The FCC was flooded with emails and letters, yet Republicans genuflect to Telecoms.
News Updates from CLG
27 February 2015
27 February 2015
http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
Previous edition: New leak at Fukushima nuclear plant sees 70-fold radiation
spike
Net Neutrality Prevails in Historic FCC Vote | 26 Feb 2015 | The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday
to approve strong net neutrality rules in a stunning decision, defying vocal,
months-long opposition by telecom and cable companies and Republicans on Capitol
Hill. Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn joined
Chairman Tom Wheeler to approve a rule that reclassifies consumer broadband as a
utility under Title II of the Communications Act. The FCC intends to use this
new authority to ban "paid prioritization," a practice whereby Internet service
providers can charge content producers a premium for giving users more reliable
access to that content, as well as to ban blocking and throttling of lawful
content and services. These rules also apply to mobile access.
Net neutrality activists score landmark victory in fight to govern
the internet | 26 Feb 2015 | Internet
activists scored a landmark victory on Thursday as the top US telecommunications
regulator approved a plan to govern broadband internet like a public utility.
Following one of the most intense -- and bizarre -- lobbying battles in the history of modern Washington politics,
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed strict new rules that give
the body its greatest power over the cable industry since the internet went
mainstream. FCC chairman Tom Wheeler -- a former telecom lobbyist turned
surprise hero of net neutrality supporters -- thanked the 4 million people who
submitted comments on the new rules. "Your participation has made this the most
open process in FCC history," he said. "We listened and we
learned."
Net neutrality: Barack Obama thanks Reddit in hand-written
letter | 26 Feb 2015 | President Obama
thanked technology enthusiasts on Reddit, the popular content-sharing site, for
their activism on net neutrality the old-fashioned way -- with a hand-written
note. On Thursday, Alexis Ohanian, one of the site's cofounders, revealed a
letter he'd received from the president thanking all of the site's users for
supporting his administration's push to regulate the Internet like a utility.
"Thanks Redditers! Wish I could upvote every one of you for helping keep the
internet open and free," Obama wrote, using a term specific to the site in which
a user helps popularize a post.
Chicago
police are operating a CIA-style black site where suspects are 'disappeared,'
denied lawyers and shackled for up to 17 hours, activists say | 25
Feb 2015 | One man who walked inside said he was cuffed to a bench for 17 hours.
Another was only found after he was transferred to the hospital with a head
injury. A third ended up dead. What did all three men have in common? They had
been taken to Homan Square. Operated by the Chicago police, Homan Square is an
unmarked warehouse on the West Side where local attorneys and a protester claim
Chicago police are operating a CIA-style 'black site.'
The disappeared: Chicago police detain Americans at abuse-laden
'black site' --Secret interrogation facility reveals
aspects of war on terror in US |
24 Feb 2015 | The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books
interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or
attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a
CIA black site. The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago's west side
known as Homan Square, has long been the scene of secretive work by special
police units. Interviews with local attorneys and one protester who spent the
better part of a day shackled in Homan Square describe operations that deny
access to basic constitutional rights. Alleged police
practices at Homan Square, according to those
familiar with the facility who spoke out to the Guardian after its investigation into Chicago police abuse, include: Keeping arrestees out of
official booking databases. Beating by police, resulting in head wounds.
Shackling for prolonged periods. Denying attorneys access to the "secure"
facility. Holding people without legal counsel for between 12 and 24 hours,
including people as young as 15.
House GOP to push short-term DHS funding to prevent partial
shutdown --Legislation to fund DHS
for three weeks would be put to a vote in House on Friday - GOP | 26
Feb 2015 | Sounding retreat, House Republicans agreed Thursday to push
short-term funding to prevent a partial shutdown at the Homeland Security
Department while leaving in place Obama administration immigration policies they
have vowed to repeal. "The speaker's pretty adamant that he's not going to shut
down Homeland Security, especially in light of the Mall of America and in light
of what's happened in New York," said Rep. Dennis Ross., R-Fla., emerging from a
closed-door strategy session with the Republican rank-and-file. He referred to a
suggestion made by one terrorist group that a sympathizer should attack the Mall
of America, an enormous shopping facility in Minnesota, as well as the arrests
Wednesday in Brooklyn of men charged with plotting to help Islamic State
fighters.
