The U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog faulted 14 federal agents and prosecutors for “Operation Fast and Furious” vindicates Holder

Politics, Legislation and Economy News

Legislation

UPDATE 3-U.S inspector faults federal agents in gun probe, clears Holder

* Department’s inspector general finds no cover-up

* Two senior Justice officials leave after report issued

* One says report’s conclusion about him “completely false”

By David Ingram

WASHINGTON,   (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog faulted 14 federal agents and prosecutors on Wednesday for the botched anti-gun-trafficking effort known as “Operation Fast and Furious” but cleared Attorney General Eric Holder of any wrongdoing.

The report by the department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, prompted two senior officials to leave the government.

Congressional Republicans investigating the mismanaged operation had accused Holder of covering it up. A report bolstering their claim would have been an embarrassment for President Barack Obama, who appointed Holder to his job, in the home stretch of the presidential campaign.

One U.S. agent was killed in Arizona, and two guns connected with the case were found at the scene of the shootout where he died.

The new report found screw-ups of “systemic” scope that risked public safety but no cover-up.

That, and a statement supportive of the report from Holder’s main Republican accuser, Representative Darrell Issa, seems likely to defuse what could have been a politically explosive conclusion to the probe.

Two senior department officials left the government as the report was made public. Kenneth Melson, former head of the U.S. agency that enforces gun laws, retired, while Jason Weinstein, responsible for oversight of many criminal-related matters, resigned.

The highest-ranking person criticized, Lanny Breuer, the assistant attorney general in charge of criminal prosecutions, has been “admonished,” said a department official.

The book-length, 471-page report is the most in-depth look yet at Operation Fast and Furious. It follows a 19-month review by the department watchdog that had access to non-public documents.

Fast and Furious began in 2009 as an effort to stop the flow of firearms from Arizona to Mexican drug cartels. As U.S. agents tried to build an expansive case, they did not pursue low-level gun buyers who bought about 2,000 potentially illegal firearms and trafficked many of them across the border.

The operation raised the fury of U.S. gun owners, who are an important Republican constituency and who helped to drive attention to Fast and Furious in Congress and the media.

The new report said that Melson and Weinstein failed to ask detailed questions about the tactics in Fast and Furious, allowing the operation to go on in 2010 when they could have stopped it.

‘SPECULATIVE ASSUMPTIONS’

Melson said in a statement that he disagrees with parts of the report but added in a statement that he was “ultimately responsible for the actions of each employee.”

Melson was pushed out in August 2011 as acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and recently worked on forensic policy for the department.

Weinstein wrote in a blistering resignation letter that the inspector general’s conclusion about him is “completely false.”

The report said Breuer, Weinstein’s boss, should have alerted his superiors, including Holder, in 2010 to flaws in a program similar to Fast and Furious that was started during George W. Bush’s presidency.

The nature of any disciplinary action and whether any is taken is up to the Justice Department. A department official said no further shake-ups are expected.

VINDICATION FOR HOLDER

Holder pointed to the inspector general’s report, which he requested in February 2011, as vindication.

“It is unfortunate that some were so quick to make baseless accusations before they possessed the facts about these operations – accusations that turned out to be without foundation and that have caused a great deal of unnecessary harm and confusion,” he said in a statement.

In a rare show of agreement, Issa, the Republican who has led a congressional inquiry into Fast and Furious, also found reason to praise the inspector general’s report. Issa said it confirms the operation’s “near total disregard for public safety.”

Fast and Furious came to light after the December 2010 shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry. Two guns that firearms agents attempted to track were found at the scene of Terry’s death in rural Arizona.

Terry’s family was pleased that Wednesday’s report documented systematic failures, family spokesman Robert Heyer said in a statement.

But Heyer said the family was disappointed by Holder’s statement praising Melson and Weinstein upon their departures. “The focus today should not be on political spin control … but rather on the gross negligence of the department,” he said.

There were no indictments of gun buyers in Fast and Furious until after Terry’s death, when ATF agents decided to bring an end to the operation. Two men are now in custody in Terry’s death.

AGENTS CONCEIVED PLAN

The inspector general’s report describes a series of mishaps, mischaracterizations and misleading statements that kept those in charge at the Justice Department from knowing all the relevant facts.

No federal agents or prosecutors in Arizona raised a serious question about allowing the purchase of firearms to continue for months, the inspector general said.

“This failure reflected a significant lack of oversight and urgency by both ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and a disregard by both for the safety of individuals in the United States and Mexico,” the report said.

But that failure was compounded by a lack of oversight at headquarters in Washington at both the Justice Department and the ATF, the report said.

After one January 2010 briefing at headquarters at which agents described the number of guns involved, ATF officials did not take any action to closely monitor the investigation or assess the risks involved, the report said.

The report pins blame on Arizona-based agents and Justice officials in Washington for an inaccurate letter sent to Congress on Feb. 4, 2011, which denied that potentially illegal guns were allowed to be sold.

The report said the department, in preparing the letter, relied in part on Dennis Burke, who would later resign as the U.S. attorney in Arizona. But the report said Burke was “an unreliable source of information” about Fast and Furious, while Weinstein “advocated” for agents rather than examining their information skeptically, the report said.

The Justice Department was forced to retract the letter 10 months after sending it, intensifying congressional interest in the operation. Issa’s committee issued a subpoena for documents related to the letter. When the Obama administration refused to comply on grounds of executive privilege, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives cited Holder for contempt of Congress.

The document dispute is pending in a federal court in Washington.

ATF Acting Director B. Todd Jones said in a briefing with reporters that Wednesday was a “sad day” and that the bureau “fully accepts” responsibility for the mistakes made in the operation.

