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Sam Sacks - page 39

Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

White House Rejects Gitmo Closure Plan, Sends Pentagon Back to Drawing Board

A $600 million plan by the Pentagon to close the military prison at Guantanamo and relocate detainees to a new facility in the United States was rejected by the White House because the price tag was too high. Relaying information from administration officials, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday evening that President Obama sent the closure strategy back to the Defense Department during a meeting with Secretary Ashton Carter last month. Obama asked officials to find a way to lower the cost of the plan,… Keep Reading

Citing Snowden, Normally-Kooky Gohmert Warns of Privacy Reform Loophole

Legislation that would enhance privacy protections for digitally-stored communications contains a critical flaw, one lawmaker claimed, citing disclosures made by Edward Snowden. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) warned that the Email Privacy Act–an update of privacy law that requires government agencies to obtain a warrant before accessing an individual’s records in the cloud–has a “massive gaping hole” that would permit cyber investigations to continue in the dark. Gohmert, a former district judge, pointed to a provision within the legislation that would… Keep Reading

A “Successful” U.N. Climate Deal Must Be “Legally Binding,” Obama Says

At the onset of two-weeks of climate negotiations with world leaders, President Obama suggested that he is seeking an agreement to curb global warming that includes enforceable components, raising the stakes of both the diplomatic talks abroad and the ongoing climate change debate stateside. Speaking to reporters in Paris on Tuesday, Obama described what a “successful” deal would look like, saying that it should include “an ambitious target that seeks a low carbon global economy over the course of this century.” “That means that countries have… Keep Reading

District Sentinel Radio Episode 16: From Paris to Raqqa

The Paris terror attacks prompt lawmakers on Capitol Hill to take aim at refugees and encryption. The latest development on criminal justice reform. Bernie Sanders on Democratic Socialism And, prize-winning author and reporter Chris Woods of Airwars.org is on to talk about the ongoing air campaign against the Islamic State. Check out Airwars’ latest monthly report on civilian causalities in Iraq and Syria here. Keep Reading

Amid Peace Talks, Hillary Clinton Urges Syria Rethink, No-Fly Zone

During a major policy speech in New York on Thursday former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the White House to broaden its intervention in the Syrian Civil War and change tack on ceasefire negotiations that have recently yielded some breakthroughs. Addressing national security issues in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, Clinton aligned herself with the Obama administration on most counterterrorism policies, except in regard to current military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIL). She called on… Keep Reading

White House Promises To Kill Syrian Refugee Roadblock Bill

The White House said it would veto a bill the House is expected to approve on Thursday that would effectively sink President Obama’s goal of accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees next year. A reaction to the Nov. 13 Paris terrorists attacks, the bill would subject those fleeing the Syrian Civil War to additional layers of screening–a move that could grind the refugee program to screeching halt. “This legislation would introduce unnecessary and impractical requirements that would unacceptably hamper our efforts to assist some of the most vulnerable people… Keep Reading

“Leniency Industrial Complex” Strikes Back, House Panel Approves Criminal Justice Reform

A measure to alleviate overcrowded jails and lower sentences for certain non-violent drug offenders was approved Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee. In a voice vote, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers on the panel endorsed the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015, which would lower certain mandatory minimums for drug offenses. The law would reduce the penalty for so-called “third strike” drug offenders from life in prison to 25 years. The punishment for second-strike offenders would be lessened, from 20 years to 15 years. “The Sentencing Reform Act makes… Keep Reading

Obama Admin Knocked By Congress For Unwillingness To Lighten Up On Pot

In consecutive days both the acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Attorney General have come under fire from lawmakers for their retrograde positions on marijuana. In a floor speech on Wednesday, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Or.) blazed interim DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg saying that he was “clearly not the right fit” to head the agency. Blumenauer was reacting to a statement made earlier this month by Rosenberg, claiming that marijuana was “bad and dangerous,” and that studying the medicinal benefits of the plant… Keep Reading

Crypto War Engaged: Committee Leaders Pledge to Take Up Anti-Encryption Legislation

Unconfirmed reports that the Paris attackers used encryption to communicate ahead of last week’s deadly attacks have prompted lawmakers on Capitol Hill to move toward cracking down on the secure technology. “In the Senate Armed Services we’re going to have hearings on it and we’re going to have legislation,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told The Hill on Tuesday. He added that he would support requiring tech companies to install weaknesses in their encrypted platforms to allow law enforcement easier… Keep Reading

Bernie Wallops Administration’s F.D.A. Nominee Over Drug Reimportation Ban, Ties To Pharmaceutical Industry

He may be running to be the next US President on the Democratic Party ticket, but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday scolded the incumbent’s handpicked nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration. During a confirmation hearing, the Independent Senator from Vermont stated that he opposed the nomination of Dr. Robert Califf to head the FDA, claiming that the nominee is too cozy with the very same prescription drug companies he’d be entrusted with regulating. “We have been extraordinarily weak in taking on the… Keep Reading

Attorney General Lynch Undermines Guantanamo Executive Action

President Obama’s chief prosecutor may have just ruined his Plan B when it comes to closing Guantanamo Bay. Appearing before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch signaled that the Department of Justice would oppose a maneuver by the administration to shut down the military prison camp through executive order. “It’s the position of the Department of Justice that we would follow the law in regard to that issue,” Lynch told the committee, referring to defense policies signed into law that prevent detainees from… Keep Reading

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