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  Internet Spying Powers Backed By Review.
Posted by: BIAD - 08-19-2016, 09:37 PM - Forum: Europe - Replies (3)

'Britain's spies should be allowed to continue harvesting large amounts of
data from emails, the government's reviewer of terror legislation said.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=395]

David Anderson has published a review of so-called bulk interception powers.
He found there was no viable alternative to the use of the powers by GCHQ,
MI5 and MI6 in the fight against terror.

He also backed the hacking of phones and computers "in principle", with some
reservations.

The operational case for this kind of surveillance, known as "bulk equipment
interference," was "not yet proven" as it had yet to be used, he said...'

SOURCE:

Well I never!! (sarcasm)



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  DOJ announces it will end use of private prisons
Posted by: senona - 08-19-2016, 07:15 AM - Forum: Political News and more - Replies (1)

Decision to phase out use of 14 contract prisons after investigative report found increased violence in facilities, fewer resources and ineffective cost.

Quote:The Obama administration said on Thursday that it planned to end the federal government’s use of private prisons, after an inquiry found they were drastically more unsafe than publicly run facilities.

Deputy attorney general Sally Yates announced the decision in a memo to Thomas Kane, the acting director of the federal prisons bureau, which was published on the justice department’s website.

“I am eager to enlist your help in beginning the process of reducing – and ultimately ending – our use of privately operated prisons,” Yates said. Officials were directed to not renew or substantially downscale contracts with prison operators as they expire.

The decision immediately prompted a sharp decline in the share prices of America’s biggest private prison companies.

Yates said in her memo that research had found private prisons “simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources” and “do not save substantially on costs” either. Essential government education and training programs for prisoners “have proved difficult to replicate and outsource” in the private sector, she said.

The decision was announced days after the Department of Justice’s inspector general released a damning investigation report. It found instances of inmate-on-inmate assaults were 28% higher in contract prisons than in government-run facilities, and that the confiscation of contraband mobile phones occurred eight times more frequently.

Federal inmates in private prisons were found to be nine times more likely to be placed on lockdown than those at other federal prisons, and were frequently subjected to arbitrary solitary confinement.


Source


After we saw an investigation into private prisons and what a money maker they are (business), arresting people that really did not warrant it but makes for better profit with more prisoners.

So I am very glad to hear that they will be ending the use of private prisons.


Quote:Yates said in her memo that the use of at least three private prisons would be phased out over the next year and that the private prison population would be reduced to less than 14,200 by May 2017.

Private prisons are operated for the federal government by three companies: GEO Group, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), and Management and Training Corporation.

CCA is the largest private prison operator, with a market cap of $3.2bn. Within an hour of the news on the government’s decision on Thursday, its shares had fallen in value by 52%, dropping from $27.06 per share to $13.

Shares of GEO group, the second-largest private prison firm, also fell by more than 45% during that time. With its shares dropping to $17.30 from $32.32, nearly $700m was shaved off GEO group’s earlier $2bn market valuation.

By noon on Thursday, trading on stocks in both companies had been halted due to their volatility and then reopened again.


Oh boo hoo, such a pity.
Wonder how many innocent people are locked up just to line your pockets?



It's a small step, but a step in the right direction none the less.
Prisons for 'profits' is a big business in American that no one really talks about.
And it does need to be stopped.



Welcome to Jail Inc: how private companies make money off US prisons

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  It don't look good !
Posted by: 727Sky - 08-18-2016, 11:58 PM - Forum: Political News and more - Replies (5)

Quote:Hillary's Ubiquitous and all-pervasive government taking care of all Americans

5 Mistakes That Will Lead To The Fall of America
by John Hawkins: Jun 27, 2015
 
http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2015/06/27/5-mistakes-that-will-lead-to-the-fall-of-america-n2018241

 
Thousands of years after the Roman Empire fell, people are still speculating about how such a powerful empire became too feeble to defend itself. Did it become corrupt? Was its taxes too high? Was it widespread lead poisoning? The refusal to break up tribes it assimilated? Was it the loss of traditional values? Did it over-expand?  There are all sorts of theories, but nobody really knows.
However, if American falls, historians won’t have to speculate because the problems that are destroying our country are right there for anyone to see. You want to know how to break the greatest nation the world has ever seen over the course of a few short decades?
Just look at what we’re actually doing because future generations will point to it when they’re trying to figure out where we went wrong.


