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Arizona Supreme Court's decision: Dreamers have to pay out-of-state tuition rates

Matt
The Political Insider
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 16:05 UTC
DACA Dreamers Millennials
The Arizona State Supreme Court unanimously ruled Monday that so-called "Dreamers" will have to pay out-of-state tuition rates. Given that those out-of-state students are paying out-of-state tuition, it's only common sense that out-of-country students do the same.

The case was specific to whether or not dreamers at Maricopa Community Colleges would have to be offered in-state tuition. The Justices ruled 7-0 on the case. Needless to say, it'll serve as precedent for any future cases where "Dreamers" claim a right to in-state tuition at other colleges and university's in the State.

According to the Washington Times:
The court upheld a previous 3-0 appeals-court decision that federal and state law do not give that power to the colleges, but to the state's political branches.
"While people can disagree what the law should be, I hope we all can agree that the attorney general must enforce the law as it is, not as we want it to be," Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement.
Mr. Brnovich noted that in 2006, Arizona voters passed Proposition 300, declaring illegal immigrants ineligible for in-state tuition and other state benefits.
One pro-Dreamer group complained that this will triple the cost of tuition for illegal immigrants.
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Light Saber

Prof. Jeffery Sachs: "We know they sent in the CIA to overthrow Assad"


Information Clearing House
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 16:09 UTC
Jeffrey D. Sachs

Jeffrey D. Sachs
Jeffrey D Sachs, professor of sustainable development and of health policy and management at Columbia University in New York, is director of Columbia's Center for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He is internationally renowned for advising governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Africa on economic reforms and for his work with international agencies to promote poverty reduction, disease control, and debt reduction of poor countries

Professor Sachs explains the American tragedy of the Syrian civil war and why the only answer now is to get out and negotiate an end to the war.
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Laptop

Survey: 10% of US Facebook users deleted their accounts over data-privacy scandal

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 15:17 UTC
zuckerberg congress
It looks like Steve Wozniak and Elon Musk are in good company.

According to a recent poll conducted by Techpinions, a technology research group, 9% of a sample of 1,000 people surveyed said they had deleted their Facebook page in the wake of revelations that Cambridge Analytica used the personal data of 87 million people in its work for the Trump campaign.

This revelation, brought to the attention of the media by whistleblower Christopher Wylie (who promptly saw his own Facebook account deleted by the company shortly after the New York Times and the Observer published the initial exposes), ignited an international scandal about how Facebook collects, stores and utilizes the personal data of its users to target advertisements - a business that has transformed Facebook into perhaps the most profitable company of its size in the history of capitalism.

While Facebook insists it doesn't "sell" data to advertisers, for years, the company allowed third party app developers nearly unfettered access to this data to build apps that could be integrated with the platform (Farmville, anyone?).

Comment: As has been said, "When the product is free, you are the product."

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TV

Why The Twilight Zone is still relevant

Matthew Wills
Jstor
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 15:48 UTC
Twilight Zone spiral
© Wikimedia Commons
When Newton Minnow became the head of the FCC in 1961, he decried television's "vast wasteland." The only weekly series he applauded was The Twilight Zone, then in the midst of its five season run on CBS (1959-1964). But nothing lasts forever, and the show's plug would ultimately be pulled for its low ratings and idiosyncrasy in a network line-up that included The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and The Munsters.

Rod Serling, executive producer, host, and writer of 92 of the 156 episodes, sold back his large stake in the show in 1966, "suspecting, apparently, that the show would just gather dust in the network's vault," according to scholar Brian Murray. The Twilight Zone proceeded to have a spectacular life in syndication, the afterlife of television. As Murray argues, the show's legacy reveals its enduring hold on the cultural imagination.

Comment: Why Rod Serling still matters

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Tornado1

Last year's natural disasters were costly but not so deadly


RT
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 14:57 UTC
Woman holding baby
© Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
Woman with her son looks at the damage in the neighborhood after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria, in Canovanas, Puerto Rico.
A new report by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) showed that 318 natural disasters which occurred last year and affected 122 countries have resulted in lower mortality than in previous years.

Floods and hurricanes, as well as landslides and a number of other natural disasters, claimed 9,503 lives compared to the average annual figure of 68,000 lives between 2007 and 2016.

The year was not so deadly but it turned out to be the second most costly, according to CRED, which estimated economic damage at $314 billion. That was reflected in the impact of three hurricanes - Harvey ($95 billion), Irma ($66 billion) and Maria ($69 billion), affecting the United States and the Caribbean.
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Beaker

Mission accomplished? Syrian research lab destroyed in missile strikes produced snake venom antidotes, not toxic weapons


AFP
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 12:42 UTC
Syrian Scientific Research
© AP Photo
Damage is shown of the Syrian Scientific Research Center which was attacked by U.S., British and French military strikes to punish President Bashar Assad for suspected chemical attack against civilians, in Barzeh, near Damascus, Syria, Saturday, April 14, 2018.
Plastic gloves and face masks lay scattered in the rubble of a Syrian research lab destroyed by Western strikes on Saturday, where an official denied the centre was developing chemical weapons.