Related articles

• AG Holder cleared of wrongdoing in Operation Fast and Furious (news.yahoo.com)
• Investigation Finds No Evidence AG Eric Holder Knew Of “Fast and Furious” Gun-Running Sting (goodblacknews.org)
• AG Holder cleared in Justice gunwalking probe (kens5.com)
• ‘Fast and Furious’ investigation clears Holder (openchannel.nbcnews.com)
• 2 out at DOJ as internal ‘Furious’ probe clears Holder (politico.com)
• Alert: Fast and Furious IG report drops this afternoon, DOJ IG scheduled to testify tomorrow; Updated: 1 underling under the bus, former ATF chief Melson retires (michellemalkin.com)
• Justice Dept faulted in gun-trafficking operation (newsobserver.com)
• Republicans, IG take Justice Dept. to task (newsobserver.com)
• What was ‘Fast and Furious,’ and what went wrong? (cnn.com)

ATF official involved in Operation Fast and Furious remains on paid leave from ATF — while simultaneously drawing a six-figure salary from J.P. Morgan, a major investment bank.

Politics, Legislation and Economy News

Government Overreach  :  Corruption

‘Fast and Furious’ ATF Official Granted Paid Leave to Take 6-Figure Job at JP Morgan

By Susan Jones

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversigh and Government Reform Committee (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – The long-awaited inspector general’s report on the Justice Department’s botched gun-running scheme is finished, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said on Wednesday.

But along with that news comes more questions: Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are demanding to know why a top ATF official involved in Operation Fast and Furious remains on paid leave from ATF — while simultaneously drawing a six-figure salary from J.P. Morgan, a major investment bank.

In a letter to the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Issa and Grassley asked why the Justice Department would approve such a special arrangement for Bill McMahon.

“Under any reading of the relevant personnel regulations, it appears that ATF management was under no obligation to approve this sort of arrangement,” wrote Issa and Grassley. “Given McMahon’s outsized role in the Fast and Furious scandal, the decision to approve an extended annual leave arrangement in order to attain pension eligibility and facilitate full-time, outside employment while still collecting a full-time salary at ATF raises a host of questions about both the propriety of the arrangement and the judgment of ATF management.”

Issa and Grassley say the ATF has made it possible for McMahon to “double dip for nearly half a year by receiving two full-time paychecks — one from the taxpayer and one from the private sector.”

They  noted that the treatment of McMahon is “in sharp contrast” to how the ATF has treated whistleblowers such as Special Agent John Dodson, “who is told he must wait until the Inspector General’s report is complete before the agency will even consider his simple request for a statement retracting the false statements made about him by agency leadership.”

Issa and Grassley noted that ATF approved the arrangement for McMahom before the Justice Department inspector general finished his report on the failed gun tracking scheme.

As for the IG report examining Fast and Furious, as well as the Justice Department’s knowledge of and response to it, Issa said the report is done:

“We know that the IG report is finished, we know that it’s at Justice, and we know that we can’t see it. We’re hoping, though, that they will release it,” Issa told Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday.

Issa said he’s “positive” that the IG’s report “is going to say the same thing our report has said, which is — this is somebody (Bill McMahon) who is responsible for and signed documents that he told our committee he didn’t see, didn’t know about. Now, the only question is — did he not read them and sign them?”

“We’re dealing with somebody who should have been fired from ATF,” Issa added.

According to the final congressional report on Fast and Furious, William McMahon was a supervisor at ATF headquarters who served as a “crucial link” between ATF headquarters and the Phoenix Field Division.

“He received a wealth of information about Fast and Furious” — including the fact that straw purchasers had bought over 900 firearms, many of which ended up in Mexico — “but did not view it as his role as supervisor to ask questions about events in the field. He has publicly admitted to having failed in his duty to read information presented to him about the case.”

The report says McMahon rubber stamped critical documents that came across his desk without reading them.

McMahon also “gave false testimony to Congress about signing applications for wiretap intercepts in Fast and Furious,” the report says.

Operation Fast and Furious began in the fall of 2009 as part of a plan to track guns illegally purchased in the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels. The ATF lost track of most of the 2,000 weapons that were allowed to “walk” into Mexico, and two of the straw-purchased guns ended up at the scene of a U.S. border agent’s murder.

(Issa told Fox News that news of McMahon’s double-dipping will produce “more outrage for the family of fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.)

According to the final congressional report, “From the outset, the case was marred by missteps, poor judgments, and an inherently reckless strategy.”

Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has accused Attorney General Eric Holder and other Justice Department officials of undermining his investigation into Fast and Furious.

More like this

• ‘Fast and Furious’ ATF Official Granted Paid Leave to Take 6-Figure Job at JP Morgan
• Justice Official Questioned About ‘Fast and Furious’ Is Leaving His Job
• ATF figure in Fast and Furious leaves agency
• Issa Says He Wants a Special Prosecutor to Probe ‘Fast and Furious’
• Issa Says He Wants a Special Prosecutor to Probe ‘Fast and Furious’

Related articles

• REPORT: Senior ATF Agent In Charge Of Fast ‘N Furious Gun Running Program Was Also Working For JPMorgan (dailybail.com)
• ‘Fast and Furious’ ATF Official Granted Paid Leave to Take 6-Figure Job at JP Morgan (weeklyintercept.blogspot.com)
• ATF official resigns after Issa, Grassley nail him in congressional Fast and Furious report (conservativeread.com)
• GOP lawmakers rip ATF double dip (thehill.com)
• Lawmakers seek answers on official at center of ‘Fast and Furious’ (cnn.com)
• OIG Report On Fast And Furious Delivered To Holder For Review (onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com)
• Republicans Looking Into ‘Fast and Furious’ Agent Holding Second Job (foxnewsinsider.com)
• DOJ Inspector General Report On Fast & Furious Delivered (freedomoutpost.com)
• Taxpayers Subsidize Fast & Furious Supervisor- While He Works for J.P. Morgan? (shepherdspiehole.typepad.com)
• Republican lawmakers question ATF official’s ‘double-dip’ arrangement (channel6newsonline.com)

Reality Check: Fast and Furious Operation Was Really About U.S.