1) Unsustainable Debt:  By 2020, projections indicate that we’d need 20% of the GDP of the ENTIRE PLANET just to finance our debt, which will continue to increase at a rapid pace. Despite the fact that it would require a miracle bigger than what Joan of Arc accomplished in order for Social Security and Medicare to function for another 20 years without enormous tax increases, we just added another costly entitlement program (Obamacare) and politicians are incessantly clamoring for new spending. Simply put, that is unsustainable over the long haul and without almost revolutionary changes that are currently politically unimaginable, our country will either go bankrupt or our money will be inflated so much that we’ll need wheelbarrows full of greenbacks to buy a loaf of bread.
The SS Trust Funds will run out of money between 2030 and 2034.  After the trust accounts run out of funds SS payments will have to be funded from the general fund.  That will require about 70 percent of the current general fund to go to SS obligations. 


2) Enormous Centralized Government:  The bigger the tick, the less blood there is for the dog and there is no larger collection of blood suckers on Planet Earth than our own federal government. Our government has become so massive that lawmakers don’t even read the bills they pass any more, trivial changes to regulations made by unelected bureaucrats can drive productive businesses into bankruptcy and perhaps worst of all, 49% of the public gets benefits. That has not only bled the private sector and made our economy less dynamic, it has led to massive corruption. As P.J. O’Rourke said, “When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”  Regardless of your political philosophy or party, ask you and your friends this one question:

Can you name one government based on the progressive model that the Democrats embrace that has succeeded? 


3) An Overly-Progressive Income Tax Code:  There are a lot of ramifications to almost half of all Americans paying no income taxes and few of them are good. There are few brakes on high income taxes because half the country isn’t impacted at all. Moreover, the progressive nature of the tax code stifles movement between economic classes. It’s a lot harder to go from “rags to riches” when the government starts looting you like a Somali pirate the moment you make any real income. Additionally, if half of Americans aren’t paying “their fair share,” then the other half has to overpay to make up for it. That reduces investment and production from the people in the best position to create jobs, thus slowing economic output even further. What happens when the tax code gets so skewed that the “takers” outnumber the “makers” in the United States? We’re getting very close to that tipping point and it’s doubtful that we’ll like the answer when we find out. 

Look up the word “plunder” in a dictionary.  Does the definition describe anything familiar to you?


4) Moral Decay:  It’s highly ironic that Americans have pushed Christianity to the side and embraced an, “If it feels good, not only is it okay to do it, but other people should celebrate you for it,” mentality at the very moment America is being decimated by a profound moral crisis. It’s no coincidence that America has the largest prison population in the world, drug use is rampant, 41% of births are out-of-wedlock and mass murders have become all too common in a Christian nation that has turned its back on God. As our nation becomes increasingly decadent, we’re learning what John Adams meant when he said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”


5) Backward Immigration Policies: When America is still considered the most desirable place to live on the planet, immigration should be a huge boon to the country. At times in our nation’s past it certainly was, but today this potential source of strength is a wash at best and a drag on the country at worst.


For example, did you know that, “in 2010, 36 percent of immigrant-headed households receive benefits from at least one welfare program, compared to just 23 percent of households headed by U.S. natives. Among households with children, immigrant welfare households outnumbered non-immigrants by a similarly wide margin: 57 percent to 40 percent.”

 
The percentage of immigrants on welfare should be zero. After all, why would we want to bring someone into our country who’s going to end up on the dole?

Instead of selecting the cream of the crop, the rich, the geniuses, the skilled, and people who can add to our tax base, we take pretty much anybody who has a relative here or who claims that he’d be in danger in his home country (and let’s face it, the vast majority of them are lying). So many are anti-Christian, anti-Semitic and pro-Sharia Law, and therefore against our Constitution! Do we get SOME great Americans this way? Sure, but why not spend all our time searching out those people instead of getting a few of them, lots of welfare cases and a handful of Dzhokhar Tsarnaevs in the process?

This is even truer for illegal immigrants who are overwhelmingly poor, uneducated, minimally skilled and by definition, are not law-abiding people. In a world where an education and a high level of skill are becoming ever more necessary to get most jobs worth having, why import massive numbers of people who will never fit that definition to undercut poor American workers who are already struggling to climb the ladder?

