Your Facebook Friends Could Cost You A Loan
Welcome to the age of the social media credit check. On July 22nd, Facebook filed a new patent for a product the company could sell to creditors to analyze someone’s creditworthiness based on their social network.
Report: US Jails And Prisons Ill Equipped For Global Warming
A new study published by the Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law found US jails and prisons grossly unfit for dealing with rising temperatures, which place inmate and staff health at risk. The study urged policy makers and administrators to begin taking steps to prepare for heat waves associated with climate change.
Islamophobia Rising: FBI Warns ‘Militia Extremists’ Are Targeting Muslims
While the mainstream media showers attention on any crime with even the slightest hint of a connection to ISIS or other Muslim extremists, less attention is being paid to a growing number of threats against everyday Muslims in the United States despite the FBI raising the alarm. The FBI issued an intelligence bulletin in May, warning that “militia extremists” are increasing their violent rhetoric against Muslims and even potentially making concrete plans to target them for violence.
Obama’s Drone War Escalates in Syria, Despite Fueling Violence in Other Countries
President Barack Obama’s administration has apparently expanded covert drone operations in Syria in order to strike leaders of the Islamic State. But the expansion is destined to fail as much as previous operations in other countries, which have only fueled the rise of violent extremism.
Treasury Department Claims Paulson Never Officially Discussed AIG Bailout
In August, the US Treasury Department responded to a 2013 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s communications during the 2008 bailout of American International Group (AIG) by claiming that the agency could not find any records. Here’s how you can help us respond.
CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Explains The Middle East Crisis (VIDEO)
There’s no such thing as “American exceptionalism,” CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou tells Mnar Muhawesh is this episode of “Behind the Headline,” And while the U.S. claims to be defending human rights around the world, it’s really just securing its oil interests.
California Agrees To Restrict Use of Long-Term Solitary Confinement
California has agreed to restrict the use of long-term solitary confinement in a settlement agreement filed in federal court this week. Restrictions are expected to reduce the number of inmates in isolation, cap the number of continuous years an inmate can spend in solitary confinement to five, and establish measures by which inmates can more easily achieve release back to general population.
Canada Charges Syrian Colonel for Torture of Maher Arar
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has filed charges against a Syrian colonel who tortured Canadian citizen Maher Arar. Colonel George Salloum, a Syrian military intelligence officer, is accused of carrying out the torture Arar experienced while in prison in Syria from October 2002 to October 2003. Salloum is also accused of overseeing Arar’s
776 People Killed By Police So Far in 2015, 161 Of Them Unarmed
So far in 2015, U.S. police killed 776 people, 161 of whom were completely unarmed at the time of their death. The data was compiled by The Guardian for a project called “The Counted,” a continuously updated, interactive database of police killings in the United States.
U.S. to Use Iris and Facial Scans at Southern Border for First Time
The United States Customs and Border Protection will launch a “Pedestrian Border Experiment” that will target non-US citizens. The “experiment” is expected to mark the first time facial and iris scans are used on individuals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.