DEA admits marijuana legalization ‘scares us’
WASHINGTON - A top official at the Drug Enforcement Administration said legalizing marijuana, a drug that a majority of Americans are now in favor of decriminalizing, is “reckless and irresponsible.”James L. Capra, the chief of operations at the DEA, was responding to a question from a senator Wednesday, Jan. 15, when he admitted...Washington panel approves decriminalizing marijuana
Washington - The District of Columbia stepped closer to decriminalizing marijuana on Wednesday, January 15, when a city council panel approved a measure that would make smoking a joint in the U.S. capital a violation comparable to a parking ticket.Approved unanimously by the city council's public safety committee, the bill reduces...California’s ‘Octomom’ charged with welfare fraud
Los Angeles - Nadya Suleman, the California single mother of 14 children including octuplets who has been popularly dubbed "Octomom," has been charged with welfare fraud over accusations she lied about her income to authorities.The 38-year-old mother who became a media sensation five years ago after giving birth to octuplets conceived...Friends of accused Boston bomber to face June coverup trial
BOSTON - Three college friends of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will go on trial in June on charges they helped hide his tracks from the FBI, a U.S. judge ruled on Wednesday, January 14.U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock denied a joint request by prosecutors and two of the defendants - Dias Kadyrbayev of Kazakhstan...U.S. courts oppose reform proposals for secret surveillance
WASHINGTON - The U.S. federal court system objects to key proposals by a presidential review panel to reform the secret court that supervises the classified electronic eavesdropping activities of the U.S. National Security Agency, a former chief judge of that court said on Tuesday, January 14.Judge John Bates, the former head of the...Record freeze hits the U.S., at least nine dead
A deadly blast of arctic air shattered decades-old temperature records as it enveloped the eastern United States this week, snarling air, road and rail travel, driving energy prices higher and overwhelming shelters for homeless people.At least nine deaths have been reported across the country connected with the polar air mass that swept...Gov. Chris Christie ’embarrassed and humiliated’ by traffic scandal
NEW YORK — A contrite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologized Thursday, January 9, saying he was "embarrassed and humiliated" by the actions of his staff that closed busy access lanes of the George Washington Bridge in September, snarling traffic in a town whose mayor did not support the governor's reelection bid."I come out...80 retired New York cops, firefighters charged in 9/11 disability fraud
New York City — Eighty retired New York police officers and firefighters were charged on Tuesday, January 7, in a suspected disability scam in which authorities said dozens of people falsely claimed to have been traumatized by the September 11 attacks.In all, 106 suspects were charged in a scheme that goes back to the late 1980s,...Snowden has more U.S.-Israel secrets to expose
Washington, D.C. — Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has more secrets to reveal that relate to Israel, the journalist who first brought his leaks to the world's attention said on Monday.Among allegations aired by Snowden last year were that the U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart GCHQ had in 2009...U.S. woman known as “Jihad Jane” sentenced to 10 years in plot
Philadelphia — A U.S. judge on Monday sentenced an American woman who called herself Jihad Jane to 10 years in prison, at least a decade less than prosecutors had sought for her role in a failed plot to kill a Swedish artist who had depicted the head of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad on a dog.Colleen R. LaRose, 50, who converted to...Judge rules Chicago ban on gun sales is unconstitutional
CHICAGO — A Chicago ban on gun sales within the city, aimed at reducing gun violence, is unconstitutional because it goes too far in barring buyers and dealers from engaging in lawful sales, a federal judge ruled on Monday.U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang found that the U.S. Constitution's protection of the right to keep and bear...Ford VP: We have GPS in your car, so we know what you’re doing
LAS VEGAS — Modern automobiles are logging tremendous amounts of information every single second they’re being put to use, and a senior executive at the Ford Motor Company says car manufacturers have access to every last piece of it.At the CES electronic trade show in Las Vegas this week, the global vice president for Ford’s...
