Monica Lewinsky sex tape?

sex tape surfaceses where Monica says that Bill is "too cute"

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Balcombe protests lead to threat of countrywide rebellion against fracking

The ongoing protests in Balcombe have sparked a countrywide rebellion against fracking as villages up and down the country vow they will also blockade any attempts to drill.

Former glamour model Marina Pepper is escorted off the site by police in Balcombe Photo: Christopher Pledger for The Telegraph

By Louise Gray and Sally Wardle

6:59PM BST 29 Jul 2013

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The “anti-fracking carnival”’ in the sleepy village of Balcombe, West Sussex, has now led to more than 20 arrests.

On Monday Marina Pepper, a former Page 3 Girl and veteran protester, was escorted off the site by police.

Despite concerns the village has been taken over by ‘professional activists” local residents are also taking action. They fear that plans by Cuadrilla, the energy company, to drill for oil in the area will lead to fracking.

Now it is has emerged that the protest could be the first of many as energy companies plan to drill exploratory wells across Britain.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change has issued 176 licences to explore for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas onshore across the UK.

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• Villagers’ fracking revolt leads to arrests 
  26 Jul 2013

All the companies have to do now is apply for planning permission and ministers have made it quite clear that they support exploration for new resources, with generous tax breaks. It is estimated there is enough shale gas alone to heat Britain for 40 years and bring down energy prices.

There are even promises that each community will be given £10m for allowing fracking over 10 to 25 years.

^{(Christopher Pledger for The Telegraph)}

But local people insist they will stage protests just as passionate as the ongoing sit-in around Balcombe.

Tina Rothery of Residents Action on Flyde Fracking, said any plans to drill on the Lancashire coast, where fracking has already caused earthquakes will be met with protest.

“If anything we have learned from the protests at Balcombe and will help us to be more effective,” she said.

“The Government will not protect us, so we will protect ourselves. Anywhere in the country will fight to protect their water and air.”

Stephen Hall, president of the Greater Manchester Association of Trades Union Councils, said most of the Mersey Valley is threatened with not only fracking but pumping up coal bed methane.

“We don’t need it and we don’t want it. There are environmentally friendly alternatives possible that would give more jobs.

“People will use every avenue available for them to protest. If they cannot do it through objecting to planning permission they will take action on the streets.”

Ed Pybus, of Frack Off Scotland, said local residents of Airth, where there are plans to drill for coal bed methane, will protest as soon as every other avenue is exhausted.

“Thousands of local residents in Falkirk are against this development. They are pursuing their protests through council and Scottish Government. If after all this the drilling goes ahead there will be vigorous protests.”

Dave Truman of Cheshire and Wirral Action on Fracking said most of the county has licences for drilling, including the affluent areas on the west side of the Wirral.

“I don’t think people are any different from people down in Balcombe or people in Australia and the US. Once they know what risks are to the environment and the water table they will take action.”

^{(Christopher Pledger for The Telegraph)}

Andrew Ogden of the Campaign to Protect Rural England in Kent, said villagers will demonstrate against drilling exploratory wells because of concerns that could lead to fracking in future.

“I think people will do the same once the lorries start coming in where the drilling is likely to happen.”

However Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory MP, who faces the threat of fracking in his own constituency of North East Somerset and indeed near his own home, said there was no need for a “knee jerk Nimby response”.

Nor did he approve of “rent-a-mob” or “buses of hooligans” coming in to protest.

He insisted the Shires of Britain will react in an appropriate and dignified manner once all the information has been gathered.

“There has to be a balance between the advantages of cheap energy against the disadvantages of damage to the countryside.”

EU plot to scrap Britain

SENIOR Eurocrats are secretly plotting to create a super-powerful EU president to realise their dream of abolishing ­Britain, we can reveal.

A covert group of EU foreign ministers has drawn up plans for merging the jobs currently done by Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.

The new bureaucrat, who would not be directly elected by voters, is set to get sweeping control over the entire EU and force member countries into ever-greater political and economic union.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy at an EU summit....

Opponents fear the plan could create a modern-day equivalent of the European emperor envisaged by Napoleon Bonaparte or a return to the Holy Roman Empire of Charlemagne that dominated Europe in the Dark Ages.

They are concerned that David Cameron’s coalition Government is doing nothing to prevent the sinister plot. The secret talks were uncovered by Independent Labour peer Lord Stoddart of Swindon.

