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Senator wants Justin Bieber deported

bieber justin
© JAG GUNDU/Getty ImagesJustin Bieber's arrest isn't the only controversy giving Canadian officials headaches.
Sen. Mark Warner is not a Belieber.

Although the whitehouse.gov petition to deport Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has already surpassed the 100,000-signature threshold that triggers a White House response, the Democrat from Virginia told FM 99 he wants to add his name. "As a dad with three daughters, is there some place I can sign?"

Then Warner followed up with this gem of a tweet:
It's true: I'm not a #Belieber. "Senator Mark Warner offers to sign petition to deport Justin Bieber" http://t.co/KQwY6hcN1a

- Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) February 4, 2014

2 + 2 = 4

Common Core Panelist: "The Children Belong to All of Us"

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Last Friday, a panel discussion at the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank, was held to promote Common Core and discuss those who oppose it.

Paul Reville, the former secretary of education for Massachusetts and a Common Core supporter, was one of the panelists.

He shared his thoughts on opponents of the curriculum, stating that critics were a "tiny minority" who opposed standards altogether, which was unfair because "the children belong to all of us."

"The children belong to all of us."

Unbelievable, isn't it? In case you need to hear it to believe it, here's video proof:

Comment: See: The Untold History of Modern U.S. Education


Evil Rays

Dr. Magda Havas: What's new in the electrosmog world?

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One new study and four policy decisions as of January 2014 are newsworthy.

The scientific study shows long-term exposure to Wi-Fi alters testes and sperm in rats.

The three policy decisions from the USA, Italy and Germany are likely to reduce local exposure to radio frequency radiation. The fourth from Brussels is likely to increase exposure.

Smoking

Bhutan's U-turn on tobacco ban

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Bhutan's second parliament is likely to set the history of 'ban lift' as it takes steps to do so one after another. Very recently the country lifted ban on import of furniture and alcohol.

Now the country's Upper House resolves that ban on import of tobacco must end. In a majority resolution on Monday (3 February 2014), the house said ban on import and sale of tobacco products must end to control the black market.

Bhutan had gained fame for being the first country to completely ban on manufacturing, import and sale of any tobacco products. However, the government also received harsh criticism for sending a monk behind bar for years on charge of carrying tobacco products worth Nu 120.

After public outcry over the harshness of the law, the first elected parliament of the country showed some leniency towards tobacco consumers. Many send to jail for selling tobacco were subsequently released on king's order.

Stormtrooper

Scenes from a militarized America: Iowa family 'terrorized'

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Watch this video, taken from a police raid in Des Moines, Iowa. Send it to some people. When critics (like me) warn about the dangers of police militarization, this is what we're talking about. You'll see the raid team, dressed in battle-dress uniforms, helmets and face-covering balaclava hoods take down the family's door with a battering ram. You'll see them storm the home with ballistics shields, guns at the ready. More troubling still, you'll see not one but two officers attempt to prevent the family from having an independent record of the raid, one by destroying a surveillance camera, another by blocking another camera's lens.


Bad Guys

Cop uses stun gun on accident victim, causing him to go into seizure

Chicago police Sgt Schultz
© Photo supplied to CBSBlue Island Police Sgt. Schultz used a stun gun on Donald Flores, the victim of a hit-and-run crash in 2012.
A Blue Island police officer used a stun gun on the victim of a hit-and-run crash, and the victim says the incident changed his life forever.

CBS 2′s Marissa Bailey reports on allegations of excessive force

Donald Flores needed help after a June 2012 hit-and-run incident. Instead, he says, police caused him further injury.

"I just wanted to go home to basically die, where I felt more at peace," Flores says

Dazed and covered in blood, he was walking home when he came upon Blue Island Police who had been called to do a well-being check on him.

"The first two officers, they did the right thing," Flores says.

But then he encountered Sgt. Schultz. Flores says the sergeant screamed at him, "'Are you out of your effin' mind? You're bleeding.

Arrow Down

More than 200 dead or starving alpacas discovered on Oregon farm

Alpacas
© Care2Alpacas
I am sad to be bringing you yet another story of animal abuse. This one comes from Falls City, a small community in Oregon, located about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio, with a population of under 700.

The owners of Jocelyn's Alpacas Ranch have each been indicted on 18 animal abuse charges after more than 200 starving or dead alpacas were found on their Falls City farm in December 2013.

