Terrorism

Mashable recaps: Apple’s refusal to create a backdoor that would help the FBI get into an iPhone that once belonged to a terrorist caused a number of reactions from businessmen, IT experts and politicians. Few, however, have the ability to summarize different aspects of a complex issue (and throw in a few jokes) as comedian John Oliver, who dissected the …

Bloomberg reports: China’s effort to flush out threats to stability is expanding into an area that used to exist only in dystopian sci-fi: pre-crime. The Communist Party has directed one of the country’s largest state-run defense contractors, China Electronics Technology Group, to develop software to collate data on jobs, hobbies, consumption habits, and other behavior of ordinary citizens to predict …

Wingnuts are screaming, of course. USA Today reports: Keeping the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay open is “contrary to our values,” President Obama said Tuesday, as he released a plan that examined 13 potential sites for transferring the suspected terrorists but did not propose any specific location. His plan sets up a last-year confrontation with Congress about a campaign …

Donald Trump today called for a boycott of Apple until the company hands over proprietary security information which will allow the federal government to hack the iPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist. Earlier this week Apple CEO Tim Cook vowed to fight a court order which commands the company to provide that data to the FBI. Today Apple was granted …

CBS News reports: A federal grand jury in Nevada indicted Cliven Bundy and four others on 16 charges related to an armed standoff near his ranch in 2014 over unpaid grazing fees. Ammon Bundy, of Idaho, Ryan Bundy, of Nevada, Ryan Payne, of Montana, and Peter Santilli of Ohio, were also indicted by the Nevada grand jury Wednesday. The charges …

Apple CEO Tim Cook today issued a lengthy public letter which forcefully denounces a federal court’s order that his company provide the means to hack the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists.  The Associated Press reports: Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook says his company will fight a federal magistrate’s order to hack its users in connection with the …

According to Patriarch Krill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, “honest people” become terrorists because they’re outraged about gay pride parades. Pink News has the quote: “What we are seeing now is this godless civilization is reaching maturity, in as much by through the will of the people, who proclaim it the highest of virtues but then wearing a …

The Guardian reports: A National Rifle Association publication targeted a pair of New York state legislators who sponsored recent bills aimed at limiting ammunition by tweeting a threatening photo on Monday of several bullets strewn across polaroid pictures of the two women. New York state senator Roxanne Persaud and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, both Democrats in Brooklyn, sponsored twin bills …

“The gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage but they cannot hold America hostage. We cannot make carnage the price of freedom.” USA Today reports: President Obama announced a series of executive actions on guns Tuesday, focusing on the victims of gun violence in a White House event intended to prod Congress to take further action. Speaking to an East …

According to federal data released yesterday, December gun sales followed a long pattern of spiking sharply whenever President Obama proposes new gun measures after mass shootings. From the New York Times: The heaviest sales last month, driven primarily by handgun sales, followed a call from President Obama to make it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in …

Via Breitbart: One member of an armed group occupying a federal building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon has made a video to share the occupiers’ side of the story. Ammon Bundy, son of infamous Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, has acted as a spokesman for the group for media outlets such as CNN. In a video posted …

After ignoring the Trump terrorism video for more than a day, Breitbart has finally responded exactly as we’d expect them to. They write: Let’s think about what that says about the former Secretary of State of the United States. Did she plant the idea in the minds of the brutal terrorist group? Or maybe these are the lovely “rebels against …

CNN reports: An al Qaeda affiliate has apparently released a new recruitment video, telling Muslims in America that the country has a long history of racism and discrimination and will turn on its Muslim community. The video purportedly by Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab uses historic civil rights era footage of firebrand Malcolm X and audio of 2016 presidential candidate Donald …

Teabagistan, as you’d expect, absolutely LOVES this story. Via the New York Post: Bowe Bergdahl compared his first year in Taliban captivity — starved, stinking and chained to a bed — to being tossed in a closet and forgotten. “Picture someone taking a bag, throwing it into the closet, shutting the door and just forgetting about it. That was basically …

NBC News reports: Not long after the U.S. military repealed its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Air Force Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen [on the right in the above photo] married her longtime partner, becoming one of the first American service members to be wed in a same-sex ceremony. On Monday, nearly five years to the day after the repeal was signed …

The Associated Press reports: All schools in the vast Los Angeles Unified School District have been ordered closed due to a threat, a spokeswoman Ellen Morgan said Tuesday. During a press conference Tuesday officials said they received the electronic threat and were still analyzing it. They said the action was being taken out of an abundance of caution. Schools would …

The Hill reports: The activist hacking group Anonymous has selected Donald Trump as its latest target in the wake of the GOP presidential candidate’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. “Donald Trump, it has come to our attention that you want to ban all Muslims [from entering] the United States. This policy is going to have a huge …

CNN reports: Madonna stepped off the stage after her Paris concert on Wednesday night and headed to another performance. But unlike her sold-out show at the AccorHotels Arena, this one had just a small crowd of onlookers, swaying and snapping photos with their cell phones. It started with an announcement the Material Girl sent to fans on Twitter, inviting them …

Colorado’s CBS affiliate reports: In a court appearance to determine formal charges, accused Planned Parenthood gunman Robert Dear reportedly announced his guilt–and strongly hinted at a motive. “I am guilty. There will be no trial. I am a warrior for the babies,” Dear reportedly exclaimed before the charges were read. Reporter Rick Sallinger with our partners at KCNC left the …

The BBC reports: US rock band Eagles of Death Metal have appeared on stage in Paris, less than a month after deadly attacks during their performance in the French capital. The band took to the stage to perform at the end of a U2 concert at the AccorHotels Arena. “They were robbed of their stage three weeks ago and we …