Politics  Legislation and Economy News

 

 

 

Published on Aug 9, 2012 by BenSwannRealityCheck

Ben Swann Reality Check takes a look at some stunning new accusations by a high ranking member of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel that Fast and Furious was about the U.S. supporting one cartel while attempting to shut down others

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• “The creation of this new position by the inspector general is a clear and positive response to the difficulties ATF Fast and Furious whistleblowers encountered,” Issa said in a statement. (familysurvivalprotocol.com)
• ‘Fast and Furious’ not what you think it is (wnd.com)
• High-ranking Mexican Drug Cartel Member Makes Explosive Allegation: ‘Fast And Furious’ Is Not What You Think It Is (libertycrier.com)
• Remembering Brian Terry on His 42nd Birthday (conservativeread.com)
• “The public’s perception is going to be probably vastly different than what comes out in the (inspector general’s) report,” Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Larry Alt told Fox News (familysurvivalprotocol.com)

“The creation of this new position by the inspector general is a clear and positive response to the difficulties ATF Fast and Furious whistleblowers encountered,” Issa said in a statement.

GOP applauds new DOJ whistleblower protection position

By Jordy Yager

The Hill

Republican lawmakers are lauding the appointment of an ombudsman for the Justice Department’s inspector general to tamp down on retaliation against whistleblowers and ensure allegations of waste or abuse are dealt with speedily.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said their joint investigation of the DOJ’s failed gun-tracking operation “Fast and Furious” directly led to the need for the whistleblower ombudsman position, which IG Michael Horowitz created on Wednesday.

Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was first told by a whistleblower about the controversial “gun walking” tactics in Fast and Furious, which oversaw the sale of about 2,000 weapons to straw buyers for Mexican drug cartels in a botched attempt to dismantle their gun-trafficking routes. Hundreds of the weapons were lost.

“In light of Operation Fast and Furious, this position is especially necessary at the Justice Department,” Grassley said in a statement.

“Without whistleblowers, mismanagement, abuse and wrongdoing would go undetected. This effort is an important first step and, to be effective, the ombudsman needs to appreciate these realities and stand up to intense pressure from agencies to discredit whistleblowers.”

Grassley and Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, have backed legislation that would expand the protections given to whistleblowers and create an ombudsman role to educate agency employees about their rights.

The Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), passed the upper chamber in May. And while the House has yet to take action on the measure, Issa said the move by Horowitz to appoint Robert Storch as ombudsman will create a new level of trust in the department.

“The creation of this new position by the inspector general is a clear and positive response to the difficulties ATF Fast and Furious whistleblowers encountered,” Issa said in a statement. “The ombudsperson should give DOJ employees greater confidence to come forward when they see wrongdoing or abuse.”

Storch’s new responsibilities will include making sure whistleblower complaints are addressed promptly by the IG, keeping whistleblowers up to speed about the IG’s progress in investigating any allegations they raise, monitoring retaliation claims and educating agency employees about their whistleblower protection rights.

“Whistleblowers play a critical role in uncovering waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement,” Horowitz said in a statement. “This new position will enable the to continue its leadership as a strong and independent voice within the Department of Justice on whistleblower issues.”

Grassley said he plans to ask for regular updates about how the new position is affecting whistleblowers in the DOJ.

One of the most anticipated reports from the inspector general’s office is its investigation of Fast and Furious, which could provide a new depth of understanding about who is responsible for allowing agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to let guns “walk” into the hands of known criminals with no plan to get them back.

The IG is expected to complete its report soon.

Related articles

• Justice announces new whistleblower post in wake of ‘Furious’ (foxnews.com)
• Justice inspector general promises an ear for whistleblowers (cnn.com)
• DOJ IG’s New Whistleblower Ombudsman Position: A Step in the Right Direction (pogoblog.typepad.com)
• New “Whistleblower” Position Created Inside Justice Department (thenewamerican.com)
• New Justice position focuses on whistleblowers (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• E-mails reveal retaliation, cover-up at ATF, DoJ following Fast & Furious exposure (hotair.com)
• New Justice position focuses on whistleblowers (kansascity.com)
• Issa, Grassley Release Details on Retaliation Against Whistleblowers (minx.cc)

Seventeen Democrats, under pressure from the pro-gun lobby the NRA, joined 238 Republicans to carry a criminal contempt resolution against Holder.

 

Eric Holder Contempt Vote May Signify Dead End On Fast And Furious

John Rudolf

john.rudolf@huffingtonpost.com

 

……………..Issa’s failure to secure any damning evidence against top officials suggests that his investigation has largely run its course, said Charles Tiefer, a professor at the University of Baltimore Law School.

“This contempt vote is not the beginning of something. It’s the end of something,” Tiefer said. “It’s the last little bit of life that can be squeezed out of the Fast and Furious investigation.”

Tiefer, who served as chief counsel to three Democratic House speakers in the 1980s and 1990s, testified as an expert during a Fast and Furious hearing at Issa’s invitation.

Documents and testimony overwhelmingly indicate that the “gun-walking” tactics of Fast and Furious were conceived and executed by field agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and supervised by the federal prosecutor’s office in Phoenix, with limited involvement by senior Justice Department staff.

Emails exchanged after the Republican probe in Fast and Furious began in early 2011 further show that DOJ officials were repeatedly told by ATF officials that no gun-walking occurred during the operation. Those denials were transmitted to a Republican senator then retracted.

In a hearing Wednesday, Issa said that documents being withheld by Holder cover internal deliberations over congressional and media inquiries, and date from February 2011 to today — after Fast and Furious already had come to an end. Issa said he had no evidence indicating a cover-up by Holder or White House officials, or indicating their involvement in authorizing or managing the botched operations.

The former ATF director, Kenneth Melson, was forced to step down last year and other agents and officials directly involved in Fast and Furious have been reassigned pending the outcome of an internal Justice Department investigation.

Shortly before Thursday’s contempt vote, the Associated Press reported that documents recently offered by Holder to Issa’s committee dated February 2011 show the attorney general aggressively seeking answers on what went wrong in Fast and Furious.

