Dallas Stares Down a Texas-Size Threat of Bankruptcy

Posted on November 21, 2016 by mea

But under its glittering surface, Dallas has a problem that could bring it to its knees, and that could be an early test of America’s postelection commitment to safe streets and tax relief: The city’s pension fund for its police officers and firefighters is near collapse and seeking an immense bailout.

via Dallas Stares Down a Texas-Size Threat of Bankruptcy – The New York Times.

Now, the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System has asked the city for a one-time infusion of $1.1 billion, an amount roughly equal to Dallas’s entire general fund budget but not even close to what the pension fund needs to be fully funded.

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How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind

Posted on November 9, 2016 by mea

“Nothing that happens outside the city matters!” they say at their cocktail parties, blissfully unaware of where their food is grown. Hey, remember when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans? Kind of weird that a big hurricane hundreds of miles across managed to snipe one specific city and avoid everything else. To watch the news (or the multiple movies and TV shows about it), you’d barely hear about how the storm utterly steamrolled rural Mississippi, killing 238 people and doing an astounding $125 billion in damage.

via How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind.

To those ignored, suffering people, Donald Trump is a brick chucked through the window of the elites. “Are you assholes listening now?“

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Californians Legalize Marijuana in Vote That Could Echo Nationally

Posted on November 9, 2016 by mea

California, Massachusetts and Nevada legalized marijuana on Tuesday in what advocates said was a reflection of the country’s changing attitude toward the drug.

via Californians Legalize Marijuana in Vote That Could Echo Nationally – The New York Times.

Supporters in California portrayed legalization as both a social justice and a criminal justice issue, saying the measure would help redress the disproportionate numbers of arrests and convictions among minorities for drug crimes.

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AT&T Is Spying on Americans for Profit

Posted on October 25, 2016 by mea

Hemisphere isn’t a “partnership” but rather a product AT&T developed, marketed, and sold at a cost of millions of dollars per year to taxpayers. No warrant is required to make use of the company’s massive trove of data, according to AT&T documents, only a promise from law enforcement to not disclose Hemisphere if an investigation using it becomes public.

via AT&T Is Spying on Americans for Profit – The Daily Beast.

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Using search warrants to get into fingerprint-locked phones

Posted on October 23, 2016 by mea

Investigators in Lancaster, Calif., were granted a search warrant last May with a scope that allowed them to force anyone inside the premises at the time of search to open up their phones via fingerprint recognition, Forbes reported Sunday.

The government argued that this did not violate the citizens’ Fifth Amendment protection against self incrimination because no actual passcode was handed over to authorities.

via Using search warrants to get into fingerprint-locked phones.

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