Sheriff in Utah proposes having some seniors wear ankle monitors for safety concerns | Fox News

Sheriff in Utah proposes having some seniors wear ankle monitors for safety concerns | Fox News: "The monitors would be voluntary and offered to residents for about $4 a day, or $120 a month. Police would monitor the person's movement only when the family contacts them.

The county would make no money off the program, but it could cut costs by avoiding having to deploy numerous officers for long stretches to find people, Fielding said. Searches can require dozens of officers and the use of ATVs, snowmobiles and other equipment, and they easily cost tens of thousands of dollars."

The Gun Debate Is a Culture Debate | Cato Institute

The Gun Debate Is a Culture Debate | Cato Institute: "Vice President Joe Biden admitted an assault weapons ban would do little to stop crime, but argued the weapons should still be banned if they don’t have “real utility either in terms of any sporting or self protection needs[.]”

Here, Biden forgets a founding American principle: we permit the government to have guns, not the other way around. Citizens don’t need to justify owning an “assault weapon,” the government needs to justify taking it.

Biden should be applauded for his honesty, but this begs the question: If honest gun-control advocates know that laws they support are ineffective, why fight for them?"

"The National Academy of Sciences found that gun-control laws have had no measurable effect on gun violence rates. The study was not written by gun-rights advocates—in fact, all but one member of the committee were gun-control advocates. Programs ranging from gun buybacks, to the famous “assault weapons” ban, to “gun-free zones,” were all found to be ineffective at curbing gun crime."

Sandy Hook gunman reportedly compiled massive spreadsheet on previous killings | Fox News

Sandy Hook gunman reportedly compiled massive spreadsheet on previous killings | Fox News: "This was the work of a video gamer, and that it was his intent to put his own name at the very top of that list. They believe that he picked an elementary school because he felt it was a point of least resistance, where he could rack up the greatest number of kills."

What's the Trigger That Will Cause the Fed to Act? | Cato Institute

What's the Trigger That Will Cause the Fed to Act? | Cato Institute: "For each of the last four years, the Fed (and the administration) has been telling us to expect four percent growth in the next year when the actual number has been approximately two percent."

Security reporter hit by 'swatting' attack | Security & Privacy - CNET News

Security reporter hit by 'swatting' attack | Security & Privacy - CNET News: "The term "swatting" refers to spoofing a 911-emergency call with the end goal of having a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team dispatched to a specific location under false pretenses. The fear of physical harm is real: SWAT teams, not known for their subtlety, have in the past caused harm to people who panicked when confronted with their crisis-smothering techniques. Its origins lie in the "phreaking" technique of faking a caller ID, although swatting is more sophisticated.
According to his own account, Krebs reacted calmly, allowing the police to handcuff him, and eventually was able to inform them that not only was the situation a hoax, but that he had filed a report with them months earlier explaining that it was likely that he would be the victim of a swatting attempt."

Federal judge says FBI's secret national security letters seeking records are unconstitutional | Fox News

Federal judge says FBI's secret national security letters seeking records are unconstitutional | Fox News: "They're called national security letters and the FBI issues thousands of them a year to banks, phone companies and other businesses demanding customer information. They're sent without judicial review and recipients are barred from disclosing them.

On Friday, a federal judge in San Francisco declared the letters unconstitutional, saying the secretive demands for customer data violate the First Amendment.

The government has failed to show that the letters and the blanket non-disclosure policy "serve the compelling need of national security," and the gag order creates "too large a danger that speech is being unnecessarily restricted," U.S. District Judge Susan Illston wrote."

'Honors' math classes often don't add up

'Honors' math classes often don't add up: "A new analysis of textbooks, curriculums and transcripts of nearly 18,000 students nationwide suggests that millions of kids in so-called "honors" algebra and geometry classes are actually getting intermediate-level work — or worse."

"Fewer than one in five high school graduates who took an "honors" Algebra I class in high school got "rigorous" work in the course. A full 73% got what researchers called "intermediate" level work, while 9% in honors classes got "beginner" level work. In fact, a greater proportion of students enrolled in regular algebra classes got advanced work, the study found — 34% vs. 18% in "honors" courses."

Director Of National Intelligence Admits That There's Little Risk Of A 'Cyber Pearl Harbor' | Techdirt

Director Of National Intelligence Admits That There's Little Risk Of A 'Cyber Pearl Harbor' | Techdirt: " the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, actually admitted in a Senate hearing that there's little risk of any "cyber Pearl Harbor" in the foreseeable future"

Rand Paul: I Have an Idea for Republicans Concerning the Gay Marriage Issue, and It's a Good One | Independent Journal Review

Rand Paul: I Have an Idea for Republicans Concerning the Gay Marriage Issue, and It's a Good One | Independent Journal Review: "This is one of the best ideas I’ve seen on the gay marriage issues in …ever. It keeps the traditional definition of marriage intact, but changes the tax codes to remove marital references for IRS purposes."

Book Review: Heavens on Earth | Cato Institute

Book Review: Heavens on Earth | Cato Institute: "Had Julius Caesar met George Washington in 1760, he would not have experienced much of a cultural shock. Both belonged to a small class of elites who enjoyed the fruits of slave labor and land rents. For most people, barely anything had changed in terms of standards of living or life expectancy during the 1,800 years separating the Roman statesman from the leader of the American Revolution. However, in the past 250 years, the world has changed beyond recognition, and not just for a small fragment of landed aristocracy. In the West, real incomes have increased by a factor of 15 or more, and more recently, the rest have started to catch up."

Can income inequality light the path to prosperity for all?