“We need answers on this. Not defensive BS. Real answers,” Holder wrote to a subordinate after seeing a story by CBS alleging gun-walking by ATF.

The documents offered to Issa also show senior officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sought to convince Holder and other Justice Department officials that “gun-walking” never occurred in Fast and Furious. Those assertions appear to have been questioned by Holder.

White House officials claim that these and other internal emails are protected by executive privilege, but said they were willing to disclose many of them in a show of good faith to the oversight panel. The offer was rejected.

Some open-government advocates have joined Republicans in denouncing the White House’s invocation of executive privilege, calling it unnecessary and a slap in the face to transparency. “The president cannot assert this power merely to avoid the release of potentially embarrassing or politically inconvenient details,” wrote Mark J. Rozell and Mitchel A. Sollenberger, both political science professors and experts on executive power, in an essay for CNN…………………….

 

Read Full Article Here

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• US attorney general found in contempt (news.smh.com.au)
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• House Votes to Hold Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress (swampland.time.com)
• U.S. House Republicans Vote Attorney General In Contempt Of Congress (freeinternetpress.com)
• House holds Holder in criminal contempt (abcactionnews.com)
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• US attorney general ‘in contempt’ (bbc.co.uk)
• House Holds Holder in Criminal Contempt (radio.foxnews.com)
• Fast and Furious investigation: Eric Holder contempt vote set (wjla.com)
• Republicans Not Backing Down On Contempt Votes (usnews.com)
• Justice Dept. won’t prosecute Holder for contempt (onlineathens.com)
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• House votes to hold attorney general in contempt (kansascity.com)

 

Politics, Legislation and Economy News – Saturday May 5th, 2012

Politics and Legislation

Obama’s below-the-radar healthcare push

By Sam Baker and Elise Viebeck

The Obama administration is employing an aggressive ground game to build support for its controversial healthcare law that often reaches beyond the Beltway.

While President Obama doesn’t mention healthcare much in his public appearances, the administration consistently touts its popular reforms to make the case for a law whose approval rating is stuck just below 50 percent.

In the two years since Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, the administration has released a deluge of reports, press releases and blog posts from the White House and the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). The administration consistently highlights new policies as they take effect and tries to keep other popular provisions, such as discounts on prescription drugs, in the news.

Read Full Article Here

Rep. Issa circulates contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder

By Jordy Yager

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has circulated a draft copy of a resolution that would hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

The 44-page measure was sent to members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday in an attempt to shore up support for what would be the toughest action taken by Issa as chairman of the powerful panel.

Issa has been investigating the botched gun tracking operation Fast and Furious for more than a year and has repeatedly expressed his frustration at the Department of Justice’s lack of cooperation.

Issa has issued two subpoenas to obtain documents from the DOJ, and is arguing that the agency’s glacial pace in returning the requested information provides cause for holding Holder in contempt of Congress.

“The Justice Department’s failure to respond appropriately to the allegations of whistleblowers and to cooperate with congressional oversight has crossed the line of appropriate conduct for a government agency,” reads a 17-page memo attached to the draft copy of the resolution on contempt circulated to members.

“Congress now faces a moment of decision between exerting its full authority to compel an agency refusing to cooperate with congressional oversight or accepting a dangerous expansion of executive-branch authority and unilateral action allowing agencies to set their own terms for cooperating with congressional oversight.”

Issa says he has received about 7,300 documents from the DOJ. That’s only a small fraction of the documents that Justice has provided to its inspector general, who has been conducting an investigation of Fast and Furious for more than a year.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) recently said the oversight committee has received documents in only 10 of the 22 categories that Issa requested in last year’s subpoena.

The DOJ has said it has been responsive to Issa’s large request for documents. In some cases, the agency opted not to turn over documents because their public release could damage ongoing criminal cases, according to agency officials.

Read Full Article Here

RELATED ARTICLES

• Issa: DoJ has ‘closed up’ in Fast and Furious investigation
• Lanny Davis: GOP’s double standard on Holder

Blind Chinese dissident calls Congress, wants meeting with Secretary Clinton

By Pete Kasperowicz – 05/03/12 04:26 PM ET

The Chinese dissident at the center of a political firestorm called a hearing Thursday and told lawmakers he wants to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng called a hearing set up to explore his efforts to leave China and escape persecution—apparently from a Chinese hospital room.

“I want to meet with Secretary Clinton,” he said on the phone. “I hope I can get more help from her. I also want to thank her face to face.”

Chen added that he is most concerned with his family, and said, “I really want to know what’s going on with them.”

“I want to thank all of you for your care and your love,” he added, through a translation by Pastor Bob Fu, Founder and President, ChinaAid Association. Fu was a witness at Thursday’s hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

Chen is at the center of a diplomatic row between the U.S. and China that has become a political liability for President Obama.

Read Full Article And Watch Video  Here

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Economy

Wall Street CEOs Personally Lobby Federal Reserve to Weaken New Financial Regulations

By Travis Waldron

Federal regulators in charge of writing the Volcker Rule, which would ban federally-insured financial institutions from risky proprietary trading, are moving at a faster pace than expected and could have the rule finalized by September.

Wall Street banks have been lobbying to weaken the rule since it was originally proposed by its namesake, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, and now that it is just months away from finalization, their efforts are getting stronger. The chief executives of six major Wall Street banks, led by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, traveled to Washington yesterday to personally lobby the Federal Reserve on multiple issues — weakening the Volcker Rule chief among them — Bloomberg reports:

Read Full Article Here

Everyone Agrees That the Decline in Pay has Been Understated

By Dean Baker

Jason Richwine and Andrew Biggs have a piece saying that many public-sector workers are overpaid in which they also say that I agree with them in much of their analysis. This is true.

Let me outline what I think are areas of agreement. First, we seem to agree that if we just compare the wages paid to public-sector and private-sector workers, the latter do better. When we adjust for education and experience, private sector workers tend to get higher pay than their counterparts in the public sector.

