James Holbrooks

This is Government: California County Clerk Pleads Guilty in Massive Bribery Scheme

by James Holbrooks | Apr 3, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. Orange County, CA — On Wednesday, a former county clerk in southern California plead guilty to running a bribery scheme that forged case results in exchange for money — a scheme that netted him over a quarter of a million dollars in five years. From a Los Angeles Times article published on Thursday: “Anaheim resident Juan Lopez, Jr., 36, admitted in a plea deal last week that from as early as 2010 until March 2015, he used his court computer system access to write fraudulent outcomes for more than 1,000 cases, including 69 misdemeanor...

Apple Doesn’t Think You’re Mature Enough to Handle the Truth About U.S. Drone Strikes

by James Holbrooks | Mar 31, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. “At its core was a question: do we want to be as connected to our foreign policy as we are to our smartphones? My hypothesis was no. Americans don’t care about the drone war because it is largely hidden from view.” That’s how Josh Begley, writing for The Intercept on Tuesday, described the concept behind an app he created five years ago. The app, he says, was a simple one. It merely sent users an alert every time a U.S. drone strike was reported in the news. Apple rejected the app three times on the grounds that it was “excessively...

Connecticut Could Become the First State to Give Cops Killer Drones

by James Holbrooks | Mar 31, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. Connecticut — It was only a matter of time. On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that lawmakers in Connecticut are currently considering allowing police to use weaponized drones. “Connecticut lawmakers are considering whether the state should become the first in the country to allow police to use drones outfitted with deadly weapons,” AP writes, “a proposal immediately met with concern by civil rights and liberties advocates.” The proposed bill, which overwhelmingly passed in the state’s Judiciary Committee and will now head to the...

Is the Stage Being Set for War Between the U.S. and China in the S. China Sea?

by James Holbrooks | Mar 29, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. South China Sea — Adding fuel to an already highly combustible situation in Southeast Asia, Reuters reported Tuesday that China has “largely completed major construction of military infrastructure on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea,” and that the Asian superpower “can now deploy combat planes and other military hardware there at any time.” Citing satellite imagery analyzed by the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative, part of Washington, D.C.’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, the news agency writes...

Reverse Gateway Drug: Opioid Deaths Plummeting in States with Legal Weed

by James Holbrooks | Mar 29, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. As Attorney General Jeff Sessions continues to lament what he views as a blight on society, a new study is showing that states with medical marijuana programs are seeing drastic reductions in opioid-related hospitalizations and overdoses. From a Reuters article published Tuesday: “In states that legalized medical marijuana, U.S. hospitals failed to see a predicted influx of pot smokers, but in an unexpected twist, they treated far fewer opioid users, a new study shows. “Hospitalization rates for opioid painkiller dependence and abuse...

This is Government: Feds Charge Former ADA for Spying on Love Interest

by James Holbrooks | Mar 28, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. Brooklyn — In a clear-cut case of abuse of authority, a former assistant district attorney in New York is now facing federal charges for allegedly using government resources to spy on a love interest. “Tara Lenich, 41, was fired last November from her position as a high-ranking deputy chief of the Brooklyn DA’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau,” wrote the New York Post on Monday, “after she was arrested for allegedly having underlings listen in on conversations between an NYPD detective and a fellow prosecutor, who she believed were...

How the VA’s Mistakes Are Sending Thousands of Veterans into Debt

by James Holbrooks | Mar 28, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. Nebraska — “You get all of these promises that, ‘Hey, you do 20 years and you’ll get this.’ And when it comes down to the end, it’s like, damn. You really can’t support your family when they are taking your whole check away.” That comment came from Army veteran Tad Steckler, 40, a retired master sergeant and winner of a medal for heroism, in an interview with VICE News that ran Monday. Steckler was discussing the traumatic ordeal he just experienced with Veterans Affairs (VA). In June of last year, Steckler’s wife opened a letter from...

CNN Uses New North Korean Propaganda Video to Create U.S. Propaganda Video

by James Holbrooks | Mar 23, 2017 | Blog

This article originally appeared at Anti-Media. North Korea — As military drills between allies the United States and South Korea continue in East Asia, North Korea has just released a propaganda video that depicts the North blowing up a U.S. aircraft carrier and a B-1B bomber. “So pathetic. Nuclear aircraft carrier of the Sea is just a creature metamorphoses that would die with a dagger in its neck,” the narrator says of the “destroyed” aircraft carrier. “B-1B of the sky is only a moth, that would fall by getting hit with a rain of fire,” she says of the “exploding” bomber. The video...