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New York lawsuit claims SAFE Act allows warrantless police searches

Mary Lou Byrd
The Washington Beacon
Wed, 09 Apr 2014 00:59 UTC
Image
© AP
Gun rights advocates outside of the N.Y. Capitol building.
The registry process of New York's SAFE Act allows for warrantless police searches into gun owners' homes, a violation of the Fourth Amendment, according to plaintiffs of a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court Eastern District.

The law firm representing plaintiff Gabriel Razzano argues the registry process is "essentially secret and results in a mandatory, warrantless Penal Law 400 gun removal visit from police."

"The entire purpose of the registry is a sham to permit intrusions into a person's home on consent without a warrant for a 'gun removal,'" La Reddola, Lester and Associates said in a release. "The entire registry and database seek to justify warrantless police searches, which my client and I now believe to be the real purpose of the SAFE Act."
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MIB

Kiev prepares 'armed provocations' to discredit pro-federation forces, Russia


RT
Sun, 13 Apr 2014 21:27 UTC
Pro-Russian supporters rally
© AFP Photo / Alexander Khudoteply

Pro-Russian supporters rally in front a barricade outside the regional state building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on April 12, 2014
The self-imposed govt in Kiev is preparing provocations in Eastern Ukraine on the border with Russia in order to discredit the popular uprising, former Ukrainian interior minister said. The information was also confirmed by other sources in the ministry.

"According to our information, in eastern regions of Ukraine provocations are being planned near the border in order to discredit the military personnel of the Russian Federation," Vitaly Zakharchenko said in Rostov on Don during a press conference with ousted President Victor Yanukovich.

He called on the security forces in Ukraine not to obey orders from Kiev, reminding them that such actions would be illegal, and condemned Kiev's coup-imposed leadership for giving such orders.

"From the legal point of view illegal orders are given out the illegitimately appointed Turchinov, Avakov, Nalivaychenko, Makhnitsky," Zakharchenko said.

The information of a planned staged attack and provocations by Kiev are also being confirmed by sources in the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on condition of anonymity.

"Kiev authorities are preparing a big provocation, with a purpose to discredit the people of Donetsk and Lugansk regions who are committed to holding a referendum and federalization of the country," the source told Ria Novosti.
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Cell Phone

French President imposes ban on mobiles during cabinet meetings


Yahoo! News
Wed, 09 Apr 2014 11:29 UTC
Image
© AFP/Patrick Kovarik
Keen to ensure his ministers are paying attention, French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday imposed a strict ban on mobile telephones during cabinet sessions.

Ministers will now be forced to leave their portable devices at the door when they join the French government's weekly cabinet meeting, government spokesman Stephane Le Foll told reporters.

"To focus on what we must do, the president has decided that there will be no more mobile phones in cabinet," Le Foll said.
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Bomb

Pathological projection: What Obama's claim that "Russia is acting out of weakness" ACTUALLY tells us


SCG News
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:46 UTC
putin obama weakness
You might have noticed that immediately following a speech Obama made at the G7 meeting yesterday, virtually every single mainstream news outlet faithfully parroted out the same handpicked one liner: "Obama says Russia 'acting out of weakness'" and Russia is a "regional power". This is revealing on a number of levels.

Any time you see a choreographed media blitz like this you should pay attention. They are attempting to redefine the narrative.

Controlling the narrative is key. In the world of media, politics and public relations, the facts are not nearly as important as the way those facts are interpreted.

The first thing we can gather from Obama's statement, and the way it was promoted by the corporate media, is that they are not at all happy with the fact that Washington's so called "sanctions" on a handful of Russian politicians are being widely interpreted as toothless, or that Putin is being depicted as having outmaneuvered the Obama administration yet again (the first time of course being in the Syrian crisis of 2013). They are attempting to distract the public from their own weakness by projecting it onto Putin.

Comment: It's typical of psychopaths to blame others for what they themselves are guilty. In this case, it just happens to reek of a childish "I know you are but what am I?" brand of diplomacy. And the public can see that, which is why Putin has become so popular, at home and abroad, despite the facile attempts to paint him as the new Hitler. Putin says it like it is, and he's a canny leader, and the people appreciate these qualities. No wonder, since they're entirely lacking in the vast majority of the political psychopaths in charge in the West...

