842: CannMed

I wrote a while ago requesting a mention of the annual Las Vegas Meet Up. I was going for a LIFO thing and it must have slipped through the cracks.

The meet up is in Las Vegas at the Encore Lobby Bar on Saturday, August 6th around 7pm. At some point, some of us will be going down to the strip to hand out CDs again. All of the details are at both noagendacd.com and noageSaturdaynda2016.com. Last year's attendees included Dame Angela, Citizen X and a number of other NA luminaries that I know don't want to be mentioned. We had a blast last year and expect no less this year.

Any questions can be directed to noagendacd@gmail.com

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Archived Version

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:05

Dylan Noble died on the last Saturday of June.

Police in Fresno, Calif., received a report of a man walking a downtown street with a rifle, but when they arrived, they instead found Noble speeding by in his pickup truck.

When they tried to pull him over, the 19-year-old led police to a nearby gas station and then exited his car.

''The driver then turned towards officers with one hand concealed behind his back, and told officers he hated his life,'' the Fresno police department said in a statement. ''As he continued to advance towards officers, an officer-involved shooting occurred.''

The department framed it as a ''suicide by cop.'' His family insisted that could not be the case, urged federal officials to investigate and demanded that video from the body cameras worn by both officers involved be released.

''I am outraged that the police would shoot my son and say that it is his fault,'' Veronica Nelson, Noble's mother, told reporters at a news conference not long after the shooting. ''So please join me as I'm demanding justice for Dylan.''

Noble's friends and family gathered for days at the gas station parking lot where he was killed '-- some waving Confederate flags and others chanting, ''White lives matter.''

And soon, they were angry at their inability to garner more attention. At a time when dozens of police killings have prompted outrage, why hadn't this one? Was it because Noble was white?

[Read more: Fatal shootings by police are up in the first six months of 2016]

A wall of police officers faced off against protesters along Baton Rouge's East Boulevard on July 10. "She has a poster, you have a shotgun," one protester yelled as police rushed onto yards and sidewalks to arrest the demonstrators. (TWP)

Many across the nation find themselves this week asking a similar question in the days since two recent police shootings of black men '-- in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights, Minn. '-- have sparked nationwide protests:

Doesn't the available data show more white Americans are being killed by police officers? Where is the outrage for them?

''If we have a shooting, we end up assuming that it had to be racial,'' former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) said Saturday during an interview with Fox News, in which he argued that national concerns about police killings of black men are overblown.

''When in fact, as we know '... more white people have been shot by police officers this year than minorities,'' he said.

Huckabee is not, factually, incorrect.

In 2015, The Washington Post launched a real-time database to track fatal police shootings, and the project continues this year. As of Sunday, 1,502 people have been shot and killed by on-duty police officers since Jan. 1, 2015. Of them, 732 were white, and 381 were black (and 382 were of another or unknown race).

But as data scientists and policing experts often note, comparing how many or how often white people are killed by police to how many or how often black people are killed by the police is statistically dubious unless you first adjust for population.

According to the most recent census data, there are nearly 160 million more white people in America than there are black people. White people make up roughly 62 percent of the U.S. population but only about 49 percent of those who are killed by police officers. African Americans, however, account for 24 percent of those fatally shot and killed by the police despite being just 13 percent of the U.S. population. As The Post noted in a new analysis published last week, that means black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.

U.S. police officers have shot and killed the exact same number of unarmed white people as they have unarmed black people: 50 each. But because the white population is approximately five times larger than the black population, that means unarmed black Americans were five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by a police officer.

[Unarmed and black: Police are still killing unarmed black men at higher rates than whites]

Police have shot and killed a young black man (ages 18 to 29) '-- such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. '--175 times since January 2015; 24 of them were unarmed. Over that same period, police have shot and killed 172 young white men, 18 of whom were unarmed. Once again, while in raw numbers there were similar totals of white and black victims, blacks were killed at rates disproportionate to their percentage of the U.S. population. Of all of the unarmed people shot and killed by police in 2015, 40 percent of them were black men, even though black men make up just 6 percent of the nation's population.

And, when considering shootings confined within a single race, a black person shot and killed by police is more likely to have been unarmed than a white person. About 13 percent of all black people who have been fatally shot by police since January 2015 were unarmed, compared with 7 percent of all white people.

In response to these statistics, critics of police reform '-- often political conservatives and police unions '-- typically argue that the reason more black men and women are shot and killed by police is that black Americans commit more violent crime.

''There's too much violence in the black community,'' former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said Sunday on CBS's ''Face The Nation.'' ''If you want to deal with this on the black side, you've got to teach your children to be respectful to the police, and you've got to teach your children that the real danger to them is not the police; the real danger to them, 99 out of 100 times, 9,900 out of 10,000 times, are other black kids who are going to kill them. That's the way they're gonna die.''

Responding to the wave of demonstrations across the country that have been triggered by recent police shootings of black men, Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said black parents should teach their children to be respectful to police. (Reuters)

As the New York Daily News noted: Giuliani is wrong about the so-called black-on-black crime rate. According to FBI numbers from 2014, about 90 percent of black homicide victims were killed by other black people. The ''white-on-white'' murder rate that same year '-- homicides in which a white person was killed by another white person '-- was 82 percent of all murders of white people.

[How Philando Castile's killing changed the way blacks talk about traffic stops]

But it is true that a disproportionate amount of murders and other violent crimes are committed by black Americans.

Because detailed FBI data on crime can lag by several years, the most-cited statistics on this point refer to 2009 data. According to that data, out of all violent crimes in which someone was charged, black Americans were charged with 62 percent of robberies, 57 percent of murders and 45 percent of assaults in the country's 75 biggest counties '-- despite the fact that black Americans made up just 15 percent of the population in those places.

''Such a concentration of criminal violence in minority communities means that officers will be disproportionately confronting armed and often resisting suspects in those communities, raising officers' own risk of using lethal force,'' wrote Heather Mac Donald, a conservative researcher, in a Wall Street Journal column headlined ''The Myths of Black Lives Matter'' that was originally published in February and re-published this weekend. The assertion that the black men and women killed by police are primarily violent criminals and the explanation for racial disparities in who gets killed by law enforcement is the premise of Mac Donald's new book, ''The War on Cops.''

''Blacks are three times as likely to be killed by cops as are whites, on a per-capita basis,'' Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer and criminal justice researcher at John Jay College of Criminal Justice toldthe New York Times last April. ''But part of that is because of crime in predominantly black neighborhoods.''

Despite these arguments, police reform advocates and researchers as well at The Post's own analysis has consistently concluded that there is no correlation between violent crime and who is killed by police officers.

[White N.C. man arrested after pulling gun on deputy, who wrestled it away, sheriff says]

A 2015 study by a University of California at Davis researcher concluded there was ''no relationship'' between crime rates by race and racial bias in police killings. A report released last week by the Center for Policing Equity, which reviewed arrest and use-of-force data from 12 police departments, concluded that black residents were more often targeted for use of police force than white residents, even when adjusting for whether the person was a violent criminal.

''We've been hearing these arguments going around without any data or any evidence from folks who are saying that police are killing so many people '-- particularly black people '-- because they say black people are in high-crime communities and potentially involved in criminal activity,'' Samuel Sinyangwe, a data analyst and activist with Campaign Zero '-- a policy-oriented activist collective associated with the Black Lives Matter protest movement '-- told the Huffington Post in December.

In a report covering 2015 data, Campaign Zero compared violent crime rates of 50 major cities to the rate at which police officers killed people, concluding that there was no correlation.

As part of its data effort, The Post tracks the ''threat level'' of each person who is shot and killed by a police officer: Were they shooting at the officer? Were they threatening the officer? Were they fleeing?

Overall, the majority of the people who have been shot and killed by police officers in 2015 and 2016 were, based on publicly available evidence, armed with a weapon and attempting to attack the officer or someone else.

But an independent analysis of The Post's data conducted by a team of criminal-justice researchers concluded that, when factoring in threat level, black Americans who are fatally shot by police are, in fact, less likely to be posing an imminent lethal threat to the officers at the moment they are killed than white Americans fatally shot by police.

[Study finds police fatally shoot unarmed black men at disproportionate rates]

The study also sought to answer whether officers were more likely to shoot and kill someone who is unarmed if the shooting happened to occur in a high-crime area. They concluded that is not the case.

''The only thing that was significant in predicting whether someone shot and killed by police was unarmed was whether or not they were black,'' said Justin Nix, a criminal-justice researcher at the University of Louisville and one of the report's authors, said in April. ''Crime variables did not matter in terms of predicting whether the person killed was unarmed.''

''This just bolsters our confidence that there is some sort of implicit bias going on,'' Nix said. ''Officers are perceiving a greater threat when encountered by unarmed black citizens.''

The phrase Black Lives Matter first received national attention in summer 2014 and, since then, has become part of conversations on race in America. Here's how the phrase became a movement. (Claritza Jimenez,Julio Negron/The Washington Post)

Racial disparities in the rate of police shootings do not mean, though, that criminal-justice experts are not concerned about how many people are being killed by police officers '-- including white people.

Statistics kept by the FBI have never counted more than 460 police shootings in a single year. However, The Post's database chronicled 990 fatal police shootings in 2015, and 494 of those people were white.

Among them are several cases that drew national headlines. Two officers will face trial for the shooting of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis, 2015's youngest police-shooting victim. The family of Zachary Hammond, who was shot and killed by officers in Seneca, S.C., received a $2.15 million settlement.

[Inside small-town Louisiana feud that led to a 6-year-old boy's police killing]

And the civil suit is still pending in the case of Deven Guilford, a white 17-year-old who was killed during a traffic stop. Guilford flashed his headlights on a snowy Michigan night in February 2015 to signal to an oncoming driver to turn off his high beams. The driver turned out to be an officer, who did a U-turn and pulled Guilford over. In a confrontation captured on several cameras the two argued, then fought.

Guilford voluntarily exited the car and lay on the ground when commanded '-- but he refused to set down his cellphone. Sheriff's Department Sgt. Jonathan Frost shocked him with a stun gun. The video goes black. Then, the sound of gunshots.

''Deven went from flashing his lights to being dead six minutes later,'' Hugh Davis, an attorney for Guilford's family, told The Post in December. ''And there is no explanation for it.''

[The Washington Post's 2015 database of fatal police shootings]

In Fresno, Noble was at least the seventh person shot and killed by city police since 2015, and one of three white men (the other four were Hispanic men), according to The Post's database.

And cellphone video obtained by the Fresno Bee raises new questions about the police account of the shooting.

In the video, Noble can be seen lying on the ground next to his pickup truck as officers yell at him to keep his hands up. One officer fires one shot. Noble can be seen raising his arm and heard saying, ''I've been shot.'' Then another shot can be heard.

Late last, week the FBI said it would open an investigation.

Steven Rich contributed to this report, which has been updated.

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Mon, 11 Jul 2016 00:47

See more of the storyPhilando Castile had a valid permit to carry a gun when he was shot and killed by a St. Anthony police officer, a source confirmed to the Star Tribune Friday.

Castile, a 32-year-old school cook from St. Paul, was killed by a St. Anthony police officer during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights Wednesday night. His final minutes were live-streamed by his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was a passenger in the car.

In the video, Reynolds said Castile told the officer, Jeronimo Yanez, that he had a permit and was carrying a gun. Yanez shot Castile multiple times.

''He's licensed to carry, he was trying to get his ID, his wallet out of his pocket and he let the officer knew he had a firearm and was reaching for his wallet,'' Reynolds said in the video as a bloodied Castile lay in the driver's seat dying.

Although the names of gun permit holders are not public under state law, a source confirmed Castile was issued the permit when he lived in Robbinsdale.

Yanez and his partner that night, Joseph Kauser, are on paid administrative leave. On Friday the Falcon Heights City Council, which contracts with the St. Anthony police department, hired a public relations consultant in the wake of the shooting.

Yanez has been with the St. Anthony police department since 2011. Gov. Mark Dayton has asked the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and federal authorities to investigate Castile's death.

David Chanen ' 612-673-4465

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:42

One week ago, moments after her boyfriend Philando Castile was shot by a police officer during a routine traffic stop, Diamond Reynolds flipped on Facebook's live streaming feature. The resultant video, with Reynolds documenting what had happened, as well as her interaction with the police officer, immediately started to spread like wildfire.

And then it was gone.

Approximately an hour later, the video was back, this time with a ''Warning '-- Graphic Video'' label attached:

When asked why the video had temporarily disappeared, Facebook simply said ''It was down to a technical glitch.'' The company had no further comment on the matter.

Facebook Versus JournalismOne needn't travel far on the Internet to find a think piece bemoaning how Facebook has destroyed journalism, with a whiff of nostalgia for a time when The New York Times decided what news was fit to print and Walter Cronkite declared nightly ''That's the way it is.'' It's a viewpoint that is problematic in two regards.

First, the destruction of journalism is about the destruction of journalism's business model, which was predicated on scarcity. In the case of newspapers, printing presses, delivery trucks, and a healthy subscriber base made them the lowest common denominator when it came to advertising, right down to four line classified ads that represented some of the most expensive copy on a per-letter basis in the world.

TV news, meanwhile, in large part existed to fulfill broadcaster obligations under the Fairness Doctrine, which required licensors of publicly-owned radio frequencies to devote airtime to matters of public interest, and to air opposing views of those matters. The Fairness Doctrine was revoked in 1987, for reasons that were the canary in the coal mine for news' business model. The New York Times reported at the time:

In explaining the conclusion that its fairness rules were ''no longer necessary to achieve diversity of viewpoint,'' Ms. Killory, the commission's counsel, noted the major growth of broadcast outlets in recent years.

There are now more than 1,300 television stations and more than 10,000 radio stations in the United States '-- in contrast to 1,700 daily newspapers '-- and 95 percent of viewers receive five or more television signals. Radio listeners in the biggest 25 markets receive an average of 59 radio stations.

Two decades later the average American home received 189 TV channels, and thanks to the Internet, an effectively infinite number of news websites. Scarcity was gone, and the publishing bubble is popping as a result. That Facebook has been the most effective service in collecting and funneling attention to the abundance of news on the Internet is a separate story.

More importantly, the nostalgia for a world of journalistic gatekeepers is nostalgia for a world where the death of Philando Castile would be little more than a one paragraph snippet in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that would have sounded a lot like the initial police report that dryly noted ''shots were fired'', and that would have been that.

Crucially, though, it's not that, thanks to Facebook. On the conservative site Daily Caller Matt Lewis wrote:

In the era of Facebook Live and smart phones, it's hard to come to any conclusion other than the fact that police brutality toward African-Americans is a pervasive problem that has been going on for generations. Seriously, absent video proof, how many innocent African-Americans have been beaten or killed over the last hundred years by the police'--with little or no media coverage or scrutiny?

Those old business models were great for journalists; they weren't so great for those not deemed worth covering. Those nostalgic for the ''good old days'' are likely wishing for far more problems than they realize.

Launching Facebook LiveOn April 6, the day that Facebook Live launched for everyone, BuzzFeed ran a feature that included an interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg:

''Because it's live, there is no way it can be curated,'' [Zuckerberg] said. ''And because of that it frees people up to be themselves. It's live; it can't possibly be perfectly planned out ahead of time. Somewhat counterintuitively, it's a great medium for sharing raw and visceral content.''

A week later, during the opening keynote of Facebook's F8 developer conference, Zuckerberg enthused:

Just the other week I saw a live video of a woman and her kids skiing down a hill. It was just mesmerizing! I watched it for a few minutes because I was like 'I just want to make sure these kids get down this hill.' There's usually people who are playing music or dancing in there, but every once in a while there's something that is really important and special happening. Like a couple of days ago a woman named Lena commented on one of my posts to tell me that when her mother was sick in the hospital she streamed her wedding on live so her mother and her friends across the country could not only see it but could be there with them. Now that's pretty meaningful.

Raw, visceral, meaningful. That's a pretty good way of describing Reynolds' video. Newsworthy is another, and that's where things get a whole lot more complicated for Facebook.

Facebook the Journalism CompanyI noted above that Facebook is not necessarily to blame for the destruction of journalism's business model, but with live video the social network has moved from feasting on what remains of publishing to becoming a journalistic company in their own right: Facebook's 1.6 billion users have been deputized to not only chronicle their ski trips and weddings but also killings by police and, a day later, the killings of police.

In retrospect, given this reality, what is so striking about the aforementioned BuzzFeed feature and all of Facebook's public comments about live video is how little thought seems to have been given to this use case. There is talk about recruiting engineers (150 in a week), all of the features that had to be built, the huge technical problems involved, and of course the potential payoff for Facebook:

Live solves a lot of problems for Facebook. It gives people an easy way to create video content that doesn't require scripting or much production. Which in turn creates more content for Facebook. Live also helps the company tap into real-time events, an area where it's struggled compared to Twitter'...

One recent trend in social media has been a move away from highly produced content, particularly video'...This is precisely what Snapchat is so good at, and why it has become such a threat to Facebook. And it's clearly something that's been on Zuckerberg's mind as well.

''People look at live video and they think this is a lot of pressure because it's live; it takes a lot of courage to go live and put yourself out there. But what we're finding is the opposite,'' Zuckerberg said in a phone interview the day before the Live relaunch. ''A lot of the biggest innovations have been things that take some of the pressure out of posting a photo or video.''

I wrote after this year's F8 about how Facebook from the very beginning had always been about projecting your best self online; given that, I wondered if the focus on Live Video might ultimately prove to be a distraction from what Facebook was good at (owning identity online). This last week is validating that concern in a far more profound way than I appreciated.

The risk is this: Facebook's control over what the vast majority of people see online '-- news included '-- is overwhelming. Before the advent of Live Video, though, Facebook could more easily claim to be a neutral provider, simply serving up 3rd-party stories via an allegedly objective algorithm that was ultimately directed by the user itself, and using that user direction to build the best identity repository in the world to sell ads against. And while the reality of Facebook's News Feed is in fact not objective at all '-- algorithms are designed by people '-- actually creating the news will, I suspect, change the conversation about Facebook's journalistic role in a way that the company may not like.

Facebook and the Fairness DoctrineBack in 1949, when the Fairness Doctrine was established, the FCC wrote in a report entitled In the Matter of Editorializing by Broadcast Licensees:

We do not believe, however, that the licensee's obligations to serve the public interest can be met merely through the adoption of a general policy of not refusing to broadcast opposing views where a demand is made of the station for broadcast time. If, as we believe to be the case, the public interest is best served in a democracy through the ability of the people to hear expositions of the various positions taken by responsible groups and individuals on particular topics and to choose between them, it is evident that broadcast licensees have an affirmative duty generally to encourage and implement the broadcast of all sides of controversial public issues over their facilities, over and beyond their obligation to make available on demand opportunities for the expression of opposing views. It is clear that any approximation of fairness in the presentation of any controversy will be difficult if not impossible of achievement unless the licensee plays a conscious and positive role in bringing about balanced presentation of the opposing viewpoints.

Facebook is not a broadcaster: they don't depend on a government-granted monopoly over radio frequencies that comes with strings attached. And frankly, even were I inclined to agree that the end of the Fairness Doctrine contributed in some way to the United States' increased polarization, the clear free speech issues inherent in its application, combined with the explosion in media outlets, lead me to believe the FCC was right to revoke it.

That said, Facebook's influence over what most people see quite clearly rivals that of television broadcasters circa 1949, and the vast majority of jurisdictions in which Facebook operates have much less absolute free speech laws than the United States. The more that Facebook is perceived as a media entity, not simply a neutral platform, the more likely it is that the company will face calls for regulation of the News Feed in particular, in language that will likely sound a lot like the Fairness Doctrine.

Facebook and TransparencyTwo weeks ago Facebook took an important step in dealing with the increased scrutiny it will inevitably face, posting a document detailing ''News Feed Values''. For the first time Facebook offered a hint of transparency about how its algorithm works, making clear that ''friends and family come first'', but also that ''your feed should inform'' and ''your feed should entertain.''

To be sure the document does nothing to address the question of providing both sides of an issue; quite the opposite, in fact. The document states:

We are not in the business of picking which issues the world should read about. We are in the business of connecting people and ideas '-- and matching people with the stories they find most meaningful. Our integrity depends on being inclusive of all perspectives and view points, and using ranking to connect people with the stories and sources they find the most meaningful and engaging.

We don't favor specific kinds of sources '-- or ideas. Our aim is to deliver the types of stories we've gotten feedback that an individual person most wants to see. We do this not only because we believe it's the right thing but also because it's good for our business. When people see content they are interested in, they are more likely to spend time on News Feed and enjoy their experience.

You may think this is problematic for society (as I do), but at least Facebook is being honest about it; transparency is the company's best tool to remain free of regulation.

It's also why the ''technical glitch'' was so disappointing. The reasons why Reynolds' video was taken down are probably innocuous '-- I suspect the video was flagged for graphic content by a Facebook user and removed by a contracted content reviewer (like these in the Philippines), and then restored by someone at Facebook headquarters '-- and the company is probably both embarrassed that it happened and shy about revealing the degree to which it farms out content review. The most powerful journalistic entity in the world, though, doesn't get the luxury of sweeping such significant editorial decisions under the rug: that rug will be pulled back at some point, and it would be far better for society and for Facebook were they to do so themselves.

One thing is for sure: this won't be the last time something truly raw, visceral, and meaningful happens on Facebook Live. Zuckerberg has gotten his wish, even if the implications will ultimately be more than he bargained for: all of the eyes on those live videos will only increase the number of eyes on Facebook itself. It's a classic case of unintended consequences: Facebook's attempt to capture Snapchat's private gestalt has only solidified its position as a public platform with the added component of a newsmaker in its own right, and while that carries clear benefits for society, society will expect more transparency from Facebook, willingly delivered or not.

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Source: The Last Refuge

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:43

He was wearing an ''FTP'' (F**K The Police), Black Lives Matter T-Shirt, he opens fire on a police officers house and squad car, yet the politically correct Indianapolis media are struggling with a motive. Go figure'...

Indiana ['...] March Ratney, 27, was taken into custody a short time after the shooting around 2:00 a.m. Tuesday on the near east side. IMPD [Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department] Chief Troy Riggs says Ratney fired at least a dozen shots after yelling obscenities directed at police.

Five of the shots hit the officer's house and three hit his patrol car. No one inside the house was hurt, and Riggs says members of the community helped officers track down Ratney.

Ratney had just been released from prison on June 6 after serving a sentence for being a felon in possession of a gun, and Riggs says the officer he targeted had arrested Ratney in 2008.

Though Ratney was wearing a t-shirt that said ''f'-- the police'' on the front and ''black lives matter'' on the back, Riggs says he does not believe Ratney is representative of any organization or movement. (read more)

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:01

Posted July 10th, 2016 @ 11:19am in #black lives matter#police

Everyone is talking about police violence against African-Americans, but I haven't seen much discussion about practical solutions. In the short term, the most productive approach probably involves teaching citizens how to surrender better.

You've probably seen tutorials on the correct way to handle a traffic stop by police. You should put both hands on the top of the steering wheel, fingers open and outstretched, and wait for the police officer to give you permission to reach for your wallet. If you have time before the officer gets out his car, your wallet should already be out and on the dashboard so you don't have to reach for it in a suspicious-looking way. That's good surrender technique, and I think it would work for many situations.

But I think we can simplify it even more. And simplification is important. People aren't thinking clearly during police encounters, so simplicity is the key. Here's how I would use the science of persuasion to simplify the surrender process even further.

1. Roll down your window upon stopping and stick both hands out the window, palms up, waiting for the police officer. That's as clear a surrender as you can get. And importantly, it is easier to remember this move than the steering wheel hand-placement mentioned above. You have a different visual memory for sticking both hands out the window (which is unusual) compared to putting both hands on the steering wheel, which is closer to normal behavior.

2. Your first utterances to the police officer should include the words ''officer'' and ''safety.'' Example: Good morning, Officer. Let's be safe today. Tell me what you need me to do.

If you have a legal firearm in the car, you might want to try this: ''Good morning, Officer. I have a legal firearm in the glove compartment. What is the safest way for you to disarm me?

When you call the police officer ''officer,'' it signals your acceptance of the authority of the badge and conveys respect. That persuasion move probably reduces risk by half.

When you put ''safety'' in your message up front, it sends a message that your top priority is safety, for all concerned. And it shows an understanding for the officer's risk. Persuasion-wise, that eliminates nearly all of your remaining risk as long as you cooperate from that point on.

Communication experts will tell you that a message is only as credible as the sender. Your first interaction with a police officer will tell him '' accurately or not '' who you are. So if the first impression looks like rebellion, the officer will interpret everything that follows according to that model. If the first impression is obvious concern for mutual safety, you put the officer on your side from the start. Once you have established yourself as a respectful citizen who is primarily interested in safety, any ambiguous communication on your part will be seen through that filter.

Summary:

1. Stick hands out the window, palms up.

2. Say Officer and Safety right away.

The best way to test a new surrender technique is one city at a time, so you can see if it makes a difference. Perhaps other cities could try modified approaches to see what works best. In each case you would do a general publicity push to teach people how to surrender, much the way our laws about seat belts were publicized with the successful ''Click it or ticket'' campaign.

My best guess is that my surrender technique '' or something like it '' would nearly eliminate the risk of violence for anyone who used it. The hard part is persuading people to use this method. That's where simplicity, A-B testing for best methods, and a good PR campaign come in.

Obviously this method doesn't get at the root causes of the problem, but it might keep some folks alive until we figure out better solutions.

'--

Speaking of surrendering, my book has no hands.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:05

Posted July 11th, 2016 @ 1:04pm in #Trump#black lives matter#police#clinton2016

Some of you watched with amusement as I endorsed Hillary Clinton for my personal safety. What you might not know is that I was completely serious. I was getting a lot of direct and indirect death threats for writing about Trump's powers of persuasion, and I made all of that go away by endorsing Clinton. People don't care why I am on their side. They only care that I am.

You might have found it funny that I endorsed Clinton for my personal safety. But it was only funny by coincidence. I did it for personal safety, and apparently it is working. Where I live, in California, it is not safe to be seen as supportive of anything Trump says or does. So I fixed that.