This is not true across the board. My colleague John Schmitt has found that while workers with college and advanced degrees (e.g. doctors and lawyers) get less in the public sector, less-educated workers get paid the same or slightly more than their counterparts in the private sector. In other words, there is less inequality in public sector wages than we see in the private sector, with the average being somewhat lower.

We also agree that the lower wages for public-sector workers are largely or completely offset by higher benefits. The key difference here is that public-sector workers are far more likely to have a traditional defined benefit pension plan. Most workers in the public sector still have defined benefit pensions, while less than 20 percent of workers in the private sector do. (The difference is considerably less stark if we restrict the comparison to large private firms, where defined benefit plans are still common.)

Read Full Article Here

Ford Motor Backs Thailand And Opens Second Plant

Published on May 3, 2012 by IBTimesTV

Ford opened a second plant in Thailand on Thursday giving the firm the ability to produce 445,000 vehicles a year in the country.

Expect stagnant U.S. economy in 2013: Roubini

Second half of a double-dip recession is possible, economist says

 |Russ Britt, MarketWatch

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy could retreat into stagnation in 2013 and ultimately cast the nation into the second half of a double-dip recession, high-profile economist Nouriel Roubini said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., Roubini noted that real wages for U.S. workers are not growing and that America’s crushing debt is strangling growth.

That translates into possible fiscal decay in which GDP will be “lucky” to grow 2% this year and faces the prospect of retreating into near-zero growth next year, according to Roubini.

Both political parties can share blame for the trouble, he added, arguing that the Republican Party wants to limit spending and Democrats don’t want to cut programs, and so are at an impasse. Little is likely to change regardless of this year’s presidential election, as Senate Democrats are likely to use the filibuster even if Republican candidate Mitt Romney unseats President Barack Obama.

“If there is gridlock, it’s going to get worse,” Roubini said.

Read Full Article Here
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Wars and Rumors of War

Israel gets 4th German submarine

Advanced submarine handed over to Israel in festive ceremony; new sub is IDF’s most expensive weapon. Defense Minister Barak: Vessel will greatly boost army’s capabilities

Yoav Zitun

Published: 05.03.12, 18:15 / Israel News

Fourth Dolphin submarine starts long journey to Israel: An official ceremony was held in the German city of Kiel Thursday to mark the handover of a fourth submarine to Israel’s Navy.

The Tanin (“alligator” in Hebrew) is considered one of the world’s most advanced submarines and is the IDF’s most expensive. The vessel is expected to reach Israel only in 2013 and dock at the Haifa Port.

Read Full Article Here

Russia threatens Nato with military strikes over missile defense system

Russia has threatened Nato with military strikes against in Poland and Romania if a missile defense radar and interceptors are deployed in Eastern Europe.

Gen Makarov has threatened to target Nato bases hosting an anti-missile system designed by the US to protect European allies against attack from states such as Iran Photo: AFP

By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels

6:06PM BST 03 May 2012

General Nikolai Makarov, Russia’s most senior military commander, warned Nato that if it proceeded with a controversial American missile defence system, force would be used against it.

“A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” he said.

Gen Makarov has threatened to target Nato bases hosting an anti-missile system designed by the US to protect European allies against attack from states such as Iran.

He said that Russia would counter Nato deployment by stationing short-range Iskander missiles in the Russian Kaliningrad exclave near Poland, creating the worst military tensions since the Cold War.

“The deployment of new strike weapons in Russia’s south and northwest – including of Iskander systems in Kaliningrad – is one of our possible options for destroying the system’s European infrastructure,” he said.

Read Full Article Here

Russia Says May Strike Preemptively Against NATO Missile Defense

Published on May 3, 2012 by IBTimesTV

Russia said on Thursday (May 3) that it may use pre-emptive force against the NATO missile defense system if it considers the threat of it growing.

Russia hosted an international conference on missile defense in Moscow on Thursday where Russian army officials showed computer simulation models to illustrate how they believe the planned U.S. and NATO missile shield threatens its security.

NATO officials are hopeful an agreement with Russia will be reached before the NATO summit but Russia is adamant their concerns are not being listened to.

Washington says the shield, due to be completed in four phases by roughly 2020, is meant to counter a potential threat from Iran. Moscow says the system will undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent because it could also give the West the ability to shoot down Russian missiles.

The shield’s first phase is to be declared up and running at the summit in Chicago later this month.

Russia and NATO agreed in 2010 to seek ways to cooperate on missile defense but have failed to reach a deal. The Kremlin wants a legally binding guarantee that the system will not be used against Russia. The United States says it cannot agree to any formal limits on missile defense.

In the meantime, Moscow said it can strike the missile defense system elements pre-emptively if they are considered a serious threat to Russia’s security.

Two blasts kill 14, injure over 80 in Dagestan

Published on May 3, 2012 by RussiaToday

14 people have been killed and up to 87 others injured as two powerful explosions hit Makhachkala, the capital city of Dagestan in southern Russia, security services report. The first bomb was detonated by a suicide car bomber not far from a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Makhachkala, when the car was stopped for a regular check. The second bomb, which caused most of the casualties, struck when rescuers arrived at the scene 20 minutes later. The blast caused a fire but it was soon extinguished. The combined power of the blasts was equivalent to 60 kg of TNT, according to officials from the National Antiterrorism Committee. The incidents are being treated as terror attacks. RT’s Sean Thomas has the details and also RT talks to Doctor Walid Phares, a counter-terrorism adviser to the US Congress.

Encircling Iran: US claims would win in 3 weeks

Published on May 4, 2012 by RussiaToday

The war rhetoric from Washington towards Iran is again being ramped up – just ahead of the second round of high-level international talks on the country’s nuclear program. US military top brass claim they would need just three weeks to defeat Iran’s armed forces. RT’s Gayane Chichakyan looks at whether it’s just more tough talk – or preparation for real action.