“This is a plot by people who want to abolish nation states and create a United States of Europe,” he said.

“The whole thing is barmy. These people are determined to achieve their final objective.

“The only hope for Britain is to leave the EU and become an independent nation.”

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Obama, Hillary Clinton All Smiles During Private Lunch Meeting

President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were all smiles during a lunch meeting at the White House on Monday.

A White House spokesman said it was "largely friendship that's on the agenda" at the private meeting.

Below, a photo of the two top Dems during lunch:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/obama-hillary-clinton-photo_n_3672009.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cipad%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D350846

ADMIT: NSA SPIES ON FRIENDS' FRIENDS' FRIENDS

The NSA Admits It Analyzes More People's Data Than Previously Revealed

As an aside during testimony on Capitol Hill today, a National Security Agency representative rather casually indicated that the government looks at data from a universe of far, far more people than previously indicated.

Chris Inglis, the agency's deputy director, was one of several government representatives—including from the FBI and the office of the Director of National Intelligence—testifying before the House Judiciary Committee this morning. Most of the testimony largely echoed previous testimonyby the agencies on the topic of the government's surveillance, including a retread of the same offered examples for how the Patriot Act and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act had stopped terror events.

But Inglis' statement was new. Analysts look "two or three hops" from terror suspects when evaluating terror activity, Inglis revealed. Previously, the limit of how surveillance was extendedhad been described as two hops. This meant that if the NSA were following a phone metadata or web trail from a terror suspect, it could also look at the calls from the people that suspect has spoken with—one hop. And then, the calls that second person had also spoken with—two hops. Terror suspect to person two to person three. Two hops. And now: A third hop.

Think of it this way. Let's say the government suspects you are a terrorist and it has access to your Facebook account. If you're an American citizen, it can't do that currently (with certain exceptions)—but for the sake of argument. So all of your friends, that's one hop. Your friends' friends, whether you know them or not—two hops. Your friends' friends' friends, whoever they happen to be, are that third hop. That's a massive group of people that the NSA apparently considers fair game.

For a sense of scale, researchers at the University of Milan found in 2011 that everyone on the Internet was, on average, 4.74 steps away from anyone else. The NSA explores relationships up to three of those steps. (See our conversation with the ACLU's Alex Abdo on this.)

Inglis' admission didn't register among the members of Congress present, but immediately resonated with privacy advocates online.

The hearing was far more critical of the government than previous hearings have been. Members of the House from both political parties had strong words for the agency representatives, often focused on how the letter of the law had been exploited.

Ranking Minority Member John Conyers (MI): "You've already violated the law in my opinion."

Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY): "I believe it's totally unprecedented and goes way beyond the statute."

Rep. Ted Poe (TX): "Do you see a national security exemption in the Fourth Amendment? … We've abused the concept of rights in the name of national security."

The author of the Patriot Act, Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, reminded the government that the act was up for renewal in 2015. The provisions for phone metadata collection, he warned, have "got to be changed … otherwise in a year or year and a half you're not going to have it any more."

Inglis' admission isn't likely to help the effort to convince members of the House that the surveillance programs should be kept as is. Neither will a response offered by DNI counsel Robert Litt. Asked by committee chairman Bob Goodlatte if the government really thought the massive collection of phone records could be kept from the American people, Litt replied, "Well, um, we tried."

The audience chuckled.

Update, 1:10 p.m.: Another bit of news. The longstanding question of whether or not phone metadata collected by NSA includes geolocation data has been answered. "We are not collecting that data," Inglis said, "under this program."

Photo: Inglis is sworn in. (AP)

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author atpbump@theatlantic.com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. 

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/07/nsa-admits-it-analyzes-more-peoples-data-previously-revealed/67287/

Congressman: Benghazi Survivors Forced to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements

Congressman Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, said today on the House floor that survivors of the Benghazi terror attack have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements:

"On Tuesday I raised the question of why none of the Benghazi survivors, whether State Department, CIA, or private security contract employees have testified publicly before Congress," said Wolf.

"According to trusted sources that have contacted my office, many if not all of the survivors of the Benghazi attacks along with others at the Department of Defense, the CIA have been asked or directed to sign additional non-disclosure agreements about their involvement in the Benghazi attacks. Some of these new NDAs, as they call them, I have been told were signed as recently as this summer."