Again, I'm completely serious about the safety issue. Writing about Trump ended my speaking career, and has already reduced my income by about 40%, as far as I can tell. But I'm in less physical danger than I was.

If you didn't believe me that I endorsed Clinton for my safety, perhaps the recent shooting of police officers changed your mind. That's the sort of tragedy you expect to happen when Team Clinton frames the national debate as a race war.

Let me give you an example of how Clinton and her supporters in the media have pushed us to the brink of a race war. This article in the Washington Post tells us that although cops kill more whites than African-Americans, we still have a police racism problem because blacks are killed in greater proportion to their relative population. That's all true, as far as I can tell.

But what got left out?

Well, for one thing, it doesn't address the fact that most police shootings happen in high-crime areas (I assume). And high crime areas in the United States often have high concentrations of African-American citizens. If the police accidentally shoot someone in my neighborhood, the victim will almost certainly be white, Asian, or Indian, because that's who lives here. But if police accidentally shoot someone in a predominantly African-American neighborhood with a high crime rate, the odds are high that it will be an African-American victim. Does that tell us anything about racism?

To be clear, racism exists. What we don't know is how it plays out in every scenario. Cherry-picked data doesn't tell us anything useful. But it probably does get cops killed.

You also have to ask yourself how the environment influences the amount of resistance one shows to a police officer. If you grow up in a tough neighborhood, where you've learned to use aggression to resist all forms of bullying and abuse, you might not surrender to police as passively as people raised in a less violent world. Statistics don't capture that sort of difference, if there is any.

The backdrop to all of this racial tension is that Trump was winning the persuasion war by making citizens afraid of external threats from illegal immigrants and terrorists. That was a strong formula because people respond to fear.

But Clinton's team '' including social media and the liberal-leaning mainstream media '' responded by defining Trump as a literal Hitler. A Hitler-like leader in your own country is even scarier than external threats. Persuasion-wise, it is a winning formula for Team Clinton, even though the case is built on confirmation bias, not fact. (Trump has never mentioned race in a negative way.)

So now we have a situation in which Team Clinton has scared citizens into thinking the threat to their lives is mostly domestic, coming from Trump, Trump supporters, and anyone who looks like them. People who are scared will act. And we see those actions now in terms of violence against police, violence against Trump supporters, and death threats to bloggers such as me. And we already have one attempted Trump assassination.

So far, Trump has showed a willingness to annihilate any professional politician that gets in the way. And he's annihilated professional reporters and news organizations that got in his way. And he's tough on non-citizens. But Trump hasn't tried to turn American citizens against each other. Clinton has, and successfully so.

You can blame Trump for Trump University, and for his uncivil language. You can blame Trump for lots of stuff. But the police shootings and the recent uptick in domestic racial violence are mostly Clinton's doings to win the election. And it is working. Unless Trump finds a way to counter Clinton's racial persuasion, he will lose in November.

I expect Trump to go full-attack after the conventions. It would take the world's greatest persuader to redefine Trump in a way that he can win the election. But as it turns out, Trump is probably the world's greatest persuader. That's why I predict he will win in a landslide. Unless someone kills him first.

'--

Speaking of landslides, my book has never been in one.

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Archived Version

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:14

Gang banger Philando Castile with his homie.

Minnesota police have told GotNews.com that the authorities linked Lavish Reynolds's cigarettes to the scene of an armed robbery where the cigarettes were stolen.

GotNews.com's police sources have confirmed that investigators have linked the cigarette tax stamps from a July 2nd robbery to the vehicle driven by Philando Castile and Lavish Reynolds.

Reynolds, who has since gone on a media tour, may have even been an accomplice.

GotNews.com is funded by donations and fueled by reader tips. Please donate. Please email us tips at [email protected] Thank you to the police officers who

Photos of Reynolds have her holding a pack of Newports. (What a cliche!)

Lavish Reynolds: Cops say she may have been an accomplice in robbery.

The robber of the convenience store stole more than a dozen bulky cartons of Newports.

''According to a press release from the St. Anthony Police Department, which contracts for police service in Lauderdale, the two robbed the Super USA store in the 2400 block of Larpenteur Avenue around 7:30 p.m., taking cash from the register and cartons of Newport cigarettes.''

We're told that the cops ran the tax stamps on the cigarettes in Reynolds's possession and tied them to the scene of the crime, according to our well-placed Minnesota police source law enforcement.

The vehicle also matched the description of a vehicle used in the robbery.

We're told that Reynolds was the get away driver and that's why the cops have impounded the car.

Reynolds, who is a Facebook addict, didn't post on Facebook for a few days before July 4.

Did she lay low after she and Castile robbed the store? Reynolds spent money on fireworks for her 4-year-old daughter. Reynolds's daughter is depicted with a big package of fireworks on Reynolds's Facebook page.

What kind of mother would buy a four year old fireworks?

The same sort of mother that smokes weed while her kid is in the car with Philando Castile.

Philando was such a good guy that he smoked weed with a 4-year-old in the car

Old tweets from Philando mention how he's hustlin to make money for the summer.

Lavish Reynolds repeatedly lied during her interviews with the media.

Questions abound:

Did Castile have his driver's license or not? Was Castile driving with a suspended license?

Why was he driving at all after being pulled over 51 times? Could it have been how he and Reynolds like to smoke weed while driving?

In the stream Reynolds made after Castile was shot, Reynolds mentions that they have weed in the car. Were they both heavily stoned?

The video is shot from the perspective of Lavish Reynolds who is in the front passenger seat.

WTF? Castile driving a car with a steering wheel on right side of car? pic.twitter.com/lw4g7MaDlI

'-- Jane Doe (@weareontoyou) July 11, 2016

Here's another picture of Lavish Reynolds in Philando Castile car '' with steering wheel on RIGHT like in the video pic.twitter.com/mFq8HbmksQ

'-- ccie nyc (@cciedotnyc) July 7, 2016

Lavish claimed he was reaching for his license & registration '-- why would he be if he was driving without a license? And wasn't he driving her car, not his? She'd have the registration'... not him!

Maybe the reason Lavish Reynolds was handcuffed is that she was an accomplice?

After boyfriend shot, Reynolds was handcuffed and taken to Roseville police:"I was treated like a criminal, like I was the one who did this"

'-- Randy Furst (@randyfurst) July 7, 2016

How is Diamond Reynolds holding her phone and taking self video if she is handcuffed?https://t.co/n7sYE8VhaX via @YouTube

'-- Jane Doe (@weareontoyou) July 11, 2016

Please support GotNews.com financially. If you want to join our research group email me at [email protected]

Also please let Conservative Treehouse know that it's kind of annoying that he keeps stealing our content. He really could just link it. We link his stuff all the time.

HAT worn by armed robbery suspect:Gang wear Polo lingo: = Property of Locs Only (POLO)Crips Gang. pic.twitter.com/1FUy4gsgy4

'-- TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) July 12, 2016

Looks like Sundance confirmed our reporting that Castile was a Crip gangbanger'... just as we brought you exclusively.

Gotnews.com founder and editor-in-chief Charles C. Johnson is an investigative journalist, author, and sought after researcher. He was a contributor to the Daily Caller and the Blaze, and his work is frequently featured on Drudge Report. He is author of Why Coolidge Matters: Leadership Lessons from America's Most Underrated President and The Truth About the IRS Scandal. Charles is an award-winning journalist who has also written for Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, American Spectator, Daily Beast, National Review Online, PJ Media, and Weekly Standard. Charles has appeared on Fox News with Megyn Kelly, Sean Hannity, and Lou Dobbs and numerous radio programs, including Rusty Humphries, Dennis Prager, Larry Elder, and Mark Levin. He is at work on a new book about the researcher community and Barack Obama.

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Archived Version

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:13

The original narrative presented by Diamond ''Lavish'' Reynolds, in the aftermath of the Falcon Heights shooting, is in complete collapse. Reluctantly, even Mediaite and MSM are now having to concede officers Jeronimo Yanez and Joseph Kauser initially pulled over Philando Castile because he fit the exact description of an armed robbery suspect.

The leak of the radio transmissions surrounding the stop is irrefutable evidence the MSM are forced to accept. The best efforts of agenda-driven Snopes to obfuscate and refute the claim have embarrassingly failed. The truth continues to have no agenda.

Additionally, some higher resolution images from initial media on scene (hat tip Annette Kelly) are supporting the outline provided by officer Yanez attorney that Yanez was reacting to Philando Castile displaying a handgun toward Yanez:

High Resolution Pictures from Tony Webster '' Castile's handgun is clearly evidence by marker #6 in the above photograph (click to explore).

In addition there is visible blood on the ''exterior'' of the door, just below the driver's window, as denoted by marker #9.

There are now several bits of circumstantial and forensic evidence to support the rough-sketch outline of the incident as reported by the St Anthony Police Department, and the attorney for Officer Jeronimo Yanez.

The presented narration of Diamond ''Lavish'' Reynolds continues to collapse with further scrutiny of her initial claims (as broadcast via Facebook live-stream).

As a consequence her attorney, Larry Rogers Jr. (Chicago) is no longer allowing Reynolds to discuss the incident (prior to the livestream) with media.

Interestingly, several days ago we noted the brand of cigarettes stolen from the USA convenience store (3 cartons on suspect #1 CCTV Image below) were Newport. While the brand itself is a popular menthol cigarette smoked by many within the black community, the appearance therein was yet another dot in an otherwise cloudy set of events.

The website GotNews is now reporting the numerically sequenced state tax stamp, federally mandated to be applied to each package of cigarettes by the retail outlet or wholesaler, matches the tax stamp on the Newport cigarettes found on Ms. Castile.

We would note extreme caution in considering this claim. Within the tax stamp process it is very challenging to identify distribution; and we are unable to independently confirm whether Super-USA convenience store stamps their own cigarettes -via a corporate distribution warehouse- or whether they use a wholesale supply entity for cigarette delivery '' each state and each retailer has different supply chain and restock methods.

Worth noting however, is the eyeglasses worn by Suspect #2 in the CCTV release provided by Saint Anthony Police Department during their BOLO request for identification assistance.

Suspect #2 is wearing a two tone eyeglass frame with lighter ear pieces than the ocular frame. The frames of the eyeglasses appear very similar to frames worn by Philando Castile in a picture provided to media by Diamond Reynolds:

The hat worn by suspect #1 appears to be a Ralph Lauren POLO cap as noted below:

The original descriptions of the two armed robbery suspects as presented by the original BOLO media alert were as follows:

['...] Employees described one suspect [USA1] to police as a black man with longer than shoulder-length dreadlocks, who wore blue jeans, a green plaid long-sleeved shirt, dark-color shoes with white highlights, glasses and a baseball cap printed with marijuana leaves, the release says. He may have had a mustache.

The other suspect [USA2] was described as a black man with shoulder-length dreadlocks, who wore tan pants, tan shoes with white soles, a green jacket, a green baseball cap and glasses, the release says. He also had some of his hair pulled into a bun through the strap on the back of his hat and had a small mustache and facial hair on his chin (link)

The importance of this similarity is because it speaks to the reason that officers Jeronimo Yanez and Joseph Kauser pulled over the vehicle occupied by Philando and Diamond.

This reasoning was presented in a police radio transmission prior to Yanez and Kauser exiting their vehicle. The motive for the stop was outlined in the police audio.

''I'm going to stop a car. I'm going to check IDs. I have reason to pull it over.''

''The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery. The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just 'cause of the wide set nose.'' (link)

The claims of an arbitrary stop due to racial profiling are entirely false. The officers were on radio (audio embedded in tweet above) stating the stop was due to the possible suspect match in a prior robbery.

Based on all the evidence known so far, this inquiry by the officers was based on solid suspicions. There is no racial motive other than the Philando Castile matching, very closely matching, the eye witness description of one of the convenience store armed robbers '' who were both also black.

Ms. Diamond Reyonds claimed during her New York media tour that Philando never displayed his handgun to officer Yanez. However, a screen grab of Philando during Reynolds broadcast shows a high probability of a handgun on the lap (left thigh) of Philando.

This handgun appears to be the same weapon as noted by Marker #6 in the photographs taken near the scene of the shooting.

Officer Jeronimo Yanez (who is Mexican/American)

Reference Material: All prior CTH research and discussion outlines of The Falcon Heights shooting are located HERE.

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Archived Version

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 02:17

As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.

In writing this article, no one has ever for Mockingbird or cartel reasons, ever examined the inner workings of the NGO's or Non Governmental Organizations, which plague the planet and manifest as conduits of the globalists who are manipulating everyone against each other, as there are always the willing activist or minder who will do anything for their cause.

I became interested in Black Lives Matter, not for the movement, but when this group triggered the Dallas Shooter, and how it all was tracked back to Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota, attempting on Hillary Clinton's directives to get a Minnesota shooting spiked, for the purpose of herding blacks to vote for Mrs. Clinton, guilt the Clinton Sanders whites to stay on the liberal reservation and to punish law enforcement unions for not being wholeheartedly for Mrs. Clinton.

The reality of these events in Minnesota and Dallas, is they are leftists, and designed to be exploited by Mrs. Clinton, in order to change the news cycle from her crimes, to racial tensions which can be used against Donald Trump.We had an inkling of the coordination in this, when Jesse Jackson was put on view at FOX, and began by attacking Donald Trump on the Birther issue and race. None of this happens by accident and is all by design.

The problem in all of this is, everyone thinks in one dimension or one story being progressed into the public, but if one examines San Bernardino shootings, there is in fact numerous dimensions being worked out by the players as in the Boston Bombing. The entire intelligence network is an entity which various groups have information on of coming events, and various groups like the Clinton campaign factor in that some type of event will take place, which they then will exploit, as this is fellow travelers going in the same direction, but in that we have travelers who are not always promoting the same agenda.

In Black Lives Matter, one finds three women who are activists in public view. If one examines these leftist groups they are managing though, all find funding from the same leftists who implement sodomy to whatever, and it is old money, it is Rockefeller money and in the case which matters, it was Van Jones, the communist of the Obama regime activists who was a founder of this movement.In other words, this is a ultra leftist programme which was run like Occupy Wall Street, protected by the powers which be, and funded by the very cartel factions engaged in the American Genocide.

Black Lives Matter

Garza: Patrisse and Opal and I are all part of a network called Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD).

Maurice Mitchell is the ... FundingBlackorganizing needs to ... ' Support the work of organizations like BlackOrganizingforLeadershipandDignityand help ...BlackOrganizingforLeadershipandDignity. User menu . Donate; Join Commons.occupy.com; Follow: ... black organizers heard the call, saw the possibilities, ...She has organized around the issues of health, student services and rights, rights for domestic workers, ending police brutality, anti-racism, and violence against trans and gender non-conforming people of color. Her writing has been published by The Guardian, The Nation, The Feminist Wire, Rolling Stone, Huffington Post and truthout.org. She is the Director of Special Projects at the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

The Rockefeller Foundation. Our Work. Transform Cities; Transportation and Infrastructure; ... National Disaster Resilience Competition;rockefellerfoundation.org/our-work/grants/national-domestic-workeOpal Tometi is a New York-based Nigerian''American writer, strategist and community organizer. Tometi is a Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. She is the Executive Director at BAJI (Black Alliance for Just Immigration). Tometi collaborates with staff and communities in Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York, Oakland, Washington D.C. and communities throughout the Southern states. Tometi's work has been published by The Huffington Post, Time Magazine, The Root

Seed Funding; Building Capacity to Win; Rapid Response; Who We Fund; Our Impact; Apply for a Grant. ... Our Vision of a Just Future; Ways to Give; Contact Us; donate ...North Star Fund

Seeking a way to help local activists challenge the injustices of these cutbacks, Toby D'Oench, along with Martin Bunzl, and 26 other young people of inherited wealth, began forging a new philanthropic model. North Star Fund was born.

Influenced by the civil rights, women's, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender, and anti-war movements, the founders pioneered the activist-led grantmaking model that remains a hallmark of North Star Fund's approach.

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights grew out of Bay Area PoliceWatch, a small initiative founded in 1995 as a hotline for victims of police brutality. The hotline was based in a closet-sized office donated by the Lawyers Committee for Civil RightsThe need for assistance was great, so Bay Area PoliceWatch quickly outgrew the space and Van Jones officially launched the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights on September 1, 1996.

One begins to see patterns in this, then one of the chief activists for the Obama regime appears, and the puzzle of who is behind what and how this is all being directed with intelligence and regime cooperation begins to form a picture of the operation.As you notice in this, this is the faction which has been running the Alt Hillary operation, to corral those movements under one direction to be exploited. In short, it appears that Hillary Clinton's communications were read by more than Mark Dayton, and those who read them, decided as in San Bernadino to exploit a Hillary operation in Minnesota, by making it blood soaked in Dallas, all for their purposes.

On Tuesday, VanJones and Bakari Sellers discussed the democratic presidential race on CNN. Jones emphasized that BernieSanders sounds like a one-issue candidate ...Then into this enter the Dallas conduit, a fellow traveler of this group, pro Muslim, hiding in Christian dogma, pro sodomite, anti police, pro felon, and voicing the same activist pattern which melding all of these types together in the rather self destructive, Dr. Rev. Jeff Hood, who somehow was never thrown out of South Baptist seminary for having a mouth like Sodom and a mind like Gomorrah.This is the face of the organizer of the Dallas protests.

Jeff Hood

Following two further periods of sustained depression, I sought help against the wishes of many who love me. Pushing through the darkness, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and placed on medication. Even with the drugs, suicide has never been far from my mind. The thoughts of ending the suffering revisit me a couple of times per year.

''Jesus was the most queer person on Earth.''

In a recent post on June 18, Hood invokes Jesus as being present as the words ''Keep blowing shit up baby!'' are said, seemingly during some kind of worship service led by Hood:Just this past week, I felt the hands again. One by one, the children of God at the Church at the Table in Fort Worth stopped to affirm and celebrate my ministry. In the midst of the reverence of it all, Jesus showed up. One of my dear friends shouted out, ''Keep blowing shit up baby!''I will.Amen

The United States Flag at the Front of the Church is BlasphemousIn all of these patterns, the 5th column appears as old as Jacob Schiff funding Trotksy or the Rothschilds funding Marx. It is all this same Obama change, but while everyone is misdirected something else is taking place, and I remind people to remember the words of leftist Webster Griffin Tarpley on the Jeff Rense program.Tarpley stated the agenda was to destroy the Republican party to make it fringe like the Libertarian, and never be heard from again.

Examine Ted Cruz and the funded effort of the Bill Kristol and Erick Erickson #nevertrump grouping in how their angle is in these fringe cucks to take people off the cliff and produce the Tarpley fringe GOP which will never be a party again.

Now examine this in Hillary Clinton from the Obama regime, just gets carte blanche for all of her crimes, but in running an operation with Mark Dayton, gets sucked back into another crime in Dallas, as Mrs. Clinton's talking points are to berate white people while attempting to herd blacks to vote for her in November.

Recall Webster Tarpley's prediction that the Democratic party would be split, a Bernie revolutionary party and a Hillary old guard, who would replace each other in swaps of power. That is exactly what is taking place as the Bernie Sanders voters are voting for Donald Trump, with the old guard for Hillary Clinton, as this ultra leftist Gary Johnson is being fed the brainless Conservatives who never read that the Neo Libertarian is nothing Libertarian at all.

Let me be clear in this, in I am not stating Donald Trump is a part of this in the least. I am stating though that this cartel spots trends and does utilize political candidates, just as they overthrew the Tea Party.It sincerely appears that the agenda is to use Donald Trump if his margins keep growing to elect this movement which is revolutionary, and the real agenda is then to remove Mr. Trump as Newt Gingrich stated in David John Oates Reverse Speech and replace the Trump Revolution with another Bush Neocon con job.

That is what is vital in this, that Mr. Trump not pick one of these frauds he has been parading around, as it will be his death warrant. Donald Trump has to pick a woman who is more hard core than he is, to protect him, so his policies are enacted. But the reality is, the cartel is attempting to maneuver a GOP, as you can note by the "Delegate Committee" trying to place sodomite planks onto the platform and other Sanders wing agendas which are making the GOP the Gay Operative Party, in the pattern that Webster Griffin Tarpley expounded upon.

The murders in Dallas Texas are one of more smoking guns which will be utilized to blackmail Hillary Clinton if she gets to the White House, from the Van Jones funded activist wing of the party, or in effect, this is like EMAILGATE, an operation to see what can be extracted from Mrs. Clinton for the Obama wing of the cartel in the coming years.There have been other events like Dallas which have been covered up. The point in this being, this shooter was not triggered or made, he is one of a number of unbalanced people who are not groomed, but this is so activist now that the unbalanced by design are simply acting out.

The black in America is a commodity and has been since Jesse Jackson for the FBI began steering this black movement once Martin King was put down. The Afroid percentile is simply a conduit of political agenda having nothing to do with blacks. When Obama appeared, this minded group became radicalized again, after it was capped in the 1970's.The black will be utilized, until they are incorporated into a more militant group as the Muslim will be for this type of feudal voter intimidation.

Blacks have been monetized, just as the Jews were in the ghettos of Europe, and them militantized when they were exported to the Mideast to form an intelligence wing for the Ashkenaz Rothschilds. One can definitely expect more of this Boston Bombing, San Bernardino, Orlando type checks on Hillary Clinton in the White House as Dallas is her new albatross, because the Clinton people like Mark Dayton are not that intelligent and problems always arise.

Problems being, setting off some mass murder, due to the words of the Clinton or Obama in power, and causing them the obligatory bribe to those in another faction to make the story all go away.

To close this out, it should be noted that for Mrs. Clintons' war in Europe which Obama is setting up for America, that there will be a Pearl Harbor for America in numbers of American dead to induce Americans to this war which has already been decided upon.There are also those who desire their 30 pieces of silver and will conduct operations as in Dallas, utilizing these same leftist activists to gain payment.

Just like 9 11 tagged the Bush fam. It is the factions of the lords and the priests moving the pieces around. Black Lives Monetized.........and Mrs. Clinton was fully informed that this strategy would bring about harm to innocent people.

Another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.

Nuff Said

agtG

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 02:13

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The lead organizer of the Dallas protest where snipers opened fire on police officers has made several disturbing comments on his social media. A Breitbart News review of Jeff Hood's internet footprint revealed regular posts about the apocalypse, violent retribution to police, and Hood even recently posted about the 2013 death of a self proclaimed ''social justice warrior'' who committed suicide by lighting himself on fire in front of a shopping mall in Texas.Video of Hood speaking on camera just after the attack surfaced on social media where Hood talks about ''leading the protest.''

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Breitbart Texas' Brandon Darby tweeted about protest organizer Jeff Hood wanting to ''create a space for anger and rage'' at the Dallas protest.

Reverend Hood closely follows police shootings and state executions and regularly prays for divine retribution for police, like this post in response to a police shooting in Dallas from April 24, 2015:

For now, the blood of black men will continue to roll down driveways, streets and sidewalks with impunity. However, God is not mocked. The judgment is coming. Those police who continue to spill the blood of black men will be held accountable'...for black blood matters just as much as any other blood to God.

Also, this post from May 11, 2015:

''The police are always prepared for a gunfight. We shouldn't be surprised when they actually get one.''

In one of his most recent tweets, dated June 26, Hood tweeted a story about Social Justice Activist Charles Moore, who went out in a blaze of glory two years ago by lighting himself on fire in front of a Texas shopping mall.

In a recent post on June 18, Hood invokes Jesus as being present as the words ''Keep blowing shit up baby!'' are said, seemingly during some kind of worship service led by Hood:

Just this past week, I felt the hands again. One by one, the children of God at the Church at the Table in Fort Worth stopped to affirm and celebrate my ministry. In the midst of the reverence of it all, Jesus showed up. One of my dear friends shouted out, ''Keep blowing shit up baby!''

I will.

Amen.

The post concludes with a picture of Hood kneeling and several people holding their hands over his head.

Hood's posts and tweets add a religious and even apocalyptic zeal to the message espoused by many leftists, like this post from November 2015:

'...Oh God damn these hate crimes and all the institutions that fail to act to prevent them. No more will we sit back and allow this community to be brutalized. No more will we act like nothing is going on. No more will we stand aside as the least of these are brutalized. God we pray that you will send fire down into our hearts to bolster us in a powerful way'...then can you please send a little bit of fire down beneath our asses to keep us marching for justice. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! and'...

Hood has also written several interesting titled books. From his public page on BelieveOutLoud: ''Jeff is the author of three books, The Queer: An Interaction with The Gospel of John, The Queering of an American Evangelical and The Sociopathic Jesus. A Southerner, Queer, and Christian, Jeff is a committed activist, visionary writer and radical prophetic voice to a closed society.

Hood has also commented in defense of Muslims after other recent attacks, in posts here and here.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 02:13

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Jesus called me into ministry.

The institutional church has put me through hell.

The keepers of the normative have always tried to stand in my way.

Having spent years in discernment, I will never forget the first question. ''Do you believe in a literal hell?'' After an afternoon of similar questions, I passed my ordination council. When the service started, I sat in the front. Dozens of men placed their hands on my head. At the end, my dearest mentor stood up and declared me ''a strange man ordained to a strange ministry for a strange world.''

Ten years after my ordination, Jesus is still calling me.

The institutional church still tries to block my work.

The marginalized and oppressed always guide me through.

Just this past week, I felt the hands again. One by one, the children of God at the Church at the Table in Fort Worth stopped to affirm and celebrate my ministry. In the midst of the reverence of it all, Jesus showed up. One of my dear friends shouted out, ''Keep blowing shit up baby!''

I will.

Amen.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 02:12

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Over a hundred times, the family of Jason Harrison reached out to Dallas police for help getting him to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Suffering from severe mental illness, Jason was often out of his mind. On June 14 of last year, police arrived at the Harrison residence. The body camera of one of the officers captured what happened next. Jason's mother Shirley came to the door and declared, ''Oh, he's just off the chain. You can hear him, talking about chopping up people.'' When asked whom she was talking about, Shirley replied, ''My son, bipolar, schizo.'' Seconds later, Jason appeared at the door with a small screwdriver and was told by officers to put it down. Refusing, Jason made a movement toward the officers. Less than five seconds after the initial encounter, Dallas police pumped five lethal bullets into Jason's body. As Jason's blood rolled down the driveway, the officers can be heard nervously trying to figure out what to do next. There seems to be little remorse or grief for what has happened. I guess we can't blame the officers'...as they were just acting out what we know to be true'...the spilt blood of a black man is nothing to get too upset about here in Dallas.

