News You Can Use

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We are serfs. $8000 a year is almost a house payment!

New Jersey Property-Tax Bills Increased 1.7% to Record

The average property-tax bill in New Jersey, which already has the highest in the U.S., rose 1.7 percent last year, Governor Chris Christie said.

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New Jersey’s property taxes, which are collected by local governments, increased about 7 percent annually in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before the rate began to slow. Christie, a second-term Republican, has controlled the growth after enacting a 2 percent annual cap. Still, the tax climbed to a record of more than $8,000 per household, from the previous high of $7,885 in 2012, according to calculations by Bloomberg.

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VIDEO

EXCLUSIVE: FBI blocked in corruption probe involving Sens. Reid, Lee

FBI agents working alongside Utah state prosecutors in a wide-ranging corruption investigation have uncovered accusations of wrongdoing by two of the U.S. Senate’s most prominent figures — Majority Leader Harry Reid and rising Republican Sen. Mike Lee — but the Justice Department has thwarted their bid to launch a full federal investigation.

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[urlhttp://gunssavelives.net/why-i-carry/video-why-i-carry-six-home-invaders-terrorize-couple-and-sexually-assault-pregnant-woman/][Video] Why I Carry: Six Home Invaders Terrorize Couple and Sexually Assault Pregnant Woman[/url]

Stories like this aren’t pleasant. In fact, they’re downright disturbing, but I’m going to start highlighting more of them in a segment called “Why I Carry”. Many of these horrific, violent stories rarely make it outside of the local market they occur in.

In this story six home invaders broke into a Madison, WI home and proceeded to terrorize the couple that lived there for nearly 45 minutes. According to police, the gang of perpetrators sexually assaulted the female occupant of the house who was six months pregnant.

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Leaked Documents show NSA Impersonated Facebook to Infect Millions of Computers

With the intention to infection millions of computers with malware, the National Security Agency impersonated popular social networking site Facebook.

According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the clandestine initiative enabled the NSA to break into targeted computers and to siphon out data from foreign Internet and phone networks.

Journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher reported in The Intercept: “In some cases the NSA has masqueraded as a fake Facebook server, using the social media site as a launching pad to infect a target’s computer and exfiltrate files from a hard drive. In others, it has sent out spam emails laced with the malware, which can be tailored to covertly record audio from a computer’s microphone and take snapshots with its webcam. The hacking systems have also enabled the NSA to launch cyberattacks by corrupting and disrupting file downloads or denying access to websites.”

The Facebook exploit was called QUANTUMHAND and was first used on a few hundred hard-to-reach targets, whose communications could not be monitored through traditional wiretaps.

See documents here.

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U.S. Senate Candidate: “We’re tired of the ambiguously gay senator from South Carolina”

In a bizarre turn of events at the South Carolina state capital today, U.S. Senate candidate Dave Feliciano of Spartanburg, showed up at a press conference, (in blue jeans) and called Senator Lindsey Graham “ambiguously gay.”

The purpose of the press conference was to show unity between the candidates challenging Graham by signing a pledge.

The pledge says: “We, the undersigned genuine conservative Republicans, agree to endorse whichever one of our fellow signers advances to the run-off election against incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham following the South Carolina Republican primary election for the U.S. Senate on the 10th of June 2014.”

All six announced challengers were invited.

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Remember that UCSB professor who stole an anti-abortion activist’s sign and assaulted her? [VIDEO]

I told you about this the other day. In the following video, the African-American woman is Mireille Miller-Young, a “feminist studies” professor at the University of California Santa Barbara. The voice behind the camera is Thrin Short, a 16-year-old pro-life activist whose sign Miller-Young has just stolen. You can hear Thrin’s sister Joan, a fellow activist, calling the campus police to report the theft as they follow Miller-Young to an elevator.

Then it gets really nasty.

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IRAQ CONSIDERS LEGALISING MARRIAGE FOR NINE-YEAR-OLDS

The Iraqi parliament is considering a law that would legalise marriage for nine-year-old girls. The 'Personal Status law' will also restrict women's rights in matters of divorce and inheritance, making it much easier to men to abuse their spouses.

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It's Prayer, not Psychosis, Woman Says

CLEVELAND (CN) - A self-published spiritual author sued a doctor and hospital, claiming she was involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward after becoming "confused and disoriented" on the 15th day of a "biblical fast," and that hospital staff misinterpreted her prayers as psychotic tendencies.

Jane Doe sued St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and Dr. Saraj Brar, in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.

Doe, 56, describes herself in the complaint as "a Pentecostal Christian and a self-published author of books about God and spirituality."

The lawsuit continues: "As part of her religious devotion, she periodically observes a biblical fast during which she abstains from all foods and consumes only water.

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Michael Bloomberg with Katie Couric

Asked if he could outspend the National Rifle Association and other opponents of gun control measures, Bloomberg casually replied, “Oh sure.” But then added, “I’m not the only funder of this.”

