News You Can Use

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Venezuelans turn to bitcoins to bypass socialist currency controls

Due to currency controls introduced by late president Hugo Chavez a decade ago, acquiring hard currency now means either requesting it from the state, which struggles to satisfy demand, or tapping a shadowy black market. Even small dollar transactions are out of the question for most Venezuelans.

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Update: Ailing sheriff’s deputy who visited Ebola patient’s apartment taken to Presbyterian Hospital

The patient has been identified by his family as sheriff’s Deputy Michael Monnig.

The man’s son said his father had been monitoring his temperature since last week and went to the clinic out of an abundance of caution, our Eva-Marie Ayala reports.

“We don’t want to cause a panic,” Logan Monnig said. “There is almost no chance my dad would have Ebola.”

The deputy told his family he had stomach pain and fatigue. Because the symptoms came after a visit to Duncan’s apartment, he decided to play it safe.

“He spent very little time in the apartment,” his son said, “and he did not come in contact with Mr. Duncan or any bodily fluids.”

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Landscaper claiming employer fired him for owning gun files suit

A landscaping employee recently fired by an upscale Indiana private community has filed a lawsuit, claiming he was fired from his job of 21-years after being asked if he owned a firearm.

Nino Ferlaino, the plaintiff in the suit, filed in Lake Circuit Court Monday, arguing that he was terminated the same day his supervisor at Lakes of the Four Seasons asked if he owned a gun.

According to the Northwest Indiana Times, Ferlaino had shared with co-workers that he was a gun owner in conversation during work hours. Two days later, his supervisor came to him and pointedly asked if it was true. The supervisor, Doug Weiss, then explained to Ferlaino that his conversation violated the community’s “no tolerance policy” and terminated him on guidance from the community board.

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Federal Judge Rules Police Violated First Amendment Rights Of Ferguson Protesters

In response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Missouri, a federal judge ruled Monday that police in Ferguson cannot enforce a so-called ‘five-second rule’ requiring protesters to keep moving or face arrest. Shortly after Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson took charge of security in Ferguson to handle the protests that rose up in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death, he instituted a ‘keep moving’ rule. After a tense weekend of demonstrations in mid-August, Johnson informed protesters that they were now required to be in constant movement and weren’t allowed to congregate in large groups.

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NY court hears arguments that chimps have rights

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China currency push takes aim at dollar

Protests over democracy in Hong Kong may be preoccupying the Chinese leadership, but a subject of still greater international importance is being played out this week behind closed doors in Washington. China is bidding to enter the heart of global finance by establishing its currency, the renminbi, as part of an ubiquitous monetary unit used in official transactions around the world.

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Montana Newspaper Editor Arrested, Faces Two Years in Jail for Photography at a Traffic Accident

Vince Lovato is the editor of the Lake County Leader in Polson, Montana, and has been a journalist for 33 years.

When Lovato heard about a car collision last Wednesday, he and his wife, a reporter for the same paper, drove to the scene of the accident to gather information and take photographs.

Instead of being allowed to take photographs, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper put Lovato in handcuffs and arrested him for obstructing a peace officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Lovato is 53 years old with over three decades of experience in journalism, yet this is the first incident one can find of Lovato being arrested for doing his job.

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Detroit officer arrested in Birmingham road rage incident

The road rage incident occurred at approximately 7 p.m. Friday. Kiernan said the off-duty Detroit officer, 43, was driving southbound on Woodward Avenue when he reportedly cut off another driver near the intersection of Maple and Woodward.

The two vehicles continued southbound and, at some point, the driver of the other vehicle, a 53-year-old Beverly Hills man who was driving in an SUV with his wife, caught up to the Detroit police officer.

"We're told the officer rolled his window down and pointed the gun (a .40 caliber Glock) in their direction," Kiernan said. "Whether he was pointing the gun directly at them is something that still has to be determined."

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School Sics Cops, K-9 Unit on Old Man Looking for Dandelions

Danger! Danger! Man with a weapon spotted near school!

According to insideHalton.com, the Oakville, Canada, man was armed with a kitchen knife and on the hunt—for dandelions:

A 65-year-old in search of dandelions for a recipe caused an Oakville public school to be put in a hold and secure late Monday afternoon.

The incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. when the male was spotted walking with a small kitchen knife along the Pilgrim Wood Public School fence line, near Third Line and Upper Middle Road West.

The dogs were called out to search for this galumphing gourmet, and because no threat is too small to be treated like a nuclear attack, the schools remained "in a hold and secure" till 3:45 p.m. Buses were also temporarily suspended.

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Who gets to decide what their fair share is of other peoples property?! So messed up.

Rich Must Pay Fair Share

“I think we should make them start to pay their fair share. Take the burden off the middle class,” Biden told a crowd of several hundred supporters at the Oregon Convention Center.

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Van pulls up to hotel lobby with 3 gunshot victims

ATLANTA (AP) - Police are investigating after a bullet-riddled van with three gunshot victims inside pulled up to the lobby of the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, startling some hotel guests.

Police say a total of six people were inside the white van with New Jersey tags when it arrived at the hotel late Wednesday night.

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UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES FIRST-EVER ONLINE ABORTION COURSE

The University of California – San Francisco will launch an online abortion course this Monday, an Internet class being hailed as the first of its kind.

The course will delve into “clinical aspects of medication abortion, aspiration abortion, post-abortion contraception, and pain management for abortion,” as well as topics such as the history of abortion, “abortion stigma,” complications and counseling, its outline states.

“I think that if we can inspire even a small portion of the people who take the course to take steps in their communities to increase access to safe abortion and decrease stigma about abortion, then we have been totally successful,” Dr. Jody Steinauer, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California – San Francisco, told The Daily Beast, which first reported on the class, noting an estimated 3,000 people have signed up so far.