One of the police incident reports reveal that Shirley Harrison exclaimed shortly after the shooting, ''They could have just shot him in the leg.'' Why would they have shot him in the leg? Police view a problematic black man in Dallas as something to be exterminated not helped. Yesterday, the Dallas County District Attorney's office announced that there would be no indictment in the case. For now, the blood of black men will continue to roll down driveways, streets and sidewalks with impunity. However, God is not mocked. The judgment is coming. Those police who continue to spill the blood of black men will be held accountable'...for black blood matters just as much as any other blood to God.

Amen.

*Originally posted at Hope for Peace and Justice

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Mon, 11 Jul 2016 23:25

Quick update - this seems to be inconsistent. It only seems to happen on iOS, but it doesn't happen for everyone on iOS. If you fancy helping out join the conversation on Twitter!

I figured I'd post this because I don't see anyone else talking about it and it bothers me. If you didn't know, Pokemon Go is the latest in the long running series of games from Nintendo (although Go is actually made by a developer called Niantic). It's also the first (I think) to run on your phone. Needless to say, it's a huge hit. And it looks like a ton of fun - pretty much everyone I know is playing it.

But there's a problem.

To play the game you need an account. Weirdly, Niantic won't let you just create one - you need to sign in with an existing account from one of two services - the pokemon.com website or Google. Now the Pokemon site is for some reason not accepting new signups right now so if you're not already registered there you'll need to use a Google account - and that's where the fun begins.

I started the game, hit the Google button, and was redirected to log in. Normally you'd see a little message saying what data the app is going to be able to access - something like ''This app will be able to view your email address and name''. For some reason that's not shown in this case, but I went ahead and logged in anyway. Then on a whim I went to see which permissions it was granted (you can see for your own account right here). To say I was a little stunned is putting it lightly - it said:

Pokemon Go has full access to your Google account

Here are a couple of excerpts from the Google help page about what this means:

When you grant full account access, the application can see and modify nearly all information in your Google Account

This ''Full account access'' privilege should only be granted to applications you fully trust, and which are installed on your personal computer, phone, or tablet.

Let me be clear - Pokemon Go and Niantic can now:

Read all your emailSend email as youAccess all your Google drive documents (including deleting them)Look at your search history and your Maps navigation historyAccess any private photos you may store in Google PhotosAnd a whole lot moreWhat's more, given the use of email as an authentication mechanism (think ''Forgot password'' links) they now have a pretty good chance of gaining access to your accounts on other sites too.

And they have no need to do this - when a developer sets up the ''Sign in with Google'' functionality they specify what level of access they want - best practices (and simple logic) dictate you ask for the minimum you actually need, which is usually just simple contact information.

Now, I obviously don't think Niantic are planning some global personal information heist. This is probably just the result of epic carelessness. But I don't know anything about Niantic's security policies. I don't know how well they will guard this awesome new power they've granted themselves, and frankly I don't trust them at all. I've revoked their access to my account, and deleted the app. I really wish I could play, it looks like great fun, but there's no way it's worth the risk.

pokemonpokemon gonianticgooglesecurity

sandwches reblogged this from salamanderteeth and added:This is certainly bad but how much does anyone care?

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 15:37

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 03:21

Pok(C)mon Go isn't reading your Gmail. The makers of the hot, new mobile game are fixing a bug that allowed the app to gain full access to users' accounts, when they signed in using their Google account information. The company claims it didn't mean to ask for such elevated permissions, and it will now correct this. The app had the power to access your Gmail, your Google Docs, your Google Photos, as well as track your location history, your search history, and more. And this was in addition to the app's already necessary high-level access to things like your current location, camera, and phone sensors, which are needed for gameplay.

The issue was isolated to iOS and only affected those who signed in using Google.

Pok(C)mon Go offers two ways to sign up '' you can create a ''Trainer Club'' account by creating a username, or you could sign up using your existing Google account. For those who chose the latter option, the iOS version of the game would then gain full access to your Google account. Not only is that a privacy nightmare of sorts, there was also some concern over Pok(C)mon Go's close ties to Google, which had built its business on data-mining from its users. Pok(C)mon Go's creator, Niantic Labs, was spun out of Google/Alphabet last year, and Google still holds a stake in the company.

According to a recently released statement released by Niantic Labs, however, the app's overzealous permissions were just an error, and it hasn't either received or accessed users' private information, Google confirmed. The app only accesses users' basic Google profile information '' meaning their user ID and email address, it says.

The company also notes it's working on a fix for the problem, so that it will no longer request full access to Google accounts, and Google will reduce Pok(C)mon Go's permissions on its side so current users won't have to take any further action to protect their data.

In other words, you won't have to delete your account and lose all your progress, just to keep the company from gaining access to your private data. (Whew!)

Niantic sent TechCrunch its full statement, which you can read below:

We recently discovered that the Pok(C)mon GO account creation process on iOS erroneously requests full access permission for the user's Google account. However, Pok(C)mon GO only accesses basic Google profile information (specifically, your User ID and email address) and no other Google account information is or has been accessed or collected. Once we became aware of this error, we began working on a client-side fix to request permission for only basic Google profile information, in line with the data that we actually access. Google has verified that no other information has been received or accessed by Pok(C)mon GO or Niantic. Google will soon reduce Pok(C)mon GO's permission to only the basic profile data that Pok(C)mon GO needs, and users do not need to take any actions themselves.

For more information, please review Niantic's Privacy Policy here: https://www.nianticlabs.com/privacy/pokemongo/en

Featured Image: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 03:20

Always with his finger on the pulse, Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) today sent an official letter to Niantic asking about particulars of the Pok(C)mon Go privacy policy.

''I am concerned about the extent to which Niantic may be unnecessarily collecting, using, and sharing a wide range of users' personal information without their appropriate consent,'' the letter reads (PDF). ''As the augmented reality market evolves, I ask that you provide greater clarity on how Niantic is addressing the issues of user privacy and security, particularly that of its younger players.''

The Senator touches on the Google account ''bug,'' which was recently fixed (and, though I'm waiting to hear back from Google about this, may never have been as big a deal as we all made it), but also asks for specifics on several other items found in the terms of service and privacy policy:

What information Niantic collects is actually necessary for the game and its related servicesTo what other uses will this information be put, and with whom will it be shared (''exhaustively describe'')Why Pok(C)mon Go needs the permissions it asks forWhether some of this collection be opt-in, instead of opt-outHow Niantic creates ''meaningful consent'' from parents regarding collection of the data their kids produceI actually asked Niantic several times about these same issues yesterday but haven't heard back yet '-- but I'm guessing Sen. Franken will have more luck.

The Senator is a reliable advocate for the progressive aspects of technology, but his office is also highly tuned in to potential violations of privacy by the likes of virtual reality, media services and new platforms like Uber.

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 15:25

Less than a week after Pok(C)mon Go's launch, our streets are already filled with packs of phone-wielding, Weedle-catching zombies. They're robbing our teens, filling our churches with sinners, and tricking our children into exercising. But worst of all, Pok(C)mon Go is turning us all into an army of narcs in service of the coming New World Order.

http://gawker.com/9-tips-for-mas'...

Allow me to explain.

More like Privacy Poli-See EverythingLots of apps have sketchy privacy policies, that's nothing new. But the first set of alarms go off as soon as you realize that Pok(C)mon Go'spolicy does seem a bit more liberal than most, because not only are you giving Pok(C)mon Go access to your location and camera, you're also giving it full access to your Google account (assuming you use that to sign in).

There's one section of the privacy policy in particular that seems to be getting the conspiracy theorists of the world up in arms and which Reddit user Homer_Simpson_Doh calls ''very Orwellian'':

Most Orwellian of all is this line:

We may disclose any information about you (or your authorized child) that is in our possession or control to government or law enforcement officials or private parties.

As TechCrunch explained, Pok(C)mon-loving millennials are far less likely to object to a few extra permissions when its Squirtle staring them in the face as they abandon their every god-given freedom than they do when Google reads their email.

Pok(C)mon Go comes directly'--directly'--from the intelligence communityAnd it's not like Pok(C)mon Go itself doesn't already have a direct(-ish) line to the CIA. After all, Pok(C)mon Go was created by Niantic, which was formed by John Hanke.

Now, Hanke also just so happened to help found Keyhole. What does Keyhole do, you ask? I'd tell you to go to Keyhole's website'--but you can't. It just takes you straight to Google Earth. That's because Keyhole was acquired by Google back in 2004.

Before that, though, Keyhole received funding from a firm called In-Q-Tel, a government-controlled venture capital firm that invests in companies that will help beef up Big Brother's tool belt. What's more, the funds In-Q-Tel gave Keyhole mostly came from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), whose primary mission is ''collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence.''

Still unsure if Pok(C)mon Go's creator is a government spook? Check out this excerpt from the NGA's in-house publication, Pathfinder Magazine:

Companies obtain customer information through avenues such as social media, mobile apps, and customer relationship-management software. They might as well be talking about Pok(C)mon Go itself.

We're all government pawnsSo what exactly is the New World Order planning to do with our precious and meticulously collected data? They could take a few different paths, though they all boil down to the fact that we're all cogs in Professor Willow's great, big government machine.

Considering that one of Big Brother's favorite pastimes is watching its citizens at all times always and forever, Pok(C)mon Go is an ideal vessel for its many, many eyes. It's addicting (kids, adults, and conspiracy-loving bloggers for Gawker.com can't seem to put the thing for more than ten minutes at a time). And it has access to pretty much our entire phone, meaning tons of personal data and monster tracking capabilities:

Granted, Pok(C)mon Go has a perfectly legitimate reason to want access to things like your location and camera. It needs the former to put you on the right map and the latter to make use of its augmented reality feature. But with those allowances, Pok(C)mon Go (or rather, its parent company Niantic) not only knows where millions of people are at any given point, they could also very well figure out who they're with, what's going on around them, and where they're likely headed next.

Remember, it doesn't take that much to hunt someone down. All it took was one absentminded tweet for Vice to accidentally reveal the location of former fugitive and bath salts-enthusiast John McAfee.

As Reddit user fight_for_anything explains:

Obviously intelligence agencies have gained a lot of info from google maps and its street view, but this data was collected easily with driving cars. intel agencies may see google maps and street view as just an outline or a skeleton of the whole picture. getting more data, particularly that off the street and inside buildings, requires tons of man hours and foot work. a logistical nightmare.

enter Pokemon GO, where if you are an intel agency and you want photos of the inside of a home or business, you just spawn desirable pokemon or related objects there, and let totally unaware and distracted citizens take the photos for you, with devices they paid for, and those citizens pay for the experience.

imagine all these photos going back to some database (with the augmented Pokemon removed obviously. all these photos are probably GPS tagged, as well as having the phones internal gyro embed x/y/z orientation of the camera angle in the phone. these photos could be put together, much like google street view.

So as you're ''catching 'em all'' with all the other sheep, you very well may be creating a cache of high-res, data-rich images to get siphoned directly into the CIA's greedy little pockets. Just picture it, a year from now when Trump-appointed CIA Director Liam Neeson is trying to figure out who helped The Washington Post reporters escape from prison, all he has to do is call over to Deputy Director Sutherland. ''Check the Pok(C)dex,'' he'll say, and up springs a Google Street View-esque simulation of every building, nook, and closet within a five-mile radius'--all updated in real time.

As user fight_for_anything explains, ''What if that local church is a mosque they suspect of terrorist activity? And they want photos of it, or photos of the cars around it and their plates, or photos of the people coming in and out...'' Meaning that, should Director Neeson need eyes somewhere, all he as to do is tell the game to stick a Pikachu in the room and some unassuming schlub will send him a photo in no time.

Is it the Jews?Probably!

Based on the following thread, it seems that at least one Reddit user had his suspicions:

Of course, because whatever that user said was censored (by the Jews?), what role God's chosen people are playing in this particular machination remains to be seen.

But I want to playIf, after all this, you're still jonesing to go Pidgey hunting despite the Truth, Reddit user leocusmus has a few safety tips:

Just like ingress. Either use a spare phone or buy a cheap used one off eBay. Set up your main phone with a VPN, turn I Wi-Fi hotspot, and play from your spare phone with a dummy gmail account.

Which is more likely to keep you hidden from Big Brother's prying eyes, sure, but it's important to remember that, even then, you're still not really safe.

You're never really safe.

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Archived Version

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 12:37

Last week, two things happened that will have long-lasting impact on American society and the global economy. First, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to a record low of 1.366 percent. Second, Nintendo released Pok(C)mon Go, a mobile game that in a matter of days has become a viral sensation.

These two developments are more closely connected than it might seem at first glance. Obviously, it would be ridiculous to claim that Pok(C)mon Go is singlehandedly responsible for recent macroeconomic trends. But technology-based products like Pok(C)mon Go explain a lot about the current state of the global economy.

Pok(C)mon Go is different from 20th-century entertainment options

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images New York residents like these benefit from the Pok(C)mon Go economy, but a lot of Americans don't.If you were looking to have fun with some friends 50 years ago, you might have gone to a bowling alley. Maybe you would have hung out at a diner or gone to the movies.

These were all activities that involved spending a certain amount of money in the local economy. That created opportunities for adults in your town to start and run small businesses. It also meant that a teenager who wanted to find a summer job could find one waiting tables or taking tickets at the movie theater.

You can spend money on Pok(C)mon Go too. But the economics of the game are very different. When you spend money on items in the Pok(C)mon Go world, it doesn't go into the pocket of a local Pok(C)mon entrepreneur '-- it goes into the pockets of the huge California- and Japan-based global companies that created Pok(C)mon Go.

There are, of course, some good things about this. Pok(C)mon Go can be a much more affordable hobby than going to a bowling alley or the movies. In fact, you don't have to spend any money on it. And the explosion of options made possible by online platforms creates real value '-- the average teenager has vastly more options for games to play, movies to watch, and so forth than at any time in American history.

The Pok(C)mon Go economy means growing regional inequality

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesBut the Pok(C)mon Go economy also has some real downsides. One has to do with regional inequality. Nintendo and its partners are rumored to be earning more than $1 million per day from Pok(C)mon Go. That money is flowing away from small and medium cities and toward big technology companies concentrated in big cities.

And obviously Pok(C)mon Go isn't the only example of this. Amazon is doing something similar in the retail industry, diverting business away from local retailers and sucking cash into its corporate headquarters in Seattle. Companies like Google, Facebook, and Vox Media are drawing ad dollars that previously went to local newspapers and television stations.

Of course, America has always had geographic industry clusters that sold products nationwide '-- think about the Detroit auto business or the Hollywood movie industry. But there was an important difference: Major 20th-century industries tended to generate a lot of opportunities in communities where their product was sold. A film might be made in Hollywood, but local people all over America had to build and operate movie theaters. Cars might be made in Detroit, but people all over the country had to run auto dealerships and car repair shops.

In contrast, a lot of internet-based businesses are so ethereal that they barely create any jobs in most markets. Smartphone platforms have created some jobs making apps, but app makers don't have to live in any particular location. In practice, they tend to be heavily concentrated in the same big cities as most other technology jobs.

The result is that the internet economy is increasingly transforming America into two parallel economies. Cities on the receiving end of Pok(C)mon Go''style money gushers are booming so much that acute housing shortages are causing rents to skyrocket. The rest of the country has seen barely seen an economic recovery at all.

The Pok(C)mon Go economy means falling interest rates and slow growth

Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images for Tracy Paul & CoIn the 20th century, new industries tended to create a lot of demand for capital. It took a lot of cash to build assembly lines and movie studios, of course. But beyond that, thousands of people all over the country would go to their local banks to finance the construction of movie theaters, auto dealerships, and so forth.

This meant that people with capital to lend could almost always find people eager to borrow it to finance new business ventures. This, in turn, made the job of America's central bank, the Federal Reserve, relatively easy. Anytime the Fed wanted to boost growth, it could cut interest rates and get a burst of entrepreneurs starting new businesses.

But the Pok(C)mon Go economy is different. Nintendo and its partners obviously needed to invest some cash in hiring programmers and designers to build the game. But the sums involved here are tiny compared with the cost of building a new car assembly line. And Pok(C)mon Go seems unlikely to produce very many opportunities for complementary local businesses. People play on their smartphones, so there's no need for Pok(C)mon cyber cafes. Smartphones are too cheap for smartphone repair shops to be a good business.

And this seems to have severed the traditional link between capital accumulation and economic growth. Since 2008, the US economy has been awash in cheap capital. In a few places, especially Silicon Valley, that has created bubble-like conditions where every crazy ideaseems to get funding.

Yet the total sums being invested in these areas are a fraction of the overall capital people have available to invest. And in the rest of the country, people are struggling to find any productive investment ideas. So interest rates keep falling as people increasingly despair of finding ways to get high returns from their savings.

Ultimately, this situation hurts everyone, because it shows up as a shortfall of overall demand. Slow growth outside of big cities means that customers have less money to spend on games like Pok(C)mon Go.

How to make the Pok(C)mon Go economy work for everyoneThe success of Pok(C)mon Go points to two big areas where policymakers ought to change their approach.

One is to relax housing policy to allow more people to move to areas where high-tech products are made. While the average resident of Kansas City or Baltimore might not have the skills to create the next great mobile game, he or she probably could find work as a schoolteacher, nurse, or construction worker in San Francisco or New York '-- but only if he or she is allowed to live within commuting distance of technology workers.

The other is to think harder about managing demand. There may be more that central banks can do to boost demand. If that doesn't work, then more direct income redistribution may be called for '-- taxing rich people in high-growth areas to fund expanded government services, wage subsidies, or even cash payments to people in slower-growing parts of the country.

Thanks to Alex Balkfor inspiring this post.

HOW POK‰MON TOOK OVER THE WORLD IN 20 YEARS

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 05:58

Your Post Has Been Launched!

Fabulous! Don't forget to share with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.

1. In case you haven't heard, there's a new game called Pok(C)mon Go and it's pretty popular.Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images

2. On Wednesday, the official Facebook account of Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel, posted a picture of a Meowth in the presidential residence in Jerusalem.3. Rivlin '-- or whoever on his staff was savvy enough to know that the picture would go viral '-- shared the image with the caption, ''Somebody call security.''4. If the room looks familiar, it's because it's the official room where the Israeli presidents meet with world leaders and take official photos.Gali Tibbon / AFP / Getty Images

Here's President Rivlin meeting with U.S. Senator John McCain in January 2015. As you can see, it was Pok(C)mon-free at the time.

5. Not everyone is impressed though, as the top commenter on the post made clear.It's unclear if something better than a CP 10 Meowth would have drawn more praise.

6. In any case, memo to world leaders: if you're somehow still looking for Meowth, make sure to head to Israel. The residence seems to be crawling with them.Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images

Check out more articles on BuzzFeed.com!

Ellie Hall is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, D.C.

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So, Uh, The President Of Israel Is Playing Pok(C)mon Go?

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/so-uh-the-p...Apparently you can catch yourself a Meowth inside the presidential residence in Jerusalem.Your link was successfully shared!Tagged:pokemon go, israel, president israel, reuven rivlin, reuvi rivlin, trending

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:57

Twitter is flooded with stories about Pokemon Go's impact on players' anxiety and depression, with thousands of people lauding the game for getting them out of the house and making it easier to interact with friends and strangers alike. These simple acts are crucial milestones for anyone struggling with depression, Grohol says.

"The challenge has always been, if you're depressed, your motivation level is nonexistent," he explains. "So, you want to go out and get some fresh air, or even take a shower, and it can be a very difficult thing to even comprehend, much less do. I think the impact of something like this, this game, can really be beneficial."

This isn't hippie nonsense: Research demonstrating the positive effects of exercise on people's moods goes back at least 20 years, Grohol says.

"The research is really, really clear on this, that the more you exercise, the more it would help decrease feelings of depression," he says. "It actually works as an anti-depressant and it has a really, pretty strong effect. It's probably one of the most beneficial things a person with depression can do, especially if they're not accessing other types of treatments, such as psychotherapy or medication."

Plus, walking around helps much more than your mental health: It can also help people lose weight, stay in shape and build overall healthier bodies. In this case, what's good for the body is also good for the mind.

Roughly 43.8 million adults in the United States experience mental illness every year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That's one in five adults. The video game community is a magnet for people living with untreated anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses, says suicide prevention organization Take This. The industry itself is volatile, and it attracts particularly creative and highly educated people -- factors that can contribute to a perfect storm of untreated mental illnesses.

Russ Pitts, the co-founder of Take This, says that hundreds of clinicians and advisers have told him the same thing over the years: Generally, the more educated or technically sophisticated a person is, the less likely he or she is to seek help for mental issues.

"The sense is that because it's a mental issue and they're highly skilled in mental areas, they can think their way out of it," Pitts says. "And a lot of people try that, and it doesn't work."

Here's where Pokemon Go can help. It isn't presented as a tool to help treat anxiety or depression; instead, it's a game that happens to cultivate healthy behaviors.

"It helps a person not even think of it as helping their mood because it's not targeted toward their mood. It's a game," Grohol says. "Because of the way that they've created the gaming dynamics, they've actually created a very strong reinforcement for people to go out and become more active."

But for all of its achievements, Pokemon Go has limits. It may be a wonderful motivator for players to leave their houses, get some light exercise and meet new people, but it isn't a substitute for professional treatment, Grohol says.

"I wouldn't recommend people look at this sort of game or any video game as an opportunity to treat a serious mood disorder, such as chronic depression, solely with a video game," he says. "I think it's a great adjunct to other kinds of treatment, such as psychotherapy and medication, but it should not be the sole treatment that person is using to try and help their depressed mood."

Pokemon Go can be an introduction to self-care, but it's not a cure. It's not even foolproof as a video game: Server outages have plagued Pokemon Go since its launch in early July, and the game doesn't extend to some remote regions across the country. If someone is using Pokemon Go as a healthy habit motivator and the game simply doesn't load one day, that can be a crushing blow. Similarly, someone who already feels isolated won't receive help from seeing their Pokemon trainer surrounded by miles of nothing, not even a stray Rattata.

Pokemon Go is not a panacea for anxiety or depression in general, but for a lot of people it's a stepping stone toward healthier habits and positive self-care. It isn't perfect, but there's no perfect solution for anxiety, depression or any other mental illness. Players who have benefited from playing Pokemon Go can use this opportunity to take their treatment to the next level, Grohol says.

"If this is what it takes to help you get a treatment or consider a treatment, by all means, this can be an excellent first step," he says. "But it shouldn't be a last step."

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:57

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 06:28

GRAPHIC image follows: An anonymous source has sent what appears to be a picture of Micah Johnson, the Dallas shooter, laying dead after a robot was sent in to kill him.

As you can see, the man in the above image appears to be Micah Johnson, the #BlackLivesMatter activist who murdered 5 police officers and wounded several more.

This image of Micah Johnson was taken from his Facebook profile.Notice how the facial features are match.

Dealing with anonymous sources is complicated, however SOFREP obtained a picture purporting to be the firearm Johnson used during his massacre.

A source told SOFREP and thearmsguide.com that when Dallas SWAT made entry after the detonation of the explosive device, they encountered a Saiga AK-74 style semiautomatic rifle on the floor among the rubble. The weapon reportedly had a 30 round magazine, single point sling, Magpul folding stock, and a rail system with a red dot sight.

This photo is reported to be the actual rifle used taken after the explosive device went off.

As you can see, the rubble near the weapon system matches the setting above.

Here is another comparison.

UPDATE: ABC News, Daily Mail, NY Daily, and other websites have contacted me to use the photos, as they are good-to-go.

Leaked images appear to show the dead body of Dallas killer Micah Johnson

Leaked images appearing to show the dead body of Dallas sniper Micah Johnson after he was blown up by a 'bomb robot' appear genuine, a former US Army explosives expert has told Daily Mail Online.

The Dallas Police Department has refused to say whether the gruesome photos anonymously posted online Sunday evening are genuine images of the slain cop killer.

But Bryan Woolston, a former senior explosive ordnance disposal technician with the US Army, said that the blast scene depicted in the photos and the state of the corpse were consistent with the remote controlled bomb tactic used to kill Johnson.

Mike Cernovich is a lawyer and best-selling author of Gorilla Mindset.

Related

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 06:26

Shocking and graphic new pictures of Dallas cop-murderer Micah Xavier Johnson have emerged.

Police used a ''robot bomb'' to kill the Black Nationalist, who was held up in a parking garage following his shooting spree that left 5 officers dead and at 11 others wounded.

The images that emerged '' obtained from an anonymous source by the website DangerAndPlay and SOFREP, shows what appears to be the shooter lying dead on the ground among building rubble. Another image shows the weapon he was using.

Warning: VERY GRAPHIC PHOTOS

While unverified, the image does appear to be of Johnson. Here's an image from his Facebook profile.

The next image appears to be a Saiga AK-74-style semi-automatic rifle among the rubble. The weapon appears to have a 30-round magazine, single point sling, Magpul folding stock and a rail system with a red-dot sight, SOFREP reports.

''The Saiga AK-74 is a semiautomatic version of the venerable AK-47. The AK-74 fires a smaller 5.45—39 cartridge more like that of the AR-15. Saiga is a Russian commercial company which imports rifles into the United States. The Saiga is at the more expensive end of AK style rifles,'' according to the site.

DangerAndPlay created a montage of Johnson to compare images.

H/T: ConservativeOutfitters

About Robert GehlRobert Gehl is a college professor in Phoenix, Arizona. He has over 15 years journalism experience, including two Associated Press awards. He lives in Glendale with his wife and two young children.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:18

Four men in Detroit were arrested over the past week for posts on social media that the police chief called threatening. One tweet that led to an arrest said that Micah Johnson, the man who shot police officers in Dallas last week, was a hero. None of the men have been named, nor have they been charged.

''I know this is a new issue, but I want these people charged with crimes,'' said Detroit Police Chief James Craig. ''I've directed my officers to prepare warrants for these four individuals, and we'll see which venue is the best to pursue charges,'' he said.