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Rachel Canning Goes Home After Suing Her Parents. But It's Not Over Yet

After enduring a media barrage that's lasted more than a week, Rachel Canning, the New Jersey teen who’s suing her parents for financial support, returned home to her family on Tuesday night. But the very next day Canning's lawyer demonstrated that the case is far from over by returning to court, requesting that the parents pay for a guardian to be appointed for their 18-year-old high school student.

“Just a few days ago, Rachel Canning indicated she could not go back home with her parents and she required a promise of some financial assistance going forward," attorney Tanya Helfand wrote in her application to the court, highlighting the teen's quick turnaround in deciding to return to her parents' after living at a friend's for several months. “Now, after speaking with her mother yesterday, she said she is waiving her complaint and is receiving no promises or consideration in return.”

She noted that if her client decides to dismiss the case, it’s important that she does so “of her own free will” and not because of outside pressures, and added, “A psychologist certified that the parents are abusive. School faculty certified that the parents abuse the child.” Helfand also asked that a gag order be placed on all parties regarding the case. But Family Division Judge Peter Bogaard in Morris County denied the request.

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Homeland Security Conducts Unannounced Lock-down Drill at Glen Ridge High

We know our children have lock-down drills. It’s a sad, unfortunate part of the world we live in. However Glen Ridge students had a lock-down drill supervised by Homeland Security!

On Thursday, March 6, a team comprised of ten officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the NJ Department of Education’s Safety and Security Task Forces visited Glen Ridge High School to conduct an unannounced school lock-down drill. With the exception of Glen Ridge Superintendent Dr. John Mucciolo and Chief of Police Sheila Byron-Lagattutta, no Glen Ridge Public School personnel received advanced notice of the exercise.

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Man Who Shot & Killed 2 of 3 Teens Beating Him With Baseball Bat is Being Held in Jail

Either a key part of this story hasn’t yet been revealed or the police in Milwaukee are being seriously overzealous.

According to local media reports, a maintenance worker at an apartment complex became involved in an argument with three individuals at the apartment complex where he worked around 1pm on Wednesday.

During the argument, one of the three individuals held the maintenance worker down while at least one of the other individuals beat him with a baseball bat.

During the attack, the worker drew a firearm, opened fire, and killed two of the individuals in question.

The worker’s injuries were severe enough that he required treatment at an area hospital. Once he was released he was arrested on suspicion of committing two counts of first-degree intentional homicide.

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GE Crops: Why Did USDA Ignore Environmental and Economic Harms?

March 13, 2014 (WASHINGTON, DC)—Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a lawsuit late yesterday demanding the release of federal documents which may uncover undue political pressure over USDA’s decision to approve genetically engineered alfalfa. The lawsuit seeks 1179 documents from USDA’s Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which may explain why the agency abruptly reversed its position and granted unrestricted approval for Monsanto to sell Roundup Ready Alfalfa.

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81-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Jailed For 2 Days For Pet Violation

HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WJZ)—An 81-year-old great-grandmother is placed behind bars for a minor pet violation committed nearly a year ago. The Harford County woman says she tried paying thousands of dollars in fines but couldn’t afford them.

As Gigi Barnett explains, the senior citizen says her punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

Mary Magdalene Root’s small dogs are her constant companions. So much so that the 81-year-old widow spent two nights in the Harford County Detention Center fighting to keep them.

“I’ve never had a crime. Never. Not even a traffic ticket,” Root said.

Back in May, Root says her pets somehow got loose from her yard several times.

A neighbor took pictures of the dogs running down the street and reported her to Animal Control.

The agency slapped Root with a $7,000 fine or she could spend nearly a year in jail.

“I’m struggling to pay my house taxes. I couldn’t pay it. It’s a different thing when you leave your dogs out and you don’t care. But I do care,” Root said.

But when the cancer survivor failed to show up at court on her doctor’s orders, a judge had Root arrested.

She was booked, fingerprinted and issued a striped jumpsuit. She waited to see a judge in a cell without her cancer medication.
“I sort of clutched my Bible. And was crying and went to sleep,” Root said.

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Studies: Increased CO2 emissions are greening the planet

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Against Ukraine War? Obama May Seize Your Assets

Do you, like 56 percent of the US population, believe that the US should "not get too involved" in the Ukraine situation? Do you think that the US administration putting us on a war footing with Russia is a bad idea? Are you concerned that the new, US-backed leaders of Ukraine -- not being elected -- might lack democratic legitimacy? Are you tempted to speak out against US policy in Ukraine; are you tempted to criticize the new Ukrainian regime?

Be careful what you say. Be careful what you write. President Obama has just given himself the authority to seize your assets.

According to the president's recent Executive Order, "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine" (first reported by WND's Aaron Klein), the provisions for seizure of property extend to "any United States person." That means "any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States."

Declaring a "national emergency" over the planned referendum in Crimea to determine whether or not to join Russia, the US president asserts that asset seizure is possible for any US person "determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State":

(i) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, any of the following:
(A) actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine;

(B) actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine; or

(C) misappropriation of state assets of Ukraine or of an economically significant entity in Ukraine;

The Executive Order is, as usual, so broadly written that it leaves nearly everything open to interpretation.