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Protests Erupt After St. Louis Police Officer Fatally Shoots Teen

A police officer fatally shot a teen who opened fire in St. Louis on Wednesday night, officials said. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said that the officer fired his weapon 17 times after "at least three" shots were fired at him. It was not immediately clear how many times the 18-year-old suspect was hit. The death sparked protests in the Shaw neighborhood in the south of the city. The incident occurred on the eve of demonstrations scheduled to take place in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, over the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by police two months ago.

The six-year veteran of the St. Louis Police Department was off-duty but in uniform and working a side security job at the time of the shooting. Dotson told reporters at a briefing early Thursday that a group of three men fled after spotting him. The officer gave chase and "physical altercation" occurred between the officer and a suspect, who was described as aged 18 and black. Dotson said the suspect then "fired at least three rounds at the police officer" before he returned fire. The officer was unharmed. Dotson said a 9mm Ruger was recovered at the scene. "An investigation will decide if the officer's behavior was appropriate," the police chief added. Angry crowds gathered in the aftermath of the incident and Dotson said several police cars were damaged during the demonstrations. Some people shouted "Hands up, don't shoot" in reference to the fatal shooting of Brown by a white police officer, which led to weeks of sometimes violent unrest. Officer Darren Wilson has not been charged in Brown's death. Ferguson is about 16 miles from the scene of the Wednesday's shooting.

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Google chief on NSA: 'We're going to end up breaking the Internet'

“The simplest outcome: We’re going to end up breaking the Internet,” Schmidt said, “because what’s going to happen is governments will do bad laws of one kind or another, and eventually what’s going to happen is: ‘We’re going to have our own Internet in our own country, and we’re going to do it our way.’ ”

“It is fundamentally about breaking the Internet,” echoed Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch. “The Internet is a medium without borders, and the notion that you would have to place data and data centers and the data itself [in a particular location] ... is fundamentally at odds with the way the Internet is architectured.”

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Harry Reid’s Bodyguard Physically Attacks “Crapitalism” Author Jason Mattera

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Bees from hive of 800,000 kill Arizona landscaper, injure others

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"Can't Teach 9-11" says teacher; Lee School Board to vote

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- One Lee County school teacher says he was asked not to teach about September 11th. It's a controversy that recently sparked the Lee County School Board members to take action.

The tragedy of September 11th is getting overlooked in Lee County on purpose according to board members. "I was outraged. I was shocked," said board member Don Armstrong. "It was personal, I lost a friend there."

The issue of teaching about 9-11 came up a few weeks. "One morning I was listening to a local radio show Fox News 92.5." It's when Don Armstrong says he first heard the shocking news.

A few weeks earlier this aired over the Fox 92.5 in Lee County. "You're listening to Day Break with Drew Steele. Alright, let's get to the phone's." What happened next shocked the radio host Drew Steele. The unidentified teacher said, "We were not permitted to teach anything about 9-11 because those particular things do not relate to the end of the year testing." Baffled Steele replied, "I cannot believe this! The principal specifically told you not to talk about this? How are the kids going to learn about 9-11 thanks to the core..."

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Criminals Find a Way: Australian Police Crack Down on “Pen Guns”

Meanwhile, in the gun control utopia of Australia, police have arrested a man they say has been supplying biker gangs with dozens of compact guns.

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VIDEO: Woman defends elderly man from police who she defines as being racist

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 8, 2014– Last week, two Washington Metro Police officers confronted an elderly African-American man in the streets of an affluent D.C. suburb who was carrying two bags. The police ordered the man to the ground and claimed he had become “loud and boisterous” when confronted.

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Warrantless Raid on the Wrong People Costs Denver Cops $1.8 Million

On Jan. 27, 2009, Denver cops pounded on the door of a home that used to be a drug den and brothel. Not having kept their information current, the cops didn't know the house was now occupied by Daniel Martinez Jr. (pictured) and his family. They also "had no warrant, no application for a warrant, nothing," as the family's attorney later described the scene. The officers rushed inside and roughed up the residents, including shoving a 16 year old boy's head through a window and and dealing out a generous dollop of beatings and bodyslamming.

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Baltimore Woman, 90, Locks Police Officer in Basement, Wins $95,000 Settlement

According to WBAL TV, police came to Green's home after her grandson Tallie had been shot. Green told the TV station that Tallie had been shot at a convenience store, but officers insisted it happened in Green's home, and that Tallie had either been shot by Green or had shot himself. With that, one officer forced his way into her home, without a warrant, toward the basement where Tallie lived to look for blood or other evidence.

Green told WBAL the officer shoved her, pushed her over a chair, handcuffed her and insulted her. When the officer then went into her basement, she says she shut the door and locked him inside. She later brought a civil rights lawsuit, and in early April accepted the city's settlement offer. "[I'm a] law-abiding citizen," Green told WBAL. "I've never been arrested, I paid my taxes, owned my home, my husband died 34 years ago. raised my son and I have been brutally abused. I feel like the police department needs to go back to school."

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Cop accused of stealing $1,300 during search

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POLICE PEPPER SPRAY WAKE COUNTY TEEN INSIDE HIS HOME AFTER HE'S MISTAKEN FOR BURGLAR

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. (WTVD) -- The parents of a Wake County high school student are outraged that police pepper-sprayed him inside their home after a neighbor mistook him for an intruder.

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D.C. Councilmember: ‘Police Shouldn’t Have Guns’

“My staff won’t let me tell you that I think we oughta get rid of guns in the city and that police shouldn’t have guns so I’m not gonna tell you that,” Grosso said.