Alpacas are rare and exotic creatures that have been considered a treasure of the Andes Mountains for more than 6,000 years. They look like small llamas or long-necked camels with no humps. Easily domesticated, alpacas are friendly, gentle and curious.

And yet they suffered this terrible abuse. The Polk County Itemizer-Observer reports that Jocelyn and Robert Silver were arraigned two weeks ago on identical charges, which include one count of felony first-degree animal neglect, one count of second-degree animal neglect and 16 counts of misdemeanor first-degree animal neglect.

Polk County Sheriff's Office began looking into conditions on the farm after receiving complaints from neighbors and the Animal Legal Defense Fund in early December. An initial investigation of the property found evidence of malnutrition in the animals.

"In this pasture there was no green forage growing anywhere," wrote Deputy John Kincaid in an affidavit requesting a search warrant. "The trees in this pasture appeared to be devoid of bark (as high as the animals could reach)."

Once a warrant was granted for a "herd health check" with a licensed veterinarian, investigators found even more evidence of mistreatment, including dozens of dead alpacas and many others that were emaciated and weak.

What a horrible, horrible tragedy, but such tales are not uncommon.

Top Secret

Congress keeps farm bill subsidies quiet

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All In reveals how lawmakers deleted a provision that would let the public learn how much lawmakers get in crop insurance subsidies.

Comment: More information about secrets in Congress' Farm Bill: Fee planted in farm bill could increase costs of home heating oil just as costs soar
Congress' mammoth farm bill restores the imposition of an extra fee on home heating oil, hitting consumers in cold-weather states just as utility costs are spiking.

The fee - two-tenths of a cent on every gallon sold - was tacked on to the end of the 959-page bill, which is winding its way through Capitol Hill. The fee would last for nearly 20 years and would siphon the money to develop equipment that is cheaper, more efficient and safer, and to encourage consumers to update their equipment.

It's just one of dozens of provisions tucked into the farm bill, which cleared the House on a bipartisan 251-166 vote last week and faces a key filibuster test in the Senate on Monday. It is expected to survive and face final passage Tuesday before heading to President Obama's desk.



Gold Coins

Senators try to end NFL's non-profit status

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© Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesThe National Football League’s nonprofit status, which relates to its classification as a business league, was established in the 1960s as the NFL was negotiating its 1970 merger with the former American Football League.

Sens. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, and Angus King, Maine Independent, have started a push to end the not-for-profit status for the National Football League, saying it's only fair to taxpayers.

"This is a directed tax cut that [went] to the league office, which means every other American pays a little bit more every year because we give the NFL league office a tax break and call them a non-profit," Mr. Coburn said on CNN's "New Day." "In fact, they're not."

Mr. King said on the program the bill only taxes the money that goes to the league office.

"The teams are separate entities - they pay taxes and they have their whole situation," he said. "The league has a foundation, charitable - wouldn't affect that. This is talking about the [approximately $180 million] a year that goes into the league office."

"The NFL doesn't promote college football, high school football, arena football - it's a group of teams," Mr. King continued. "And by the way, I'm a huge NFL fan. I mean, sponsoring this bill may be wiping out my possibility of being a quarterback for the Redskins, which is a lifetime goal, but I don't think this is right."

Newspaper

She's got a point: Nancy Pelosi is outraged: 'We did not treat President Bush this way'‏

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© J. Scott Applewhite / AP"Our view of the law is that it — if somebody is here without sufficient documentation, that is not reason for deportation," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, said in an interview with Telemundo, a Spanish-language network. "If somebody has broken the law, committed a felony or something, that's a different story."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, said Tuesday that a large segment of the GOP is "anti-government, anti-science and anti-Obama" and that while Democrats opposed much of President George W. Bush's agenda, Republican obstruction to President Obama is "something quite stunning."

"What's interesting to me is that Democrats and Republicans know what they believe," Mrs. Pelosi said on MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown." "They know what they believe, and that's what's happening in Congress ... what's happening here now is we have a large segment of the Republican party that is anti-government. We don't want any more government than we need, but they're anti-government, anti-science and anti-Obama."

"They have a trifecta that is going," she continued. "Now, I say to the Republicans: Take back your party ... you come with confidence with the debate that goes on and try to influence the decision, but to obstruct every initiative that the president's put forth on jobs and then say, 'Why don't we have more jobs?' We do have more jobs, but no thanks to the Congress of the United States."