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Highwaymen! Gadianton Robbers! Civil Asset Forfeiture!

Rural Nevada sheriff defends I-80 drugs stops

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (AP) — A rural Nevada sheriff is defending the practice of stopping suspected drug traffickers on U.S. Interstate 80 and confiscating tens of thousands of dollars even if no criminal charges are filed.

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Full families challenge U.S.-Mexico border with mass reentry

Any day now, President Obama, whom immigrant groups call the “deporter in chief,” will make history by surpassing the two million mark — separating two million families through deportation during the course of his administration’s five-year reign.

In response, today migrant families are making history of their own.

This afternoon, 250 migrants, who have lived in the United States most of their lives, are attempting to reenter the country after being deported. Many entire families are returning, while others are coming to rejoin family members still living in the United States. The group is chanting “undocumented and unafraid” as they cross through the U.S. portal that separates Tijuana from San Diego. This action, part of the #not1more campaign, marks the third mass border crossing organized by the National Immigrant Youth Alliance. The action comes as immigrant justice groups are increasingly moving beyond advocating for legislative reform and are instead turning to direct action to protest the record deportations. The group says that these actions are calling attention to the immigration crisis and the way millions of families are separated by an arbitrary boarder.

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Idaho Gov. Butch Otter signs guns-on-campus bill into law (VIDEO)

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Unarmed airman shot in gut by Alabama police as he lay on ground following traffic accident

Police shot a 20-year-old airman as he lay on the ground following a traffic accident along Interstate 85 in Alabama, the man’s family said.

Air Force Airman 1st Class Michael Davidson was traveling Thursday evening from Texas to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, near Goldsboro, N.C., in a 2004 GMC Envoy when he changed lanes and clipped a semi-truck with his driver’s side mirror, according to police.

Davidson stopped and got out of his SUV to exchange insurance information with the semi’s driver, the airman’s father told the Opelika-Auburn News.


“He said he didn’t get that far,” said Billy Davidson. “When (he was walking) to the truck, he said he heard something but couldn’t tell what it was. There was a lot of noise, but (he) could see the reflection of the lights off the truck — the police lights. Then he did what I told him to do. I told my boys if you see police lights (to) stop, put your hands up and turn around.”

The elder Davidson said his son held up his arms, holding his wallet in one hand.

“The next thing I know I was on the ground,” Michael Davidson told his father. “That’s when they shot me. I didn’t realize he shot me. I didn’t know what happened. It was so fast. They couldn’t have been there three or four seconds when I was shot.”

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9 Calif. law enforcement agencies connected to cellphone spying technology

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Ex-Bush admin official: Internet giveaway weakens cybersecurity, opens door to Web tax

The U.S. government’s plan to give away authority over the Internet’s core architecture to the “global Internet community” could endanger the security of both the Internet and the U.S. — and open the door to a global tax on Web use.

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Wyoming welder faces $75,000 a day in EPA fines for building pond on his property

“I have not paid them a dime nor will I,” a defiant Johnson told FoxNews.com. “I will go bankrupt if I have to fighting it. My wife and I built [the pond] together. We put our blood, sweat and tears into it. It was our dream.”

But Johnson may be in for a rude awakening.

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VIDEO

Several Sheriff's Asked to Disarm at Oklahoma State Capitol

It's a building of dignity and honor, but what happened at the state capitol recently has law enforcement crying shame.

"Everybody in that building knew who we were," said Wagoner county sheriff Bob Colbert, who, along with 40 other sheriffs from around the state, converged on the capitol as they do every year to meet and greet and lobby. Until...

"One of the senators, who they wouldn't tell us, complained because we were armed in the building," he said.

They were then given a choice, disarm or there's the door.

"So we all packed up and left," he said.

Colbert doesn't know for sure which senator complained, but has his own complaints about the complainer.

"We're the people that protect these people," he said.

What's more, he says, maybe if they were worried more about state business then law enforcement officers with guns, Oklahoma would be in better shape.

"If the state troopers are satisfied that we're ok in that building I'm pretty sure that the legislators should have something else to worry about such as the economy or something," he said.

He says some lawmakers have called to apologize, but the sting of getting the boot from the capitol is gonna hurt for a while.

"Pretty sad day for me," he said.

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Unequal Access to the Ballot: South Carolina Denies the Libertarian Party a June Primary

South Carolina law requires the state to pay for open primaries using taxpayer funds. The state finances both the Democrat and Republican Party’s primaries, but last month, members of the South Carolina Libertarian Party found out that they were not as “equal” as the two major parties.

One of the components of South Carolina’s new election law, the Equal Access to the Ballot Act S.2, requires parties that want to nominate their candidates by convention to put the question on the June ballot, but the state is denying the Libertarian Party access to a primary in which to get the vote they need to nominate by convention.