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Solar Flares

Tilting at Pipelines: Geopolitical Madness at the end of Empire

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Sun, 13 Apr 2014 10:49 UTC
Image
Russian president Vladimir Putin recently sent a letter to 18 European countries that are consumers of Russian gas, telling them that, while Russia is eager to honor all of its energy commitments, the situation in Ukraine is getting to the "critical" point where supplies of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine may be threatened. Speaking to reporters, Putin summed up the essence of what he wrote to his EU counterparts:
Russia is acting very neatly, very considerately and respectfully towards our partners. We will certainly guarantee in full the honoring of all our obligations to our European consumers. We are not the problem, the problem is ensuring transit via Ukraine ...
What's he talking about?
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Bulb

Germans not keen to ruffle Russian feathers

Stephen Evans
BBC
Sat, 12 Apr 2014 09:43 UTC
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European leaders have debated how to punish Russian for its actions in Crimea. But for many Germans, the key is not to ruffle Russian feathers.

On the wall of the office of the left-wing MP, Jan van Aken, is a very big, framed black-and-white picture.

It is the classic image of a Red Army soldier balancing precariously on the turret of the old Reichstag building and raising the hammer and sickle banner, the smouldering ruins of Berlin in the background.

I asked him why he had it on his wall in the German parliament and he replied with a laugh that it was taken on his birthday, 1 May, and then he added more seriously that it tells a story.

The Russians were liberators, he said. They rescued Berlin and Germany from the Nazis.
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Stop

Russia warns on use of force on pro-Russian protesters in Ukraine

Sergei L. Loiko
The Los Angeles Times
Tue, 08 Apr 2014 11:00 UTC
Image

The protesters in Donetsk engaged in a stand-off with riot police.
Ukrainian riot police on Tuesday cleared a regional administration building and public square in the eastern city of Kharkiv of hundreds of pro-Russia protesters, detaining scores in the process, officials said.

"Seventy criminals were taken into custody during the operation," Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, told the parliament in televised remarks Tuesday morning.

In response, Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a stern warning against the use of force on pro-Russia protesters in eastern Ukraine and alleged the direct involvement of private U.S. military experts.
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Footprints

Kathleen Sebelius finally resigns over Obamacare woes

Michael D. Shear
New York Times
Thu, 10 Apr 2014 08:05 UTC
Katheen Sebelius
© Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency
Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, before a Senate hearing Thursday
Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, is resigning, ending a stormy five-year tenure marred by the disastrous rollout of President Obama's signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Obama accepted Ms. Sebelius's resignation this week, and on Friday morning, he will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her, officials said.

The departure comes as the Obama administration tries to move beyond its early stumbles in carrying out the law, convince a still-skeptical public of its lasting benefits, and help Democratic incumbents, who face blistering attack ads after supporting the legislation, survive the midterm elections this fall.

Officials said Ms. Sebelius, 65, made the decision to resign and was not forced out. But the frustration at the White House over her performance had become increasingly clear, as administration aides worried that the crippling problems at HealthCare.gov, the website set up to enroll Americans in insurance exchanges, would result in lasting damage to the president's legacy.
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Radar

Snowden should get Pulitzer for exposing how the U.S. government monitors the data of millions

Jennie Matthew
AFP
Sun, 13 Apr 2014 07:35 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo/Stan Honda
Journalists Glenn Greenwald (L) and Laura Poitras (C) with The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill (R), speak at press conference after accepting Long Island University's George Polk Award for National Security Reporting April 11, 2014 in New York
Hero or traitor? America is still polarized over Edward Snowden and whether the newspapers that exposed the extent of NSA's vast global spying network should be lauded or condemned.

Ten months later, the question on journalists' lips is whether America's most prestigious journalism prize, the Pulitzers, will honor them when the annual awards are announced Monday.

For most journalists, there is no debate.

In arguably the most influential story of the decade, The Guardian and The Washington Post broke sensational new ground by exposing how the US government monitors the data of millions.
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Snakes in Suits

Lying Psychopaths: US warns Russia of 'additional consequences'


Yahoo News
Sun, 13 Apr 2014 03:28 UTC
Image
© AFP Photo/Alexander Khudoteply
Ukrainian nationalist demonstrators hold national flags during a rally against pro-Russian activists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on April 12, 201
US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ukraine later this month, officials said, as Washington warned Moscow of "additional consequences" if it fails to reduce tensions with Ukraine.

The announcement came just a day after Washington unveiled sanctions against six of Crimea's breakaway leaders, including the official who signed the deal with Moscow to split the peninsula from Ukraine.

During a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry "made clear that if Russia did not take steps to de-escalate in eastern Ukraine and move its troops back from Ukraine's border, there would be additional consequences," a senior State Department official said.
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