Wolf continued: "It is worth noting that the Marine Corps Times yesterday reported that the Marine colonel whose task force was responsible for special operations in northern and western Africa at the time of the attack is still on active duty despite claims that he retired. And therefore could not be forced to testify before Congress.

"If these reports are accurate, this would be a stunning revelation to any member of Congress, any member of Congress that finds this out and also more importantly to the American people. It also raises serious concerns about the priority of the administration's efforts to silence those with knowledge of the Benghazi attack in response.

"So today I ask, how many federal employees, military personnel, or contractors have been asked to sign additional non-disclosure agreements by each agency? And do these non-disclosure agreements apply to those undercover or have non-covert State Department and Defense Department employees?"

Wolf added, "I do not expect the Obama administration to be forthcoming with answers, but if this Congress, if this Congress does not ask for the information and compel its delivery, the American people will never learn the truth. Any federal employer employee or contractor who has been coerced and is silenced through a non-disclosure agreement should expect that Congress [will] ask to speak out on their behalf and compel their voice to be heard. That's why I, along with 159 of my colleagues, support a Select Committee to hold public hearings to learn the truth about what happened that night in Benghazi."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/congressman-benghazi-survivors-forced-sign-non-disclosure-agreements_739975.html

World War III Brews As Nation Distracted By Trayvon Martin Case

By Anthony Gucciardi

As the world reacts to the Trayvon Martin case, including prominent rappers calling out the media over its race baiting, reports detail around 160,000 Russian troops were called to ‘combat readiness’ following an Israeli strike on Russian-made missiles in Syria.

Is the nation too distracted by the George Zimmerman trial’s 24/7 news cycle to even know about this developing situation that coincides with escalating tensions between Russia and US-affiliated nations around the world?

First up is the new revelation that Israel was behind an attack on Syria that targeted Russian-made anti-ship missiles. According to the Israeli National News sources within the U.S., Israel recently launched an attack on Russian missiles that were apparently sold to Syria and stationed at a critical point within the country. Until now, it was unknown who had initiated the bombing that had rocked Latakia on July 5th.

Ultimately bombing the ‘critical point’ holding the Russian’s Yakhont anti-ship missile, Israel is believed to have initiated the bombing via aircraft or a ship in the Mediterranean. According to the anonymous U.S. official who corresponded with CNN:

“This attack was either by air raid or long-range missiles fired from boats in the Mediterranean.”

Now enter new reports surfacing from the Russian Defense Ministry on orders of Vladimir Putin that the largest military ‘state of full combat readiness’ drill is taking place with around 160,000 troops ordered to report from all corners of the military. Specifically, the translated reports detail how Putin is calling together not just Armed Forces of Russia troops, but all forms of long-range aircraft, 70 naval ships, bomber and fighter aircraft, and so on.
According to a syndicated Russian announcement:

“On Friday, during a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu Russian, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an unexpected military drill, urging all forces to enter a state of full combat readiness on the night of July 13.”

In other words, these reports says that Putin is essentially assembling the entire military in the largest such event since the Soviet Union. This is coming in from the Russian language version of Forbes and other Russian sources translated to English.
Is this massive ‘state of full combat readiness’ initiated on July 13th just a training exercise with no further intention, or is it related to to the attack by Israel on Russian-made missiles in Syria? Whether this is truly the initiation of a massive conflict between world powers or not, it’s certainly worth the attention of the media and general public. While it does take a lot of digging to sort through all of these Russian language announcements and get to the bottom of the story, it’s much more important than what George Zimmerman’s lawyers ate for breakfast this morning.
Source:
www.storyleak.com

http://worldtruth.tv/world-war-iii-brews-as-nation-distracted-by-trayvon-martin-case/

D.C. Fries-HEAT ADVISORY\ Dangerous combination of high heat, humidity

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – A Heat Advisory will be in effect today for most of central, eastern and northern Virginia between Noon and 6 p.m. The Heat Advisory for parts of Northern Virginia lasts an extra hour until 7 p.m.

After a string of increasingly hot and humid days this week under a dome of high pressure parked over the eastern U.S., today will likely be our hottest day of the heat wave.  This afternoon, you can expect thermometer highs in the mid to upper 90s, and heat index values in the range of 103-110 degrees.  This means that for hours this afternoon, your body will have a tremendously difficult time keeping a safe body temperature outdoors. The UV Index is also Very High today, with the most intense UV rays occurring between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Here are some important  heat safety tips for you today:

Closely monitor your kids and pets today, and check on your neighbors and especially the elderly and anyone who lives alone. People with preexisting health conditions should remain indoors today to limit heat stress on the body. Never leave anyone, including pets, in vehicles today, even if you crack the car windows!