“We are Preparing for Massive Civil War,” Says DHS Informant

Posted by Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul

In a riveting interview on TruNews Radio, Wednesday, private investigator Doug Hagmann said high-level, reliable sources told him the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is preparing for “massive civil war” in America.

“Folks, we’re getting ready for one massive economic collapse,” Hagmann told TruNews host Rick Wiles.

“We have problems . . . The federal government is preparing for civil uprising,” he added, “so every time you hear about troop movements, every time you hear about movements of military equipment, the militarization of the police, the buying of the ammunition, all of this is . . . they (DHS) are preparing for a massive uprising.”

Hagmann goes on to say that his sources tell him the concerns of the DHS stem from a collapse of the U.S. dollar and the hyperinflation a collapse in the value of the world’s primary reserve currency implies to a nation of 311 million Americans, who, for the significant portion of the population, is armed.

Uprisings in Greece is, indeed, a problem, but an uprising of armed Americans becomes a matter of serious national security, a point addressed in a recent report by the Pentagon and highlighted as a vulnerability and threat to the U.S. during war-game exercises at the Department of Defense last year, according to one of the DoD’s war-game participants, Jim Rickards, author of Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis.

Through his sources, Hagmann confirmed Rickards’ ongoing thesis of a fear of a U.S. dollar collapse at the hands of the Chinese (U.S. treasury bond holders of approximately $1 trillion) and, possibly, the Russians (threatening to launch a gold-backed ruble as an attractive alternative to the U.S. dollar) in retaliation for aggressive U.S. foreign policy initiatives against China’s and Russia’s strategic allies Iran and Syria.

“The one source that we have I’ve known since 1979,” Hagmann continued.  “He started out as a patrol officer and currently he is now working for a federal agency under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security; he’s in a position to know what policies are being initiated, what policies are being planned at this point, and he’s telling us right now—look, what you’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.  We are preparing, we, meaning the government, we are preparing for a massive civil war in this country.”

Read Full Article Here

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Before It’s News

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Articles of Interest

ALEC Wasn’t First Industry Trojan Horse Behind Fracking Disclosure Bill – Enter Council of State Governments

By Steve Horn

19th Century German statesman Otto von Bismarck once said, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.”

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), put on the map by the Center for Media and Democracy in its “ALEC Exposed” project, is the archetype of von Bismarck’s truism. So too are the fracking chemical disclosure bills that have passed and are currently being pushed for in statehouses nationwide.

State-level fracking chemical disclosure bills have been called a key piece of reform in the push to hold the unconventional gas industry accountable for its actions. The reality, though, is murkier.

On April 21, The New York Times penned an investigation making that clear. The Times wrote:

Read Full Article Here

Rupert Murdoch in “Unprecedented Firestorm” As UK Panel Finds Him Unfit to Run Media Empire

Published on May 3, 2012 by democracynow

DemocracyNow.org – A British parliamentary report has issued a scathing report that finds Rupert Murdoch is “not a fit person” to run a major international media company because of how News Corp. handled its phone hacking scandal. The Parliamentary Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport said Murdoch and his son, James, showed “willful blindness” about the scale of phone hacking at the News of the World tabloid. The panel’s finding has prompted a U.S. watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, to call on the Federal Communications Commission to revoke News Corp’s 27 Fox broadcast licenses in the United States. We speak with David Leigh, investigations editor at The Guardian, the news outlet that first exposed the phone-hacking practices taking place within the Murdoch media empire. Leigh says the British panel’s findings could threaten Murdoch’s media presence across the Atlantic: “People are now beginning to say, ‘Doesn’t this bleed over into the man who runs Fox News and has all those TV outlets in the U.S.?’ If he is not fit and proper person in Britain, then he is not a fit and proper person in the U.S. either.”

To watch the complete independent, weekday news hour, read the transcript, download the podcast, and for more information about Democracy Now!, please visit http://www.democracynow.org

Alex Jones: Pentagon prepares re-education camps for political activists

Published on May 3, 2012 by RTAmerica

On May Day in 1971, the US Army rounded up approximately 7,000 protesters into a stadium in Washington, DC that they treated like a make-shift prison camp. Have things changed in the past 40 years? Now a Department of Defense document has been leaked to the Web that details “Internment and Resettlement Operations.” The manual outlines policies for processing detainees in internment camps domestically and abroad and how to “re-educate” unruly activists. Alex Jones, host of the Alex Jones Show, joins us to find out what this means to people across the globe.

Pungent Chemical Smell Alarms Gush Dan Residents

Home Front Command reports source of smell drilling off coast of Ashdod; environment officials: gas concentrations ‘negligible’

By Gabe Kahn

Panic in the Dan!

Flash 90

There were reports in the Tel Aviv and the Sharon region of a strong chemical smell on Thursday.

Most complainants reported a strong smell of chlorine or bromine, or insecticide.

While most residents simply closed their windows and remained calm, others became concerned there had been a chemical attack.

Police and city administrations in the region received numerous calls, and Environment Ministry officials were dispatched to take readings.

The officials reported low concentrations of gas in the air, which they say do not pose a danger to public health.

“All measurements in the Tel Aviv area are negligible,” they reported. “The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing to perform measurements, and trying to locate the source of odors. We are continuing to monitor other areas too.”

The officials also stressed they had yet to identify the souce of the smell.

However, a local environmental consultant told Channel 10 that concentrations producing a pungent scent were not healthy.

“This is an exceptional case,” the consultant said. “Such chemicals in high concentrations can be dangerous. The smell is quite strong.”

“The city administration could not identify the source,” he added.

However, the IDF Home Front Command identified the source of the smell as drilling off the coast of Ashdod.

Ramat Hasharon Mayor Itzik Rochberger complained that while the HFC told him the source of the smell, officials from the Environment Ministry were still in the dark.

“If it were a harmful substance what would happen?” he asked. “Why is no synchronization between the government systems?”