U.S. sending missiles drones to Iraq
December 27th, 20130 BAGHDAD - The United States is sending missiles and drones to Iraq to counter attacks by Al-Qaeda, which have killed more than 8,000 Iraqis this year, officials said. U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Justin Cole communicates with the pilot of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle prior to a night mission from Ali Air Base, Iraq on...A history of false fear
Despite the deep embarrassment and outrage caused by continuing revelations of the National Security Agency’s abuse of power, meaningful reform is unlikely because at heart the Edward Snowden story is about money – and political power. And Snowden has threatened both.President Obama is considering adopting some NSA reforms...Saudi Arabia restored as defendant in suit by 9/11 families
NEW YORK -- A New York federal appeals court has restored Saudi Arabia as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by thousands of people affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham, who co-chaired a joint congressional inquiry into the attacks, called the ruling a "very significant breakthrough," BrowardBulldog.org......
U.S. scholars’ group backs call for academic boycott of Israel
WASHINGTON - An association of American scholars has voted for an academic boycott of Israeli colleges and universities in protest against Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, the group said this week.Members of the American Studies Association voted by a 2-to-1 margin to endorse a boycott resolution, which stems from a broader...Webcams can be covertly compromised by cops and hackers
Security experts in the United States have figured out how hackers can remotely access without being detected the built-in webcams installed in millions of Apple computers, but law enforcement agencies already have that exploit in their toolbox of tricks.Researchers at John Hopkins University revealed their findings in a paper published......
U.S. court urged to reject Israeli attempt to silence witness
WASHINGTON - Lawyers for the family of an American teenager killed in a 2006 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv urged a U.S. court on Tuesday, December 17, to reject an attempt by Israel to muzzle a witness in an anti-terrorism case, court documents showed.The lawsuit revolves around allegations that Bank of China knowingly allowed Palestinian...Class action lawsuit seeks to limit mandatory detention of immigrants in California
SAN FRANCISCO — Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus ("Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus") and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC), with co-counsel Keker Van Nest LLP, filed a statewide class action lawsuit Thursday to challenge the current federal policy of detaining certain...New York City cab drivers strike a pose with pinup calendar for charity
NEW YORK - Taxi drivers are putting out a pinup calendar for 2014, playfully displaying pot bellies and copious body hair in a tongue-in-cheek challenge to a popular beefcake calendar produced each year by buff and brawny city firefighters.The NYC Taxi Drivers calendar features cabbies posing in various stages of undress - a...152-year-old shipwreck found on Lake Huron
Lansing, Michigan - The wreckage of a wooden steamship that sank 152 years ago in a storm on Lake Huron with no survivors has been found, a Michigan explorer said on Monday.What exactly happened to the Keystone State and its 33 occupants in a November 1861 voyage to Milwaukee from Detroit remains a mystery, said David Trotter, who found......
Data sharing among US law enforcement agencies is in ‘chaos’
New York - The sharing of intelligence among American law enforcement agencies in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is being conducted in a manner that resembles “organized chaos,” according to a new study published this week.New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice published their findings on Tuesday by...Texas enforces “Merry Christmas Law” in public schools
Texas — Texas lawmakers sent notices to schools on Monday, December 9, informing them that new legislation allows students and teachers to dress in festive garb and say "Merry Christmas" all they want without fear of punishment.The so-called "Merry Christmas Law" is backed by social conservatives who feel that seasonal religious......
California man arrested for running ‘revenge porn’ website
San Diego - A California man was arrested on Tuesday on accusations he ran a "revenge porn" website, one that featured nude pictures of women often posted by jilted or angry ex-lovers.The San Diego arrest, the latest action by the state to crack down on such websites, comes after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a...South Carolina sheriff refuses to lower flag for Mandela
South Carolina - The U.S. flag flew high outside a sheriff's office in South Carolina on Monday, Dec. 9., in defiance of an order from President Barack Obama to lower all flags in memory of the late South African leader Nelson Mandela.Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said he believed the lowering of the flag to half-staff was a tribute......