, corporations have enjoyed huge tax breaks through various accounting schemes and legal maneuvers. FedEx established two Luxembourg affiliates so it could move money country to country. The plan resulted in its paying only one quarter of 1% on the earnings involved. PepsiCo arranged several loans with Luxembourg’s help to cut its taxes on $1.4 billion spent to obtain controlling interest in a Russian juice producer.   read more

If Americans dislike Congress now, what will they think if its size increased by 245 lawmakers? Some political reformers argue that, no matter how frustrating the U.S. House might be now, it needs to expand in size. After all, the last time the number of representatives—currently at 435—changed was 1911. That was when the nation’s population was 93.9 million. Now, it’s up to 316.1 million, an increase of more than 200% over 100 years.   read more

An Afghan teacher, Odah was captured in the months after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001. He fled to Pakistan, where he was captured by bounty hunters and turned over to the U.S. military as a suspected member of al Qaeda. The U.S. government held to that story for years, and at one point declared Odah too dangerous to release. He became part of a group of detainees dubbed “forever prisoners” because American officials seemed determine to imprison him indefinitely without due process.   read more

TV stations raked in about $2.4 billion from commercials from federal, state and local races, eclipsing the total they enjoyed in 2010 by more than $100 million. This year, one Iowa television station, WHO-DT in Des Moines, actually added news programming in the afternoon partly so it would have a place to put all the campaign ads, many of which touted the campaign for the open Senate seat won Tuesday by Joni Ernst.   read more

Even customers who don’t use either provider can have their browsing monitored. If a user connects through a Verizon tower, their web use habits are subject to scrutiny as well. As many as 100 million people have had their internet browsing tracked by the two providers. 'Once installed, the supercookies cannot be deleted nor evaded, even if customers clear their cookies, use private browsing modes, disable third-party cookies, or select ‘Do Not Track’ in their settings."   read more

, polls showed Democrats to be slightly more popular than Republicans, 44% versus 40%. But that didn’t stop the onslaught of losses by Democratic candidates in battleground states. Voters were angry and they took it out on many incumbents, including some Senate Democrats who came into office in the Obama wave of 2008.   read more

Fort Lauderdale has cited its first violators—two ministers and a 90-year-old man—of a new ordinance that prohibits giving food to the homeless. Abbott, who has been helping the homeless in Fort Lauderdale for more than 20 years, was shocked by law enforcement’s response to the feeding. “One of the police officers said, ‘Drop that plate right now,’ as if I were carrying a weapon.”   read more

Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said agents approach community leaders at mosques with questions, and then pressure them to become informants. The FBI’s approach depends on the situation, according to CAIR lawyer Jennifer Wicks. “These visits aren’t based on people being suspected of doing anything wrong."   read more

Dr. Margaret Chan, director of the World Health Organization, said the drive for profits by drug makers prevented an Ebola vaccination solution from being available by now. “A profit-driven industry does not invest in products for markets that cannot pay,” she said. “WHO has been trying to make this issue visible for ages. Now people can see for themselves.” Chan has called the Ebola crisis “the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times.”   read more

An initiative launched by Mayor Ed Murray has spurred discussions among local leaders and started a process for developing privacy guidelines by next year. Officials hope their city will lead the way for other municipalities to establish rules detailing how data can be collected and stored, while keeping in mind the concerns of citizens for how their privacy might by affected by such work.   read more

Under the leadership of CEO Mary Barra, General Motors has repaired about half of the 2.36 million automobiles recalled for faulty ignition switches. Owners have had to wait months to get into dealerships for repairs, leaving them vulnerable to accidents. Last month, a New York woman, Brittany Alfarone, was killed in a single-car accident involving a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. She had tried to get her car’s ignition fixed, but was turned away by two dealerships.   read more

The judges said the public has some right to know how police using the surveillance technology. Police officials insist they are bound by a confidentiality agreement with the FBI, which provided the equipment, to not say anything about it. Judge Boner said: “I can’t think of a justification” to keep the records secret. The judges’ “comments are significant because national privacy groups have tried unsuccessfully for years to learn how police use the device," said the Observer.   read more

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. have reached a settlement with the U.S. government to pay a total of $300 million for misleading consumers about the fuel efficiency of their cars. The deal is said to represent the largest penalty ever for violating the Clean Air Act. The carmakers got into trouble when their engineers “chose favorable results rather than average results from a large number of tests,” said the EPA.   read more

Nearly 300 cities and counties have informed the Department of Homeland Security that they won’t cooperate with immigration requests to hold someone for deportation consideration. In addition, officials in three states—California, Colorado and Connecticut—have adopted the same policy of noncompliance. More than half of the nation’s 22 million immigrants live in the 300 jurisdictions defying DHS. These include the cities of New York, Los Angeles and Miami.   read more

Judge Frucci backed the argument of attorney James Broccoletti, who said the pass code was protected under the Fifth Amendment. Frucci agreed, ruling that the pass code is abstract knowledge and is protected. He did say that Baust’s fingerprint, like his DNA, is subject to use by law enforcement. Police were unsure whether a fingerprint would unlock the phone, however. Rulings such as this could cause those who want to move from password to biometric file protection to rethink their stand.   read more

Adoption of Proposition 47 could have national ramifications, given the history of California being a bellwether state for others to follow on political issues. If the state approves the initiative, California would become the first state to de-felonize all drug use. “We hope we’re setting a precedent for the nation,” said supporter Lynne Lyman. “We are hoping it will signal that we don’t need to be so tough on crime all the time.”   read more