Five police officers were killed in the Dallas shootings, constituting the highest number of police casualties in an attack since September 11. And as a result, law enforcement officials everywhere are suddenly much more sensitive to threats against their lives.

But one result has been that several police departments across the country have arrested individuals for posts on social media accounts, often from citizen tips '-- raising concerns among free speech advocates.

''Arresting people for speech is something we should be very careful about,'' Bruce Schneier, security technologist at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, told The Intercept.

Last weekend in Connecticut, police arrested Kurt Vanzuuk after a tip for posts on Facebook that identified Johnson as a hero and called for police to be killed. He was charged with inciting injury to persons or property.

An Illinois woman, Jenesis Reynolds, was arrested for writing in a Facebook post that she would shoot an officer who would pull her over. ''I have no problem shooting a cop for simple traffic stop cuz they'd have no problem doing it to me,'' she wrote, according to the police investigation. She was charged with disorderly conduct.

In New Jersey, Rolando Medina was arrested and charged with cyber harassment. He allegedly posted on an unidentified form of social media that he would destroy local police headquarters. In Louisiana, Kemonte Gilmore was arrested for an online video where he allegedly threatened a police officer. He was charged with public intimidation.

''Certainly, posting that kind of thing on social media is a bad thought,'' professor Larry Dubin of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law told the Detroit News. ''But having a bad thought isn't necessarily a crime.''

The policing of online threats is hardly a new issue. The Supreme Court set a precedent last year when it ruled that prosecutors pursuing a charge of communicating threats need to prove both that reasonable people would view the statement as a threat and that the intent was to threaten. Elonis v. United States dealt with a man who had posted violent rap lyrics about his estranged wife; the court reversed his conviction.

''After Dallas, threats may seem more threatening to police officers around the country,'' said Daniel Medwed, professor of law at Northeastern University. ''We might be seeing more arrests right now because the police will interpret that they have probable cause to make the arrest,'' he said. ''But that doesn't mean in the end that this will result in convictions,'' he added.

Schneier urged that law enforcement use caution.''This is complicated,'' he said. ''We don't know how to do this '-- we're doing it pretty badly and we should to it better.''

But he said it was a sign of the times. These days, almost all communications are recorded in some capacity. ''This new world where things aren't forgotten is going to be different,'' Schneier said. ''And you're seeing one manifestation of it in casual comments that are resulting in arrest.''

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 15:46

List 1: https://i.sli.mg/W8QqqJ.pngList 2: https://i.sli.mg/p9mKsv.jpgSneaky: https://i.sli.mg/HosCoo.jpg

REMARKS AS SECRETARY OF STATE>http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/index.htm

Does not include any speeches she gave to companies.

Contact from Cisco actively said she was NEVER there physically. The best that happened was a telepresence broadcast and a global trade thing last year.>http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/news_cisco/mobile/dlls/2011/corp_090911g.html

This is completely unrelated to what she got paid for, hilariously.She was never physically there to say anything, the ~$450k were probably campaign contributions or insidious cover-ups.

HEALTH-RELATED '' ALSO AIDShttp://www.democraticunderground.com/12511002772This Cisco event was the one semi-credible one from the second speeches list (List 2).http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-surprise-visit-at-cisco-2014-8>Look how much she got paid for a ''surprise visit''

HOWEVER (refer to Sneaky pic):Evidently the Boston Bombing was earlier that week, and she gave a speech in New York on 4/17 to the Global Fund for Women anniversary gala. I can't find any mention of a Morgan Stanley speech for the day after though. And afterward I only see mentions of other speeches and conventions which are entirely separate from the list.Hillary Clinton reacts to Boston bombinghttp://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/hilllary-clinton-boston-marathon-reaction-090262

Here's Why Hillary Won't Allow Her Corporate Speeches to be Published

>As President, she would aim to sign into law a program to provide subsidies from U.S. taxpayers to Monsanto and other biotech firms, to assist their PR and lobbying organizations to eliminate what she says is ''a big gap between the facts and what the perceptions are'' concerning genetically modified seeds and other GMOs. In other words: she ignores the evidence that started to be published in scientific journals in 2012 showing that Monsanto and other GMO firms were selectively publishing studies that alleged to show their products to be safe, while selectively blocking publication of studies that '-- on the basis of better methodology '-- showed them to be unsafe. She wants U.S. taxpayers to assist GMO firms in their propaganda that's based on their own flawed published studies, financed by the GMO industry, and that ignores the studies that they refuse to have published.

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Sun, 10 Jul 2016 20:05

OTTAWA -- A Canadian affiliate of the Clinton Foundation that has raised millions from mining executives has spent far more on salaries and administrative costs than charitable programming in the two most recent years for which numbers are available, according to financial statements from the Canada Revenue Agency.

The Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (Canada), a registered charity based in Vancouver, B.C., devoted $737,441 -- amounting to 78 per cent of its expenditures -- to management and administration in 2014. The amount includes spending on office supplies and expenses, salaries and professional and consulting fees.

That same year, according to the return filed to the Canada Revenue Agency and published online, the organization devoted $205,419 to charitable programs, accounting for 22 per cent of its expenditures.

A similar ratio -- 72 per cent to management and administration costs and 28 per cent to charitable programs -- is in the 2013 return.

The Canadian charity strongly defended against any suggestion it is spending too much on overhead.

"It is incorrect to look at one-year expenditures in a vacuum," the charity wrote in an emailed statement in response to a request for an interview.

The Canadian charity was founded by Frank Giustra, a Canadian philanthropist and mining financier who raised more than $16 million in pledges for the initiative at a star-studded 2008 fundraising gala in Toronto, where former U.S. president Bill Clinton spoke to more than 1,000 guests from Hollywood, Bay Street and the mining industry.

It was set up primarily so that Canadians could receive a charitable tax receipt for supporting the work of a Clinton Foundation initiative that bears the same name. That initiative is currently focused on creating sustainable business opportunities in the developing world, such as helping peanut farmers in Haiti or providing sales training to women in Peru.

The Canadian charity said it would be more accurate to look at the aggregate numbers for the period from 2010 to 2014, because its work involves projects whose funding is spread out over time.

Those overall numbers show that spending on charitable programs and gifts to other charities was 84 per cent, whereas 14 per cent was spent on management and administration and two per cent on fundraising, the charity said -- calculations verified by The Canadian Press.

It also said that so far this year, it has committed a total of US$4.3 million to charitable programs, US$3.2 million of which has been disbursed.

The 2014 return shows revenues of $157,154 from charitable gifts that year -- significantly lower than the $6.8 million it received in donations in 2010, for example -- but the charity explained it is currently focusing on program delivery rather than soliciting new funds.

The charity said its 2015 financial statement has not yet been audited or reported publicly, but does not expect there to be any "major differences" in the ratio between money spent on charitable programs and management and administration from what was seen in 2013 and 2014, when it said ongoing charitable programs were funded by money disbursed in previous years.

CGEP Canada also defended the money spent on management and administration.

"These expenditures -- far from being overhead -- are critical to the operational success of CGEP's work, and help maximize the impact of CGEP's programs; ensure that more people are reached; and that these programs are run in an effective way," the statement said.

The charity said its staff in Canada -- four full-time positions in 2014, according to the return -- works on "partnership development and marketing, investor prospecting, and finance" in co-ordination with the American-based team.

The Canadian charity would not provide the name of the spokesperson who communicated by email with The Canadian Press.

It also emailed a letter from Toronto-based lawyer David S. Brown, who said the charity firmly expects the facts in its response would be reported to the public in a way that is accurate, forthright, not misleading and "does not tarnish the good charitable works in which our client is engaged".

The issue of so-called overhead spending -- and whether charities should be judged or compared by how much of it they have -- is a hot topic in charitable giving circles, with many arguing that more attention should be paid to the impact an organization has than to how much it pays its employees.

The Canada Revenue Agency says it has no rule on what constitutes an ideal ratio.

"Overall, with respect to any charity, we would look at the whole of its operations to determine if it continues to comply with the requirements of the Act," CRA spokeswoman Jelica Zdero wrote in an emailed response to questions.

Mark Blumberg, a Toronto-based lawyer who specializes in charity law, said an organization should anticipate questions about its finances, especially when it deals with politically sensitive people and issues, and go beyond the minimum requirement of a financial statement published on the CRA website.

CGEP Canada came under scrutiny last year after it was revealed it had not disclosed the identities of roughly 1,100 donors.

This was controversial because in 2008, the Clinton Foundation signed an ethics agreement with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama that it would reveal the identities of all its contributors as a way to avoid the perception of conflicts of interest when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state.

Both the Clinton Foundation and CGEP Canada have said that Canadian law would prevent them from disclosing the identities of people here in Canada without their prior consent.

CGEP Canada does not provide general operating support to the Clinton Foundation.

Since then, CGEP Canada has sought and received permission from some of its contributors, listing 30 individuals and corporations that had donated more than $100,000 on the website of the American initiative.

Only a handful responded to a request for comment from The Canadian Press, with none commenting on the ratio.

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 15:22

Ruth Ginsburg's Victory Lap - WSJHTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Encoding: gzip Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 X-Article-Template: snippet X-Powered-By: Tesla X-UA-Compatible: IE=edge Content-Length: 26563 Expires: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 15:22:49 GMT Cache-Control: max-age=0, no-cache, no-store Pragma: no-cache Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 15:22:49 GMT Connection: keep-alive Vary: Accept-Encoding Set-Cookie: DJSESSION=country%3Dus%7C%7Ccontinent%3Dna%7C%7Cregion%3Dva%7C%7Ccity%3Dashburn%7C%7Clatitude%3D39.0438%7C%7Clongitude%3D-77.4879%7C%7Ctimezone%3Dest%7C%7Czip%3D20146-20149%7C%7CORCS%3Dna%2Cus; Domain=.wsj.com; Path=/ Set-Cookie: DJCOOKIE=ORC%3Dna%2Cus; Domain=.wsj.com; Path=/ Set-Cookie: wsjregion=na%2Cus; Domain=.wsj.com; Path=/; Expires=Thu, 11 Aug 2016 15:22:49 GMT Set-Cookie: test_key=0.09752818034030497; Domain=.wsj.com; Path=/; Expires=Thu, 11 Aug 2016 15:22:49 GMT

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 12:32

Ginsburg abandoned judicial propriety to wrestle in the mud with a candidate she detests. (Above, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on May 8, 2006, in Washington, D.C.)Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has decided to take a stand against a major party's presidential candidate in a way that she'--and arguably no prior justice'--has ever done before. Over the course of several interviews, the justice has spent the last few days hammering Donald Trump for his reckless campaign and outrageous policies, suggesting that a President Trump would pose a serious danger to the republic. Her explicitly political statements set off a familiar firestorm about whether Ginsburg had ''crossed the line,'' sending the conservative blogosphere in particular into howling fantods. Critics on the left and right have criticized Ginsburg's comments as explosive, unprecedented, and unethical.

Mark Joseph Stern is a writer for Slate. He covers the law and LGBTQ issues.

They are. That's the point.

To recap the controversy, Ginsburg's campaign began with a light jab at Trump in a Thursday interview, in which the justice admitted she didn't ''want to think about'' the possibility of a Trump presidency. Then, on Friday, Ginsburg told the New York Times' Adam Liptak, ''I can't imagine what this place would be'--I can't imagine what the country would be'--with Donald Trump as our president.'' Days after her Times interview, Ginsburg told CNN's Joan Biskupic that Trump is a ''faker'' with ''no consistency'' and she criticized his refusal to release his tax returns. ''He really has an ego,'' she said (correctly and understatedly).

There is really very little to debate about the ethics of Ginsburg's comments. They were plainly a violation, the kind of partisan partiality that judicial ethics codes strive to prevent. But Ginsburg, who is a quietly canny judicial and political strategist, surely knows that her comments were an ethical error. That leads to a fascinating question: Why would the justice risk her reputation and good standing'--and even her power to hear cases involving Trump'--for a few quick jabs at the candidate? The answer, I suspect, is that Ginsburg has decided to sacrifice some of her prestige in order to send as clear a warning signal about Trump as she possibly can. The subtext of Ginsburg's comments, of her willingness to comment, is that Trump poses an unparalleled threat to this country'--a threat so great that she will abandon judicial propriety in order to warn against looming disaster.

To be clear, what Ginsburg is doing right now'--pushing her case against Trump through on-the-record interviews'--is not just unethical; it's dangerous. As a general rule, justices should refrain from commenting on politics, period. That dictate applies to 83-year-old internet folk heroes as strictly as it applies to anybody else who dons judicial robes. The independence of our judiciary'--and just as critically, its appearance of impartiality'--hinges on a consistent separation between itself and the other branches of government. That means no proclamations of loyalty to any candidate, or admissions of distaste of any other.

Ginsburg's comments also set a dark precedent for other justices with equally strong political inclinations.

You don't need to be a judicial ethicist to see the wisdom of this principle. Trump is a litigious man; should he take a campaign-related lawsuit to the court, Ginsburg will now surely be pressed to recuse herself. And of course, more significantly, these calls for recusal would accompany every case involving a possible Trump administration. (Through the Department of Justice, the executive branch is tasked with defending federal laws and presidential actions in court.) Moreover, Ginsburg's comments all but begged Trump to respond'--which he did on Tuesday, with a surprisingly coherent rebuke.

''I think it's highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly,'' Trump told the New York Times. ''I think it's a disgrace to the court and I think she should apologize to the court. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. '... It's so beneath the court for her to be making statements like that. It only energizes my base even more. And I would hope that she would get off the court as soon as possible.''

This rejoinder transforms the Ginsburg-Trump feud from a one-sided roast to a full-on debate. That is quite alarming, because in the United States, politicians and judges are not supposed to debate. Will Ginsburg respond? If she does, her actions will severely tarnish her legacy; if she doesn't, she may look craven. Best-case scenario, this feud gives Trump license to drag Ginsburg through the mud and turn her into an election issue; worst-case, it delegitimizes Ginsburg's judicial authority. And since Ginsburg's criticisms will change exactly zero minds, the benefits of the debate will flow almost exclusively to Trump.

Ginsburg's comments also set a dark precedent for other justices with equally strong political inclinations'--in other words, every justice ever to sit on the bench except David Souter. I can't imagine, for instance, that Notorious RBG''loving liberals would be as pleased to hear Justice Samuel Alito bash Hillary Clinton as they are to hear Ginsburg diss Trump. Had Ginsburg said something similar about Mitt Romney, or John McCain, or George W. Bush, her slights would have been profoundly inappropriate. Here, progressives might point out that Sandra Day O'Connor declared her distaste for Al Gore on election night in 2000. (When Gore appeared to have won Florida, she reportedly said aloud, ''This is terrible.'') But her comment that night was neither as deliberate nor as brazen as Ginsburg's; it was more of a slip than an intentional campaign to impugn her disfavored candidate's character.

Given all of these compelling reasons that Ginsburg should have refrained from speaking her mind about Trump, why did she take the risk? It seems clear that Ginsburg has made a very conscious decision to cash in her political capital after years of holding her fire. The justice is 83, and while she remains healthy and sharp, she probably won't sit on the court for much longer. She won't be impeached'--Supreme Court justices must do much worse to suffer that sorry fate'--and she can't be voted out. In effect, Ginsburg has nothing to lose but her good name. And that, it seems, is what she has decided she is willing to risk if it might potentially rally her admirers against Trump's looming peril.

After all, Donald Trump is not an ordinary presidential candidate, or an ordinary Republican. He is a racist, misogynistic, xenophobicbigot. He has proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States; called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals; supported the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants; routinely treated women with sexist disdain; advocated for torture of suspected terrorists; and generally dismissed the rule of law. He is, as my colleague Jamelle Bouie lucidly explained, a fascist, in a completely different category from previous Republican presidential nominees.

Romney and McCain had qualities and policies that Ginsburg surely loathed as well. But they always had America's best interests at heart. That is altogether untrue of the sinister and self-interested Trump. For Ginsburg to treat Trump with the same respect'--that is, complete silence'--that she afforded previous Republican nominees would acquiesce to the premise that his candidacy is just like theirs. It would suggest that this is an election like any other, a run-of-the-mill election rather than a battle for America's soul. It would legitimize a fascist.

Top Comment

Yes, it is unprecedented, but ain't no one ruining their legacy by insulting Trump. I'd say there are far more people ruining their legacy by staying silent. More...

And so, sensing the menace that Trump undoubtedly poses to her country, Ginsburg abandoned judicial propriety to wrestle in the mud with a candidate she detests. It is not pretty, it is not pleasant, and it may not even be that smart. But it may be the one thing the justice can do to help prevent a President Trump. And to her mind, that alone may make it worthwhile.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:20

Over the weekend, The Daily Wire had the opportunity to speak with Kendal Unruh, a member of the Colorado Republican delegation to the Republican National Convention. Unruh is also a member of the Rules Committee at the RNC, and a leading advocate for a vote that would unbind the delegates from the candidates to which their state primaries are pledged.

Unruh explained that "28 committee members are required to pass a minority report, which then goes to the convention floor for all delegates to vote on. It then requires a simple majority to pass." She added that she does "have the 28 votes required for the minority report," continuing, "Not everyone who is with us is willing to be public yet, due in part to the threats being made by Trump's campaign and the RNC itself."

Unruh added that the role of a responsible delegate required unbinding the delegates:

It is the duty of the delegates to represent the best interests of their states and to select a Republican candidate who actually represents our party and who can beat Hillary in November. That's not Donald Trump. We don't live in a straight democracy, where majority rule has the absolute say. We have a measured, representative form of government that allows time for discussion, fact-finding, and wisdom before our elected representatives make the final decision. Many new facts have come out since the early primaries that should disqualify Trump, and the delegates have historically always been the final stop-gate through which our party's nominee must pass. Trump didn't even get the vote of a majority of Republicans, and over 50% agree that he should not be our nominee. In fact, he would be the first Republican nominee to receive the nomination with more votes cast against him in the primaries than for him.

Unruh urged Republicans who want to dump Trump at the convention to "call and email the rules committee members from their state"; she pledged to coordinate efforts through Delegates Unbound, an organizating group available at delegatesunbound.com and on Facebook by clicking here.

Unruh stated that should the delegates be unbound, Trump is likely to lose the nomination: "An internal survey conducted by RNC member Randy Evans (Georgia), who is trying to help Trump lock up the nomination, told the Wall Street Journal that only 890 delegates are personally loyal to Trump. Evans claims 680 are known to be opposed to Trump, and he says that 900 delegates are 'in play.' So, no, Trump certainly does not have this locked up - particularly if delegates are allowed to vote their consciences."

Unruh further said that enthusiasm for the Dump Trump movement was "growing...Every day, we get traction on our social media accounts. We are contacted by delegates and by citizens who want to help. We hear from Republicans who believe that the freedom of conscience is a constitutional right that we must hold dear and protect in this society that strays ever further from the Constitution and our founding ideals. The enthusiasm is also growing because Donald Trump continues to prove that he is not a serious candidate with a serious organization, a serious on-the-ground campaign, or serious responses to the issues Republicans and Americans care about. People see that the Republican nominee should have no trouble beating Hillary - the most corrupt politician to run for president in history - and yet Trump is getting trounced."

Here was Unruh's explanation of her personal opposition to Trump:

Simply put, he doesn't represent our party and he can't win in November. Not only do the moral objections to his candidacy run deep, but his positions are also absolutely untrustworthy. He speaks by the seat of his pants and floats ideas out into thin air only to retract them the next day when they are ill-received. Republicans deserve a candidate who is grounded - in morals, in policy, and in constitutional truths. It's not that Trump isn't our preferred candidate or that we're sore losers because our guy didn't win. Donald Trump has only - conveniently - become a Republican in recent years, and even after switching his registration, he's continued his personal donations to corrupt, liberal Democrats. How can he run against Hillary when he's funded her? When he spoke to Bill Clinton on the phone prior to announcing his candidacy? Trump can't win against Hillary in November because people don't trust him either. The American citizens will continue to catch on to the fact that Trump is an entertainer who knows how to tickle ears and elicit enthusiasm. But ear-bait quickly turns into into insanity, as we've already seen, and Trump is already losing so badly to Hillary that it would be nearly impossible for him to recover by November. The delegates need to be free to choose a different nominee so that we can win in November and set the Supreme Court on the right side of the future.

The Rules Committee is scheduled to meet next week.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:15

By Endorsing Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders May Have Positioned Himself to Win The PresidencyEven though he has endorsed Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders has not conceded. In a conferencecall with delegates after the endorsement he said, ''I am still officially a candidate. I have not suspended our campaign. I'm not going to suspend our campaign.'' Bernie Sanders is still in the presidential race and may be better positioned than ever. Let me explain.

What would be the shrewdest political move Bernie could make right before Hillary's career implodes? Ingratiating himself to her voters, of course. By endorsing Hillary, he broadens his coalition. If Hillary is forced to exit the race under growing controversy from her legal scandals, Bernie will be perfectly poised to take her place.

Hillary is likely under investigation by the FBI again, this time for lying to congress under oath. Perjury is a felony that can carry a penalty of several years in prison. James Comey's congressional testimony under oath contradicted several statements Clinton made during the Benghazi hearings. The chairmen of both the Judiciary and Oversight Committees were responsible for referring the matter to the FBI.

During his testimony, Comey would not comment about whether there is an ongoing investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Famed Wall Street whistle blower Charles Ortel has stated that the FBI requested and received vast amounts of data he has collected about the foundation. He believes his evidence proves that the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative are the biggest charity fraud in history. It's rumoured that the FBI's current investigation into Terry McAuliffe is tied to a larger probe of the Clinton Foundation. In fact, several of Hillary's associates are ensnared in public corruption investigations or have been recently convicted.

One of Hillary's Superdelegates, Corrine Brown, will soon face trial for charity fraud. Her indictment says that she enriched herself by ''fraudulently soliciting and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars.'' Superdelegate, Bob Menendez was charged with 14 counts of corruption in April. Sheldon Silver resigned as a superdelegate after he was convicted of fraud, money laundering and extortion in April. Another of her superdelegates, Chaka Fattah, was recently found guilty of 22 counts of political corruption.

Judicial Watch are seeking Hillary's deposition in an ongoing civil lawsuit. Three of her aides have already been deposed. The suit is aimed at answering the question of whether her private server was set up for the purpose of flouting federal record keeping laws such as the freedom of information act. It is not clear what the criminal penalty might be if she is found guilty in this case but the political fallout would be severe.

Considering the likelihood that Hillary will be forced out of the race, Bernie's endorsement may have been a tactical master stroke of political menuvering. Only time will tell.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:19

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Bet you didn't know this.

I've decided to reprint a piece of work I did nearly five years ago, because it seems very relevant today given Hillary Clinton's performance in the Benghazi hearings. Back in 2008 when she was running for president, I interviewed two erstwhile staff members of the House Judiciary Committee who were involved with the Watergate investigation when Hillary was a low-level staffer there. I interviewed one Democrat staffer and one Republican staffer, and wrote two pieces based on what they told me about Hillary's conduct at the time.

I published these pieces back in 2008 for North Star Writers Group, the syndicate I ran at the time. This was the most widely read piece we ever had at NSWG, but because NSWG never gained the high-profile status of the major syndicates, this piece still didn't reach as many people as I thought it deserved to. Today, given the much broader reach of CainTV and yet another incidence of Hillary's arrogance in dealing with a congressional committee, I think it deserves another airing. For the purposes of simplicity, I've combined the two pieces into one very long one. If you're interested in understanding the true character of Hillary Clinton, it's worth your time to read it.

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As Hillary Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for her story about facing sniper fire in Bosnia, one question that arose was whether she has engaged in a pattern of lying.

The now-retired general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, who supervised Hillary when she worked on the Watergate investigation, says Hillary's history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther '' and goes much deeper '' than anyone realizes.

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Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of her former law professor, Burke Marshall, who was also Sen. Ted Kennedy's chief counsel in the Chappaquiddick affair. When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation '' one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman's 17-year career.

Why?

''Because she was a liar,'' Zeifman said in an interview last week. ''She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.''

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How could a 27-year-old House staff member do all that? She couldn't do it by herself, but Zeifman said she was one of several individuals '' including Marshall, special counsel John Doar and senior associate special counsel (and future Clinton White House Counsel) Bernard Nussbaum '' who engaged in a seemingly implausible scheme to deny Richard Nixon the right to counsel during the investigation.

Why would they want to do that? Because, according to Zeifman, they feared putting Watergate break-in mastermind E. Howard Hunt on the stand to be cross-examined by counsel to the president. Hunt, Zeifman said, had the goods on nefarious activities in the Kennedy Administration that would have made Watergate look like a day at the beach '' including Kennedy's purported complicity in the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro.

The actions of Hillary and her cohorts went directly against the judgment of top Democrats, up to and including then-House Majority Leader Tip O'Neill, that Nixon clearly had the right to counsel. Zeifman says that Hillary, along with Marshall, Nussbaum and Doar, was determined to gain enough votes on the Judiciary Committee to change House rules and deny counsel to Nixon. And in order to pull this off, Zeifman says Hillary wrote a fraudulent legal brief, and confiscated public documents to hide her deception.

The brief involved precedent for representation by counsel during an impeachment proceeding. When Hillary endeavored to write a legal brief arguing there is no right to representation by counsel during an impeachment proceeding, Zeifman says, he told Hillary about the case of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who faced an impeachment attempt in 1970.

''As soon as the impeachment resolutions were introduced by (then-House Minority Leader Gerald) Ford, and they were referred to the House Judiciary Committee, the first thing Douglas did was hire himself a lawyer,'' Zeifman said.

The Judiciary Committee allowed Douglas to keep counsel, thus establishing the precedent. Zeifman says he told Hillary that all the documents establishing this fact were in the Judiciary Committee's public files. So what did Hillary do?

''Hillary then removed all the Douglas files to the offices where she was located, which at that time was secured and inaccessible to the public,'' Zeifman said. Hillary then proceeded to write a legal brief arguing there was no precedent for the right to representation by counsel during an impeachment proceeding '' as if the Douglas case had never occurred.

The brief was so fraudulent and ridiculous, Zeifman believes Hillary would have been disbarred if she had submitted it to a judge.

