Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
The New York Police Department is having trouble diversifying its ranks because so many black men have criminal records, according to Police Chief Bill Bratton. “We have a significant population gap among African-American males because so many of them have spent time in jail and, as such, we can’t hire them,” Bratton told the Guardian…
New Jersey State Police, dressed in riot gear and driving armored military vehicles, deployed tear gas into a crowd trying to make its way into MetLife Stadium for Hot 97’s Summer Jam concert Sunday night. The facts of how the situation escalated are a bit murky, but according to reports seems to have begun when…
Ashers Bakery lost a court case after refusing to make a cake with the words “support gay marriage” above a picture of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. The McArthur family who own the bakery were found guilty of unlawful discrimination and fined £500. The bakery’s general manager Daniel McArthur said: “We don’t want to…
The Senate passed the USA Freedom Act today by 67-32, marking the first time in over thirty years that both houses of Congress have approved a bill placing real restrictions and oversight on the National Security Agency’s surveillance powers. The weakening amendments to the legislation proposed by NSA defender Senate Majority Mitch McConnell were defeated,…
Forget the White House’s doomsday talk about American intelligence going blind. Thanks to backdoor provisions and alternate collection schemes, U.S. spies will keep on snooping. President Obama and his top national security officials spent the past few days warning that once intelligence-gathering authorities in the Patriot Act expired just after midnight Sunday, the United States…
On any given day, in any police department in the nation, 15 percent of officers will do the right thing no matter what is happening. Fifteen percent of officers will abuse their authority at every opportunity. The remaining 70 percent could go either way depending on whom they are working with. That’s a theory from…
The Transportation Security Administration found that “red teams” with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General were able to get banned items through the screening process in 67 out of 70 tests — 95% — it conducted across the nation. The test results were first reported by ABC News, and government officials…
After years of using delaying tactics and last minute deadlines to push last minute Senate votes, Mitch McConnell’s attempt to use building deadline pressure to extend, with some modification, three of the more controversial Patriot Act provisions failed late Sunday night. The bill to do so is the USA Freedom Act. It is still likely…
Photo Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, grudgingly approved debate on the House bill. Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times WASHINGTON — The government’s authority to sweep up vast quantities of phone records in the hunt for terrorists expired at 12:01 a.m. Monday after Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, blocked…
Controversial, key provisions of the U.S. Patriot Act have now expired. On Tuesday the Senate will vote on the revised Freedom Act. Video provided by Newsy Newslook Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., heads into the Senate’s rare Sunday session on May 31, 2015.(Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The Senate on Sunday let key sections…