‘Halal’ internet means more control in Iran after unrest

“The government succeeded in suffocating the flare-up in part by shutting off key social media and messaging apps, but the lesson was clear: The same oxygen that can resuscitate commerce can also give breath to potential revolt.  Authorities’ solution has been to create a so-called ‘halal net,’ Iran’s own locally controlled version of the internet aimed at restricting what the public can see.  As Iran approaches the 40th anniversary of the revolution that brought its cleric-led rule to power, how it handles the power of cyberspace will be crucial to its future, determining whether it moves to greater openness or seals itself off from the world.”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/In-Iran-a-halal-internet-means-more-control-12531520.php

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3,000 officers, 2,000 cameras are watching Super Bowl spectators

“The Multi Agency Command Center contains support from city, county, state and federal law enforcement as well as Xcel Energy and Minneapolis Public Works all in an effort to ensure safety and security at Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  About 2,000 of the 3,000 officers working the Super Bowl have an app that allows them to broadcast any video they take of suspicious activity to the command center where 80 individuals will be stationed to monitor the event.”

Read more: https://www.twincities.com/2018/01/30/be-on-your-best-behavior-because-thousands-of-security-cameras-will-show-super-bowl-activity/

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NYTimes: Loathing The Feds in the Ranchlands of Oregon

“In the 1970s, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act shifted the focus of the Bureau of Land Management from resource extraction to conservation. The policy marked the beginning of the Sagebrush Rebellion, a grass-roots revolt among ranchers, loggers and miners against environmental laws, like the 1964 Wilderness Act and the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Rural communities believed these new restrictions and regulations undermined their prosperity and shifted the fate of small-town economies into the hands of the federal government.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/magazine/fear-of-the-federal-government-in-the-ranchlands-of-oregon.html

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Trump says it will be hard to unify country without a ‘major event’

“Without a major event where people pull together, that’s hard to do. But I would like to do it without that major event because usually that major event is not a good thing.”

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-it-will-be-hard-to-unify-country-without-a-major-event

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By reversing policy in Syria, the US is fuelling more wars in the Middle East

“It was a bad moment for the US to stir the pot by saying it would stay in Syria and target Assad and Iran. A Kurdish-Turkish war in northern Syria will be a very fierce one. The US obsession with an exaggerated Iranian threat – about which, in any case, it cannot do much – makes it difficult for Washington to mediate and cool down the situation. Trump and his chaotic administration have not yet had to deal with a real Middle East crisis yet and the events of the last week suggest that they will not be able to do so.”

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-us-kurdish-state-turkey-war-us-is-creatign-trouble-in-the-middle-east-a8179941.html

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Russia warns of ‘war’ if UN plans to cut oil to North Korea are carried out

“Russia’s ambassador to North Korea has warned that a United Nations attempt to cut all oil supplies to the rogue nation could spark a global conflict. Last month, the U.N. Security Council voted to cut 90 percent of petroleum exports to North Korea, something the militarized state referred to as “‘an act of war.’ The U.S. has repeatedly accused both China and Russia of defying these sanctions and covertly providing their neighbor with oil supplies at sea, something which both of them have denied.”

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/russia-warns-war-oil-north-korea-cut/

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Secret Cabinet documents leaked after locked cabinets sold in Australia

“The Australian government on Wednesday launched an urgent investigation into the loss of thousands of classified documents that were sold with two second-hand filing cabinets and later obtained by a major news outlet.  The cabinets were sold by a Canberra furniture shop at a discount price because they were locked and no one could find keys, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/secret-documents-found-locked-cabinets-sold-australia-n843201

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ICE formalizes plans for courthouse abductions of foreigners

“Federal immigration authorities formalized a policy Wednesday to send deportation agents to federal, state and local courthouses to make arrests, dismissing complaints from judges and advocacy that it instills fear among crime victims, witnesses and family members. Family, friends and witnesses won’t be picked up for deportation but ICE leaves a caveat for ‘special circumstances.'”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/ICE-formalizes-plans-for-courthouse-arrests-12541326.php

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Trump executive order keeps Guantanamo Bay military prison open

“J. Wells Dixon, a lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that formally making it U.S. policy ‘to detain Muslims forever without charge in an offshore prison’ is ‘politically expedient but exceedingly stupid no matter how you look at it,’ except as a terrorist recruitment bonanza.”

Read more: http://theweek.com/speedreads/752126/trump-signs-executive-order-keep-guantanamo-bay-military-prison-open-business

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Pentagon restricts release of Afghanistan war data

“The Pentagon has ordered an independent federal auditor to stop providing the public with key information about U.S. war efforts in Afghanistan, accelerating a clampdown on data, such as the size of the Afghan military and police forces, that indicate how the 16-year-old stalemated war is going. The restrictions fly in the face of Pentagon assertions over the past year that it was striving to be more transparent about the U.S. war campaigns across Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.”

Read more: http://www.theitem.com/stories/pentagon-restricts-release-of-afghanistan-war-data,302763

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