Zeifman says that if Hillary, Marshall, Nussbaum and Doar had succeeded, members of the House Judiciary Committee would have also been denied the right to cross-examine witnesses, and denied the opportunity to even participate in the drafting of articles of impeachment against Nixon.

Of course, Nixon's resignation rendered the entire issue moot, ending Hillary's career on the Judiciary Committee staff in a most undistinguished manner. Zeifman says he was urged by top committee members to keep a diary of everything that was happening. He did so, and still has the diary if anyone wants to check the veracity of his story. Certainly, he could not have known in 1974 that diary entries about a young lawyer named Hillary Rodham would be of interest to anyone 34 years later.

But they show that the pattern of lies, deceit, fabrications and unethical behavior was established long ago '' long before the Bosnia lie, and indeed, even before cattle futures, Travelgate and Whitewater '' for the woman who is still asking us to make her president of the United States.

Franklin Polk, who served at the time as chief Republican counsel on the committee, confirmed many of these details in two interviews he granted me this past Friday, although his analysis of events is not always identical to Zeifman's. Polk specifically confirmed that Hillary wrote the memo in question, and confirmed that Hillary ignored the Douglas case. (He said he couldn't confirm or dispel the part about Hillary taking the Douglas files.)

To Polk, Hillary's memo was dishonest in the sense that she tried to pretend the Douglas precedent didn't exist. But unlike Zeifman, Polk considered the memo dishonest in a way that was more stupid than sinister.

''Hillary should have mentioned that (the Douglas case), and then tried to argue whether that was a change of policy or not instead of just ignoring it and taking the precedent out of the opinion,'' Polk said.

Polk recalled that the attempt to deny counsel to Nixon upset a great many members of the committee, including just about all the Republicans, but many Democrats as well.

''The argument sort of broke like a firestorm on the committee, and I remember Congressman Don Edwards was very upset,'' Polk said. ''He was the chairman of the subcommittee on constitutional rights. But in truth, the impeachment precedents are not clear. Let's put it this way. In the old days, from the beginning of the country through the 1800s and early 1900s, there were precedents that the target or accused did not have the right to counsel.''

That's why Polk believes Hillary's approach in writing the memorandum was foolish. He says she could have argued that the Douglas case was an isolated example, and that other historical precedents could apply.

But Zeifman says the memo and removal of the Douglas files was only part the effort by Hillary, Doar, Nussbaum and Marshall to pursue their own agenda during the investigation.

After my first column, some readers wrote in claiming Zeifman was motivated by jealousy because he was not appointed as the chief counsel in the investigation, with that title going to Doar instead.

Zeifman's account is that he supported the appointment of Doar because he, Zeifman, a) did not want the public notoriety that would come with such a high-profile role; and b) didn't have much prosecutorial experience. When he started to have a problem with Doar and his allies was when Zeifman and others, including House Majority Leader Tip O'Neill and Democratic committee member Jack Brooks of Texas, began to perceive Doar's group as acting outside the directives and knowledge of the committee and its chairman, Peter Rodino.

(O'Neill died in 1994. Brooks is still living and I tried unsuccessfully to reach him. I'd still like to.)

This culminated in a project to research past presidential abuses of power, which committee members felt was crucial in aiding the decisions they would make in deciding how to handle Nixon's alleged offenses.

According to Zeifman and other documents, Doar directed Hillary to work with a group of Yale law professors on this project. But the report they generated was never given to the committee. Zeifman believes the reason was that the report was little more than a whitewash of the Kennedy years '' a part of the Burke Marshall-led agenda of avoiding revelations during the Watergate investigation that would have embarrassed the Kennedys.

The fact that the report was kept under wraps upset Republican committee member Charles Wiggins of California, who wrote a memo to his colleagues on the committee that read in part:

Within the past few days, some disturbing information has come to my attention. It is requested that the facts concerning the matter be investigated and a report be made to the full committee as it concerns us all.

Early last spring when it became obvious that the committee was considering presidential ''abuse of power'' as a possible ground of impeachment, I raised the question before the full committee that research should be undertaken so as to furnish a standard against which to test the alleged abusive conduct of Richard Nixon.

As I recall, several other members joined with me in this request. I recall as well repeating this request from time to time during the course of our investigation. The staff, as I recall, was noncommittal, but it is certain that no such staff study was made available to the members at any time for their use.

Wiggins believed the report was purposely hidden from committee members. Chairman Rodino denied this, and said the reason Hillary's report was not given to committee members was that it contained no value. It's worth noting, of course, that the staff member who made this judgment was John Doar.

In a four-page reply to Wiggins, Rodino wrote in part:

Hillary Rodham of the impeachment inquiry staff coordinated the work. . . . After the staff received the report it was reviewed by Ms. Rodham, briefly by Mr. Labovitz and Mr. Sack, and by Doar. The staff did not think the manuscript was useful in its present form. . . .

In your letter you suggest that members of the staff may have intentionally suppressed the report during the course of its investigation. That was not the case.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Doar was more concerned that any highlight of the project might prejudice the case against President Nixon. The fact is that the staff did not think the material was usable by the committee in its existing form and had not had time to modify it so it would have practical utility for the members of the committee. I was informed and agreed with the judgment.

Mr. Labovitz, by the way, was John Labovitz, another member of the Democratic staff. I spoke with Labovitz this past Friday as well, and he is no fan of Jerry Zeifman.

''If it's according to Zeifman, it's inaccurate from my perspective,'' Labovitz said. He bases that statement on a recollection that Zeifman did not actually work on the impeachment inquiry staff, although that is contradicted not only by Zeifman but Polk as well.

Labovitz said he has no knowledge of Hillary having taken any files, and defended her no-right-to-counsel memo on the grounds that, if she was assigned to write a memo arguing a point of view, she was merely following orders.

But as both Zeifman and Polk point out, that doesn't mean ignoring background of which you are aware, or worse, as Zeifman alleges, confiscating documents that disprove your argument.

All told, Polk recalls the actions of Hillary, Doar and Nussbaum as more amateurish than anything else.

''Of course the Republicans went nuts,'' Polk said. ''But so did some of the Democrats '' some of the most liberal Democrats. It was more like these guys '' Doar and company '' were trying to manage the members of Congress, and it was like, 'Who's in charge here?' If you want to convict a president, you want to give him all the rights possible. If you're going to give him a trial, for him to say, 'My rights were denied,' '' it was a stupid effort by people who were just politically tone deaf. So this was a big deal to people in the proceedings on the committee, no question about it. And Jerry Zeifman went nuts, and rightfully so. But my reaction wasn't so much that it was underhanded as it was just stupid.''

Polk recalls Zeifman sharing with him at the time that he believed Hillary's primary role was to report back to Burke Marshall any time the investigation was taking a turn that was not to the liking of the Kennedys.

''Jerry used to give the chapter and verse as to how Hillary was the mole into the committee works as to how things were going,'' Polk said. ''And she'd be feeding information back to Burke Marshall, who, at least according to Jerry, was talking to the Kennedys. And when something was off track in the view of the Kennedys, Burke Marshall would call John Doar or something, and there would be a reconsideration of what they were talking about. Jerry used to tell me that this was Hillary's primary function.''

Zeifman says he had another staff member get him Hillary's phone records, which showed that she was calling Burke Marshall at least once a day, and often several times a day.

A final note about all this: I wrote my first column on this subject because, in the aftermath of Hillary being caught in her Bosnia fib, I came in contact with Jerry Zeifman and found his story compelling. Zeifman has been trying to tell his story for many years, and the mainstream media have ignored him. I thought it deserved an airing as a demonstration of how early in her career Hillary began engaging in self-serving, disingenuous conduct.

Disingenuously arguing a position? Vanishing documents? Selling out members of her own party to advance a personal agenda? Classic Hillary. Neither my first column on the subject nor this one were designed to show that Hillary is dishonest. I don't really think that's in dispute. Rather, they were designed to show that she has been this way for a very long time '' a fact worth considering for anyone contemplating voting for her for president of the United States.

By the way, there's something else that started a long time ago.

''She would go around saying, 'I'm dating a person who will some day be president,''' Polk said. ''It was like a Babe Ruth call. And because of that comment she made, I watched Bill Clinton's political efforts as governor of Arkansas, and I never counted him out because she had made that forecast.''

Bill knew what he wanted a long time ago. Clearly, so did Hillary, and her tactics for trying to achieve it were established even in those early days.Vote wisely.

The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.

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Archived Version

Source: The Last Refuge

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:42

Ginsburg's ridicule is very symptomatic of the liberal mind and likely to end up aiding Trump in multiple ways.

It was only a month ago when, in an effort to make Trump seem unreasonable, pundits were spending several hours/days of airtime and column inches explaining how federal judges are impartial and completely unbiased in response to Trump's arguments about the Mexican judge in the Trump University legal matter.

Now those same pundits and voices are having to defend the transparently obvious bias within the snarky comments presented by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

''He is a faker,'' she said of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, going point by point, as if presenting a legal brief. ''He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego. '... How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that.''

(CNN) ['...] It is highly unusual for a justice to make such politically charged remarks, and some critics said she crossed the line. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday sharply criticized Ginsburg's criticism of Trump, calling her comments ''totally inappropriate.'' (read more)

Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot '' resign!

'-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 13, 2016

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Archived Version

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 01:42

By Will Cadigan, CNN

Updated May 23, 2016

With Donald Trump now the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, the next step of the presidential process has begun: trying to predict who the unpredictable candidate will select as their running mate.

Trump has laid down some parameters, although as any seasoned VP watcher will tell you, you can't believe everything you hear this time of year. Trump says he's looking for someone with political and government experience, someone who can help him ''get things done'' in Washington. Trump said he won't announce his nominee until July, but here is a list of potential picks.

Top contenders

Mary FallinGovernor of OklahomaFallin is a woman who could add diversity to a Trump ticket and has experience running a state and serving in Congress. Has been publicly enthusiastic about Trump and VP talk.

What they've said"I'm behind Donald Trump 100% ... I would be very honored if I were to receive a call saying I need you to help make America great again.''

'' Statement to CNN 05/04What Trump has saidMary Fallin is a ''fabulous person.''

'' CNNChris ChristieGovernor of New Jersey and former 2016 presidential candidateChristie has been a very public supporter of Trump, endorsing him soon after dropping out of the presidential race. He brings executive and national security experience.

What they've said"I will make this decision if and when there's a decision for us to make.''

'' CNNWhat Trump has said''I like Chris a lot. I'm not going to say ruling in or out."

'' Fox NewsJeff SessionsSenator from AlabamaFirst senator to endorse Trump and brings Washington, foreign policy and domestic policy experience.

What they've said"I don't expect to be asked."

'' CNNJoni ErnstSenator from Iowa, first female combat veteran to serve in the SenateErnst has conservative credentials, Washington experience, foreign policy chops and fundraising connections. She has been critical of Trump's comments on women but when asked about being chosen as VP, she left the door open.

What they've said"No one has reached out, so it's a hypothetical right now.''

'' KETVBob CorkerSenator from TennesseeCorker has been openly advising Trump on his foreign policy and brings Washington experience, establishment credentials and a willingness to work across the aisle to the ticket.

What they've said''Sen. Corker has no reason to believe he is being considered for vice president," per a spokesman.

'' CNNWhat Trump has saidThe two met in May in Trump Tower in a private meeting.

'' CNNJohn ThuneSenator from South DakotaThune is well-liked in Washington and brings experience to the potential ticket. He was rumored to have been vetted in 2008 and 2012 and his charisma and (relative) youth compliment Trump's age.

What they've said"That's not something Sen. Thune is even considering," a spokesman said.

'' Rapid City JournalJan BrewerFormer governor of ArizonaAs a staunch supporter of Trump, the former governor would add diversity to the ticket while appealing to the Trump base. She lacks Washington experience, however, and is very polarizing from her tenure as governor.

What they've said"I'm honored to be able to support him and I would be honored to serve him in any capacity.''

'' AZ CentralWhat Trump has said"She's been fantastic"

'' Fox NewsRob PortmanSenator from Ohio, former representativeA mainstay on VP shortlists, Portman brings a mild-mannered nature and unimpeachable Washington experience to the ticket, as well as Ohio '' a state Trump lost to John Kasich.

What they've saidI'm ''not considering'' the VP slot and ''I'm focused on Ohio."

'' Statement to CNN 05/16What Trump has saidPortman is one of the campaign's early favorites for vice president, a senior Trump campaign official said May 4

'' CNNNewt GingrichFormer House speaker and 2012 presidential candidateGingrich taken to the airwaves, Twittersphere, and K Street to advocate for Trump and brings significant Washington experience to the ticket.

What they've said''I'd be hard-pressed not to say, 'yes' ... We certainly could be lured into a new path.''

'' Fox NewsWhat Trump has saidTrump called Gingrich ''such a great guy, such a great supporter'' and said he was ''absolutely'' on the shortlist.

'' Fox NewsRick PerryFormer governor of Texas, presidential candidate in 2012 and 2016Perry was an instense early critic, but would bring big state experience and establishment credentials and has experienced the rigors of a presidential run. Formally endorsed Trump in May.

What they've said"I'm not going to go back to Texas and say, 'Aw shucks sir, I'm gonna go fishing.' I'm gonna go serve my country."

'' CNNWhat Trump has said''I appreciate it from Rick, because I really like Rick. I've always liked Rick.''

'' Fox NewsKeep an eye on

Marco RubioSenator from Florida, former 2016 candidateRubio is young, an experienced campaigner, Hispanic and from the crucial state of Florida. He offers foreign policy and (some) Washington experience.

What they've said"I have never sought, will not seek and do not want to be considered for Vice President."

'' CNNWhat Trump has said"Marco Rubio and most others mentioned are NOT under consideration.''

'' CNNRick ScottGovernor of FloridaScott endorsed Trump, they both have business backgrounds, and he is from the key swing state of Florida.

What they've said"I'm going to pass."

'' CNNSusana MartinezGovernor of New MexicoHispanic and a woman, Martinez could add diversity on two fronts where Trump needs help. She also offers executive experience.

What they've said"Not interested in serving as vice president."

'' Statement to CNN 05/04What Trump has saidMartinez is one of the campaign's early favorites, a senior Trump campaign official said May 4

'' CNNPhoto illustrations: Will Mullery / CNN / Getty Images

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:54

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Archived Version

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:51

Guccifer 2.0, the hacker who breached the Democratic National Committee, has released a cache of purported DNC documents to The Hill in an effort to refocus attention on the hack.

The documents include more than 11,000 names matched with some identifying information, files related to two controversial donors and a research file on Sarah Palin.

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''The press [is] gradually forget[ing] about me, [W]ikileaks is playing for time and [I] have some more docs,'' he said in electronic chat explaining his rationale.

The documents provide some insight into how the DNC handled high-profile donation scandals. But the choice of documents revealed to The Hill also provides insight into the enigmatic Guccifer 2.0.

The hacker provided a series of spreadsheets related to Norman Hsu, a Democratic donor jailed in 2009 for running a Ponzi scheme and arranging illegal campaign contributions. The DNC responded by assembling files to gauge the exposure from Hsu to its slate of candidates.

Similar files on Paul J. Magliocchetti, a lobbyist closely associated with the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), provide a quick reference document outlining Magliocchetti's donations to Republicans. Magliocchetti pleaded guilty in 2010 to involvement in a pay-for-play campaign finance scheme.

Guccifer 2.0 has claimed to be a Romanian hacker with no strong political leanings. Guccifer 2.0's choice to release documents from Magliocchetti and Hsu, whose cases are now six and seven years old, shows a detailed knowledge of American politics seemingly at odds with the backstory provided by the hacker.

Experts have questioned whether Guccifer 2.0 is Romanian or even a single person. Tools used in the attack were matched to Russian intelligence agencies and, when tested, Guccifer 2.0 has struggled to speak in Romanian.

Guccifer 2.0 was an unknown quantity until after the DNC announced it had been breached. He has since leaked a variety of documents, including counter-Trump strategies and donor databases.

The files provided by Guccifer 2.0 to The Hill includes a folder with a list of objectionable quotes from Palin and an archive of the former Alaska governor's Twitter account assembled in 2011 '-- before Palin decided against running for president.

Other documents contain internal fundraising goals for different donors and bundlers in 2005 and a 10,000-name email database that, based on the prevalence of Hotmail accounts and lack of Gmail references, appears to be from around the same time. Separate files contain as many as 1,500 names pared with contact information from 2005 and 2006 fundraising events.

''Our experts are confident in their assessment that the Russian government hackers were the actors responsible for the breach detected in April, and we believe that the subsequent release and the claims around it may be a part of a disinformation campaign by the Russians,'' a senior DNC official said in a written statement.

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Archived Version

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:46

Dozens of half-dead people blindly staggered through the streets of a Brooklyn neighborhood known as ''Zombieland'' Tuesday morning, propping themselves up against fire hydrants and vomiting foam down their shirts.

But the apocalyptic scene wasn't for a movie. The victims had apparently smoked a bad batch of the ''synthetic marijuana'' drug known as K2 '-- and 33 people had to be hospitalized.

''It looked like a scene out of 'The Walking Dead,''‰'' said Brian Arthur, a lifelong Brooklyn resident who posted footage of the disheartening scene on Facebook.

Bags of K2 are seen on the ground where the overdoses happened in Brooklyn.Photo: Dennis A. Clark''These guys were wandering around, stumbling all over the place, and were completely out of it,'' he told The Post. ''They didn't know their whereabouts, and some couldn't even get up off the floor. One guy was even trying to hold himself up with a Johnny pump [fire hydrant]. It was ridiculous.''

In Arthur's video, police can be seen corralling some of the drug users as others lose their minds.

''Look at these dudes '-- they can't even stand straight,'' he says, while walking through the junkie wasteland, panning to people passed out on the concrete. ''This is crazy!''

Cops said the druggies started dropping like flies at around 9:40 a.m., with most of them being found on the sidewalk and subway platforms near Broadway and Myrtle Avenue '-- a notorious spot for K2 users that has been dubbed ''Zombieland'' by cops and residents.

''That area is ground zero for K2 addicts,'' a police source said. ''They have people there who are zonked out on K2 all the time.

Photo: Andronika Zimmerman

Up NextI got caught cheating through Pok(C)mon Go:0Pok(C)mon Go ruined my love life! Evan Scribner claims he's...

''There is a store at the corner there that sells it and there's a methadone clinic nearby.

''It's believed that people who go to the methadone clinic are also using K2.''

The victims were taken to Woodhull Medical Center and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and were all expected to survive, cops said.

''The majority of these people who were doing this were young, teenage guys who hang out in the streets,'' Arthur said.

Police try to help a man who may have taken K2.Photo: Dennis A. ClarkPolice on Tuesday said they initially received a call for multiple overdoses outside a building adjacent to Bushwick City Farm, which provides free food, clothing and educational programs.

Officers found eight afflicted individuals upon their arrival, and 14 more later.

''Obviously, it was a bad batch [of K2],'' a police source said. ''They are lucky they didn't die.''

A Bushwick City Farm volunteer told The Post that K2 users meet on benches outside the garden.

''We've been trying to push people away from the garden area who are smoking this stuff,'' said Jason Reis, 34. ''They'll often try to congregate out front. In the last week or so, we've put a sign that said: 'No smoking K2.''‰''

Reis added that residents of Stockton Street and the surrounding area have been contending with K2 users for at least the past three years, noting, ''There's always people passed out on the streets. I saw a guy was puking on the street earlier.''

Arthur recalled how he once saw a K2 user casually taking a stroll with his pants around his ankles.

''It was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen,'' he said. ''The guy was walking around half-naked. It was insane.''

While residents claimed K2 has been a problem for years, police sources said they had never had an incident as serious as Tuesday's.

''[Thirty-three people] is a tremendous amount in one morning,'' a source said. ''That is a busy week.''

Photo: Andronika ZimmermanPolice sources and residents in the area told The Post that the K2 is being purchased from a deli at the corner of Myrtle and Broadway. The store, Big Boy Deli, has been raided by police several times in the past, most recently last Thursday, they said.

''The sheriff's department came in and closed it down for a couple days, but then it was open again,'' Arthur recalled. ''By Monday, they were right back to selling.''

Last year the popularity of the chemical-laced drug skyrocketed among young pot smokers and the city's homeless population because of its low price, around $5 a pop.

In October 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law three measures that made possession of the drug with intent to sell a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Still, sources said there is nothing cops can do about people who smoke it.

''There cannot be any arrests made of people possessing K2,'' a police source said.

Additional reporting by Shari Logan

Everything you need to know about synthetic marijuana, aka Spice:

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Archived Version

Source: FCW: The business of federal technology

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:09

Homeland Security

DHS pushes for more cyber experts in the fieldBy Mark RockwellJul 12, 2016Senior DHS cyber official Andy Ozment is calling for more cybersecurity advisers to help critical infrastructure providers.

The Department of Homeland Security wants to expand a program that puts federal cyber and physical security experts on the ground in potentially vulnerable spots, officials told lawmakers.

Local advisers are essential to effective cybersecurity for infrastructure providers, said Andy Ozment, assistant secretary for DHS' Office of Cybersecurity and Communications in the National Protection and Programs Directorate.

He told the House Homeland Security Committee's Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies Subcommittee that DHS has six cybersecurity advisers deployed nationwide as part of an NPPD program and is seeking funding for a total of 24 in the fiscal 2017 budget.

Additionally, Ozment and Caitlin Durkovich, assistant secretary of NPPD's Office of Infrastructure Protection, said cybersecurity advisers must be more closely aligned with advisers who focus on infrastructure providers' physical security.

The push aligns closely with DHS' plan to reorganize NPPD into a new entity called Cyber Infrastructure Protection, which would cut across the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, the Office of Infrastructure Protection and the Federal Protective Service. The plan requires the backing of Congress.

DHS fields 102 regional protective security advisers as part of a program established in 2004. Durkovich told the panel that although that program is mature, the agents don't have detailed expertise in cybersecurity. They know the basics of good cyber hygiene and have completed cybersecurity training camps with the Secret Service, but only a few have been certified to work with cybersecurity tools, she added.

Two dozen cybersecurity advisers wouldn't match the number of protective security advisers, but Ozment said the teams could work cooperatively.

Physical security advisers could initially raise cybersecurity concerns with critical infrastructure providers. "If there is a cyber problem, they can bring it to the attention of a [cyber adviser]" who might not necessarily be a hands-on expert but would take a more strategic approach to cybersecurity advice, Ozment said.

NPPD's incident response teams would handle the technical details on intrusions and more damaging cyberattacks.

About the Author

Mark Rockwell is a staff writer at FCW.

Before joining FCW, Rockwell was Washington correspondent for Government Security News, where he covered all aspects of homeland security from IT to detection dogs and border security. Over the last 25 years in Washington as a reporter, editor and correspondent, he has covered an increasingly wide array of high-tech issues for publications like Communications Week, Internet Week, Fiber Optics News, tele.com magazine and Wireless Week.

Rockwell received a Jesse H. Neal Award for his work covering telecommunications issues, and is a graduate of James Madison University.

Click here for previous articles by Rockwell. Contact him at mrockwell@fcw.com or follow him on Twitter at @MRockwell4.

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Archived Version

Source: FCW: The business of federal technology

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:09

Workforce

White House accelerates cyber hiringBy Adam MazmanianJul 12, 2016The federal government hired 3,000 cybersecurity and IT workers during the first six months of fiscal 2016, and hopes to make an additional 3,500 new hires by January 2017.

The hiring spree is part of the Cybersecurity National Action Plan, a $19 billion effort that includes the proposed $3.1 billion IT modernization revolving fund. While pieces of the effort are stalled in Congress, the White House is pushing ahead with the workforce piece of the strategy, according to a July 12 White House blog post.

The governmentwide recruitment effort includes the use of special pay authorities, the addition of a cybersecurity cadre to the Presidential Management Fellows program and increased outreach to diversify the cybersecurity and IT workforce. Officials hope to improve recruitment and training and to identify workforce needs by dividing the cyber field into 31 specialty areas. The plan also includes a single program to orient new cyber workers to the government workforce, with an eye toward improving information sharing and career advancement opportunities.

The White House is also hoping for $62 million in funding for cybersecurity education.

The blog post from Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan, Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Beth Cobert, White House cyber coordinator Michael Daniel and federal CIO Tony Scott does not, however, include one piece of long-awaited cyber workforce news: the name of the first federal chief information security officer. The new position, reporting to the federal CIO, was part of the cyber plan released in February.

About the Author

Adam Mazmanian is executive editor of FCW.

Before joining the editing team, Mazmanian was an FCW staff writer covering Congress, government-wide technology policy, health IT and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to joining FCW, Mr. Mazmanian was technology correspondent for National Journal and served in a variety of editorial at B2B news service SmartBrief. Mazmanian started his career as an arts reporter and critic, and has contributed reviews and articles to the Washington Post, the Washington City Paper, Newsday, Architect magazine, and other publications. He was an editorial assistant and staff writer at the now-defunct New York Press and arts editor at the About.com online network in the 1990s, and was a weekly contributor of music and film reviews to the Washington Times from 2007 to 2014.

Click here for previous articles by Mazmanian. Connect with him on Twitter at @thisismaz.

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Archived Version

Source: The Intercept

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:23

Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, the former Virginia National Guardsman arrested last week on charges of plotting to provide material support to Islamic State, was manipulated by a government informant, his siblings say.

Jalloh was also mischaracterized by the government, the family members added, with innocent or thoughtless words twisted to make the 26-year-old naturalized citizen, originally from Sierra Leone, sound like a budding terrorist. Jalloh faces up to 20 years in prison.

''He is just another Mohamed that got set up,'' his brother Chernor Jalloh told The Intercept. ''He sympathizes with the oppressed abroad'...The FBI used his love for those being oppressed against him by inciting him in all manners that they deemed fit.''

A criminal complaint unsealed last week and widely publicized revealed that Jalloh had been speaking for months with a government informant, who recorded conversations in which Jalloh seemed to support acts of violence. The informant solicited Jalloh's help in procuring money and weapons that he said would be used in support of ISIS. At one point, Jalloh was provided with a mobile messaging application to help him send $500 to an undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS member abroad.

