No one's favorite government agency, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, will be harassing innocent travelers on buses and trains, if new legislation — unsurprisingly proposed after rather questionable 'attacks' in New York City and New Jersey on September 18 — passes as expected.

Several U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle apparently want to make travelers lives' a veritable hell of red tape and insidious surveillance by increasing putative 'security' for rail lines, highways, and marine routes by adding presence and screening procedures at Megabus depots, Amtrak stations, and more.

As perpetually-terrified as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security likes to keep the population, considering the TSA's phenomenally negative reputation at airports — passengers missing flights due to long lines, free molestations, confiscations of breast milk, and countless other good times — it's highly doubtful the proposed legislation will receive more than tepid public support.

More than 14,000 Saudi women signed a petition to the kingdom's Royal Court in an effort to end the internationally criticized system.

Human Rights Watch reported Saturday that women's rights activists in the kingdom initiated a Twitter campaign to support the move, trending such hashtags as #StopEnslavingSaudiWomen, #IAmMyOwnGuardian and #TogetherToEndMaleGuardianship. Additionally, activists used social media to spread instructions on how to submit a telegram calling on the king to comply with their demands.

The petition says that Saudi women, who are being treated as legal minors based on an interpretation of the Quran, must have the right to move freely around the country and abroad, as well as make important decisions regarding their own lives, without asking a man's permission.

"In every aspect, the important issue is to treat a woman as a full citizen," Saudi human rights campaigner Aziza Yousef told BBC.

Translated from Dutch by Elizabeth Manton.

How more people are making money without contributing anything of value

Thick fog envelops City Hall Park at daybreak on February 2, 1968. Seven thousand New York City sanitation workers stand crowded together, their mood rebellious. Union spokesman John DeLury addresses the multitude from the roof of a truck. When he announces that the mayor has refused further concessions, the crowd's anger threatens to boil over. As the first rotten eggs sail overhead, DeLury realizes the time for compromise is over. It's time to take the illegal route, the path prohibited to sanitation workers for the simple reason that the job they do is too important.

It's time to strike.

The next day, trash goes uncollected throughout the Big Apple. Nearly all the city's garbage crews have stayed home. "We've never had prestige, and it never bothered me before," one garbageman is quoted in a local newspaper. "But it does now. People treat us like dirt."

When the mayor goes out to survey the situation two days later, the city is already knee-deep in refuse, with another 10,000 tons added every day. A rank stench begins to percolate through the city's streets, and rats have been sighted in even the swankiest parts of town. In the space of just a few days, one of the world's most iconic cities has started to look like a slum. And for the first time since the polio epidemic of 1931, city authorities declare a state of emergency.

It doesn't get much more conspicuous than a new parking regulation enforcement tool that uses suction cups covered in bright yellow plastic to render your car windshield useless.

It's the idea of a Philadelphia native who says the device — despite its appearance — is designed to be friendly to law violators and enforcers alike.

The appropriate response when seeing the Barnacle is 'what the...?'

"The Barnacle definitely gets your attention," says Kevin Dougherty, president of Ideas That Stick.

You can spot it covering the glass from more than a block away. What you can't see is anything from the front seat of your car.

"It attaches to the windshield using commercial-grade suction cups that provide 750 lbs of force per suction cup. There is no brute force way of getting it off," Dougherty explains.

The Barnacle is placed by a parking enforcement officer, but it's removable by you — once you cover the cost of the violation.

The anti-immigrant Party of the Danes has been spotted handing out cans of 'asylum spray' on the streets. The "legal and effective" way of opposing the "problem" of migrants was launched in Haderslev - the location of recent harassment reports.

Haderslev, a port city, was one of the places in Denmark where women complained about migrants harassing them at nightclubs, so it seemed like the perfect testing ground to Daniel Carlsen, the founder of the Danskernes Parti.

"I don't think it is provocative. We are tackling an actual problem in our society, where many Danes feel unsafe," Carlsen told TV Syd. "Partially because there are so many migrants in the country and partly because one isn't allowed to defend one's self."

