-
Helping farmers plow through new, complex food safety regulations
The recently passed Food Safety Modernization Act set safety standards on how farmers grow, harvest, and handle fresh produce to reduce the risk of foodborne diseases. The new regulations to minimize food safety risk include testing for water safety and better managing manure storage. Agricultural extension educators should take a flexible approach in teaching farmers about the changing landscape of food safety regulations, researchers say.
-
-
New study shows link between rates of gun ownership and homicides
A new study shows that U.S. states with higher estimated rates of gun ownership experience a higher number of firearms-related homicides. The study, covering thirty years (1981-2010) in all fifty states, found a “robust correlation” between estimated levels of gun ownership and actual gun homicides at the state level, even when controlling for factors typically associated with homicides. For each 1 percentage point increase in the prevalence of gun ownership, the state firearm homicide rate increases by 0.9 percent, the authors found.
-
-
California granting driver's licenses to illegal aliens threatens homeland security: critics
Last Thursday night’s approval of AB 60 by both houses of the California Legislature, granting driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, poses a serious threat to the security of all Americans, critics charge. The critics say that in 2005, in response to recommendations by the 9/11 Commission, Congress enacted the REAL ID Act in order to discourage state governments from issuing driver’s licenses and other identity documents to illegal aliens – and that California’s AB 60 is designed to circumvent requirements of REAL ID Act.
-
-
Divisions in U.K. over Syria action
A U.S.-led attack on Syrian targets in response to the Syrian military’s use of chemical weapons in an attack on Sunni civilians last Wednesday may be delayed until next week in the face of strong opposition in the U.K. parliament to British involvement. Prime Minister David Cameron said MPs would be given a second vote to approve military action ahead of a Commons debate today (Thursday) on Syria, in order to defuse a parliamentary revolt. About seventy Tory MPs said they would join the Labor opposition in voting against the U.K. participating in the attack on Syria. Some of the opponents of U.K. participation say a UN approval of such an attack would be needed, while others say they want to see clear-cut proof of the Assad regime’s culpability.
-
-
What you haven’t heard about immigration reform and border security
The Senate and House must find a way to resolve our current immigration dilemmas. We owe a fairer, more just system of laws to all our immigrants, both illegal and legal. And, yes, we must find ways to address issues of national security as well. It’s not going to be easy to shape such legislation, but we should demand no less from both Democrats and the Republicans.
-
-
The administration does not follow its own deportation criteria
The Obama administration has set a record for deporting illegal immigrants, but the administration’s declared policy is to concentrate on criminals and other illegal immigrants who pose a risk. Yet, the administration has also been deporting immigrants who are not top priority according to the administration’s own criteria, and who may be eligible for legal residency if Congress reforms immigration law.
-
-
Federal judge: NYPD stop-and-frisk policy violates 4th, 14th Amendments (updated)
In a scathing, 195-page decision, a federal judge repudiated one of the major pillars of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s crime-fighting strategy, finding that the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk tactics violated the constitutional rights of minorities in New York. The NYPD stopped some 4.43 million between 2004 and mid-2012, with Blacks and Hispanics accounting for 88 percent of those stopped. The NYPD has explained the disparity by saying that it mirrored the disproportionate percentage of crimes committed by young minority men. Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, using harsh language, dismissed this rationale. “This might be a valid comparison if the people stopped were criminals,” Judge Scheindlin wrote, explaining that there was significant evidence that the people being stopped were not criminals. “To the contrary, nearly 90 percent of the people stopped are released without the officer finding any basis for a summons or arrest.” Rather, Judge Scheindlin found, the city had a “policy of targeting expressly identified racial groups for stops in general.” She added: “Targeting young black and Hispanic men for stops based on the alleged criminal conduct of other young black or Hispanic men violates bedrock principles of equality.” The judge ruled that the effectiveness of “stop and frisk” was irrelevant. “Many police practices may be useful for fighting crime — preventive detention or coerced confessions, for example — but because they are unconstitutional, they cannot be used, no matter how effective,” the ruling said.