After Jalloh attempted to purchase a rifle at a local gun store, he was placed under arrest.

The government affidavit against Jalloh alleges that he had been radicalized by watching the lectures of former Al Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki. But his family says that Jalloh was young and impressionable, and had been manipulated by his conversations with the government informant.

Chernor also said he believed his brother looked up to the informant as someone who was older and whose opinion should respected. ''He looked at him as an older brother with more knowledge about what is going on in the Middle East and was trying to understand their plight.''

The use of informants in FBI terrorism cases has become a source of controversy after several high-profile cases in which terrorism plots appeared to have been devised and propagated by the informant themselves. The FBI is believed to have at least 15,000 informants active in the United States.

An undated photo of Jalloh (left) at his military graduation.

While the full details of Jalloh's interactions with the informant are not yet known, his family says that the behavior linked by the government to terrorism is being mischaracterized.Its unclear how long Jalloh had been under government surveillance. His conversations with the informant lasted several months, though reference is also made in the affidavit to a trip Jalloh took to Nigeria last year. Privacy advocates and whistleblowers have long warned that extended government surveillance could create ''databases of ruin'' about innocent people, whereby harmful or provocative statements are catalogued over time and then later contextualized in an incriminating manner.

Jalloh's family claims that in his case, innocent actions and thoughtless words, or ''tough talk,'' are being conflated together by the government to paint a picture of him that is more nefarious than the reality.

''Mohamed was a military kid, he owned other guns before this all happened and he generally bought and practiced with guns all the time anyways,'' says Jalloh's sister, Mariatu Jalloh. ''He grew up here in Virginia and never thought of something like buying a gun as remarkable or suspicious.'' She described Mohamed's statements to the informant as an emotional response to incitement and said her brother engaged in tough talk to impress someone he respected.

''He was being manipulated by the informant into saying things he would never have otherwise,'' she says.

''The government is taking statements and actions that had nothing to do with one another and putting them together to paint a certain picture'....they're connecting dots.''

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Source: TechFreedom

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:09

Should the FBI need a warrant to look at your browser history? What about other records about how you use the Internet? Recently, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) proposed an amendment dubbed the ''ECTR fix'' that would allow the FBI to access electronic communication transactional records, such as email metadata, without a court order. Evan is joined by Jadzia Butler and Gabe Rottman of the Center for Democracy & Technology. Is the ECTR fix really just about correcting a typo? Are there any problems with the current system for obtaining these records? For more, see Jadzia and Gabe's blog post.

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Archived Version

Source: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - Latest Publications

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:23

US Department of State

Report Chapter, NATO Road to Cybersecurity, pages 43-50

July 8, 2016

Author:Kate Miller, Research and Project Assistant, Cyber Security Project

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: Cyber Security Project

While the issue of cyber operations beyond NATO's own networks is a politically difficult one given the complex mosaic of national, transnational (EU), and international law; the role of national intelligence efforts in certain types of operations; and ever-present disputes over burden-sharing, the Alliance already has invaluable experience in developing policies and procedures for contentious and sensitive tools in the form of the Nuclear Planning Group (NPG). This article begins with a brief overview of actions NATO has already taken to address cyberthreats. It will then explore why these, while important, are insufficient for the present and any imaginable future geopolitical threat environment. Next, it will address the history of the NPG, highlighting some parallels with the present situation regarding cyber and drawing out the challenges faced by, and activities and mechanisms of, the NPG. Finally, it will make the case that a group modeled on the NPG can not only significantly enhance the Alliance's posture in cyberspace, but can serve as an invaluable space for fostering entente and reconciling differences on key aspects of cyber policy. It concludes that the Alliance needs to consider offensive cyber capabilities and planning, and it needs a Cyber Planning Group to do it.

For more information about this publication please contact the Cyber Security Project Director at 617-495-1343.

Full text of this publication is available at:http://cybersecforum.eu/en/nato-road-cybersecurity/

For Academic Citation:

Miller, Kate. "Planning for Cyber in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization." Swiatkowska, Joanna, ed., "NATO Road to Cybersecurity," Kosciuszko Institute, July 8, 2016.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:32

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has handed down a very important decision on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Facebook v. Vachani, which I flagged just last week. For those of us worried about broad readings of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the decision is quite troubling. Its reasoning appears to be very broad. If I'm reading it correctly, it says that if you tell people not to visit your website, and they do it anyway knowing you disapprove, they're committing a federal crime of accessing your computer without authorization.

I think this decision is wrong, and that it has big implications going forward. Here's a rundown of the case and why it matters. I'll conclude with a thought about a possible way to read the case more narrowly, as well as why I'm not convinced that narrow reading is correct.

I. The Facts

Steve Vachani is the chief executive and founder of Power Ventures, which had a website at Power.com. (I'll refer to Vachani and Power Ventures collectively as ''Power.'') Power had a service that let users aggregate their contacts on different social media sites. Power's software allowed Facebook users to authorize Power to go into their Facebook accounts and gather information for them for use at Power's website. Power users also authorized the software to send Facebook messages to other Facebook users for them. Facebook didn't appreciate this, and it sent a ''cease and desist'' letter to Power telling the company to stop. The cease-and-desist letter told Power that it was violating Facebook's terms of use and warned Power that it may have violated federal and state law. Facebook also blocked Power's IP addresses. Power just changed IP addresses and continued operating.

Facebook then sued, claiming that Power's conduct violated the CFAA, a somewhat similar California unauthorized access statute and the CAN-SPAM Act. Just to keep things simple, I'll focus this post only on the claims brought under the CFAA.

II. The New Decision

In the new decision, the court holds that Power violated the CFAA when it continued to access Facebook's computers with users' permission after receiving the cease-and-desist letter. Oddly, Judge Susan P. Graber's explanation for why Power violated the CFAA focuses almost exclusively on Power's state of mind rather than what Power did. The CFAA prohibits intentionally accessing a computer without authorization. Instead of explaining what counts as access ''without authorization,'' Judge Graber focuses mostly on whether Power had a culpable state of mind with respect to whether it was doing something unwanted.

Here's the key analysis:

Initially, Power users arguably gave Power permission to use Facebook's computers to disseminate messages. Power reasonably could have thought that consent from Facebook users to share the promotion was permission for Power to access Facebook's computers. [FN: Because, initially, Power users gave Power permission to use Facebook's computers to disseminate messages, we need not decide whether websites such as Facebook are presumptively open to all comers, unless and until permission is revoked expressly.] . . . Power users took action akin to allowing a friend to use a computer or to log on to an e-mail account. Because Power had at least arguable permission to access Facebook's computers, it did not initially access Facebook's computers ''without authorization'' within the meaning of the CFAA.

But Facebook expressly rescinded that permission when Facebook issued its written cease and desist letter to Power on December 1, 2008. Facebook's cease and desist letter informed Power that it had violated Facebook's terms of use and demanded that Power stop soliciting Facebook users' information, using Facebook content, or otherwise interacting with Facebook through automated scripts. Facebook then imposed IP blocks in an effort to prevent Power's continued access.

The record shows unequivocally that Power knew that it no longer had authorization to access Facebook's computers, but continued to do so anyway. In requests for admission propounded during the course of this litigation, Power admitted that, after receiving notice that its use of or access to Facebook was forbidden by Facebook, it ''took, copied, or made use of data from the Facebook website without Facebook's permission to do so.'' (Emphasis added; capitalization omitted.)

. . . In sum, as it admitted, Power deliberately disregarded the cease and desist letter and accessed Facebook's computerswithout authorization to do so. It circumvented IP barriers that further demonstrated that Facebook had rescinded permission for Power to access Facebook's computers. [FN: Simply bypassing an IP address, without more, would not constitute unauthorized use. Because a blocked user does not receive notice that he has been blocked, he may never realize that the block was imposed and that authorization was revoked. Or, even if he does discover the block, he could conclude that it was triggered by misconduct by someone else who shares the same IP address, such as the user's roommate or co-worker.] We therefore hold that, after receiving written notification from Facebook on December 1, 2008, Power accessed Facebook's computers ''without authorization'' within the meaning of the CFAA and is liable under that statute.

As I read the court's opinion, the main issue is state of mind. Did you know that the computer owner didn't want you to visit the website? At first, Power didn't know Facebook's view. But after the cease-and-desist letter, Power knew Facebook's position. As a result, it was a federal crime to use Facebook after having received Facebook's letter telling it to stay away. If I'm reading the opinion correctly, it appears that every contact with the computer that its owner doesn't want is ''without authorization.'' The main question becomes mens rea: The visit becomes a federal crime when the visitor knows that the computer owner doesn't want it.

III. The Thin (Nonexistent?) Line Between Terms of Use and Cease-and-Desist Letters

At this point you may be thinking: Hey, wait, didn't the en banc 9th Circuit rule in Nosal I that using a computer in violation of its terms of use is not a CFAA violation? If intentionally using a computer in violation of the terms of use is legal authorized access, as the en banc 9th Circuit held in Nosal I, why is intentionally using a computer after receiving a cease-and-desist letter criminal access ''without authorization''? In one case, the user goes to the website and sees the terms; in the other, the website owner contacts the user and shows the terms to them. But it's the same thing, right?

Judge Graber offers two explanations for the difference. First:

[A]lthough Nosal I makes clear that violation of the terms of use of a website cannot itself constitute access without authorization, this case does not involve non-compliance with terms and conditions of service. Facebook and Power had no direct relationship, and it does not appear that Power was subject to any contractual terms that it could have breached.

I don't follow this.

First, I don't understand why it matters whether there is an existing contractual relationship. Maybe that's relevant to whether we are in the illegal ''access without authorization'' box or the equally illegal ''exceeds authorized access'' box, which Judge Graber elsewhere notes is a possible difference between this case and Nosal I. But I don't see how it could be the difference between illegal ''access without authorization'' and legal authorized access.

Second, both terms of use and cease-and-desist letters are just written statements about what the computer owner wants you to do with the computer. If Facebook's terms say, ''no social media aggregators such as Power.com are permitted to visit,'' it's hard for me to distinguish between between that and a letter to Power saying ''we do not permit social media aggregators such as you and therefore you cannot visit.''

If you have to really come up with a difference, I suppose terms of use imply a conditional that cease-and-desist letters don't. Terms of use requires the visitor to see that his act is prohibited and therefore unwanted. There can be uncertainty about whether that condition is met. But that's solely a matter of state of mind rather than the act. It goes to whether the act is intentional, which is a separate element of the crime. I don't understand how one can be criminal ''access without authorization'' and the other is legal authorized access.

Judge Graber also offers this distinction between terms of use and cease-and-desist letters:

Finally, Nosal I [on terms of use] was most concerned with transforming ''otherwise innocuous behavior into federal crimes simply because a computer is involved.'' Id. at 860. It aimed to prevent criminal liability for computer users who might be unaware that they were committing a crime. But, in this case, Facebook clearly notified Power of the revocation of access, and Power intentionally refused to comply. Nosal I's concerns about overreaching or an absence of culpable intent simply do not apply here. This case is closer to Nosal II, wherein liability attached after permission to access computers was expressly revoked, but then the defendant deliberately circumvented the rescission of authorization.

This makes no sense to me. Again, Graber appears to have a misplaced emphasis on state of mind. She is focused on whether people had ''culpable intent,'' and letting those ''unaware'' escape liability while those who acted ''deliberately'' are punished. But that can't explain why you can intentionally violate terms of use but you can't intentionally ignore cease-and-desist letters. The state-of-mind question is about a different element of the CFAA '-- whether the unauthorized access was ''intentional,'' not whether the act was an unauthorized access in the first place. The difference in the legal treatment of the two acts has to rest on the difference between the acts themselves, not the differences between possible states of mind about those acts.

IV. The Physical World Analogy

Finally, Judge Graber offers a physical-world analogy that I suspect may really explain the decision.

Suppose that a person wants to borrow a friend's jewelry that is held in a safe deposit box at a bank. The friend gives permission for the person to access the safe deposit box and lends him a key. Upon receiving the key, though, the person decides to visit the bank while carrying a shotgun. The bank ejects the person from its premises and bans his reentry. The gun-toting jewelry borrower could not then reenter the bank, claiming that access to the safe deposit box gave him authority to stride about the bank's property while armed. In other words, to access the safe deposit box, the person needs permission both from his friend (who controls access to the safe) and from the bank (which controls access to its premises). Similarly, for Power to continue its campaign using Facebook's computers, it needed authorization both from individual Facebook users (who controlled their data and personal pages) and from Facebook (which stored this data on its physical servers).

I explained my problem with this kind of analogy in my recent article ''Norms of Computer Trespass.'' As I see it, the problem is that the trespass norms of private spaces like homes or commercial stores can't be blindly applied to a public website. Trespass is always norms-dependent, and each kind of space has its own set of norms. In the case of a bank, we recognize that the bank is a private business that only permits visitors that it wants to enter. The trespass norm is that staying when the bank wants you out is a trespass.

Public websites are different, I think. The web is a publishing platform, and everyone is inherently authorized to visit a public website. True, Power did more than just visit the public face of the website. Power also accessed the individual accounts of users acting as their agents. But as I see it, that's not enough to constitute a computer trespass because it's within the permission of the user and acting as the user's agent. The only non-public access was to the virtual space the user controlled, so I think the user's permission should be enough.

This doesn't mean that what Power did is necessarily a good thing. Maybe there should be other causes of action against Power for its conduct. But as I see it, the CFAA shouldn't be one of them based on these facts. Facebook also could suspend the accounts of its users who authorized Power, or it could take technical steps to stop Power's entry inside Facebook's network. But I don't think it should have been allowed to rely on the CFAA to keep Power away with a letter.

V. A Narrower Reading?

This is an important case. This was a civil dispute, but the CFAA is also criminal statute. If read broadly, the case seems to say that if you want to make it a crime for someone to visit your website, you just need to give them notice that you don't want them to visit. I gather that as long as you phrase the notice as a command to cease and desist, rather than as just general terms of use, it becomes legally binding.

One question is whether you can read the decision more narrowly to apply only to accessing an account rather than visiting a website. Here's the uncertainty: Is the decision saying broadly that you can't visit the public face of a website after the computer owner said ''no,'' or is the decision saying more narrowly that you can't access an individual account with the user's permission after the computer owner said ''no''? I would still disagree with the narrower reading, but it would be a lot less objectionable than the broader one.

Reading over the opinion, though, I don't see a lot of reason to think the court had the narrower interpretation in mind. Consider these clues. First, Footnote 1 states:

Because, initially, Power users gave Power permission to use Facebook's computers to disseminate messages, we need not decide whether websites such as Facebook are presumptively open to all comers, unless and until permission is revoked expressly.

The court then cites a law review article ''asserting that websites are the cyber-equivalent of an open public square in the physical world.'' By not deciding that question, the court appears not to be hinging its analysis on a distinction between visiting the public part of a website and accessing a private account that happens to be accessible over the web. The effect of a cease-and-desist letter appears to be the same in both cases.

Second, when the court explains the difference between terms of use on a website and a cease-and-desist letter, it doesn't just say that the difference is that terms of use often applies to the public that uses the website while the cease-and-desist letter here was for conduct that required account access. That would have been a ready distinction to make, but the court didn't make it.

Third, the court says that by sending the cease-and-desist letter, ''Facebook explicitly revoked authorization for any access[.]'' (emphasis in original). It doesn't say that the authorization was revoked for the account access but not for visiting material accessible to the public on its computers (content such as this, for example, which anyone can access). Again, that suggests the broader reading rather than the narrower reading.

VI. What Next?

Given the wafer-thin distinction between this case and the en banc decision in Nosal I, will the 9th Circuit grant a petition for rehearing en banc? I hope so. As always, stay tuned.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:20

donderdag 14 juli 2016, 7:40 Een lichaam van een vluchteling op het strand bij de Libische stad Zwara (juni 2016).. (C) APVermoedelijk zijn meer dan 3600 vluchtelingen wereldwijd dit jaar om het leven gekomen. De Internationale Organisatie voor Migratie (IOM) laat donderdag weten dat er in de eerste zes maanden van dit jaar minstens 3694 doden of vermissingen geteld zijn.

In vergelijking met het eerste half jaar van 2015 is dit volgens de IOM een stijging van 18 procent.

De gevaarlijkste vluchtroute ter wereld blijkt de tocht over de Middellandse Zee richting Europa te zijn. Alleen al op die route vonden dit jaar 2905 mensen de dood of raakten vermist. Een grote meerderheid van meer dan 2500 vluchtelingen verdronk op weg naar Itali.

Gerelateerde artikelenMeer artikelen in Buitenland

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:07

You fight for me now.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement on Monday with Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Inc. over the studio's alleged failure to properly disclose that it had paid top YouTube ''influencers'' to promote the 2014 game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. While the FTC's complaint against Warner Bros. (PDF) does not mention any specific influencer, the commission's press release calls out PewDiePie, the world's top-earning YouTube video creator, as one of the so-called influencers that took the studio's money.

Further ReadingThe FTC's complaint says that a third-party marketing team hired by Warner Bros. gave the YouTube game reviewers ''cash payments often ranging from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars,'' as long as the videos they made about Shadow of Mordor met certain criteria. Among those criteria were stipulations that the video had to be positive about the game; could not show any bugs or glitches that the reviewer may have found in the early release copy they were given to play; could not contain any negative sentiments about the game, Warner Bros., or its affiliates; and had to include ''a strong verbal call-to-action to click the link in the description box for the viewer to go to the [game's] website to learn more about the [game], to learn how they can register, and to learn how to play the game.''In addition, the YouTube creators also had to make at least one Facebook post or one Tweet to promote the video they made about Shadow of Mordor.

According to the FTC, the third-party marketing firm hired by Warner Bros. told the YouTube video creators to disclose that the video was sponsored in the information box below the video. However, this ran afoul of FTC rules because viewers had to click the ''Show More'' box to even see the disclosure. The FTC added that if the video was viewed on Facebook or Twitter, the viewer would never even see the ''Show More'' link and would be fooled into thinking that the review was objective.

Further still, the FTC claims that some of the paid videos never included a disclosure in the ''Show More'' area in the first place. In those cases, the video makers only disclosed that they had received early access to Shadow of Mordor.

''Consumers have the right to know if reviewers are providing their own opinions or paid sales pitches,'' Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement in the commission's press release. ''Companies like Warner Brothers need to be straight with consumers in their online ad campaigns.''

The settlement with Warner Bros. does not impose any fines or payments but simply orders the studio to ''[provide] each Influencer with a statement of his or her responsibility" to disclose endorsements clearly and conspicuously in the future.

The commission noted that the sponsored videos for Shadow of Mordor were viewed 5.5 million times, with PewDiePie's sponsored video raking in more than 3.7 million of those views. The Swedish YouTube star was criticized in 2015 for making what some viewers saw as an excessive amount of money, which he deflected in a video that garnered 13 million views. Ars has reached out to him for comment and will update if we receive a response.

This is hardly the first time YouTube creators and studios have come under fire for accepting payment for positive reviews. In 2015 YouTube gaming network Machinima settled with the FTC for creating ''false and deceiving'' videos that promoted the Xbox One just after its launch. Just this month, popular YouTubers Trevor "TmarTn" Martin and Tom "Syndicate" Cassell were discovered to be the owners of a Counter Strike: Global Offensive gambling site that they had extensively plugged on their own channels without disclosure. No regulatory action has yet come of that.

For Warner Bros., this settlement will be subject to public comment for 30 days on the FTC's site, after which the commission will decide whether to finalize the proposed agreement.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:07

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc. has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers during a marketing campaign for the video game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, by failing to adequately disclose that it paid online ''influencers,'' including the wildly popular ''PewDiePie,'' thousands of dollars to post positive gameplay videos on YouTube and social media. Over the course of the campaign, the sponsored videos were viewed more than 5.5 million times.

Under a proposed FTC order announced today, Warner Bros. is barred from failing to make such disclosures in the future and cannot misrepresent that sponsored content, including gameplay videos, are the objective, independent opinions of video game enthusiasts or influencers.

''Consumers have the right to know if reviewers are providing their own opinions or paid sales pitches,'' said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. ''Companies like Warner Brothers need to be straight with consumers in their online ad campaigns.''

The FTC's complaint stems from a late-2014 Warner Bros. online marketing campaign designed to generate buzz within the gaming community for the new release of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, a fantasy role-playing game loosely based on The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was released in September 2014 for the PlayStation 3 and in November 2014 for the Xbox 360.

According to the complaint, during the campaign, Warner Bros., through its advertising agency Plaid Social Labs, LLC, hired online influencers to develop sponsored gameplay videos and post them on YouTube. Warner Bros. also told the influencers to promote the videos on Twitter and Facebook, generating millions of views. PewDiePie's sponsored video alone was viewed more than 3.7 million times.

Warner Bros. paid each influencer from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, gave them a free advance-release version of the game, and told them how to promote it, according to the complaint. The FTC contends that Warner Bros. required the influencers to promote the game in a positive way and not to disclose any bugs or glitches they found.

While the videos were sponsored content '' essentially ads for Shadow of Mordor '' the FTC alleges that Warner Bros. failed to require the paid influencers to adequately disclose this fact. The FTC also alleges that Warner Bros. did not instruct the influencers to include sponsorship disclosures clearly and conspicuously in the video itself where consumers were likely to see or hear them.

Instead, according to the complaint, Warner Bros. instructed influencers to place the disclosures in the description box appearing below the video. Because Warner Bros. also required other information to be placed in that box, the vast majority of sponsorship disclosures appeared ''below the fold,'' visible only if consumers clicked on the ''Show More'' button in the description box. In addition, when influencers posted YouTube videos on Facebook or Twitter, the posting did not include the ''Show More'' button, making it even less likely that consumers would see the sponsorship disclosures.

The complaint also alleges that in some cases, the influencers disclosed only that they had received early access to Shadow of Mordor, but failed to disclose that Warner Bros. also had paid them to promote the game.

The FTC also alleges that the Warner Bros.' contracts with influencers subjected their videos to pre-approval, and that on at least one occasion Warner Bros. reviewed and approved an influencer video that lacked adequate sponsorship disclosure.

The Commission's complaint charges that Warner Bros., through its marketing campaign, misled consumers by suggesting that the gameplay videos of Shadow of Mordor reflected the independent or objective views of the influencers. The complaint also alleges that Warner Bros. failed to adequately disclose that the gamers were compensated for their positive reviews.

The proposed order settling the FTC's charges prohibits Warner Bros. from misrepresenting that any gameplay videos disseminated as part of a marketing campaign are independent opinions or the experiences of impartial video game enthusiasts. Further, it requires the company to clearly and conspicuously disclose any material connection between Warner Bros. and any influencer or endorser promoting its products.

Finally, the order specifies the minimum steps that Warner Bros., or any entity it hires to conduct an influencer campaign, must take to ensure that future campaigns comply with the terms of the order. These steps include educating influencers regarding sponsorship disclosures, monitoring sponsored influencer videos for compliance, and, under certain circumstances, terminating or withholding payment from influencers or ad agencies for non-compliance.

The Commission vote to issue the administrative complaint and to accept the proposed consent agreement was 3-0. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly.

The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through August 10, 2016, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit comments electronically by following the instructions in the ''Invitation to Comment'' part of the ''Supplementary Information'' section of the Federal Register notice.

NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has ''reason to believe'' that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:47

GovCoin Systems Limited, a London-based fintech company, together with its partners Barclays, RWE npower and University College London, is trialling a new platform based on blockchain technology for UK's Department for Work and Pensions.

By leveraging emergent distributed ledger technologies, machine learning and the ubiquity of mobile devices, GovCoin Systems aims to assist government and non-government organizations in distributing value more accurately, securely and efficiently to beneficiaries. The UK government has named the startup as the provider of new technology to support government aims in the distribution of profits.

Speaking at the Payments Innovation Conference 2016 on 4 July, Minister for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions Lord Freud highlighted the ongoing trial saying:

''We have been working with GovCoin Systems (and their partners, Barclays, RWE npower and University College London) for this trial. Claimants are using an app on their phones through which they are receiving and spending their benefit payments. With their consent, their transactions are being recorded on a distributed ledger to support their financial management.''

The companies are developing a blockchain-based platform to reduce the friction and fraud costs in the distribution of social welfare and aid. The key to the proof-of-concept trial, which commenced in June, is to develop a secure and effective technology that users adopt and use to handle payments.

''GovCoin Systems brought together a team with deep expertise in core financial services infrastructure and global transaction services to build a platform with the potential to improve people's lives. This proof-of-concept is the first concrete stage in that journey'' Robert Kay, Chief Executive Officer, GovCoin Systems Limited, said. ''We believe in a flexible, open and collaborative approach and are already working effectively with Barclays and RWE npower to develop creative answers to the complex problems faced.''

Jeremy Wilson, Vice Chairman, Corporate Banking at Barclays, explained that the initiative focuses on adding an additional layer of richer data and identity onto payments, so that a deeper and more effective relationship can be established between the government and claimants.

''We are keen to see how the positive potential of this service develops and adds to our wider efforts to explore the uses of distributed ledger technology'', he added.

(C) EconoTimes 2015. All rights reserved. The EconoTimes content received through this service is the intellectual property of EconoTimes or its third party suppliers. Republication or redistribution of content provided by EconoTimes is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of EconoTimes, except for personal and non-commercial use. Neither EconoTimes nor its third party suppliers shall be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 15:23

Members of The Tenors quickly distanced themselves from a rogue Tenor on Tuesday night after a member of the classical-pop group inserted a political statement into the lyrics of O Canada before the Major League Baseball all-star game in San Diego.

During their on-field performance at Petco Park, a line in the anthem was changed to ''We're all brothers and sisters, all lives matter to the great.'' The normal lyric is ''With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free.''

CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO

On Facebook, members of the British Columbia-based quartet blamed the alteration on Remigio Pereira, saying he acted as a ''lone wolf'' who changed the anthem to ''serve his own political views.''

Their statement said they are ''deeply sorry'' and ''shocked and embarrassed'' over what they term the ''disrespectful and misguided lack of judgment by one member of the group.''

''The actions of one member of this group were extremely selfish and he will not be performing with The Tenors until further notice,'' said the statement.