CLICK HERE for more heat safety information.

http://wtvr.com/2013/07/18/heat-advisory-dangerous-combination-of-high-heat-and-humidity/

TSA SEARCHING PARKED CARS AT AIRPORTS

Rochester, N.Y. -- She says she had no warning that someone was going to search her car after she left to catch her flight. So the woman contacted News10NBC.

We found out it happened to her because she valet parked her car. Those are the only cars that get inspected.

So if security feels it is necessary to search some cars in the name of safety, why not search all of them?

Laurie Iacuzza walked to her waiting car at the Greater Rochester International Airport after returning from a trip and that's when she found it -- a notice saying her car was inspected after she left for her flight. She said, “I was furious. They never mentioned it to me when I booked the valet or when I picked up the car or when I dropped it off.”

Iacuzza's car was inspected by valet attendants on orders from the TSA. But why only valet parked cars? That's what News10NBC wanted to ask the TSA director about.  We reached him by phone.

Berkeley Brean asked, “Are the cars in the short term lots and long term lots getting searched as well?”

John McCaffery, TSA, said, “No, those vehicles that are in the garage, short term long term parking, even if they carry pretty large amounts of explosives, they would not cause damage to the front of the airport. But for those who use the valet, the car could be there for a half hour or an hour so there is a vulnerability.”

News10NBC went to the valet parking and one of the attendants showed us the notice they put in the cars.

We asked, “You're required, they tell you, you have to search the car?” Valet Parking Attendant Frank Dettorre said, “I have to do it.”

We also noticed a large sign that alerts customers that their vehicle will be inspected. The sign is on the kiosk window. Iacuzza says it was not there when she dropped off her car. “I think the public should be aware of the fact that if their car is going to be searched, they should be informed of it.”

Iacuzza said she doesn't mind the security measure. She just wants to be told if her car is getting searched.

News10NBC asked the owner of the company that runs the valet parking when they put up the sign but he wouldn't answer.

TSA says this is part of its overall security plan and that it's a proactive move. The attendants said they've only been doing it for about a month.

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S3101080.shtml?cat=566

Atos Now Attack Disabled Servicemen & Women

The Royal British Legion has announced a 72% increase in former soldiers being denied ESA after an Atos Assessment, why the hysteria over this particular story?

The anger is because it’s about men & women who’ve gone to war and been injured in the line of duty, I’m not being harsh but what do these men & women expect from agovernment such as the one we find ourselves being dictated by?

Whilst I support our men & women who put themselves on the frontline to defend our country, maybe they and the other organisations that represent them should take a look at the wider picture and see what’s happening to the very citizens they are fighting to defend?

Read More

Obama politics:Jesse Jackson Calls for United Nations Investigation of Trayvon Martin Shooting

Jesse Jackson, the founder of Rainbow/PUSH, has called for the United Nations to investigate the death of Trayvon Martin.

According to Jackson, the acquittal of George Zimmerman contradicts international human rights laws and treaties.

Jackson’s call follows demands that the Obama Justice Department prosecute Zimmerman for allegedly violating Martin’s civil rights.

In addition, Representative Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, has called for the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on the Martin-Zimmerman case.

“We need a national investigation of the racial context that led to Trayvon Martin’s slaying,” Jackson wrote in an article published by the Chicago Sun-Times and posted on the Rainbow/PUSH website. “Congress must act. And it’s time to call on the United Nations Human Rights Commission for an in-depth investigation of whether the U.S. is upholding its obligations under international human rights laws and treaties. Trayvon Martin’s death demands much more than a jury’s verdict on George Zimmerman. It calls for us to hear the evidence and render a verdict on the racial reality that never had its day in court at the trial.”

http://www.infowars.com/jesse-jackson-calls-for-united-nations-investigation-of-trayvon-martin-shooting/

QUEEN APPROVES: GAY MARRIAGE...

LONDON — The French like to make fun of the British, joking about their repressed ways in matters of the heart. But when it came time to debate same-sex marriage, it was France that betrayed a deep conservative streak in sometimes violent protests — while the British showed themselves to be modern and tolerant.