'Jihadi John' From ISIS Execution Videos Was
Under Watch by British Intelligence That Tried to Recruit
Him [Looks like they did!] | 26 Feb 2015 |
Mohammed Emwazi was 6 when his parents moved to West London from his birthplace
in Kuwait, and he seems to have lived a normal life, studying hard and
graduating in computer sciences from the University of Westminster in 2009. But
he came to the attention of the British intelligence services in May that same
year, detained as he landed in Tanzania with two friends on what he described as
a celebratory safari. British officials thought he and his friends were headed
to Somalia, to fight with the terrorist group Al Shabab, and allegedly tried to recruit him as an informant before
shipping him back home...Mr. Emwazi appears in 2011 court
documents, obtained by the BBC, as a member of a network of extremists who
funneled funds, equipment and recruits "from the United Kingdom to Somalia to
undertake terrorism-related activity."
ISIS thugs [US mercenaries?] take a hammer to civilisation: Priceless
3,000-year-old artworks smashed to pieces in minutes as militants destroy Mosul
museum | 26 Feb 2015 | Islamic State thugs
have destroyed a collection of priceless statues and sculptures in Iraq dating
back thousands of years. Extremists used sledgehammers and power drills to smash
ancient artwork as they rampaged through a museum in the northern city of Mosul.
Video footage shows a group of bearded men in the Nineveh Museum using tools to
wreck 3,000-year-old statues after pushing them over. Yesterday it was revealed
how terrorists had blown up the Mosul Public Library, sending 10,000 books and
more than 700 rare manuscripts up in flames. [Book-burning: that's
straight out of the US playbook. Also, am I the only one who has noticed that
ISIS never destroys anything near Iraq's Oil Ministry and never threatens
Israel?]
Three Brooklyn men arrested for 'trying to join ISIS, plotting terror
attack on New York and offering to assassinate Obama' --All are charged with conspiracy to provide material
support to terror group [Wow, a triple whammy! I guess the DHS really,
really wants its money from Congress!] | 25 Feb 2015 | Two men
appeared in a Brooklyn courtroom Wednesday afternoon to face charges of plotting
to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group and wage war
against the US by bombing Coney Island and killing law enforcement officers. The
two were held without bail after a brief court appearance in New York...Federal
prosecutors in Brooklyn said the trio of suspects schemed to hijack a commercial
plane, set off a bomb in New York City, kill FBI agents and police officers -
and one of the men allegedly offered to assassinate President Obama.
ISIS: 3 New York Men Arrested in Alleged Plot to Join Terror Group,
Feds Say | 25 Feb 2015 | Three New York
City men were arrested today on charges they allegedly conspired to join ISIS
[I-CIA-SIS] in Syria, while also trying to carry out attacks on the terror
group's behalf in the United States, the authorities said. The men had planned
to travel to the Middle East and had also pledged to launch attacks in this
country, including one on President Obama or planting a bomb in Coney Island,
Brooklyn, federal officials said. Federal officials said Akhror Saidakhmetov,
19, was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York,
where he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul.
TSA
Issues Secret Warning on 'Catastrophic' Threat to Aviation | 26 Feb
2015 | The Transportation Security Administration said it is unlikely to detect
and unable to extinguish what an FBI report called "the greatest potential
incendiary threat to aviation," according to a classified document obtained by
The Intercept. Yet despite that warning, sources said TSA is not
adequately preparing to respond to the threat. Thermite -- a mixture of rust and
aluminum powder -- could be used against a commercial aircraft, TSA warned in a
Dec. 2014 document, marked secret. "The ignition of a
thermite-based incendiary device on an aircraft at altitude could result in
catastrophic damage and the death of every person onboard," the advisory
said.