''Our sincere apologies and regrets go out to everybody who witnessed this shameful act, to our fellow Canadians, to Major League Baseball, to our friends, families, fans and to all those affected.''

Pereira '-- who sang the altered lyric alone and drew a sideways glance from the Tenor to his left '-- also held up a sign during the performance saying ''All Lives Matter.'' The words ''United We Stand'' were written on the back of the sign.

''I've been so moved lately by the tragic loss of life and I hoped for a positive statement that would bring us all together,'' Pereira later explained on Twitter.

''That was my singular motivation when I said all lives matter.''

He later posted a message on his Facebook page, saying that he ''hoped for a positive statement that would bring us ALL together.''

''That was my singular motivation when I said all lives matter. I am disturbed that people would attribute anything other than the purist of intentions to my actions.''

Although the audio wasn't crystal-clear at the park, many fans reacted with surprise. The Canadian anthem wasn't shown live on U.S. television, but it aired in Canada, where the decision to change the words drew a firestorm of criticism on social media.

The Juno Award-winning group, which also includes Clifton Murray, Fraser Walters and Victor Micallef, has recorded multiple platinum albums in Canada.

Major League Baseball was also taken by surprise by the lyric change. Spokesman Matt Bourne told The Associated Press they ''had no idea'' Pereira intended to make a political statement.

San Diego was also home to another controversial rendition of an anthem in July 1990 when actress Roseanne Barr delivered a shrieking, crotch-grabbing version of The Star Spangled Banner.

Barr was roundly mocked and ridiculed for her performance at Jack Murphy Stadium, where the Padres played at the time, and also drew a sharp rebuke from then-president George Bush.

The term ''All Lives Matter'' was born in controversy into the American political vocabulary last year. In the heat of a debate over police shootings, presidential candidate Martin O'Malley uttered the phrase at a Democratic party forum. He was booed and later apologized.

Some viewed it as an innocuous statement. Conservatives ridiculed O'Malley for apologizing, and Donald Trump called him a weak, pathetic baby.

Others saw that phrase as anything but innocent '-- critics said it was designed to squash a nascent national conversation about police-related violence against African-Americans by switching the subject.

Tuesday's incident follows a series of ''Black Lives Matter'' protests prompted by two police shootings in the United States that left two black men dead and last Friday's deadly sniper attack on Dallas police officers.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 05:34

Image copyrightReutersImage caption China has accelerated construction on some disputed reefs An international tribunal has ruled against Chinese claims to rights in the South China Sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration said there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources.

China called the ruling "ill-founded" and says it will not be bound by it.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including reefs and islands also claimed by others.

The tribunal in The Hague said China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights. It also said China had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment" by building artificial islands.

The ruling came from an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which both countries have signed.

It ruled on seven of 15 points brought by the Philippines. Among the key findings were:

Fishermen from the Philippines and China both had fishing rights around the disputed Scarborough Shoal area, and China had interfered by restricting accessChina had "destroyed evidence of the natural condition of features in the South China Sea" that formed part of the dispute Transient use of features above water did not constitute inhabitation - one of the key conditions for claiming land rights of 200 nautical miles, rather than the 12 miles granted for rocks visible at high tide.The ruling is binding but the Permanent Court of Arbitration has no powers of enforcement.

The disputeThe Philippines has had diplomatic spats with China over the Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys in particular.

It says China's "nine-dash line", which China uses to demarcate its territorial claims, is unlawful under the UNCLOS convention.

Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have competing claims in the region.

Although these islands are largely uninhabited, they may have reserves of natural resources around them. There has been little detailed exploration of the area, so estimates are largely extrapolated from the mineral wealth of neighbouring areas.

The sea is also a major shipping route and home to fishing grounds that supply the livelihoods of people across the region.

Why is the South China Sea contentious?

Rivalries underneath the South China Sea

ReactionAs expected, China is standing firm and re-asserting its claim to the area.

"China's territorial sovereignty and marine rights in the South China Sea will not be affected by the so-called Philippines South China Sea ruling in any way," said Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He said China was "determined to maintain peace and stability" and was committed to resolving disputes "through negotiations based on respects to historical facts and according to international laws".

China's state news agency Xinhua said that "as the panel has no jurisdiction, its decision is naturally null and void".

But Philippe Sands, a lawyer for the Philippines in the case, said it was a "clear and unanimous judgement that upholds the rule of law and the rights claimed by the Philippines".

The Philippine government says it is now studying the ruling.

However, the BBC's Jonah Fisher, in Manila, says the lack of celebrations may be a result of the recent change of government.

Our correspondent says many Filipinos believe newly elected President Rodrigo Duterte may have sought promises of Chinese investment, in return for a quiet, dignified response.

The US called the decision an "important contribution to the shared goal of a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea", and urged all parties to consider it "final and legally binding".

Taiwan, which also claims the disputed area, said the ruling had "seriously damaged" its rights.

"We hereby solemnly state that we will definitely not accept this ruling," the foreign ministry said.

The US sent an aircraft carrier and fighter jets to the region ahead of the decision, while the Chinese navy has been carrying out exercises near the disputed Paracel islands.

Conciliatory tone - Stephen McDonell, BBC News, BeijingThis result represents a major loss of face for China, and yet the first response from Beijing to the UN tribunal's demolition of its claims seems be rather conciliatory.

On the one hand, the Chinese government has re-stated that it has territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the area and that the activities of its people there date back to over 2,000 years ago.

However, it then goes on to talk about "consultation with the states directly concerned" and proposes "joint development in relevant maritime areas".

Airlines and shipping companies will be pleased to hear that China has also restated that it respects "freedom of navigation and overflight enjoyed by all states under international law in the South China Sea" and that it stands ready to ensure "unimpeded access to international shipping lanes".

All this seems to point towards Beijing possibly seeking some sort of negotiated settlement rather than ramping up the pressure on the Philippines following Manila's comprehensive victory in The Hague.

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Archived Version

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 05:34

Chinese President Orders Army to ''Prepare for combat''Chinese President Orders Army '' Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently ordered the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to ''prepare for combat'' as to a possible clash against the United States for its possible actions after the International tribunal's decision goes in favor of the Philippines.

According to a report by BBC, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said that there is no evidence that the Asian Giant had historical claims over the West Philippine Sea.

As China almost controls about 90% of the West Philippines Sea, the Philippines filed a case against the Asian Giant to The Hague tribunal as the Philippines also claims that it is part of its exclusive economic zone.

China then said that stood by its belief that it won't honor the decision and even calling it ''ill-founded''.

Thinking that the U.S. will do aggressive military maneuvers in the said area, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered the PLA forces to be ready for war.

According to a report by Infowars, an aircraft carrier having fighter jets have been already sent by the U.S. to the region before the ruling as the Chinese Navy said which are doing military exercises near the Parcel Islands.

The report added that China is not frightened to go to war against the U.S. and has already been issuing warnings to U.S. surveillance planes flying over the Spratlys.

According to a billionaire named George Soros, the relationship of China and Russia could really become a threat of having a third world war knowing that the Asian Giant would clash against the U.S.

What can you say about the preparation of China to war against U.S.? Will this be the spark of World War Three? How will the Philippines respond to it? Will the Philippines also go all-out against China?

Share us your thoughts in the comments below. Visit for more!

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Sun, 10 Jul 2016 21:41

By Denis Dumo

JUBA (Reuters) - At least 272 people have died in fighting between South Sudan's rival factions in the capital Juba, including 33 civilians, a government source said on Sunday, as heavy gunfire erupted again in the city and many residents sought shelter at a U.N. base.

The fighting first broke out on Thursday and Friday between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and soldiers who support vice president Riek Machar.

The violence raises fears South Sudan could slide back into conflict after emerging from a two-year civil war, which began in December 2013 after Kiir sacked Machar as vice president.

Neighbouring Kenya called for urgent action by the two leaders to move troops away from civilians and end the crisis.

A government spokesman later said the situation had been brought under control. "At present the situation is calm," Michael Makuei, minister of information, said in a broadcast by South Sudanese TV.

He said the government was calling on people to go back to their homes and that the situation was under control.

On Saturday Juba had been calm, but on Sunday a Reuters witness and residents said gunfire was heard in Gudele and Jebel suburbs of Juba, near the military barracks that hosts troops loyal to Machar.

"For about 30 to 40 minutes we heard sounds of heavy artillery in the direction of Jebel area," an aid worker based in Juba who did not want to be named told Reuters.

One resident, Daniel Samson, said he had seen a "massive migration" of people fleeing to calmer districts when there was a lull. "The gun shooting has stopped now," he said.

Another resident, who only gave his name as Steven, said he had seen hundreds heading to a U.N. compound. "I saw dead bodies of civilians and others ... moving with blood on their bodies," he told Reuters by telephone.

Officials at the U.N. South Sudan mission UNMISS could not immediately be reached for comment.

One eye witness saw soldiers apparently involved in looting, by entering a neighbour's shop and leaving with merchandise. It was not clear if those troops supported Kiir or Machar.

A Health Ministry source told Reuters early on Sunday that at least 272 people had been killed, including 33 civilians, so far. There was no official statement on the death toll.

PEACE DEAL DELAYS

Kenya called on Kiir and Machar to resolve the latest crisis and urgently to move heavy weaponry and huge contingents of soldiers out of civilian spaces of the capital Juba, Kenyan presidential spokesman Manoah Espisu told a briefing.

He said Kenya was ready to support law enforcement in Juba.

Kenya Airways suspended flights to Juba.

South Sudan's civil war was fought largely along ethnic lines with Kiir, a Dinka, and Machar, a Nuer, drawing support from their respective tribes.

A peace agreement last August ended the war but Kiir and Machar spent months after that wrangling over details and have yet to integrate their forces, a key part of the peace deal.

Machar returned to Juba in April, which as seen as a step to end fighting. But experts said the failure to move swiftly to implement other aspects of the peace deal, such as re-integrating or demobilising rival forces, risked a new conflict.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday the latest violence highlighted a lack of commitment to the peace process and urged the country's leaders to discipline military leaders and work together to implement the peace deal.

On Friday, shooting had erupted even as Machar and Kiir were in talks to defuse tensions. Both called for calm and said they did not know what sparked the flare up, raising concerns about their ability to control their respective troops.

The violence initially began late on Thursday, when soldiers loyal to Kiir demanded to search vehicles of Machar supporters. That stand-off led to clashes.

(Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Edmund Blair and Jane Merriman)

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Archived Version

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 18:05

U.S. troops board a C-130J Super Hercules at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, in February.(Photo: Senior Airman Peter Thompson/Air Force)

About 40 American service members have been rushed to the U.S. Embassy in Juba, South Sudan, as the country teeters on the verge of another civil war.

The troops will bolster security at the embassy and help non-emergency personnel leave, said Samantha Reho, a spokeswoman from U.S. Africa Command.

''This contingent brought in several vehicles solely for use in protecting the embassy,'' Reho said. She declined to provide any information about what military service or units the troops come from, citing operational security concerns.

''We do not discuss the specific forces involved or the specific capabilities the Crisis Response Force has available,'' she said. ''What I can say is the CRF is a flexible and ready force that has all the tools it needs to respond to any crisis in AFRICOM's area of responsibility.''

MARINE CORPS TIMES

Marines reveal details of tense embassy evacuation from Libya

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in resumed fighting between rival factions loyal to South Sudan's president and vice president. Both leaders reached a tentative truce on Monday.

In response to ongoing violence, the State Department on Sunday ordered the non-emergency personnel to leave the U.S. Embassy in Juba. Any U.S. citizens in South Sudan have been advised to take precautions to enhance their personal security since the embassy's ability to provide emergency services to Americans is extremely limited, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Sunday.

In 2013, the Marine Corps added a security guard detachment at the embassy in South Sudan. Marines guard embassies' access points and safeguard classified material. They are also equipped with weapons and nonlethal tools to deal with emergencies or security breaches at embassies.

MILITARYTIMES

Marine Security Guards stand up new posts in Africa

This is not the first time the U.S. has had to send troops to Juba. In January 2014, Marines from the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force'--Crisis Response'--Africa helped to evacuate staff from the embassy.

The Marines used MV-22B Ospreys and KC-130s to fly nearly 4,200 miles from their base in Mor"n, Spain, to Juba, successfully evacuating more than 20 embassy personnel.

Read or Share this story: http://militari.ly/29NvM1L

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Archived Version

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:34

Don't worry about a bot uprising. They can't even conduct a normal phone conversation yet.

The Bot Revolution is being talked up as the next big thing.

The word bot derives from robot and first appeared during the chatroom era, which peaked in the pre-Web time around 1985. The word itself goes back to the 1400s but it was a derisive term that had nothing to do with robots. It has since transformed into something miraculous'--it's the future.

If you encounter a bot trying to start up a conversation in an IRC chatroom, you can put the word "bot" on a single line and most chatbots will return the name of the bot and who owns it. If you ask "are you a bot?" it will usually return some bogus answer trying to convince you it is not a bot. I consider these legacy bots.

Even more fun are the over-the-phone robo-calls, which are now employing some form of interactive bot that is quite fascinating. I've only encountered three of these in the wild over the past six months. Two came with a female voice similar to the ubiquitous "Rachel from card services" robocaller.

The first time I ran into this robot, I stupidly hung up, passing up a research opportunity. The second time I interacted to observe the quality of the coding. It was decent. The voice was excellent, and it reacted accurately to whatever I said. There was a noticeable lack of real emotion, and there was an obvious fake enthusiasm in the voice. I was never sure what I did wrong, but after a few minutes of interaction it just stopped talking and forwarded the call someone named "Bill," who asked me if I wanted to fix my credit card problems.

When I told him I don't have any credits cards and asked him why he called, he abruptly hung up on me.

A month later, I finally got my third interactive robot call. This time I was going to see how long I could keep it on the line. It had a male voice and some sort of odd buzzing on the line that sounded like tape hiss. I immediately thought it was a robot.

I should mention that with the other two calls, it took at least three interactions to be sure it was a robot although I immediately got suspicious. I'm guessing the machines are not fast enough to parse what I said and then grab the right clip to play to me. It went something like this:

"Hi, is this John?"

"Yes."

(no awkward pause)

"How are you today?"

"Who is this?"

(long awkward pause)

"I'm Jim from '..."

I discovered that any off-the-wall answer or question made the machine work harder. I'm guessing that after the "how are you?" question is asked, you can have the most fun. I'd suggest the following responses: "Why are you asking me that?" "Let me ask you the same thing." "Do you have a puppy?" You get the idea. You should also experiment with variations on the appropriate answers.

I did manage to get the get the bot into a short conversation. The longest pause came from my blurting out "Are you a bot?" I think two or maybe three seconds went by before it said, "no."

This immediately answered the question, "Do bots lie?" asked by various tech philosophers who actually take these things seriously. From my experience bots always lie. They are programmed to lie.

Lying is a natural condition of bots. So there is no reason to suspect this will ever change, making them unreliable from the outset. This means that all these high expectations for bots to fill in as a cheap personal assistants (ordering Uber rides and straightening out your calendars, getting your plane tickets, etc.) is risky.

Worse, from my perspective, I've been hearing these exact same promises since the 1980s. Only then it was not about "bots." That's when the refrigerator was going to order milk on its own and the washing machine was going to phone a repair man when it needed fixing. The so-called bot revolution is a re-up of these old bullcrap promises. Nothing has changed except perhaps the robo-calls are more fun.

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Previous :Are Smartphones Becoming Too Complicated?This Is the Best US Phone Maker You've Never Heard OfNext :John Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the host of the weekly TV video podcast CrankyGeeks. His work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, Forbes Digital, PC World, Barrons, MacUser, PC/Computing, Smart Business and other magazines and newspapers. Former editor and consulting editor for Infoworld. Has appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, SF Examiner, Vancouver Sun. Was on the start-up team for CNet TV as well as ZDTV. At ZDTV (and TechTV) was host of Silicon... More >>

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Archived Version

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:25

SAN FRANCISCO '-- The Tor Project, a nonprofit digital privacy group, on Wednesday replaced its board with a new slate of directors as part of a larger shake-up after allegations of sexual misconduct by a prominent employee.

The Tor Project promotes the use of software that helps internet users mask their online identities and whereabouts; the software was developed by the United States Naval Research Laboratory nearly 20 years ago. The group has become better known in the last few years, as Tor is regarded as a useful tool to evade online tracking and government surveillance.

But the Tor Project has been plagued by controversy, most recently involving allegations of sexual misconduct by Jacob Appelbaum, the 33-year-old public face of Tor, who was asked to step down from the group in May.

Last December, the Tor Project appointed a new executive director, Shari Steele, partly to help restructure the group. She had previously spent 15 years as the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Mr. Appelbaum has dodged allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct for years, and was suspended for two weeks last spring because of accusations of harassment. In May, new revelations of sexual misconduct emerged, and Ms. Steele led a push for Mr. Appelbaum's resignation. She said the Tor Project had been working with an independent investigator to look into the claims.

Mr. Appelbaum denied the accusations. In a statement last month, he said: ''I want to be clear: The allegations of criminal sexual misconduct against me are entirely false.'' His publicist did not respond to further requests for comment.

After the controversy, all seven of Tor's board members agreed to give up their seats to make room for a new slate. In a joint statement on Wednesday, they said, ''It is time that we pass the baton of board oversight as the Tor Project moves into its second decade of operations.''

The new board is part of Ms. Steele's broader restructuring as she seeks to promote the legitimacy of the Tor Project. Apart from dealing with the allegations over Mr. Appelbaum, the organization has also struggled to fend off an image as a ''Dark Web'' tool used by drug dealers and pedophiles. An official from the Justice Department recently incorrectly cited a statistic claiming 80 percent of traffic on the Tor network involved child pornography. That statistic, however, came from a study involving a separate service, Tor Hidden Services, which accounts for less than 2 percent of all Tor traffic.

Since taking the Tor Project's helm, Ms. Steele has replaced its directors of human resources and administration, moved the project's base of operations to Seattle from Cambridge, Mass., recruited the new slate of directors, and searched for additional, alternative sources of funding.

Tor has received funding from private companies and nonprofits, including Google and Human Rights Watch, but 90 percent of its funding comes from government contracts and grants. That is a controversial source of funds for an organization that counts dissidents and activists looking to avoid government reprisals among its primary user base.

In an interview, Ms. Steele said the board moves were intended to ''bring in a strong, leadership-oriented board with more experience leading a strong and sustainable organization.'' Recruiting new members, she said, had not been a challenge.

''All of them had been watching what was going on with Tor and were committed and enthusiastic about growing this into a stronger and sustainable organization,'' she said.

The departing directors are Meredith Hoban Dunn, Ian Goldberg, Julius Mittenzwei, Rabbi Rob Thomas, Wendy Seltzer and two of Tor's co-founders, Roger Dingledine and Nick Mathewson. Mr. Dingledine and Mr. Mathewson will remain as leaders of Tor's technical research and development.

Their successors include Matt Blaze, a widely known cryptographer and associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania; Cindy Cohn, Ms. Steele's successor as executive director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Bruce Schneier, a security author and expert; Gabriella Coleman, an anthropologist at McGill University who writes about online activism; Linus Nordberg, a longtime internet and privacy activist; and Megan Price, executive director of the Human Rights Data Analysis Group. The remaining board seat has yet to be filled.

Correction: July 13, 2016

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the university where Gabriella Coleman is an anthropologist. It is McGill University, not the University of McGill.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:36

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CHICAGO -- Chicago first responders are planning to simulate a large-scale active shooter incident at Wrigley Field.

Thursday's emergency response exercise will run from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and include Chicago fire fighters and police officers, the city's emergency office and the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago police say the drill was planned months ago to coincide with Major League Baseball's All-Star break this week. Cubs spokesman Julian Green says the team is happy to partner with law enforcement on the exercise to ensure a safe and secure environment.

Officials warn the public that the drill will include "simulated ammunition and flash bangs."

Chicago police have held similar drills at other large venues.

Waveland Avenue will be closed from Clifton to Kenmore for both vehicles and pedestrians.

41.878114-87.629798

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Archived Version

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:35

Related Coverage

SAN MATEO COUNTY (KRON) '-- A big scare reportedly for a family on the Peninsula.

According to reports, a robot security guard, which patrols a popular mall, may have injured a toddler.

Reports have surfaced that a 16-month old boy might have an injured leg after the robocop allegedly ran him over. The alleged incident took place at the Stanford shopping center.

KRON's Gabe Slate spoke with the company that makes these robots. He talks to the Knightscope team.

''The safety of our shoppers is always our highest priority. We are investigating this incident thoroughly and the K-5 units have been docked until the investigation is complete,'' a mall spokesperson said in a statement.

The K-5 units have all kinds of sensors to avoid objects and people. Knightscope is looking into how this child might have circumvented the sensors, and will make alterations to the robots if necessary.

''We have clocked over 35,000 hours of operation, over 25,000 miles, and this is the first reported such incident, so to have an accident, or potential accident like this happen is something we are taking very very seriously,'' Stacy Stephans of Knightscope said.

Watch the above video to see Gabe's full report.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 13:09

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Watch the original video here. Source: HLNStories worth watching (14 Videos)Eighth-grader blasts white privilege in poemThe Daily Share

After his mother posted a video, eighth-grader Royce Mann's poem on white privilege caught widespread attention. Watch the original video here. Source: HLN

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 06:39

There's a war in America right now. Black vs. white. Citizen vs. police officer. Race grievances have become an industry, and business is booming.

The rage is boiling over across the nation. First, videos emerged that showed the graphic deaths of two black men at the hands of police, with what appears (at least on the videos) to be no reason. Protests erupted over these deaths, and then they became violent as one man shot 11 police officers and 2 citizens at a rally in Dallas, Texas, killing 5. That sparked a war on law enforcement officers and anationwide spree of violence against cops. Some people are even more extreme, declaring open season on white people in general.

But it's about to get even worse.

Updated: The hacktivist group claiming to be Anonymous is now calling for nationwide Day of Rage protests on Friday, July 15th. This video is NOT on the official Anonymous YouTube channel. The video below promotes the protests.(WARNING: There is some disturbing and graphic violence in this video.)

While I firmly believe that we are being distracted and manipulated so that we stop paying attention to the machinations and corruption of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, the fact remains that being anywhere near these protests greatly increases the chance that you could become a victim of violence. When the mob mentality takes over, normally decent people can commit heinous acts.

Use this as a list of places NOT to be on Friday the 15th. While the video by Anonymous does specify non-violence and denounces the actions taken against police officers that were not involved in these deaths, with the tagline ''Day of Rage'' I think it's safe to expect emotions to be running very high on both sides of the line. No matter how great your empathy might be for those who have unjustly lost their lives, these protests are not safe places to be.

These are the locations and times for the protests:

N A T I O N W I D E C A L L T O A C T I O N === J U L Y 1 5 2 0 1 6

7PM ET, 6PM CT, 5PM MT, 4PM PT

Phoenix: 5:00PM (EASTLAKE PARK, 1549 E Jefferson St , Phoenix, AZ 85034)

Tuscon: 5:00PM (CATALINA PARK, 900 N 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705)

Little Rock: 6:00PM (OUTSIDE STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Little Rock, AR 72201)

San Francisco: 4:00PM (CIVIC CENTER PLAZA, 355 Mcallister St, San Francisco, California 94102)

Oakland: 4:00PM (FRANK OGAWA PLAZA, 1 Frank H Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612)

Los Angeles: 4:00PM (LEIMERT PLAZA PARK, 4395 Leimert Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008)

Denver: 5:00PM (CIVIC CENTER PARK, 100 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, Colorado 80204)

Washington DC: 7:00PM (OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500)

Atlanta: 7:00PM (OLD DECATUR COURTHOUSE, 101 E Court Sq, Decatur, GA 30030)

Tampa: 7:00PM (OUTSIDE HILLSBOROUGH COURTHOUSE, 800 E Twiggs St, Tampa, FL)

Orlando: 7:00PM (LAKE EOLA PARK, 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, Florida 32801)

Miami: 7:00PM (GWEN CHERRY PARK, NW 71 St., Miami, Florida, 33147)

Chicago: 6:00PM (RICHARD J DALEY CENTER, 50 W Washington St, Chicago, Illinois 60602)

Des Moines: 6:00PM (IOWA STATE CAPITOL, 1007 E Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50319)

New Orleans: 6:00PM (LAFAYETTE SQUARE, New Orleans, LA 70130)

Baltimore: 7:00PM (201 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202)

Boston: 7:00PM (MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE, 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 01233)

Detroit: 7:00PM (Campus Martius Park, Detroit, Michigan 48226)

Lansing: 7:00PM (STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, Capitol Avenue at Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933)

Ann Arbor: 7:00PM (THE DIAG, Burns Park, Ann Arbor, MI 48109)

Minneapolis: 6:00PM (MINNEAPOLIS URBAN LEAGUE, 2100 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411

St. Louis: 6:00PM (GATEWAY ARCH, St. Louis 63102)

Carson City: 4:00PM (NEVADA STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, 101 N Carson St, Carson City, Nevada 89701)

Manhattan, NY: 7:00PM (TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan, NY, 10036)

Newark: 7:00PM (NEWARK CITY HALL, 920 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102)

Durham: 7:00PM (200 E. Main St. Durham, North Carolina)

Columbus: 7:00PM (GOODALE PARK, Columbus, Ohio 43215)

Cleveland: 7:00PM (CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY, 325 Superior Ave E, Cleveland, Ohio 44114)

Portland: 4:00PM (PIONEER COURTHOUSE SQUARE, 701 SW 6th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97204)

Philadelphia: 7:00PM (LOVE PARK, 1599 John F Kennedy Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102)

Pittsburgh: 7:00PM (PITTSBURGH CITY-COUNTY BUILDING, 414 Grant St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219)

Nashville: 6:00PM (801 Broadway Nashville, TN 37203 Estes Kefauver Federal Building)

Memphis: 6:00PM (Health Sciences Park Memphis, TN)

Austin: 6:00PM (TEXAS STATE CAPITOL, Outside South Gate-11th and Congress Ave.)

