People who meditate are more aware of their unconscious brain
People who meditate are more aware of their unconscious brain activity – or so a new take on a classic “free will” experiment suggests. The results hint that the feeling of conscious control over our actions can vary – and provide more clues to understanding the complex nature of free will.
https://www.inman.com/2016/06/16/10-reasons-you-should-never-buy-or-sell-without-an-agent/
10 Reasons You Should Never Buy Or Sell Without An Agent
As with most important things in life, you wouldn’t try to handle a legal situation without an attorney, build your own house or take on the IRS solo to challenge a tax matter. Well, buying or selling a home is no different. Here are 10 reasons you should never buy or sell a home without an agent.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/06/24/jag-officer-alleges-scra-mortgage-loan-violations-lawsuit/86341320/
JAG officer alleges SCRA mortgage loan violations in laws | Military Times
An Army attorney has filed a federal lawsuit against a mortgage servicing company alleging its officials violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by overcharging her in interest and fees on her mortgage loan. Army Capt. Melissa A. Dunkley, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, is suing Nationstar Mortgage LLC of Lewisville, Texas.
https://www.rt.com/usa/348091-more-americans-half-salary-rent/
11.4 million Americans spend half their income on rent
The cost-burden for renters is at a historic high, a Harvard University housing report found. Over six years, the number of Americans paying half their salary on rent has grown from 2.1 million to 11.4 million. Median rent is now $1,381 per month.
https://www.rt.com/usa/348037-stone-snowden-government-surveillance/
‘Form of fascism’: Oliver Stone blasts US government for mass surveillance
While at a festival to promote his film based on Edward Snowden ordeal, film director Oliver Stone condemned the US government and major tech companies for instituting a “surveillance state.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/merrill-lynch-to-pay-415-million-to-settle-sec-accounts-probe-1466693817
Bank of America to Pay $415 Million to Settle SEC Probe
Bank of America Corp. will pay $415 million to resolve accusations from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it misused customer cash and securities to generate profits, the agency said Thursday. The bank’s Merrill Lynch brokerage unit put at risk customer assets worth as much as $5 billion to $58 billion at a time, depending on the week, over a period spanning 2009 to 2015, the SEC said.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/06/federal-court-fourth-amendment-does-not-protect-your-home-computer
Federal Court: The Fourth Amendment Does Not Protect Your Home Computer
In a dangerously flawed decision unsealed today, a federal district court in Virginia ruled that a criminal defendant has no “reasonable expectation of privacy” in his personal computer, located inside his home. According to the court, the federal government does not need a warrant to hack into an individual’s computer.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/gop-lawmakers-administration-preparing-give-internet-away-foreign
GOP Lawmakers: Administration Preparing to ‘Give the Internet Away’ to Foreign Despots
“The Obama administration is months away from deciding whether the United States government will continue to provide oversight over core functions of the Internet and protect it from authoritarian regimes that view the Internet as a way to increase their influence and suppress freedom of speech,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/12/is-america-still-a-nation-of-laws.html
Is America Still a Nation of Laws?
Congress and the White House may have been co-opted by the big lobbyists and Wall Street insiders, but you may assume that at least the third branch of government – the courts – are still following the rule of law and protecting the little guy. Unfortunately, the American system of justice is also under attack.
http://www.insidecounsel.com/2012/04/30/iqbal-and-twombly-transform-federal-litigation
Iqbal and Twombly transform federal litigation
In a now infamous pair of decisions, Bell Atlantic v. Twombly in 2007 and Ashcroft v. Iqbal in 2009, the Supreme Court announced a new pleading standard that shook the foundations of federal litigation. The decisions allow district court judges to dismiss a complaint if it does not set out a “plausible” claim-a departure from the rule established in the 1957 case Conley v.
https://www.rt.com/usa/347047-wisconsin-drug-test-rich/
Liberty & drug tests for all: Lawmaker seeks to drug screen the rich
While some lawmakers want to require drug screening and testing for welfare and other assistance program applicants, this idea has inspired one US congresswoman to call for the rich to be drug tested if they wish to take advantage of tax deductions.
https://www.rt.com/usa/346883-us-orlando-massacre-homicide/
‘Ferguson effect’ to blame? DOJ study points to ‘unprecedented’ homicide rise
As the US comes to terms with the Orlando massacre, the Justice Department has revealed “a nearly unprecedented” spike in homicides. Yet, the worrisome surge was not due to mass shootings, but a “Ferguson effect,” the new DOJ study says.
http://www.actvism.org/en/headlines/prosecution-assange-criminally/
Prosecution tasked against Assange are being criminally investigated themselves
Today on the 15th of June 2016, Wikileaks announced on their Facebook page that the Swedish police have launched a criminal investigation into prosecutor Marrianne Ny over her handling of the Assange case. Marrianne Ny (Swedish Prosecution Authority) heads the investigation against Assange that accuses him of committing rape.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-countrywide-lawsuit-mozilo-idUSKCN0Z326X
Ex-Countrywide CEO Mozilo will not face U.S. fraud case: sources
NEW YORK Former Countrywide Financial Corp CEO Angelo Mozilo and other executives will not face a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit for defrauding investors in mortgage-backed securities issued before the 2008 financial crisis, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
https://www.rt.com/usa/346808-cia-torture-evidence-released/
CIA forced to release post-9/11 torture evidence, unclear if arrests will follow
Disturbing details of “illegal” torture techniques used by the US government after the 9/11 attacks were revealed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
https://www.rt.com/usa/346702-aclu-sues-cleveland-republican-convention/
Zoned out: ACLU sues Cleveland for fencing protesters out of Republican convention
The city of Cleveland has drawn a 3.3 square mile zone around the site of the Republican National Convention, banishing any public gatherings in that area. The American Civil Liberties Union has sued, calling the measure a violation of free speech rights.
https://www.rt.com/business/346600-libya-fund-damages-goldman/
Libya sues Goldman Sachs for lost $1.2bn, claims hookers & private jets used as bribes
Libya’s national investment fund is attempting to claw back $1.2 billion from nine trades it carried out with Goldman Sachs in 2008, which supposedly came about after the bank used prostitutes, private jets, and five star hotels to secure contracts.
http://www.reuters.com/article/bankofamerica-appraisals-idUSL1N19524T
Lawsuit accuses Bank of America’s Countrywide of appraisal fraud
Westlaw News | Mon Jun 13, 2016 | 7:33pm EDT Bank of America’s Countrywide unit has been hit with a racketeering lawsuit accusing it of using fraudulent appraisals to qualify homeowners for mortgage loans and boost its profits in the years before the housing crisis.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/06/we-must-understand-corporate-power-to-fight-it.html
We Must Understand Corporate Power to Fight It
By Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Chris Hedges, formerly of the New York Times. Truth Dig (republished with permission of the author.) By Chris Hedges In the winter of 1941, a Jewish gravedigger from Chelmo, the western province of Poland, appeared in Warsaw and desperately sought a meeting with Jewish leaders.
https://www.rt.com/usa/346533-msnbcs-fracking-push-revealed/
MSNBC’s fracking push revealed in new documents
New documents reveal how the supposedly ‘liberal’ cable news network MSNBC pushed the polluting gas extraction method known as fracking to its audience, in a calculated example of the mainstream media shilling for its corporate interests.