With little fanfare or controversy, Britain announced Wednesday that Queen Elizabeth II — hardly a social radical — had signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriages in England and Wales. France has also legalized gay marriages, but only after a series of gigantic protests attracting families from the traditional heartland that revealed a deeply split society.

Official word that the queen had approved the bill drew cheers in the usually sedate House of Commons.

“This is a historic moment that will resonate in many people’s lives,” Equalities Minister Maria Miller said in a statement. “I am proud that we have made it happen and I look forward to the first same sex wedding by next summer.”

There were British political figures and religious leaders vehemently opposed to gay marriage but the opposition never reached a fever pitch, in part because the same-sex marriage bill had broad public support and the backing of the leaders of the three major political parties. In fact, it was Prime Minister David Cameron, leader of the tradition-minded Conservatives, who proposed the legislation in the first place.

The public seemed to take it for granted that gay marriage should be a part of British life. It was perhaps a sign of how Britain has evolved in past decades into a much more cosmopolitan nation than its starchy, traditionalist image would suggest.

“The opposition seemed restricted to a very small number of people very vigorous in their views,” said Steven Fielding, a political scientist at the University of Nottingham. “It was restricted to the back benchers of the Conservative Party. It wasn’t shared across the political spectrum. It was an issue whose time had come. To oppose it seemed slightly strange.”

The law was also written in a way that allowed the Church of England — which is opposed — to sidestep the controversy since it is explicitly barred from conducting same-sex marriages.

The picture was completely different in France. Few people had expected legalizing gay marriage to face much of a hurdle. French polls had shown for more than a decade that the concept enjoyed majority public support, and Paris has had a gay mayor for years.

And to outsiders, of course, France is seen as the land of ”anything goes” when it comes to sex — from the Marquis de Sade to author Colette to disgraced French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, notorious for his libertine sex parties.

Politically, too, it was meant to be a blip. Legalizing gay marriage was near the bottom of French President Francois Hollande’s 36-point agenda for his presidency. It was mentioned in passing during his presidential campaign but was never an issue that galvanized opposition, and was entirely eclipsed by concerns about the economy.

Then, something clicked in the conservative heartland — which showed just how much of a force it is in French life.

When the law was drafted and the idea of gays marrying turned from concept to imminent reality, traditionalists spoke up, and loudly. Protests grew bigger, and spread wider. Opponents of the bill stirred up fears about gay parents raising France’s new generations.

A fringe of far-right skinheads drew camera crews and condemnation as they wrestled with riot police at Paris protests. But most of those at the barricades were families, children with grandparents, members of France’s minority of practicing Catholics bussed in en masse from towns and villages to march on the capital. Some conservative Muslims and Jews joined in.

In marching against gay marriage, the demonstrators also seemed to be protesting freewheeling Paris life, the image of a wanton, insatiable French sexuality celebrated in films and art — but far from the reality of many provincial French families. For a time in early 2013, France felt like a deeply divided nation.

But the size of the anti-gay marriage movement was largely the result of a political backlash against Hollande, whose popularity dived soon after his election over his handling of the economy.

The movement was the right vehicle at the right time to target Hollande and his Socialists. Once the law passed, the momentum stalled.

Even the protesters seemed to realize they remain the minority, and polls continue to show that most French people think gay marriage — now that it is a fact of life — is fine.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/britain-legalizes-gay-marriage-as-queen-elizabeth-ii-gives-royal-approval/2013/07/17/925daf7a-eee5-11e2-bb32-725c8351a69e_story.html___

Driving somewhere? There's a gov't record of that!!!

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chances are, your local or state police departments have photographs of your car in their files, noting where you were driving on a particular day, even if you never did anything wrong.

Using automated scanners, law enforcement agencies across the country have amassed millions of digital records on the location and movement of every vehicle with a license plate, according to a study published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. Affixed to police cars, bridges or buildings, the scanners capture images of passing or parked vehicles and note their location, uploading that information into police databases. Departments keep the records for weeks or years, sometimes indefinitely.

As the technology becomes cheaper and more ubiquitous, and federal grants focus on aiding local terrorist detection, even small police agencies are able to deploy more sophisticated surveillance systems. While the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that a judge's approval is needed to track a car with GPS, networks of plate scanners allow police effectively to track a driver's location, sometimes several times every day, with few legal restrictions. The ACLU says the scanners assemble what it calls a "single, high-resolution image of our lives."

