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Virginia Senate Passes Bill That Will Effectively Turns Cops Into Secret Police

Archives for February 2016

David Cameron Calls Israel’s Continued Settlement Expansion ‘Shocking’

Cameron stressed that British government is a supporter of Israel, but it does not support the illegal settlements.

IMEMC News
By IMEMC News
Palestinians laborers work at a construction site in the Jewish West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem.

Secretary of State John Kerry, on Wednesday, urged Israeli and Palestinian officials to resume a “genuine” peace process, stressing that continued settlement construction is not helpful. According to World Bulletin/Al Ray, the top diplomat warned of a “downward spiral” in violence in the absence of an active process. In order to dampen the uptick

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Cops Mistake Innocent Man’s Seizure for a Crime, Beat Him So Bad He Was Hospitalized For Days

To add insult to injury, the man was charged with DWI resisting arrest, evading arrest and interfering with public duties.

John Vibes
By John Vibes
Javier Ortega Jr. suffered bruises on his arms, his legs, his feet, his back, had two Taser shots on his stomach and his head, and broken bones in fingers after a run-in with police.

El Paso, TX – A man who was beaten by police while he was having a seizure is now facing charges from the incident. Javier Ortega Jr. was driving home one night when he had a seizure behind the wheel and crashed his vehicle. Ortega stopped at a gas station just before the crash but doesn’t remember anything after that. “I stopped at the Circle

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Disney Wants Employees To Chip In To Pay Copyright Lobbyists

The letter boasts of beating Aereo, getting TPP—and wants workers’ help in 2016.

Joe Mullin | Ars Technica
By Joe Mullin | Ars Technica

The Walt Disney Company has a reputation for lobbying hard on copyright issues. The 1998 copyright extension has even been dubbed the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act” by activists like Lawrence Lessig that have worked to reform copyright laws. This year, the company is turning to its employees to fund some of that battle. Disney CEO Bob Iger has

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Low Income Students Now A Majority In The Nation’s Public Schools

In 40 of the 50 states, low income students comprised no less than 40 percent of all public schoolchildren. In 21 states, children eligible for free or reduced-price lunches were a majority of the students in 2013.

Southern Education Foundation
By Southern Education Foundation

2015 - Low income students are now a majority of the schoolchildren attending the nation’s public schools, according to this research bulletin. The latest data collected from the states by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), show that 51 percent of the students across the nation’s public schools were low income in

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Who’s Regulating For-Profit Schools? Execs From For-Profit Colleges

And many of them come from schools that have been under investigation.

Annie Waldman
By Annie Waldman
Albert C. Gray, president of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, during a Senate hearing in June. (Photo: help.senate.gov)

College accreditors have come under scrutiny recently for allowing for-profit schools to collect billions in federal aid despite low graduation and high default rates. Accreditors are supposed to be watchdogs for college quality. They are not government agencies but colleges need an accreditor’s seal of approval so students can qualify for

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US Airstrikes In Afghanistan Killing Civilians At Greatest Rate In Seven Years

The rate at which civilians are being killed by US airstrikes in Afghanistan is at its highest point since 2008, an analysis of newly published UN data reveals.

Jack Serle
Abigail Fielding-Smith
Payenda Sargand
By Jack Serle
And Abigail Fielding-Smith
And Payenda Sargand
Mourners after alleged US drone strike kills 14 in Khost, June 2015 (Photo: Gul Marjan Farooqzoi)

Research by the Bureau shows that on average a civilian was killed every fourth drone or jet strike in 2015 – up from one in 11 attacks the year before and the first time the casualty rate has risen since 2011. The rate was last at such levels at the height of the Afghan war in 2008. The rates are calculated by using civilian death tolls

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