On top of all this, instead of encouraging immigrants to adapt to this most successful culture in recorded human history, they’re encouraged to nurse grievances, despise their own adopted home country and cling to the cultures of the failed nations from which they’ve come. Instead of a source of strength, immigration is handled so poorly that we’d be better off stopping it entirely until our laws can be rewritten from top to bottom rather than continuing on with a system that’s completely broken.

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  Are we going to ever have another contest?
Posted by: 727Sky - 08-18-2016, 11:35 PM - Forum: Short Stories - Replies (4)

Are there plans for another writer's contest ???////////////////////////////

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  Submarines and females
Posted by: 727Sky - 08-18-2016, 01:34 PM - Forum: Humor, Jokes & Pranks - Replies (1)

Quote:The Department of the Navy is now assigning females to quarters on submarines.
 
Addressing boat sailors at Groton, SUBLANT advised, "The female sleeping quarters will be out-of-bounds for all males. Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time."
 
He continued, "Anybody caught breaking this rule the second time will be fined $50.  Being caught a third time will cost you a fine of $100.  Are there any questions?"
 
At this point, a Master Chief stood up in the crowd and inquired:  "How much for a season pass?"

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  Pet goldfish dumped into lakes are growing into football-sized monsters
Posted by: senona - 08-18-2016, 08:55 AM - Forum: Fragile Earth - Replies (2)

[Image: 486591fcf35f46eb93b119f8dd71aca7.png]
Meet the 1.9-kg goldfish terrorising local ecosystems.


If your kid has some goldfish that he won at a fair and he no longer wants them, you might want to think twice about dumping them in a lake.


Quote:Goldfish (Carassius auratus) are cute and low-maintenance pets, but research has shown that when they end up in lakes and rivers, they can grow up to 10 times their original size and travel long distances, making them an incredibly invasive pest.

A team of Australian researchers has reported finding wild goldfish that weigh up to 1.9 kg (4 pounds), and they're wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem.

The researchers are studying the Vasse River in southwest Australia, which had goldfish introduced into it more than two decades ago, and has seen the population surge over the past 12 years. The most likely cause of the infestation was pet owners.

"Perhaps they were kids' pets where the family have been moving house and their parents, not wanting to take the aquarium, have dumped them in the local wetlands," lead researcher Stephen Beatty from Murdoch University in Perth, told ABC News.

"Unfortunately a lot of people don't understand that wetlands connect up to river systems and introduced fish, once they get in there, can do a lot of damage to native freshwater fish and the aquatic habitat."


Linky


Hard to imagine, a sweet innocent gold fish that size, much less terrorizing the local ecosystem.
But evidently they are.

So what's so bad about these over-sized goldfish?


Quote:Not only do the fish, which are native to eastern Asia, grow as large as resources will allow - which in this case, is pretty big - they're also carnivorous.

"They cruise along the bottom stirring up the substrate with their feeding strategy, this can re-suspend nutrients into the water column which exacerbates things like algal blooms," said Beatty. "They can also disrupt aquatic plants and eat other fish's eggs."

The team also suspects that goldfish have introduced at least one disease to the region already, and are responsible for a decline in native freshwater fish species.


Australia is not the only country to see this problem.
But in the U.S. in some areas, as well as Canada.


Who'd a thunk that would pose an issue, releasing goldfish into the wild?
Figured something would eat them eventually or something,  but not if they are thriving and getting up to 4 pounds.

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  AVOID CALAIS! British driver's warning as he's confronted by migrants wielding CHAINS
Posted by: BIAD - 08-18-2016, 07:54 AM - Forum: Europe - Replies (2)

A BRITISH motorist is warning holidaymakers to avoid Calais after a gang of
chainsaw-wielding migrants attacked his moving car with concrete boulders.

Rhys Williams was approaching the port in the lawless French town in the early
hours when his Mercedes' windows were shattered by a gang of asylum seekers
from the sprawling Jungle camp.

He told how a mob of migrants ran onto the road brandishing chainsaws and
throwing Molotov cocktails at the police and passing traffic in scenes that
"resembled a war zone"

The 53-year-old, who is an operations manager for the Road Haulage Association
(RHA), was left covered in glass after his front and back door windows were shattered.

