Climate Change Could Increase Violent Turbulence on Airline Flights, Scientists Say
Erik Prince Gets Grilled ; Vermont Town Elects Goat as Mayor ; and More Picks
Erik Prince Gets Grilled ; Vermont Town Elects Goat as Mayor ; and More Picks 3/14
Erik Prince in the Hot Seat (Dan)
Journalist Mehdi Hasan put former head of the private mercenary group Blackwater in the proverbial hot seat at the Oxford Union. Topics ranged from reports of violence committed by Blackwater to Prince’s 2016 meeting with the Trump campaign team and the Psy Group.
ICE Supervisors Sometimes Skip Required Review of Detention Warrants, Emails Show (DonkeyHotey)
Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that ICE officers across a five-state region “improperly signed warrants on behalf of their supervisors — especially on evenings or weekends. Some supervisors even gave their officers pre-signed blank warrants — in effect, illegally handing them the authority to begin the deportation process.”
Documents Reveal Police Sharing Info With ICE (Reader Steve)
From the Sacramento Bee: “Dozens of law enforcement agencies nationwide … are sharing license plate information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an operation targeting undocumented immigrants, according to documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union.”
New Florida Bill Seeks to Bury Recordings of Mass Shootings (Chris)
The author writes, “Supporters of bills like these claim it’s all about protecting the privacy of crime victims and their families. But as [an] excellent Sun Sentinel op-ed points out, most requests to block release of recordings originates with governments and businesses rather than the victims and their loved ones.”
Lincoln the Goat Sworn In as Fair Haven’s New Mayor, Immediately Defecates (Chris)
From the Burlington Free Press: “‘It’s been baaaaad so far,’ joked one municipal employee, who refused to be identified for fear of retaliation — of butting heads — with the new administration.”