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Politics, Legislation and Economy News – Tuesday March 20th, 2012

Politics and Legislation

Tennessee Lawmakers Pass Resolution Blasting UN Agenda 21

Legislation attacking the United Nations’ “Agenda 21” agreement as a radical socialist plot at odds with American liberty and values was approved overwhelmingly by members of the Tennessee House of Representatives last Thursday, sparking some criticism by far-left activists but widespread praise by conservative groups and Tea Party organizations across the nation.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech-mainmenu-30/environment/11224-tennessee-lawmakers-pass-resolution-blasting-un-agenda-21

New Obama Executive Order Seizes U.S. Infrastructure and Citizens for Military Preparedness

Brandon Turbeville
BlacklistedNews.com

In a stunning move, on March 16, 2012, Barack Obama signed an Executive Order stating that the President and his specifically designated Secretaries now have the authority to commandeer all domestic U.S. resources including food and water. The EO also states that the President and his Secretaries have the authority to seize all transportation, energy, and infrastructure inside the United States as well as forcibly induct/draft American citizens into the military. The EO also contains a vague reference in regards to harnessing American citizens to fulfill “labor requirements” for the purposes of national defense.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/New_Obama_Executive_Order_Seizes_U.S._Infrastructure_and_Citizens_for_Military_Preparedness/18501/0/38/38/Y/M.html

The Vetting – Holder 1995: We Must ‘Brainwash’ People on Guns

by Joel B. Pollak

Breitbart.com has uncovered video from 1995 of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announcing a public campaign to “really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.”

Holder was addressing the Woman’s National Democratic Club. In his remarks, broadcast by CSPAN 2, he explained that he intended to use anti-smoking campaigns as his model to “change the hearts and minds of people in Washington, DC” about guns.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/03/18/Holder-Fight-Guns-Like-Cigarettes

Holder’s Brainwashing Against Guns Foreshadowed Operation Fast and Furious

Yesterday, Breitbart.com revealed exclusive video of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder speaking to the Woman’s National Democratic Club, stating that he wanted to “brainwash” people against gun ownership.

The video reveals Attorney General Holder’s early, consistent, and strident enthusiasm for gun control legislation. He wanted schools to talk about anti-gun propaganda “every day, every school, and every level.”

Operation Fast and Furious — in which Holder’s Department of Justice (DOJ) smuggled guns illegally to Mexican drug cartels — could finally have provided Holder the material for that anti-gun curriculum.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/03/19/Holders-Brainwashing-Against-Guns-Foreshadowed-Operation-Fast-and-Furious

Economy

Rigged Market Conventional Wisdom

Forecasting Wilting Government and Growing Economies

Wars and Rumors of War

SYRIA: Media Accuses Syrian Government of Collaborating with Al Qaeda. How the Media Refutes its own Lies…

The latest terrorist attack in Damascus is described by the media as yet another government sponsored initiative geared towards killing Syrian civilians.

The CTV-AP report of this tragic event resulting in 27 deaths and some 140 wounded is riddled with contradictions. First it acknowledges that the target of the attacks was government buildings including Air Force Intelligence and National Security buildings in Damascus:

Two explosions rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus Saturday … The twin suicide car bombs were aimed at intelligence and security buildings in the capital. (CTV, March 17, 2012, emphasis added)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20120317&articleId=29830

US freezes $7.5M of Hezbollah, Hamas accounts

Treasury submits report showing it has frozen $21.1 billion of terror organizations’ assets in 2011, including $12 million of al-Qaeda’s, $55 million of Iran’s accounts

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4204521,00.html

Narcotic task force and child services steal children from California medical marijuana patients

On the morning of September 29, 2011, around 8 AM, the Butte Interagency Narcotic Task Force (BINTF) out of Butte, California, forced their way into the home of Jayme Walsh and his wife Daisy Bram.

The officers then arrested the two parents and with the help of Child Protective Services (CPS) and the Child Services Division of Butte County, seized their children.

http://EndtheLie.com/2012/03/17/narcotic-task-force-and-child-services-steal-children-from-california-medical-marijuana-patients/#ixzz1pcvSuQJd

WAR PLAN IRAN: Dispelling the Lies, Telling the Truth about Western Aggression in the Persian Gulf

GR ONLINE NEWS READER

by Finian Cunningham and Michel Chossudovsky

The year 2012 may become known as a watershed for humanity – the year when mankind was precipitated into a global conflagration involving nuclear weapons. The signs are indeed grimly ominous as formidable military forces converge on the Persian Gulf in the long-running stand-off between the United States and Iran.

On side with the US are its European allies in NATO, primarily Britain, Washington’s Middle East client states: Israel and the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf – all bristling with weapons of mass destruction. Recent naval exercises by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz have also displayed a fierce arsenal of missiles and military capability, and Iran has strategic alliances with Russia and China, both of whom will not stand idly by if their Persian partner is attacked.

As we have consistently analysed on Global Research, the conflict between the US-led powers and Iran has wider ramifications. It is part and parcel of Washington’s bid to engineer the social and political upheavals across the Arab World in order to redraw the region in its strategic interests. It is no coincidence that fresh from NATO’s conquest of and regime change in Libya, the focus has quickly shifted to Syria – a key regional ally of Iran. As Michel Chossudovsky has pointed out “the road to Tehran goes through to Damascus”. Regime change in Syria would serve to isolate Iran. Subjugating Iran and returning it to Western tutelage is the prize that Washington and its allies have been seeking for the past 33 years ever since their client the Shah, Mohammad Rezā Pahlavi, was deposed by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28675

5 Politicians Pushing the US Closer to a Disastrous War With Iran

President Obama may be pushing back against the “loose talk of war,” but Congress sure isn’t.

