Lawmakers despairing over the Islamic State’s success in recruiting would-be terrorists on social media proposed on Thursday that the U.S. government create more viral memes, possibly with Hollywood’s help. Read more of this article at The Intercept. Keep Reading
The anti-human trafficking bill whose unanimous passage in the Senate last month was widely hailed as a triumph of bipartisanship includes language that could send publishers of certain adult advertisements to prison, civil liberties advocates have warned. Read more of this article at The Intercept. Keep Reading
The day after a major news publication alleged that the FBI was flying surveillance flights over a restive West Baltimore, the White House decided to keep its mouth shut on the tactic—one, it is alleged, that violated the Constitutional rights of thousands of Americans. “For those kinds of questions, I’d refer you to law enforcement,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told a reporter Wednesday afternoon during the second rounding of questioning on a story first reported Tuesday night by the Washington Post. Relying on… Keep Reading
The aging prison population is proving to be such a strain on the criminal justice system that some federal inmates are forced to wait more than 100 days to see a doctor, according to a Justice Department Inspector General report. Noting that agency regulations require BOP staff to escort prisoners to outside medical facilities, the IG found that “aging inmates experience delays receiving medical care.” The investigation, which was published Wednesday, also discovered that other healthier inmates usually take on the role of caregivers—an arrangement… Keep Reading
During an obscure Senate hearing on Tuesday morning, lawmakers vented their frustrations with the Drug Enforcement Administration for failing to answer questions about an incident that saw a man almost die of dehydration while in its custody… Read more of this article at The Intercept. Keep Reading
Deployment of a new unmanned aerial fleet has been pushed back multiple years because lawmakers and military officials are unable to settle on what type of drones they want—ones loaded to kill or ones built to keep a watchful eye. That was the conclusion of a Government Accountability Office report commissioned by Congress to study the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) system—a regime that includes new drones, a control system, and an aircraft carrier. “The system’s intended mission and required capabilities have… Keep Reading
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction was told it must reduce its staff in Kabul by 40%–an order that came directly from the State Department, the subject of numerous critical reports published by SIGAR. Appearing on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Monday morning, the public investigatory body’s chief, John Sopko, said the staffing order threatens his office’s ability to conduct independent oversight. “For the State Department, who we investigate, to tell me how many people we should have in Afghanistan is in direct contradiction to… Keep Reading
New Department of Transportation rules aimed at preventing accidents involving oil-carrying trains are too weak, and won’t be implemented until too late, according to lawmakers and public interest groups keenly focused on the issue. Calling it a “significant improvement over the current regulations,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx publicly issued the rule on Friday. The edict will affect rail transporters of flammable fossil fuels, most of which currently originates from North Dakota and Montana, in the form of Bakken crude. Noting, however, that most of the… Keep Reading
Knowing he will probably be outgunned in the fundraising battle, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) kicked off his presidential bid on Thursday by asking for the upcoming campaign to be settled in debates–venues where the Independent from Vermont feels more comfortable against the Clinton campaign machine. “What elections are about are serious debates over serious issues. Not political gossip,” the democratic socialist said, speaking from a podium outside the US Capitol—an image that presented a stark contrast from the branded and well-choreographed presidential announcements of those… Keep Reading
In a new web-video intended to stir up opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership and other free trade deals under negotiation behind closed doors by the Obama Administration, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) called trade promotion authority being worked on in Congress a “fast track to hell.” The well-produced, nine minute video released on Thursday morning features Rep. Grayson connecting the economic plight facing many middle class Americans, and the staggering loss of a national manufacturing base, to liberalized trade deals going all the back to… Keep Reading
Unmoved by pleas from the administration, lawmakers appear resolute in their unwillingness to consider weakening privacy technology proliferating in the wake of revelations about government spying. “It’s impossible to build backdoor just for the good guys,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz, one of a number of skeptics of the executive branch said during an oversight subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, featuring witness testimony from the private sector, academic arena, and law enforcement. “If someone at the Genius Bar can figure it out, so can the bad guys in… Keep Reading