Terror fears as sophisticated mystery tunnel is found yards from
Toronto stadium that hosts Canada's biggest sporting
events | 24 Feb 2015 | A sophisticated
tunnel has been discovered near a major sports venue and a university in
Toronto, sparking new terror fears as Canada remains on edge over the threat of
possible extremist attacks. A municipal worker was walking through woods close
to the city's Rexall Centre last month when he spotted a piece of corrugated
metal on the ground, the public broadcaster CBC said on Monday. After lifting up
the metal, he uncovered the passageway, also situated near York
University...Officials also discovered a set of rosary beads and a Remembrance
Day poppy, both nailed to a wall, according to reports.
Tony Blair's ex-private secretary becomes Britain's ambassador to
Israel | 24 Feb 2015 | Britain's newly
appointed ambassador to Israel, David Quarrey, served as Tony Blair's private
secretary from 2004 to 2006. His appointment has sparked controversy as critics
consider his foreign policy legacy. Quarry worked as a private assistant to Tony
Blair during the ex-Labour chief's decade-long premiership. He subsequently
became head of the Foreign Office's Middle East and North Africa
department.
Israel cuts off electricity to thousands of West Bank
Palestinians | 23 Feb 2015 | Israel's
electric company cut off power Monday to more than 700,000 Palestinians in two
major West Bank cities and nearby villages, and warned that more outages are
coming if Palestinian officials don't pay millions of dollars in outstanding
debt. The outage in Nablus, the largest West Bank city, and Jenin, to the north,
lasted about an hour, but could become a regular part of West Bank life if the
Palestinian Authority and the local electric utilities don't pay their bills,
the Israel Electric Corp. (IEC) warned. Palestinian officials described the IEC
move as a political step and collective punishment against the
Palestinian people after the Palestinian Authority joined the
Hague-based International Criminal Court last month. [See also: Israel opens dams forcing hundreds of Gazans out of
flooded houses 23 Feb 2015.] #Sociopaths
Canada considers joining U.S.-led military training 'mission' in
Ukraine | 25 Feb 2015 | The Harper cabinet
is actively and seriously considering whether Canada should join the U.S. and
Britain in a military training mission to shore up embattled Ukrainian troops
[of Nazis, sociopaths, and war criminals], Defence Minister Jason Kenney said
Wednesday. The notion drew a lukewarm response from opposition parties, who seem
reluctant to see Canada venture further into the tinderbox of eastern Europe
beyond the delivery of non-lethal military aid and satellite intelligence.
Britain said Wednesday that it would send 75 military trainers to Ukraine next
month to provide instruction and training in military intelligence, logistics
and battlefield medical procedures.
TEPCO blasted for concealing latest Fukushima radioactive leak for
nearly a year | 25 Feb 2015 | Local
fisherman in Fukushima Prefecture, home to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s stricken
Daiichi nuclear power station, blamed the plant's operator on Wednesday for
knowingly allowing radioactive substances
from a rainwater drainage ditch linked to one of its buildings to flow freely
into the sea since April last year. The leader of a local
fishing corporative, Masakazu Yabuki, lambasted the embattled utility for its
latest gaffe, leading to multiple nuclear meltdowns and the worst nuclear crisis
since the Chernobyl disaster in
1986. TEPCO confessed on Tuesday that it had found a pool of
highly-radioactive water on the roof of one of its buildings, which had likely
been leaking into the sea via a drainage ditch when it rained.
Will the Arctic be ice-free in 40 years? Expert claims temperatures
in polar regions are rising four times faster than the rest of the
planet --Forecasts that the
region's temperature will rise by 7°C within a century --Melting permafrost is
already causing damage to buildings in the region | 25 Feb 2015 | The
Arctic could be completely free of ice in just 40 years as a result of global
warming, one of the world's leading climate change experts has warned. Nobel
Peace Prize winner Professor Oleg Anisimov said there is evidence that
temperatures are rising four times faster in the frozen region than the rest of
the planet. This means that there will only be open water in the polar region by
the 2050s, with nothing more than a few floating icebergs at the North Pole,
according to the Russian academic.