An officer on the job for only a few weeks has been fired by the McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Police Department after an old social media post surfaced showing her in a uniformed selfie captioned with a racial slur.

"I'm the law today n**ga," now-former Officer Melissa Adamson, who is white, wrote atop her vanity selfie in a post to social media.

Predictably and understandably, the Internet exploded in fury over the image — alerting the mayor of McKeesport to the inexcusable post.

"As Mayor of McKeesport, I feel compelled to publicly address an issue that has come to my attention via social media. A past social media post surfaced a few hours ago involving a recently hired part-time police officer, who has been training as a probationary employee for just a few weeks. This post displays a degree of conduct and character that is far different from what I would expect from an officer in this city," Mayor Michael Cherepko wrote on the City of McKeesport Facebook page.

Donald Trump has made a big deal about Hillary Clinton being beholden to Wall Street. That's true. Wall Street's mega banks and hedge funds have been major donors to Clinton's campaign committees after showering her and Bill Clinton with millions of dollars for speeches. But Donald Trump is just as beholden to Wall Street's mega banks because they are financing his business empire, doing so frequently behind an opaque curtain.

Given the increased frequency of terrorist bombings and mass shootings and an under-lying sense of havoc fed by divisive election politics, it's no surprise that home security is going over the top and hitting luxurious new heights. Or, rather, new lows, as the average depth of a new breed of safe haven that occupies thousands of square feet is 10 feet under or more. Those who can afford to pull out all the stops for so-called self-preservation are doing so — in a fashion that goes way beyond the submerged corrugated metal units adopted by reality show "preppers" — to prepare for anything from nuclear bombings to drastic climate-change events. Gary Lynch, GM at Rising S Bunkers, a Texas-based company that specializes in underground bunkers and services scores of Los Angeles residences, says that sales at the most upscale end of the market — mainly to actors, pro athletes and politicians (who require signed NDAs) — have increased 700 percent this year compared with 2015, and overall sales have risen 150 percent. "Any time there is a turbulent political landscape, we see a spike in our sales. Given this election is as turbulent as it is, we are gearing up for an even bigger spike," says marketing director Brad Roberson of sales of bunkers that start at $39,000 and can run $8.35 million or more (FYI, a 12-stall horse shelter is $98,500).

Adds Mike Peters, owner of Utah-based Ultimate Bunker, which builds high-end versions in California, Texas and Minnesota: "People are going for luxury [to] live underground because they see the future is going to be rough. Everyone I've talked to thinks we are doomed, no matter who is elected." Robert Vicino, founder of Del Mar, Calif.-based Vivos, which constructs upscale community bunkers in Indiana (he believes coastal flooding scenarios preclude bunkers being safely built west of the Rockies), says, "Bill Gates has huge shelters under every one of his homes, in Rancho Santa Fe and Washington. His head of security visited with us a couple years ago, and for these multibillionaires, a few million is nothing. It's really just the newest form of insurance."

Two children and an adult were injured at a school shooting in Townville, South Carolina. The suspected shooter, a teenager, is in custody, police said. Townville Elementary School has been evacuated.

The two students were airlifted to the pediatric center at Greenville Health System, while the teacher was taken by ambulance to AnMed Medical Center. The children are being treated for non-life threatening injuries, said the coroner, according to the Greenville News.

The shooting occurred just before 2pm local time, Lieutenant Sheila Cole of the Anderson County Sheriff's Office told WHNS.

A death is also being investigated in Townville about a mile and a half from the school, but it is unclear if the incidents are connected, Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said.

The history of slavery in the United States justifies reparations for African Americans, argues a recent report by a U.N.-affiliated group based in Geneva.


This conclusion was part of a study by the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, a body that reports to the international organization's High Commissioner on Human Rights. The group of experts, which includes leading human rights lawyers from around the world, presented its findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, pointing to the continuing link between present injustices and the dark chapters of American history.