[Image: attachment.php?aid=389]

The attack is the latest in a string of incidents where migrants have attacked cars in
a bid to block roads and break into lorries bound for Britain...
SOURCE:



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  Obama Decree Targets Gunsmiths and Online Firearm Information
Posted by: 727Sky - 08-18-2016, 07:50 AM - Forum: Firearms and Related Topics - Replies (2)

Quote:When Obama vowed to use his “pen and phone” to circumvent Congress and impose his will on America, he was actually telling the truth for once. In the latest example of lawless decrees coming from the executive branch, the Obama administration is taking aim at gunsmiths and free speech. Basically, if a recent “regulation” disguised as "guidance" is not stopped, gunsmithing — an American tradition stretching back centuries that was crucial in the War for Independence — will be effectively made illegal, experts say.
Another controversial element of the decree would purport to unconstitutionally criminalize many forms of gun-related speech on the Internet. If not withdrawn, the illegal Obama decree would purport to shred the rights protected by the Constitution's First and Second Amendments by making it illegal to post any “how-to” information about guns online. It would also effectively make all gun-related information on the Internet a crime because it could be accessed by foreigners.
However, as has happened with virtually all of Obama's power grabs, opposition to the newest illegal edict is surging — this time among Second Amendment activists, gun owners, industry, and proponents of constitutional government. Grassroots organizations have called on the Obama administration to immediately withdraw the “unconstitutional power grab.” If it refuses, critics of the scheme said they would work with Congress to defund it.     


http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/con...nformation

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  Military: Colorado Air Force base may have released chemical into drinking water
Posted by: senona - 08-18-2016, 05:29 AM - Forum: Man Made Disasters - Replies (1)

[Image: e6d728523e8e4ede8eeaafb830830a46.png]


After reading the article, not sure where "may have" comes from if the chemical was found in 3 water systems.
And the Air Force is willing to fork out the money to try and clean it up.

Feel sorry for the residents affected by this possible health risk.


Quote:The military said Wednesday it has identified six places on an Air Force base in Colorado where firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals may have escaped into the environment and made its way into drinking water in two nearby communities.

Engineers who conducted the review recommended a follow-up investigation at Peterson Air Force Base, where the foam was used in firefighting drills and equipment tests. It contained perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, which have been linked to prostate, kidney and testicular cancer, along with other illnesses.

The military is checking bases nationwide for possible releases of the foam into the environment.


It wasn’t immediately clear what the next phase of the investigation at Peterson would entail. The Air Force previously announced plans to drill monitoring wells and take soil samples to determine whether the chemicals were seeping into underground water from the base.


The PFCs were found in three water systems serving about 69,000 people in the city of Fountain and an unincorporated community called Security-Widefield. The chemicals have not been definitively traced to Peterson, but its proximity to the affected systems spurred the investigation.



Source

The Air Force previously agreed to spend $4.3 million to install filters in the three systems to remove PFCs. Contractors were still working out the details, Peterson spokesman Steve Brady said.

The Security Water District has shifted almost entirely to surface water — from rivers and lakes — since the PFCs were found, Manager Roy Heald said Wednesday. Previously, about half the district’s water came from wells and half from surface water.



From the sounds of it, it does appear to be the fault of the Air Force.
Which is probably why they are agreeing to spend that much money to clean out the systems and try to rid it of the PFC's.

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  Moon Rising... What the Heck is That?!
Posted by: Mystic Wanderer - 08-17-2016, 03:56 PM - Forum: JFK, the Moon and the Truth out There - Replies (4)

I watched this fascinating video on Gaia t.v. last night.  Luckily for us, it is on You Tube so you can see it too.

I've seen part of what's shown here, but there were a lot of new news included in this video that I hadn't seen.  It's a total eye-opener for the skeptics who don't believe anything is on the moon, or that there aren't bases on it.

It also shows how the space around the moon is blacked out when showing images to Earth, so you won't see what's really going on around the moon and in space... but they show you!

One thing that fascinated me most are the lines shown that stretch from Earth to the moon, and other points in space, which some researchers call space elevators.  Is this what they use to travel to the moon and other planets?  It talks about that at the 38:17 mark, but I advise everyone to watch the entire video. There might be something in there you haven't seen either.

You have to see this!  Look at what all has been hidden from us!

Oh... and the moon isn't gray; it's got many beautiful colors, as you will see.




https://youtu.be/yu2vfDvZ_7g

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