-
-
Safety engineers welcome Obama’s chemical facility safety Executive Order
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) said it supports President Obama’s Executive Order to improve federal agency coordination of U.S. chemical facility safety and security oversight. The ASSE notes that while the causes of each chemical incident are unique and require careful investigation to help ensure similar incidents do not reoccur, common to every incident are the often overlapping and sometimes confusing layers of regulatory responsibility over facilities where potentially harmful chemicals are produced or stored.
-
-
Immigration reform should consider families, social ties: study
Immigration judges should be allowed to consider a person’s family and social ties to the United States before ordering the deportation of legal permanent residents for minor offenses, says a new study. The study aso found that 98 percent of all deportees are sent to Latin America and the Caribbean even though people from those countries do not make up 98 percent of all immigrants.
-
-
DHS tentatively grants asylum to seven Mexicans
DHS has tentatively granted asylum to seven Mexican immigrants. Some of the immigrants were previously living the United States illegally, but left and tried to re-enter as part of a protest against the U.S. deportation policies, and in support of granting citizenship to immigrants who were to the United States as children.
-
-
Lawmakers criticize FDA, CDC for Cyclospora outbreak foot-dragging
Lawmakers want to know why it has taken so long for food-safety authorities to respond to the cyclospora outbreak which, so far, has sickened at least 418 people in sixteen states. They also want to know why the FDA and CDC have been tight-lipped about the specific products carrying the parasite — health authorities in Nebraska and Iowa have pointed to bagged salad containing romaine and iceberg lettuce as well as carrots and cabbage as the source – and who is the manufacturer of the contaminated products.
-
-
U.S. Appeals Court: govt. does not need search warrant to track cellphones
Law enforcement agencies have won a victory Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled that government authorities could extract historical location data directly from telecommunications carriers without a search warrant. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is the first ruling directly to address the constitutionality of warrantless searches of historical location data stored by cellphone service providers. He appeals court said that historical location data is a business record which is the property of the cellphone provider. The appeals court also said that the collection of such data by authorities does not have to meet a probable cause standard as outlined under the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unlawful search and seizure and requires a search warrant.
-
-
Manning found guilty of violating the Espionage Act, acquitted of aiding the enemy (updated)
A military judge earlier this afternoon (Tuesday) found Private Manning Pfc. Bradley Manning guilty of more than twenty counts of violating the Espionage Act. The judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, found Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy. Manning admitted to being to source of the massive leaks of U.S. government documents and videos, leaks which came to be called WikiLeaks. In all, Manning has leaked more than 700,000 documents. The sentencing phase will begin Wednesday. The conviction for violating several aspects of the Espionage Act, and for stealing government property, could lead to punishment of up to 136 years in prison.
-
-
Manning found guilty of violating the Espionage Act, acquitted of aiding the enemy
A military judge earlier this afternoon (Tuesday) found Private Manning Pfc. Bradley Manning guilty of more than twenty counts of violating the Espionage Act. The judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, found Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy. Manning admitted to being to source of the massive leaks of U.S. government documents and videos, leaks which came to be called WikiLeaks. In all, Manning has leaked more than 700,000 documents. The sentencing phase will begin Wednesday. Violating several aspects of the Espionage Act could lead to punishment of up to 100 years in prison.
-
-
Court declares Hazleton, Pa. immigration ordinances unconstitutional
In 2006, the town of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, passed ordinances which denied licenses to businesses which knowingly hire undocumented workers and fined landlords who rented apartments to illegal immigrants. The ordinances have been emulated by several other states and cities since. On Friday, an appeals court declared the ordinance unconstitutional: “The ordinances disrupt a well-established federal scheme for regulating the presence and employment of immigrants in the U.S.,” Judge Munley wrote, adding that such ordinances violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
-
More headlines
The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
The “Invasion” Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy
The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
Autocrats Don’t Act Like Hitler or Stalin Anymore − Instead of Governing with Violence, They Use Manipulation
Modern autocrats don’t always resemble their 20th-century predecessors. Instead, they project a polished image, avoid overt violence and speak the language of democracy. They wear suits, hold elections and talk about the will of the people. Rather than terrorizing citizens, many use media control and messaging to shape public opinion and promote nationalist narratives. Many gain power not through military coups but at the ballot box.