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Sam Sacks - page 41

Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

Details of Military’s Pro Sports “Paid Patriotism” Revealed

The Defense Department dished out $7 million over the last few years paying professional sports teams for public tributes to the military, according to a report released Wednesday by US Senators. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) turned up that the “paid patriotism” contracts were awarded, starting in 2012, to organizations within the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer. The Senators noted that most of the contracts involved the Army National Guard, and stipulated “on-field color… Keep Reading

House Panel Casts Doubt on Obama Syria Transition Plan; Democrat Calls It “Fantasy”

State Department officials testified in front of a congressional committee on Wednesday, where they summarized how the administration intends to achieve a political solution in Syria. Well received, it was not. Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Anne Patterson, the department’s Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs reiterated the administration’s desired endgame: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must cede power to a transitional government that in turn will draft a new constitution and set up elections. She claimed the new government would be… Keep Reading

Feinstein Calls on White House To Release Guantanamo Closure Plan

A top Democrat in the Senate pressed the Obama Administration to put forward its proposal to shut down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. In an op-ed published Wednesday in The New York Times, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), said that Congress should assist in the effort by removing provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that block prisoner transfers. “Senator McCain has called on the White House to deliver a plan to close Guantánamo. I join with him,” Feinstein wrote. “In particular, we need… Keep Reading

Shortcomings of Surveillance Reform Take Center Stage At Hearing On Transatlantic Data Flows

Lawmakers were told Tuesday that in order to enable digital data transfers between the US and the European Union, Congress must further rein in government spying activities, and empower federal agencies to crack down on companies that play loose with their customers’ data. The recommendations came from a witness who appeared before a House energy and commerce subcommittee hearing convened to examine the impact of last month’s ruling by a European high court. That decision struck down a critical data privacy agreement that allowed US… Keep Reading

Defying White House Veto, Congress Maintains Guantanamo Restrictions In NDAA

An effort to continue preventing the Obama administration from relocating Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States has remained in the latest iteration of the annual defense policy bill finalized this week. House Republican Leadership announced Tuesday that the chamber will seek to pass the restrictions. They had been cited last month by the President as a problematic aspect of the must-pass bill when he vetoed it. The primary change in the latest National Defense Authorization Act is less money for the Department of Defense. The… Keep Reading

District Sentinel Radio Episode 13: Blimpy Halloween

-The Senate passes CISA, but rejects a series of privacy amendments -Bernie Sanders wants to defend those who are #FeelingTheBurn -The latest reading from the District Sentinel Discontent Index -And, The Intercept’s Lee Fang joins us to talk about that runaway military blimp Keep Reading

Ryan Claims Gavel Of “Broken” House, Pledges Return To Regular Order

Moments after being elected Speaker of the House, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) called for reconciliation within his Republican caucus, and then gave a nod to more conservative members by promising to change how the chamber conducts business. The Wisconsin legislator took over for a typically emotional John Boehner (R-Ohio) during Thursday proceedings. Boehner, who had announced his imminent resignation last month, officially stepped down after years of bitter fighting with the party’s right flank. In the 114th Congress, that feud reached a fevered pitch following… Keep Reading

Bernie First Candidate To Call For Removing Marijuana From D.E.A. Schedules

Vermont Senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders put forward a policy Wednesday to take marijuana off the Drug Enforcement Administration’s schedule of controlled substances—a move that would prohibit federal authorities from cracking down on pot users and suppliers, and pave the way for states to regulate the substance like alcohol or tobacco. While other candidates in the race, including Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, have called for marijuana to be reclassified from its current status as a schedule 1 drug—the most dangerous according to the… Keep Reading

CFPB Secures $530 Million Judgment Against Bankrupt Fraudulent For-Profit College

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced the end of litigation against Corinthian Colleges, Inc. after a federal court penalized the corporate educator for luring students into taking out expensive loans with false job placement guarantees. Judge Gary Feinerman ordered Corinthian on Tuesday to pay more than $530 million into a fund administered by the CFPB to aid students affected by the college’s fraudulent practices. CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement Wednesday that the school “severely harmed tens of thousands of students, turning dreams… Keep Reading

House Hearing On Prison Extremism Treads Dangerously Close To Unconstitutional Territory

Witnesses and lawmakers at a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on Wednesday repeatedly blasted the proceedings as an attack on free expression. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the chairman of the panel, convened the hearing to focus on violent extremism in US prisons, noting that hundreds of individuals have been imprisoned since 9/11 on homegrown terrorism charges. “We cannot forget about these individuals once they’re incarcerated,” Rep. King said. “We’ve never been faced with such large numbers of terror inmates before.” The subcommittee’s ranking member, Rep.… Keep Reading

Pentagon Watchdog Commences Inquiry Into Military’s Handling of Child Sexual Abuse By Afghan Allies

In response to media reports that US soldiers were instructed to ignore acts of sexual abuse by Afghan soldiers and officials, the Pentagon’s Inspector General disclosed that his office opened its own probe into the matter. In a Defense Department memorandum released Tuesday, Deputy Inspector General Kenneth Moorefield highlighted five areas that investigators will focus on, including an effort to ascertain whether the department had any guidance, “informal or otherwise,” that would have discouraged soldiers from reporting abuse. The New York Times reported in September than an “American… Keep Reading

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