International Polar Bear Day is observed
today | 27 Feb 2015 | International Polar
Bear Day is a holiday celebrated every February 27 to raise awareness about the
conservation status of the polar bear. International Polar Bear Day is organized
by Polar Bears International to raise awareness about the impact of global
warming and reduced sea ice on polar bear populations. The holiday encourages
people to find ways to reduce their carbon output, such as by turning down their
thermostat or driving less.
President Obama vetoes Keystone XL pipeline | 24 Feb 2015 | President Barack Obama, exercising his veto power
for the first time in five years, rejected on Tuesday a measure green-lighting
the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Obama's veto of the
bill comes after a yearlong debate on the controversial pipeline which
ultimately handed a legislative victory to proponents of the pipeline after
Republicans took control of the Senate in January. Obama has said his top
concern in making a decision will be "does it contribute to the greenhouse gases
that are causing climate change [global warming]."
Chicago mayor to face runoff against progressive county
commissioner | 25 Feb 2015 | After failing
to persuade a majority of Chicago voters to back his re-election bid, Mayor Rahm
Emanuel could face an even stiffer challenge in April against a runoff opponent
aiming to consolidate the support of residents unhappy with how the former White
House chief of staff has [mis]managed the nation's third-largest city. In a race
Tuesday against four challengers, Emanuel discovered
it wasn't enough to spend millions of d-llars on TV ads, earn the backing of the
city's business leaders, and secure the hometown endorsement of President Barack
Obama. [] In order to keep the job, he'll need to win
another race in six weeks against Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, a Cook County
commissioner who claims the backing of teachers, unions and neighborhood
residents disillusioned with [Wall Street's] Emanuel.
No federal civil rights charges in Trayvon Martin
case | 24 Feb 2015 | Three years after teen
Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., setting
off a national debate on race and gun laws, the Department of Justice announced
Monday it had concluded that there is not enough evidence to bring civil rights
charges in the case. In its press release about the decision, the lack of
charges against Zimmerman are said to be a result of being unable to meet the
standard of proving that the "defendant knew his acts were unlawful, and
committed those acts in open defiance of the law." ...Acting Assistant Attorney
General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division said: "Our decision not to
pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death
of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to
these cases."
Sharpton paid to keep quiet about lack of black TV programming:
lawsuit | 23 Feb 2015 | The Rev. Al
Sharpton's silence was bought for a cool 3.8 million -- so that he wouldn't
complain about the lack of black cable TV programming, an explosive 20 billion
lawsuit alleges. The National Association of African-American Owned Media claims
Comcast paid Sharpton and his National Action Network "cash 'donations'" in
exchange for not screaming about its lack of solely black-owned channels. The
cable giant also assured that the activist would keep his 750,000-a-year gig as
a host on MSNBC, which it co-owns, even as his ratings slump, the suit alleges.
[See also: FBI snitch, corporatist fraud Al Sharpton got MSNBC
show after getting big donation and endorsing Comcast/NBC merger 6
Jan 2015.]
Mother Cow Hides Newborn Baby to Protect Her From
Farmer | 25 Feb 2015 | A former dairy cow
was so saddened by memories of her previous babies being taken away by a farmer
[terrorist] that she hid her newborn calf to keep her from being taken, too.
Clarabelle was rescued from a dairy farm in late November by the Australian farm
sanctuary Edgar's Mission. She was hours away from slaughter at the farm, where
her milk production was too low to bother keeping her alive. When Clarabelle
arrived at the rescue, volunteers discovered she was pregnant...After a bit of a
search, they discovered that she had secretly given birth and hidden the baby in
a nearby patch of tall grass.
Slurpee
waves! The moment semi-frozen breakers rolled ashore in New England amid record
cold | 26 Feb 2015 | Plummeting temperatures have broken hundreds
of winter records across the country - making February one of the coldest months
in history. But in New England, it has gotten so cold even the waves are
starting to freeze. These incredible photos of so-called 'slurpee waves' were
taken by surfer Jonathan Nimerfroh in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He took his
camera out when he noticed the horizon looked strange - and then spotted the
surf had turn slushy.
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