Salt Lake City: 5:00PM (SALT LAKE CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, 4600 S Redwood Rd, Salt Lake City, Utah 84223)

Seattle: 4:00PM (QUEEN ANNE BAPTIST CHURCH, 2011 1st Ave N, Seattle, Washington 98109)

Milwaukee: 5:00PM (DINEEN PARK, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

I strongly feel it won't end with people marching and chanting.

From yet another source, there are absolutely protests coming up. And they're going to be big.

Jacksonville's Black Lives Matter protesters and Pastor R.L. Gundy plan to take to the streets this Friday for a demonstration they say will be larger than last weekend's.

The safest crowd is one that you're not in. All of these places have the strong potential to become battle zones. Stay home.

And if your home happens to be in or near one of these areas, be aware that your city could be under siege. Make plans to stay safe and hunker down with emergency food and purified water, or to go someplace safer.

Click here for a quick-start guide to getting prepped as soon as possible.

Stay safe, friends.

PS: While comments and discussion are always welcome, please remain civil in the comments section. We have enough hate going on in the world without using deliberately inflammatory language. Please behave as a guest on my site when commenting and respect my wishes for civility. Thanks

Article reposted with permission from The Organic Prepper

Pick up Daisy's new book The Pantry Primer: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three Months to help with your prepping needs.

Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook, Google Plus, & Twitter. You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 05:54

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 05:02

As The View's resident lawer pundit, Sunny Hostin throws around her legal expertise a lot but never so often as when she's blindly defending Hillary Clinton. The CNN analyst along with co-host Whoopi Goldberg, did her best to defend Clinton against Fox News' Jedediah Bila on Monday's morning discussion on The View. After being on vacation for a week, the panel spent the last fifteen minutes of the show discussion last week's hearing where FBI director James Comey recommended Hillary Clinton not be indicted over her emails, despite her ''extreme carelessness.''

See the rest of the blog here

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:52

[See NewsBusters for more.] When Jesse Jackson on Sunday tried to tell Fox News viewers that the Dallas shooter used an ''AK-47,'' the type of gun that could ''bring down airplanes,'' Fox News host Shannon Bream quickly rebuffed these erroneous claims. Jackson appeared on Fox News Sunday to lobby for more gun control, arguing, ''[we] must do more with these military-style weapons on the street.'' He told Bream, ''But in Texas, these AK-47s, not only can they shoot up theaters and churches, they can bring down airplanes.'' The Fox host retorted, ''With all respect, if reports are correct the shooter in Texas was using an AR-15, it's not an automatic weapon, it couldn't bring down an airplane.''

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:41

See more in the cross-post on the NewsBusters blog.

Far-left Black Lives Matter activist Deray Mckesson conducted Monday afternoon interviews with CNN and MSNBC in light of his weekend arrest during a Baton Rouge, Louisiana protest and each went quite differently as MSNBC's Kristen Welker allowed Mckesson to recklessly blame police for the deadly Dallas shootings because no one would have been in the street if they hadn't shot black men to death.

In contrast, CNN's Ashleigh Banfield only half the time Welker was allotted to hammer Mckesson on past tweets of his about law enforcement that many deemed hateful and unbecoming of a public figure.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:40

See more in the cross-post on the NewsBusters blog.

Far-left Black Lives Matter activist Deray Mckesson conducted Monday afternoon interviews with CNN and MSNBC in light of his weekend arrest during a Baton Rouge, Louisiana protest and each went quite differently as MSNBC's Kristen Welker allowed Mckesson to recklessly blame police for the deadly Dallas shootings because no one would have been in the street if they hadn't shot black men to death.

In contrast, CNN's Ashleigh Banfield only half the time Welker was allotted to hammer Mckesson on past tweets of his about law enforcement that many deemed hateful and unbecoming of a public figure

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:36

State Department spokesman John Kirby on Monday rejected the notion that the further expansion of the U.S. troop footprint in Iraq amounted to ''mission creep,'' saying that the unchanged mission of the troops deployed there is training, advising and assisting Iraqi forces.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:22

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in her opening statement Tuesday that she would not ''comment further'' on the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server now that the FBI's probe has concluded with no charges recommended against the presumed Democratic presidential nominee.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:19

Eyebrows were raised Tuesday on Morning Joe after the New York Times featured a Harvard study that highlighted the relationship between race and the use of force in police shootings. Even Roland Fryer, the author of the study, described it as ''the most surprising result of his career.'' Panelists were most troubled by the findings of ''no racial bias'' in 1,300 incidents of police shootings in Texas, Florida and California. Bewildered Eugene Robinson described the results as ''not comporting with reality'' while melodramatic Mike Barnicle ''got a headache reading it.''

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:12

It came to light Tuesday that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg had been talking to the media about what she thinks of Donald Trump. A Justine coming out as opposed to or in favor of a candidate running for elected office has never really been done before, and it's drawing ethical concerns from experts. Yet ABC and CBS treated it like just another wacky development in the 2016 presidential election.

''Now, to Donald Trump tonight, demanding an apology this evening from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, after what she said about him,'' stated ABC Anchor David Muir on World News Tonight, as if it was just a petty squabble.

''Tonight, Donald Trump in a supreme fight with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,'' joked ABC's Tom Llamas during his report. Llamas didn't send much time on Ginsberg's comments. His instead chose to pivot to talking about what Indiana Governor Mike Pence thinks about Trump, and the possible VP pick.

CBS's coverage wasn't much better. ''Well, the presumptive Republican nominee has been the target of a highly unusual opinion by a Supreme Court justice,'' said CBS Anchor Scott Pelley. The CBS reporter on the story was Major Garrett. The only counter to Ginsberg he reported on was Trump's response and the response of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

NBC was the only network in the ''big three'' to report on the real ethical concerns experts have with Ginsberg's comments. ''Supreme Court justices are appointed for life; making them nearly untouchable, but experts on legal ethics say justice Ginsburg is violating a rule that judges should stay out of politics,'' reported Justice Correspondent Pete Williams.

''No matter how strongly she feels, part of the job of a judge is to keep her feelings to herself on these public issues and candidates for public office,'' explained Law Professor Arthur Hellman, to Williams.

In Addition, the Spanish-language networks, Univision and Telemundo, didn't report on the Ginsberg's comments at all.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 04:04

[See NewsBusters for more.] After ignoring the story on Monday and Tuesday, the ABC and NBC morning shows on Wednesday finally noticed that a United States Supreme Court judge has been going on a partisan, anti-Donald Trump tirade. Good Morning America's Tom Llamas stacked the deck, describing the dispute as Trump having ''a new fight with an 83-year-old, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.'' Of course, Ginsburg started the war of words. Llamas quoted the liberal judge on CNN: ''He is a faker. He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego.'' She also attacked Trump in an interview with the New York Times, but GMA and Today initially ignored that part.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 03:56

[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]

On the 13 July 2016 edition of CNN Tonight, Mark Preston touted President Obama's supposed ability to bring people together in the wake of the mass murder of the police officers in Dallas: "He is uniquely qualified right now...to create a legacy for himself...He is uniquely positioned, given the fact of where he came from...the history that he made; and his ability to bring people together." Preston also predicted, "This could be quite a moment for Barack Obama; and, honestly, probably a moment that this nation needs."

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 03:06

See more in the cross-post on the NewsBusters blog.

Far-left HBO host Bill Maher joined MSNBC's Hardball and host Chris Matthews for the entire hour on Wednesday and brought his A-game when it came to trashing America for it's ''original sin'' of slavery that ''some countries don't have'' and trashed Republicans as being upset at ''the idea of a black family eating off the White House china.''

Matthews was not without his comments as he perpetuated his asinine belief that those opposed to President Barack Obama (and especially birthers) hope for an asterisk placed next to his name and have his picture wiped from history books.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 02:59

During Wednesday's CBS Evening News the network chose to give a boost to Social Justice Warriors by ending the show with a poem to ''white privilege.'' ''We end tonight with a poem, written and performed by an Atlanta teenager this past spring, but it's been getting new attention from millions after the violence that shook America last week,'' stated CBS Anchor Scott Pelley.

The poem titled ''White Boy Privilege'' was performed at a poetry contest at a private school my Royce Mann, and a video of it made it online. ''Royce Mann's message was a plea from a 14-year-old white male going to a private school in Atlanta -- let everyone share his privileges,'' reported CBS's Mark Strassmann.

The parts of Mann's poem which aired include these passages:

To be honest, I'm scared of what it would be like if I wasn't on the top rung, if the tables were turned and I didn't have my white boy privilege safety blanket to protect me.

'...

I love it because when I see a police officer, I see someone who is on my side.

''I'm just trying to be truthful about like how I wouldn't trade places with somebody and that I think a lot of people sometimes aren't so truthful about that,'' Mann explained to Strassmann.

Mann's poem had gone viral Strassmann noted, ''After Minnesota, Baton Rouge and Dallas, Mann's poem struck a nerve on line. Many loved it. Others attacked him. More than eight million people have seen it.''

The CBS segment concluded with a line from Mann's Poem, ''It's time to let go of that fear. It's time to take that ladder and turn it into a bridge.'' Mann's poem won the contest.

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Thu, 14 Jul 2016 02:58

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Source: The Last Refuge

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:21

We will locate video, and transcript, as soon as possible. [Update Video Added] However, during an incredulous speech delivered at the memorial service for fallen Dallas police officers, President Obama just gave one of the most tonally disconnected speeches we've ever witnessed.

If we did not know better we'd almost believe that President Obama forgot where he was. While staring at the families of the murdered police officers (seated in the front row) President Obama actually said:

'...''And I understand these protests, I see em', they can be messy'' '.... followed seconds later by '... ''police can get hurt'''...In a very casual, unsympathetic and almost incredulous *meh-stylistic* presentation. Unreal. Here's video (prompted to 32:20 for context):

''And I understand these protests, I see em', they can be messy'' '... ''police can get hurt''

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 16:21

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 14:14

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:43

Rep. Corrine BrownCorrine BrownIndicted Dem: Orlando victims would be alive if agents weren't investigating meCongresswoman indicted, accused of using charity as 'slush fund'Florida Dem lawmaker indicted on federal charges: reportMORE (D-Fla.) said Friday that if the Department of Justice had been investigating the Orlando nightclub shooter instead of her, the 49 people killed in the massacre there last month would still be alive.

Brown was charged with 24 counts of fraud late last week, after being accused of using a college scholarship fund as ''a personal slush fund.''

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''These are the same agents that was not able to do a thorough investigation of [shooter Omar Mateen], and we ended up with 50 people dead,'' Brown said. Mateen was shot and killed by police at the scene of the Orlando nightclub attack, bringing the total death toll to 50. Brown's lawyer echoed those sentiments.

''Perhaps had it chosen to devote its resources more thoughtfully, 50 innocent people would be alive today,'' Elizabeth White said, according to First Coast News.

Prosecutors allege that the Florida lawmaker and her chief of staff, Elias ''Ronnie'' Simmons, used her office to solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the fake charity.

On Sunday, Brown seemed to draw parallels from her situation to the shootings of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and the police officers in Dallas.

''Two black men were needlessly gunned down by police; five Dallas police officers were slain by a demented man, and on Friday I had to appear in federal court,'' she wrote on her blog, as reported by BuzzFeed News. ''I'm not the first black elected official to be persecuted and, sad to say, I won't be the last.''

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:40

While many Democrats breathed an enormous sigh of relief when Bernie Sanders took the stage earlier today to finally endorse Hillary Clinton, his speech left many questioning the authenticity of his support. Was Sanders really finally backing the presumptive nominee? It often sounded like he was touting the success of his own campaign more than he was showing support for Clinton.

In an interview with Jorge Ramos, political activists and author Ralph Nader suggested there was, in fact, a strategy behind Sanders' endorsement, and called the speech ''brilliant.''

Nader said that listing off the many promises Clinton has made on issues like student aid, immigration reform, and minimum wage, Sanders was actually making a self-serving move.

''He set her up for political betrayal, which would allow him to enlarge his civic mobilization movement after the election and after she takes office,'' he told Ramos. ''So I think it's a very astute endorsement.''

But don't expect Nader to vote for Clinton come November 8. He called her a ''deeply-rooted corporatist'' and ''militarist'' in terms of her foreign policy.

''She's never seen a weapons system or a war she didn't like,'' Nader told Ramos.

The five-time presidential candidate (he ran once as a write-in candidate, twice as the Green Party nominee, and twice as an independent) told Ramos there's practically no chance for a third party run at this stage of the game, and said he will likely vote for the Libertarian or Green party nominee.

''I always believe, Jorge, in voting your conscious,'' Nader said. ''Not tactical votes, not least-worst votes. If you do tactical, least-worst votes, you lost your bargaining power over the candidates. They never look back when you basically say to them, 'Well I don't like either candidate but you're not as bad as the other one.'''

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:37

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A mob of Black Lives Matter demonstrators berated and threatened a Fox News reporter in St. Paul, Minn., when the reporter asked the protestors why they were blocking a highway on July 9.''Get the f'... out of here,'' the lead organizer frantically chanted into the face of the stunned reporter, who politely defended himself by saying, ''I asked you'... [to] tell me why you are here.''

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The demonstrators pushed up against the reporter, forcing him backwards towards the protection of police, while another person seems to say ''we're going to knock his ass out.''

The video illustrates the risks and benefits of President Barack Obama's determined, high-risk gamble as he tries to spur African-American emotion and anger before the critical 2016 election.

He has repeatedly urged African-Americans to make the issue of police tactics and practices into a political issue, after bitterly complaining that low-turnout cost him the Democrats' Senate majority in 2014. ''All Americans should be deeply troubled by the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota,'' Obama said in an July 7 message posted early afternoon on the White House's site and on Facebook.

He's been so successful in promoting the issue that some African-Americans are becoming aggressive and violent, mostly notably by killing five cops in Dallas on July 7.

That violence is a political problem if it causes a massive non-violent pushback at the ballot-box by voters against the candidate he is trying to help in 2016, Hillary Clinton.

So Obama is now trying to calm African-American anger to prevent any peaceful pushback by ordinary Americans. ''Everybody involved in the Black Lives Matter movement'... I want all of them to maintain a respectful, thoughtful tone '' because, as a practical matter, that's what's going to get change done,'' Obama said July 10.

That's not easy, in part, because some of the activists he helped create are very emotional.

The St. Paul organizer chants 'Get the f'... out of here'' roughly eight times in the video. The crowd joins in, saying ''get out of here'' eight times.

''He's the face of white supremacy'... you are a racist, supremacist'... you are a disgrace to journalism,'' the organizer shouts through her megaphone.

The organizer began her shouting by demanding the reporter help the protestors. ''Are you fighting for what re'w fighting for?'' she shouted.

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Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:12

Nieuws >> Universum >> Klokkenluider: ''Ik zag constructies op de achterkant van de maan''

Sergeant Karl Wolfe werkte in 1965 aan het Lunar Orbiterprogramma. Hij vertelt constructies te hebben gezien op de maan en bases op de achterkant van de maan. Dat schrijft de Britse Daily Express.

Wolfe zegt in juni of juli 1965 de opdracht te hebben gekregen om op de luchtmachtbasis Langley een probleem met de fotoafdrukapparatuur te verhelpen. Hij werd naar een grote hangar geleid, waar de NSA foto's analyseerde die waren gemaakt door de Lunar Orbiter.

In de donkere kamer was een man aanwezig die Wolfe vertelde dat er een basis op de achterkant van de maan was ontdekt. Hij liet opnames zien van hoge torens en ronde gebouwen op het maanoppervlak.

Intelligente wezens''Het waren constructies die zeker niet waren ontstaan als gevolg van een meteorietinslag of botsing met een hemellichaam,'' aldus Wolfe. ''Ze waren gebouwd door intelligente wezens.''

Het meest opvallende vond Wolfe de radarantennes op de foto's. Ze deden hem erg denken aan antennes die op aarde staan. Hij vroeg zich in eerste instantie af of Rusland ze misschien had neergezet.

Buiten publieke domein gehoudenDe Washington Times schreef eerder over hem: ''Karl Wolfe, een sergeant die voor de NSA werkte, zei dat op de achterkant van de maan mysterieuze structuren waren aangetroffen toen het maanoppervlak voor de maanlanding in 1969 in kaart werd gebracht. De foto's werden buiten het publieke domein gehouden.''

Het Lunar Orbiterprogramma bestond uit vijf onbemande ruimteschepen die in 1966 en 1967 werden gelanceerd en die de maan in kaart brachten, mede als voorbereiding op het Apolloprogramma. Ze maakten de eerste foto's vanuit een baan om de maan. Deze foto's werden onder meer gebruikt om geschikte landingsplekken te selecteren.

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Robin de Boer (1983) heeft Economische Geografie gestudeerd aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Hij is sinds juni 2014 werkzaam als hoofdredacteur van NineForNews.

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 21:25

Researchers have cooked up a way to attack mobile devices that relies on a victim doing nothing more than listening to a boobytrapped YouTube video.

In the attack, ''hidden'' voice commands (more like impossible to understand for humans) trick voice-activated assistants like Google Now or Siri into doing whatever the attacker commands.

All a victim has to do is to listen to a rigged video from any of multiple sources, including a laptop, a computer, a smart TV, a smartphone or a tablet.

The researchers, from the University of California, Berkeley, and Georgetown University, say on their project page that the hidden voice commands are ''unintelligible to human listeners but which are interpreted as commands by devices.''

You can hear the voice commands, which are indeed muddled, in the researchers' VoiceHack demonstration video:

As the video shows, a mobile phone acts on the commands as soon as the voice-based assistants decipher them.

As the researchers note in their paper, they were able to take over a phone because many devices nowadays have adopted an always-on model in which they continuously listen for possible voice input.

That makes it easy for humans to access and interact with their devices. The potential benefits of always-on voice assistants was vividly demonstrated last month, when an Australian mother saved her 1-year-old daughter's life by activating her dropped iPhone from across the room, telling Siri to call for an ambulance.

But that always-on state also leaves mobile devices vulnerable to voice attacks from an attacker who can manage to create sound within the vicinity of any targeted device within speaker range.

Of course, if a device owner hears the incoming command, they can just cancel it or take other corrective action.

That motivated the researchers to look for a way to hide those voice commands: i.e., to craft commands that a device will understand and act on, but that a human wouldn't understand or possibly even notice.

In their demo, the researchers demonstrated a command for the phone to open the site xkcd.com. That suggests, of course, that a phone can be instructed to open up far nastier, malware-laden sites.

Free commercial-grade security for the home.

Learn MoreThe possible repercussions of a successful attack, from their paper:

Depending upon the device, attacks could lead to information leakage (e.g., posting the user's location on Twitter), cause denial of service (e.g., activating airplane mode), or serve as a stepping stone for further attacks (e.g., opening a web page hosting drive-by malware).

Such attacks could also be compounded if they were to be inflicted en masse, the researchers suggest: for example, hidden voice commands could be broadcast from a loudspeaker at an event or embedded in a trending YouTube video.

Their attacks proved successful even with background noise.

The team showed that attackers don't need sophisticated knowledge about devices' speech recognition systems. They came up with a general attack procedure for generating commands (that are intelligible to humans) that likely will work with any modern voice recognition system, including Google Now.

That's what they call the black-box model.

The team also demonstrated a white-box model, in which attackers with significant knowledge of the internal workings of a speech recognition system can issue hidden voice commands that can't be deciphered by humans.

This isn't the first time that researchers have attacked mobile devices via their voice assistants. In October, a pair of French researchers created an attack to remotely hijack phones with radio waves.

Jos(C) Lopes Esteves and Chaouki Kasmi, researchers for the French infosec agency ANSSI, described the radio wave attack in a talk at Hack in Paris and published their findings in the journal IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Capability.

In a video of their talk, they described the potential outcomes of such an attack, including turning a phone into an eavesdropping device by commanding it to make a call to an attacker's monitoring phone, or making a phone visit a malicious phishing website, create embarrassing posts on your social media accounts, or launch a malicious app that could download malware.

But that remote attack was far more difficult to pull off than the more recent demonstration of hidden voice commands: to make their attack work, the French researchers sent FM radio signals from a laptop to an antenna, which transmitted the signals to a nearby voice-command enabled phone with headphones plugged in.

In that attack, the headphone cord acted as an antenna, sending commands through the microphone to a digital assistant like Siri.

In contrast, all an attacker has to do in the case of hidden voice commands is to get a target to listen to a video, and presumably not look at their phone for a bit.

But still, getting users to do that is more involved than simply delivering malware.

As we've noted before, Siri in particular has been vulnerable to being exploited to expose your personal information.

For advice on reviewing your phone's security settings, please take a look at our popular article, Privacy and Security on Your Phone. (Covers iOS, Android and Windows Phone.)

The researchers also evaluate some potential defenses from these hidden voice command attacks, including notifying the user when a voice command is accepted, a verbal challenge-response protocol, and a machine-learning approach that they say has managed to detect the attacks with 99.8% accuracy.

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 18:44

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 18:39

RALEIGH (WTVD) --

Motivated by the controversial police officer-involved shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the terror in Texas that unfolded after a Black Lives Matter march, Gov. Pat McCrory signed the Body Cam bill into law.Related story: North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper says body camera law needs fixing

McCrory signed House Bill 972 on Monday afternoon.

The new law details who can view and obtain footage from body and dashboard camera. The footage is no longer public record.If you are in the video, either your image or your audio, you can request the file. The request could be denied, however, and then you'll have to take the fight to Superior Court.

McCrory says technology can mislead and misinform.

"My goal is to protect those who protect us," he said.

The Governor believes the legislation is fair for everyone."It's better to have rules and guidelines with all this technology than no rules and guidelines whatsoever," said McCrory.

The ACLU of North Carolina calls the legislation "shameful."

"Body cameras should be a tool to make law enforcement more transparent and accountable to the communities they serve, but this shameful law will make it nearly impossible to achieve those goals," said Susanna Birdsong, Policy Counsel for the ACLU of North Carolina. "People who are filmed by police body cameras should not have to spend time and money to go to court in order to see that footage. These barriers are significant and we expect them to drastically reduce any potential this technology had to make law enforcement more accountable to community members."

The Governor's Office would not comment on the criticism.

The law goes into effect Oct. 1.Related story: A step toward peace? Raleigh gangs declare truce

Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison is backing McCrory's move. He says what law enforcement encounters in the field is not for everyone's eyes.

"A lot of groups think we should show everything from start to finish and we just can't do it," said Harrison. "They think we're trying to hide something and that's not what it is. But if we go into a house for a domestic (assault) and if the wife has been assaulted has been unclothed, we don't want that on YouTube. We don't want that out there."

McCrory took another step Monday to protect officers. He established the Blue Alert System, which is to help catch anyone who intends on attacking or harming a public safety officials.

(Copyright (C)2016 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.)

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:37

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Mon, 11 Jul 2016 23:57

Police are trying to find who shot and killed a man as he walked home in the District's Bloomingdale neighborhood early Sunday morning. The victim, Seth Rich, worked for the Democratic National Committee. News4's Pat Collins reports. (Published 2 hours ago)

A 27-year-old man who worked for the Democratic National Committee was shot and killed as he walked home early Sunday in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Northwest D.C., police and his family said.

Seth Conrad Rich died after he was shot multiple times on the 2100 block of Flagler Place NW, three blocks east of Howard University Hospital, police said.

"Worst nightmare," Rich's mother, Mary Rich, said by phone.

Mary Rich said police told her family her son may have been the victim of an attempted robbery.

He was talking on the phone with his girlfriend when she heard noise on Rich's end of the line, Mary Rich said. Her son told his girlfriend not to worry about it.

"There had been a struggle. His hands were bruised, his knees are bruised, his face is bruised, and yet he had two shots to his back, and yet they never took anything," she said.

"They took his life for literally no reason. They didn't finish robbing him, they just took his life," Mary Rich continued. "They hurt the community, and they hurt the long-term possibility of what he could have done."

Rich lived in the neighborhood, Acting Capt. Anthony Haythe of the Metropolitan Police Department's homicide branch said at a news conference Monday morning.

Fifth District police officers were patrolling the area about 4:20 a.m. when they heard gunshots, police said.

Neighbor Mike Mueller said he also heard the shots.

"I heard two sharp gunshots, very quickly. I looked at the clock and it was 4:19," he said.

When police arrived on Flagler Place, they found Rich suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The Omaha, Nebraska, native was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Police have no witnesses and are searching the area for surveillance video footage, Haythe said. The acting captain said he could not comment on whether the killing was related to recent robberies in the area.

RAW: Police Speak About Killing of DNC Staffer Seth RichA 27-year-old Democratic National Committee employee was shot and killed Sunday in his neighborhood in Northwest D.C. Acting Capt. Anthony Haythe of the Metropolitan Police Department's homicide branch gave an update Monday morning. (Published 6 hours ago)

Rich worked for the Democratic National Committee, his father said.

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued a statement on Monday mourning the death of Rich, who worked as voter expansion data director.

''Our hearts are broken with the loss of one of our DNC family members over the weekend. Seth Rich was a dedicated, selfless public servant who worked tirelessly to protect the most sacred right we share as Americans '' the right to vote," she said. "He saw the great potential of our nation and believed that, together, we can make the world a better place."

Rich graduated from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and previously worked on Democrats' campaigns, for the U.S. Census Bureau and as a boating instructor at a summer camp, according to his LinkedIn page.

"I have an enormous interest in public service and working towards making the world a better place," Rich wrote on the page.

Philly Police Detail Security Plan For DNCThe Philadelphia Police Department assured the public Thursday that the officers are prepared to protect the city during the upcoming Democratic National Convention. (Published 6 hours ago)

The homicide rate is down in the MPD's Fifth District, which includes Bloomingdale, Brookland and Trinidad. Seven people have been killed this year, compared with 15 people in the same period last year, police data shows.

But robberies are up. The number of reported robberies in which a gun was used rose about 12 percent, from 113 to 126. The number of robberies in which a gun was not used rose about 8 percent, from 181 to 195.

DC Water will boost security in Bloomingdale, the CEO of DC Water, George Hawkins, said in a letter to residents. The water utility will check and repair lighting and offer free transportation near the First Street Tunnel project, he said.

"No one should have to fear walking down the street in their own neighborhood," Hawkins said in the letter.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or send a text message to 50411. A reward of as much as $25,000 is offered.

Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.

Published 46 minutes ago