US, British and French strikes slammed into a series of targets around Damascus that the Western countries said were linked to the Syrian government's chemical weapons programme.

One multi-storey complex, in the capital's northern district of Barzeh, had been completely reduced to rubble, AFP's correspondents saw during a government-sponsored tour on Saturday.

Its roof had been punched down and several walls appeared on the verge of collapse.

Even hours after the strikes wrapped up, plumes of smoke wafted lazily up from the building and a burning smell still hung in the air.

"The building had three storeys: a basement, ground floor, and second floor," said Said Said, an engineer who identified himself as head of the centre's paint and plastics department.

Comment: Good points. If there had been any chemicals weapons there, the whole area would be a no go zone. US Lt. Gen. McKenzie is quoted as saying, "We believe by hitting Barzah, we have hit the heart of the Syrian chemical weapons program." Apparently not.

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Map

Mapping international buyers of Russian agricultural equipment, 47 markets so far


RT
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 14:16 UTC
Farming
© Ilya Naymushin / Reuters
Exports of Russian-made agricultural machinery and equipment have been growing slowly but steadily in recent years. Russia's farming machinery has reportedly managed to win 47 international markets so far.

The latest data from the country's Trade Ministry shows that exports of agricultural machinery and equipment from Russia increased by 3.5 percent within the first quarter of the current year against the same period a year ago.

In 2017, exports grew by 16 percent compared to the previous year, which saw massive growth of 36 percent against 2015, according to the estimates published by the industry journal Agrobusiness.
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Attention

French police use tear gas & water cannons against thousands of eco-camp protesters


RT
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 13:17 UTC
Protesters
© Damien Meyer / AFP
Police use water cannons and tear gas to clear protesters during a demonstration in support of the Notre-Dame-des-Landes ZAD anti-airport camp on April 14, 2018.
Activists clashed with police for a sixth day in western France. Law enforcement officials used tear gas and water cannons against crowds protesting the demolition of their 'eco-camp' on the site of an abandoned airport.

Saturday's demonstration drew nearly 7,000 people in support of occupants of the ZAD (French abbreviation for 'Zone to Defend') anarchist commune, France 24 reported.

The rally erupted into open confrontation after the protesters, holding banners reading 'Stop violence,' attempted to storm barricades erected by law enforcement officials. Riot police fired tear gas in response to rocks and stun grenades being thrown at them. The windows of several shops were smashed and trash bins were set on fire.
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Question

Teen dies in family minivan under mysterious circumstances after police fail to locate him

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 14:29 UTC
Kyle Plush
A tragic case of police incompetence unfolded this week which led to the death of a young boy who desperately needed police help, calling 911 multiple times, but died as they ignored his pleas.

Kyle Plush, a 16-year-old high school sophomore suffered a tragic fate this week as he was crushed to death in the back of his family's minivan. Somehow, Kyle had gotten trapped under the third row seat while the car was parked in the school parking lot and he was unable to free himself.

After he was trapped, Kyle managed to reach his cellphone and dialed 911 to beg police to come help him. Despite calling 911 twice, however, police ignored his calls. The subject of these calls is now under investigation as the lack of response led to the boy succumbing to asphyxiation and dying.

"I'm going to die here," the sophomore told the dispatcher during his first 911 call, which was placed shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday. "I probably don't have much time left. Tell my mom I love her if I die."
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Propaganda

Pentagon reports 2000% increase in Russian trolls since Syria strike

Josh Delk
The Hill
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 14:25 UTC
Dana White
The Pentagon reported Saturday a massive spike in online Russian propaganda efforts in the hours before and after the U.S. missile strike on Syria the night before.

"The Russian disinformation campaign has already begun. There has been a 2,000 percent increase in Russian trolls in the last 24 hours," chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a briefing on Saturday.

U.S. forces launched targeted missile strikes on Friday at key military outposts in Syria, where the government is thought to have stored chemical weapons used in a strike that killed over 40 civilians last weekend.

Syria, along with its allies Russia and Iran, has denied the use of chemical weapons and Russia has suggested the entire attack was a fabrication by western forces.

Comment: Nice try. The Internet Research Agency is really just a social media spam agency, not a troll farm. As for the 2000% increase in 'propaganda efforts', maybe it's because Russia is the only one keeping a cool head in the game and people are actually not happy with the US government's actions in Syria.

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