Republican candidates for president have made Iran a top issue in their attacks on President Barack Obama. While US and Israeli intelligence have concluded that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon, Rick Santorum recently suggested that “the issue of the day come this fall” could be the existence of a “nuclear Iran,”

http://www.alternet.org/world/154576/5_politicians_pushing_the_us_closer_to_a_disastrous_war_with_iran/

Global arms trade growth by a quarter is spurred by India

Fears of arms race in Asia as Stockholm peace institute data shows India is now biggest importer

The global arms trade has grown by nearly a quarter over the last four years, with new growth mainly in poorer countries and India now officially the world’s biggest importer of arms, research has revealed.

Statistics published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that demand from emerging economies – in particular India – drove the volume of worldwide arms transfers between 2007 and 2011 to a level 24% higher than in the previous four years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/19/arms-sales-grow-24percent

Bombs & Blame: Syria accuses Saudis, Qatar of arming rebels

Uploaded by RussiaToday on Mar 19, 2012

The Syrian regime has pointed the finger at Saudi Arabia and Qatar, saying the Arab states were involved in the chain of weekend terror blasts in Syria’s largest cities. The Gulf nations have been accused by Assad’s government of arming whoever carried out the attacks, which left around thirty people dead and dozens injured.

Sara Marusek, a Beirut-based researcher from Syracuse University talks to RT. She says the Syrian people are falling victim to Saudi Arabi and Qatar’s brutal tactics, to push their political agenda.

Environmental

France Bans GM Corn Amid Mass US Protests against Monsanto

by Rady Ananda

Amid mass US protests against Monsanto in mid-March, France imposed a temporary moratorium on the planting of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn, MON810.

“Due to the proximity of the planting season,” said Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire along with Francois Fillon, Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development, in a press release on Friday, authorities “decided to take a precautionary measure to temporarily prohibit the cultivation of maize MON810 on the national territory to protect the environment.”

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29828

Cyber Space

RIAA chief: ISPs to start policing copyright by July 1

Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon are among the ISPs preparing to implement a graduated response to piracy by July, says the music industry’s chief lobbyist.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-57397452-261/riaa-chief-isps-to-start-policing-copyright-by-july-1/

Megaupload Seizure Order “Null and Void” Says High Court

In another astonishing development in the Megaupload saga, a judge in New Zealand’s High Court has declared the order used to seize Kim Dotcom’s assets as “null and void”. The blunder, which occurred because the police applied for the wrong type of court order, means that the Megaupload founder could have his property returned.

Just when it seemed that the handling of the Megaupload case couldn’t get any more controversial, a development from New Zealand has taken things to the next level.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Megaupload_Seizure_Order_%E2%80%9CNull_and_Void%E2%80%9D_Says_High_Court/18512/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Taking A Stand

Texas Mayor Officially Cancels Agenda 21 Membership

The city of Irving, Texas has officially withdrawn its membership from ICLEI — the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. This NGO was established in 1990 and is the action division of the policies laid out under the UN’s Agenda 21 plan — the globalist initiative to usher in a post-industrial world for the 21st century through the creation of local laws and requirements for city planning that essentially erase personal property rights and even steal land under a “sustainable” umbrella.

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/03/texas-mayor-officially-cancels-agenda.html

Radiation

Radiation, Coverups and the Legacy of Fukushima

by grtv

One year on from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan’s northeast, details continue to emerge about how the crisis was much worse than the government and TEPCO originally let on.

Joining us to discuss the legacy of Fukushima is Helen Caldicott, a physician, author and radio host who has spoken out for decades about the deadly effects of nuclear radiation.

http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2012/03/radiation-coverups-and-legacy-fukushima

Psy – Ops

Midnight Climax: CIA’s MK-ULTRA LSD experiments in San Francisco

Newly released documents shed light on the San Francisco edition of the CIA’s notorious MK-ULTRA program (through which people were unwittingly given massive doses of LSD to see if the drug would be useful for brainwashing), which ran from 1953-1964. There’s lots of detail about MK-ULTRA’s work in NYC and Montreal, but the San Francisco operation has been shrouded in mystery.

Midnight Climax: CIA’s MK-ULTRA LSD experiments in San Francisco

Misc

Spies could use your TV to snoop on you, according to CIA director David Petraeus

Spies could now snoop on you through your TV, dispensing with the necessity of planting bugs in your room, according to CIA director David Petraeus.The CIA says it will be able to ‘read’ these devices via the internet – and perhaps even via radio waves from outside the home, Petraeus added. Everything from remote controls to clock radios can now be controlled via apps – and chip company ARM recently unveiled low-powered, cheaper chips which will be used in everything from fridges and ovens to doorbells.

http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/4687

Don’t want to be groped by the TSA or go through a body scanner? Just pay $100!

With their thoroughly reprehensible “grope-down” procedure, not to mention reportedly strip searching multiple elderly women, harassment of elderly terminal cancer patients and the severely mentally challenged, and the potentially dangerous and ludicrously costly naked body scanners (which can be circumvented with shocking ease), the TSA has become a bit of a joke in the United States.

Not to be outdone, they have now introduced a program which allows travelers to pay $100 to take part in a program where they are able to skip the degrading, dehumanizing procedures the rest of us are subjected to every time we’re unfortunate enough to travel by plane.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Don%E2%80%99t_want_to_be_groped_by_the_TSA_or_go_through_a_body_scanner%3F_Just_pay_%24100!/18519/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Corruption Risk Report Cards Published

The State Integrity Investigation, a partnership between the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International to measure the risk of corruption in every state, released full state report cards today. They include letter grades, reporter comments and research details, as well as each state’s rank among all 50 states.

See How Your State Ranks

The State Integrity Investigation is an unprecedented, data-driven analysis of each state’s laws and practices that deter corruption and promote accountability and openness. Experienced journalists graded each state government on its corruption risk using 330 specific integrity indicators. The Investigation ranked every state from one to 50. Each state received a report card with letter grades in 14 categories, including campaign finance, ethics laws, lobbying regulations, and management of state pension funds.

http://www.stateintegrity.org/your_state

Attack Dogs used on a High School Walkout in MD, Four Students Charged With “Thought Crimes”