"There's just a fundamental question of whether we're going to live in a society where these dragnet surveillance systems become routine," said Catherine Crump, a staff attorney with the ACLU. The civil rights group is proposing that police departments immediately delete any records of cars not linked to a crime.

Law enforcement officials said the scanners can be crucial to tracking suspicious cars, aiding drug busts and finding abducted children. License plate scanners also can be efficient. The state of Maryland told the ACLU that troopers could "maintain a normal patrol stance" while capturing up to 7,000 license plate images in a single eight hour shift.

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View gallery

An Alexandria Police Dept. squad car is seen outfitted with a license plate scanner mounted to the t …

"At a time of fiscal and budget constraints, we need better assistance for law enforcement," said Harvey Eisenberg, chief of the national security section and assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland.

Law enforcement officials also point out that the technology is legal in most cases, automating a practice that's been done for years. The ACLU found that only five states have laws governing license plate readers. New Hampshire, for example, bans the technology except in narrow circumstances, while Maine and Arkansas limit how long plate information can be stored.

"There's no expectation of privacy" for a vehicle driving on a public road or parked in a public place, said Lt. Bill Hedgpeth, a spokesman for the Mesquite Police Department in Texas, which has records stretching back to 2008, although the city plans next month to begin deleting files older than two years. "It's just a vehicle. It's just a license plate."

In Yonkers, N.Y., just north of the Bronx, police said retaining the information indefinitely helps detectives solve future crimes. In a statement, the department said it uses license plate readers as a "reactive investigative tool" that is only accessed if detectives are looking for a particular vehicle in connection to a crime.

"These plate readers are not intended nor used to follow the movements of members of the public," the department's statement said.

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An Alexandria Police Dept. squad car is seen outfitted with a license plate scanner mounted to the o …

But even if law enforcement officials say they don't want a public location tracking system, the records add up quickly. In Jersey City, N.J., for example, the population is only 250,000 but the city collected more than 2 million plate images on file. Because the city keeps records for five years, the ACLU estimates that it has some 10 million on file, making it possible for police to plot the movements of most residents depending upon the number and location of the scanners, according to the ACLU.

The ACLU study, based on 26,000 pages of responses from 293 police departments and state agencies across the country, also found that license plate scanners produced a small fraction of "hits," or alerts to police that a suspicious vehicle has been found. In Maryland, for example, the state reported reading about 29 million plates between January and May of last year. Of that amount, about 60,000 — or roughly 1 in every 500 license plates — were suspicious. The No. 1 crime? A suspended or revoked registration, or a violation of the state's emissions inspection program accounted for 97 percent of all alerts.

Eisenberg, the assistant U.S. attorney, said the numbers "fail to show the real qualitative assistance to public safety and law enforcement." He points to the 132 wanted suspects the program helped track. They were a small fraction of the 29 million plates read, but he said tracking those suspects can be critical to keeping an area safe.

Also, he said, Maryland has rules in place restricting access for criminal investigations only. Most records are retained for one year in Maryland, and the state's privacy policies are reviewed by an independent board, Eisenberg noted.

At least in Maryland, "there are checks, and there are balances," he said.

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Office Dennis Vafier of the Alexandria Police Dept., uses a laptop in his squad car to scan vehicle  …

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Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty

http://news.yahoo.com/driving-somewhere-theres-govt-record-140052644.html

Russia Is Full Combat Ready

Infowars Nightly News for Monday, June 17, 2013 (Full Show): Lloyd Chapman

BERNANKE: THE PUMPING MUST GO ON...and ON and ON!!!!

By Jon Hilsenrath

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke highlights risks to the Fed’s economic outlook in his prepared testimony to Congress Wednesday. Here is a look at key passages in the testimony and what they signal:

1) WHAT HE SAID: “The risks remain that tight fiscal policy will restrain economic growth over the next few quarters by more than we currently expect, or that the debate concerning other fiscal policy issues, such as the status of the debt ceiling, will evolve in a way that could hamper the recovery. More generally, with the recovery still proceeding at only a moderate pace, the economy remains vulnerable to unanticipated shocks, including the possibility that global economic growth may be slower than currently anticipated.”

WHAT IT MEANS: Lots of focus on downside risks here, which is striking because the Fed said in its June policy statement that downside risks to the economy had diminished. That’s a slightly “dovish” tilt toward easy money.

