Top Stories
Defendants who Claim Stand Your Ground Defense more likely to Win if Victim is Black
The ABA’s National Task Force on Stand Your Ground laws found that when a white shooter kills a black victim, the shooting is 350% more likely to be ruled justified than when a white shooter kills a white victim.
A Texas A&M study cited by the ABA reported that states with stand-your-ground laws saw an 8% increase in homicides. read more
Islamic State (ISIS) may not be a Recognized Nation, but it Controls a Population Larger than Ireland
ISIS controls or has a presence in much of northeastern Syria and northwestern Iraq, with its footprint there nearly matching that of al-Qaeda in Iraq during its zenith in 2006. ISIS has received financial backing from the Sunni-led governments in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Cockburn and others have written. read more
Militarization of the Police…Ferguson Edition
Until Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) ordered the state highway patrol to take charge of security in Ferguson, the police officers patrolling the city’s streets were carrying 5.56-mm rifles similar to the M4 carbine employed by the U.S. Army. They also had sidearms, body armor, multiple ammunition clips, and they rode around in armored vehicles reminiscent of the kind used to shuttle soldiers through Iraq. read more
Equal Rights Amendment Back 32 Years after States’ Approval Fell Short
The passage of the amendment, which would have guaranteed that equal rights could not be denied on account of gender, was passed by 35 states by the 1982 deadline, leaving it three short of ratification. To get the effort going again, two measures have been introduced in Congress.
One would erase the 1982 deadline but keep intact the ratification by 35 states, so backers would have to get only three more states to sign on. read more
Despite Opposition from Majority of Americans, Obama Fast Tracks Deportation of Children
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed 51% of respondents said the children coming to the U.S. from Central America should be permitted to remain in the country, at least temporarily. Only 32% said the children should be immediately deported, indicating Obama is bending to the will of the minority by ordering immigration courts to fast track the children’s hearings. read more
Why is Obama Still Hiding the 28-Page Report on Saudi Royal Family Involvement in the 9/11 Attacks?
In a court filing produced two years ago for a lawsuit brought by 9/11 victims against the Saudi government, Graham said: “I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the September 11th attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia.” read more
10 States with Highest Uninsured Rates are all Run by Republicans
The 10 states with the highest uninsured rates in the country, all run by Republican governors or legislatures or both, have all refused to accept the expansion of Medicaid and have declined to participate in the state exchanges. Those states are Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alaska, and New Mexico.
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Louisiana Government Tricked Hospital into Supplying Execution Drug
“We assumed the drug was for one of their patients, so we sent it. We did not realize what the focus was,” Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, a board member of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, a private, nonprofit institution and chief judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeal, told The Lens. “Had we known of the real use,” he said, “we never would have done it.” The hospital sold the drug to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. read more
Texas Leads the Nation in Voter Discrimination
A new report says despite the assertions of the U.S. Supreme Court that voting discrimination isn’t a major problem anymore, hundreds of such cases have been documented in the South, particularly Texas.
The report says there were 332 cases between 1995 and 2014 of voting rights lawsuits or the U.S. Department of Justice preventing a state or county from changing their voting laws that were submitted for preclearance in compliance with the now-void terms of the Voting Rights Act. read more
Economy Grows Faster under Democratic Presidents…and Corporations Make more Profits
Blinder and Watson also pointed out in their paper that under Democratic presidents, there were fewer quarters of recession, more job creation, better unemployment figures and more earnings for big business.
“The corporate profit share of gross domestic income was also higher under Democrats: by 5.6% versus 4.7%,” the report said. “Though business votes Republican, it prospers more under Democrats.”
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Senators Complain about Obama Administration Censorship of Torture Report
Some of the redactions imposed by the administration addressed phony names that the committee gave to CIA officers to protect their identity. Officials insisted that the pseudonyms had to be excised to secure the identities of agents.
However, the sections considered most controversial are said to have concluded that the torture techniques used by the CIA were more brutal than previously admitted and that their effectiveness in obtaining useful information was greatly exaggerated.
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Vicious Cycle: Deport Criminals to Central America, Gangs Grow and Children and Others Flee the Region to the U.S.
The immigration crisis started in Washington, when the Obama administration decided to deport thousands of convicts, many of them gang members, back home, which helped turn Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala into crime centers that prompted families to send their children on a perilous trek to the United States. read more
Law Enforcement Personnel Now View Sovereign Citizens as Bigger Terrorist Threat than Islamic Extremists
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism says Islamic jihadists were considered the No. 1 threat when law enforcement officers were surveyed in 2006-2007.
But as of 2013-2014, Islamic extremists had fallen to No. 2 because of the leap in concern about sovereign citizens. Defined as those individuals who believe federal, state, and local governments have no legal authority over them, sovereign citizens now occupy the top spot. read more
CIA Admits it Spied on Senate Intelligence Committee and Lied about It
The CIA denied the spying. But the agency’s inspector general (IG), David Buckley, revealed on Thursday that the CIA, indeed, had spied on the committee while it carried out its probe.
The IG also reported that when the CIA requested the Department of Justice to prosecute some of Feinstein’s staffers for allegedly removing classified information from the agency’s possession, it did so based on false information. read more
Average American’s Net Worth has Dropped One-Third in 10 Years
We’re told that the Great Recession that kicked off in 2008 is finally over, but to many Americans it doesn’t seem as though they’re back where they were before the crash. They’re probably right: the net worth of average Americans is only 57% of what it was in 2007, according to a new report. By mid-2013 the average value of a single-family home was still 20% less than it had been in 2007. read more
Obama Administration Sells Israeli Military Extra Grenade and Tank Rounds to Use in Attack on Gaza
The concerns weren’t enough for U.S. officials to turn down Tel Aviv’s request for more military assistance, specifically 120mm tank rounds and 40mm illumination rounds for grenade launchers.
Washington received the request on July 20 and three days later approved the munitions release from a special stockpile in Israel known as the War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel. The U.S. set up the little-known arsenal several years ago in case of need by U.S. or Israeli forces.
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