2) WHAT HE SAID: “I emphasize that, because our asset purchases depend on economic and financial developments, they are by no means on a present course. On the one hand, if economic conditions were to improve faster than expected, and inflation appeared to be rising decisively back toward our objective, the pace of asset purchases could be reduced somewhat more quickly. On the other hand, if the outlook for employment were to become relatively less favorable, if inflation did not appear to be moving back toward 2 percent, or if financial conditions-which have tightened recently-were judged to be insufficiently accommodative to allow us to attain our mandated objectives, the current pace of purchases could be maintained longer.”

WHAT IT MEANS: Mr. Bernanke tries to be even-handed here about the outlook for bond purchases, but he spends a lot more time talking about the conditions that could convince the Fed to leave bond buying in place than he does on the conditions that would convince the Fed to pull back sooner than planned. Another dovish tilt.

3) WHAT HE SAID: “If a substantial part of the reductions in measured unemployment were judged to reflect cyclical declines in labor force participation rather than gains in employment, the committee would be unlikely to view a decline in unemployment to 6.5 percent (unemployment rate) as a sufficient reason to raise its target for the federal funds rate. Likewise, the committee would be unlikely to raise the funds rate if inflation remained persistently below our longer-run objective.”

WHAT IT MEANS: The Fed has said it won’t raise the fed funds rate until after the jobless rate falls below 6.5%. These comments, along with others Bernanke has made, suggest the Fed could wait for a while even after the jobless rate falls below 6.5% before trying to raise short-term rates. The 6.5% threshold, it seems, appears to carry less and less meaning within the Fed as it tries to emphasize low rates for a long-time.

4) WHAT HE SAID: “The [Fed] is certainly aware that very low inflation poses risks to economic performance – for example by raising the real cost of capital investment—and increases the risk of outright deflation. Consequently, we will monitor this situation closely as well, and we will act as needed to ensure that inflation moves back toward our 2 percent objective over time.”

WHAT IT MEANS: There seems to be a little shift in emphasis here. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation is around 1%, below the Fed’s 2% goal. In his press conference in June, Mr. Bernanke emphasized his view that inflation has been driven down by “transitory factors.” Wednesday he seems to emphasize the damaging effects of low inflation , a little tilt toward keeping monetary policy easy.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/07/17/key-passages-from-bernankes-testimony/

HR 748: Require All Young Americans to Enlist in a National Service Program!

House Representative Charles Rangel has introduced HR 748 that will “require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or as civilian service in a Federal, State, or local government program or with a community-based agency or community-based entity, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to provide for the registration of women under the Military Selective Service Act, and for other purposes.”

HR 748 has been brought forth to the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) are instrumental in the implementation of the annual defense authorization bill; as well as the functionality of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Energy (DoE).

Mainstream propaganda supports the idea of national service by admonishing Americans that if our Constitutional Republic is to survive we need to give our consent to the government to govern us and actively participate in our freedom in order to remain free.

The connotation is the “diversity seems to breed distrust and disengagement” which is the antithesis of a communal foundation. The answer “is universal national service . . . that is in our enlightened self-interest as a nation.”

By devoting “a year or more to national service, whether military or civilian, should become a countrywide rite of passage, the common expectation and widespread experience of virtually every young American.” In this way, every American “can harness the spirit of volunteerism that already exists and make it a permanent part of American culture.”

In developing a civilian corps, the US government created the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) that take neighborhood watches and regular citizens and turn them into basic responders to disaster scenarios with workshops and training exercises.

This concept was beta-tested by the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. After the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987, the LAFD decided to train citizens and government employees in disaster response training. FEMA and other agencies of the US government have taken this concept into their own hands by creating a federalized and state-controlled version to set clear priories and dispense responders in any given disaster situation.

Under CERT, citizens are trained and approved by FEMA to access the resources of any given community, partner with local law enforcement, recruit participants and infiltrate community groups to further indoctrinate the public as to knowing specifically how the federal government wants Americans to respond during a disaster. 

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Intimating that the internal affairs of the US necessitate a civilian army because America’s security was threatened from within harkens to dictators of the past that created their own youth groups of trained citizens that were brainwashed into believing that continuity of government supersede basic adherence to fundamental human rights, i.e. Hitler’s Youth Group.

In developing a civilian corps, the US government created the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) that take neighborhood watches and regular citizens and turn them into basic responders to disaster scenarios with workshops and training exercises.

http://www.newsnet14.com/?p=122676

Delivery Error? US weapons show up in hands of pro-Assad fighters