The 2015 Budget Whiteboard

Via WhiteHouse.gov In case you missed it, the President released his Fiscal Year 2015 budget last week.

Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is pretty handy with a dry-erase marker, and he took some time to sketch out the nuts and bolts of the President's budget.

Want a better sense of exactly what's in the budget? You should probably watch this whiteboard video.

Want to know how the President's budget will continue to steadily bring down the deficit for the next ten years? You should watch this whiteboard.

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AT&T and Time Warner Cable ranked worst in customer service survey

The people have spoken in an online survey reagrding AT&T & Time Waner Cable customer service....

Via BGR News:

Pay TV, Internet and wireless service providers aren’t exactly America’s most beloved business categories. In fact, customers seem to love complaining about them constantly, and T-Mobile has found tremendous success by separating its practices from those of its rivals and portraying itself as the “Uncarrier.” Part of the reason people dislike wireless carriers and ISPs so much may be the difficulties they often experience when dealing with their customer care departments, and now AT&T and Time Warner Cable have been ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in a questionnaire asking subscribers which companies have the worst customer service in the country. The unscientific questionnaire, conducted on Ranker and unearthed by DSLReports.com, lists 50 large U.S. companies and asks visitors to vote on which among them have the worst customer service. At the top of the list with 483 votes at the time of this writing is AT&T, which is followed by Time Warner Cable with 317 votes in the No. 2 spot. Bank of America, Walmart and American Airlines round out the top-5.

Interestingly, AT&T was just ranked highest in J.D. Power’s wireless purchase satisfaction survey for the second consecutive time, and it was also awarded the top honor in the firm’s 2013 customer service study.

As for other U.S. wireless carriers and ISPs, Comcast is ranked No. 6, Verizon is ranked No. 21, Sprint is No. 23 and Frontier is No. 38.

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Here's a sneak peek of how the President will use his pen and his phone this week

A few weeks ago, President Obama would declared 2014 a year of action, acting where he can to build an economy that ensures opportunity for all Americans. And he's already taken steps to achieve that goal in the areas of education and skills, job creation, energy, and raising the minimum wage.

This week, the President will announce new action on manufacturing, infrastructure, and transportation jobs, and a new initiative to ensure everyone who is willing to work hard has a shot at success.

Via WhiteHouse.gov

Pics Source: Reuters & WhiteHouse.gov

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Trayvon Martin's mother: 'Don’t think for one second racial profiling doesn’t happen'

Sybrina Fulton was part of a discussion about racial profiling at the University of Utah on Thursday.

Via UPI:

Sybrina Fulton, who's 17-year-old son Trayvon Martin was shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in 2012, visited the University of Utah on Thursday to discuss racial profiling.

Hundreds attended the Martin Luther King Week event, in which Fulton said that an "upside" to her son's death was the "opportunity to save someone else's child."

"Don’t think for one second racial profiling doesn’t happen. Don’t think for one minute even in your community of Salt Lake City it doesn’t happen," she said. "Racism is still alive. Racial profiling is still alive. Injustice is still alive."

Fulton said that the circumstances of her son's death -- he was wearing a hoodie when Zimmerman shot him -- applied all over the country.

"There should not become a time when we are comfortable with burying our children," Fulton said. "What happened many miles away in Sanford should be uncomfortable for you."

"Is it the hoodie that really made the difference? Or the color of his skin?" she asked. "And if by one second, just by one mere second, we think that it's the color of his skin, then something is wrong with America."

"At the end of the day, it’s not about Trayvon. It’s about the person that felt he was suspicious," she added.

Zimmerman, who was acquitted last year, said he was acting in self-defense when he shot Martin. He recently faced domestic violence charges when his current girlfriend said he had threatened her with a gun and choked her. The Florida state attorney's office decided to drop those charges on her request.

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FDA: Acetaminophen doses over 325 mg might lead to liver damage

You're in pain after surgery, and your doctor prescribes you Vicodin, or maybe Percocet. But when you get home, the pain hasn't subsided and you decide to pop some Extra Strength Tylenol.

Unknowingly, you may have just taken more of the drug acetaminophen than is safe. Don't combine aspirin and ...

Acetaminophen is often used in pain medications with opioids such as oxycodone (Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin) and codeine (Tylenol with Codeine). These are called combination drugs, and the Food and Drug Administration is asking doctors to stop prescribing those that have more than 325 mg of acetaminophen per dose. FDA warns of acetaminophen liver damage FDA: Pain meds may cause liver damage

The FDA says no data show that taking more than that amount provides enough benefit to outweigh the risk of liver damage.

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Desegregation Aid Could End for Arkansas Schools

An agreement awaiting a federal judge's final approval soon could end one of the nation's most historic desegregation efforts following decades of court battles and $1 billion of special aid to Little Rock-area schools.

Via AP:

Lawyers and patrons this week will pick apart details of a proposed settlement among three school districts, state lawyers and others involved in the case to determine if it is fair. Unless U.S. District Judge Price Marshall finds fault with the deal, for the first time in more than a quarter century the state no longer will be required to make extra payments to help fund racial integration of schools.

In November, Marshall gave tentative approval to a plan that would end the state's payments within four years. However, he will hear formal arguments Monday and Tuesday on whether to officially end the dispute that has roots in the Central High School desegregation fight 56 years ago.

"I grew up in Arkansas; I remember the 1957 crisis," said Jerry Guess, the superintendent of the Pulaski County Special School District. "I believe all of this is entwined and I believe this is an important moment in education in Arkansas."

Little Rock was the scene of the nation's first major desegregation battle when President Dwight Eisenhower used federal troops to escort nine black schoolchildren into Central High School, the city system's flagship school. Court cases involving desegregation have been in place during most years since then.

The Little Rock School District sued the state and the Pulaski County Special and North Little Rock districts in 1982, saying their policies had created a racial imbalance among schools countywide. Under terms of a 1989 settlement, the state of Arkansas agreed to give the districts extra money to boost desegregation efforts, including adding magnet schools and allowing student transfers.

Under the proposed settlement, payments that total nearly $70 million a year now would end in four years. Funds in the final year must be used to improve facilities. Without the settlement, the districts risk having payments stopped immediately, which almost happened two years ago.

U.S. District Judge Brian Miller, who has since recused himself from the case, attempted to cut off the funding, saying the districts had become accustomed to the money and benefited more if they didn't fully comply with the settlement.

"It seems that the State of Arkansas is using a carrot and stick approach with these districts but that the districts are wise mules that have learned how to eat the carrot and sit down on the job," Miller wrote in 2011. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned him, saying no one had asked for the payments to end.

Taking that as a clue, the state petitioned to end the payments.

Marshall cannot modify the terms of the agreement; his role is only to approve or not approve it. If the agreement reached among the parties falls apart, a trial on the state's request is set for March.

Aaron Sadler, a spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, said he doubted any objections raised would "impair approval of the settlement."

John Walker, a state representative and noted civil rights attorney who also represents black schoolchildren as intervenors, said he also sees no reason the judge would disapprove.

"Factually, nothing has changed since the last hearing," Walker said.

Under the proposed agreement, students currently attending schools out of their home districts would be allowed to continue their studies without having to transfer back.

School patrons in Sherwood, a small city north of North Little Rock, have criticized plans to let the nearby Jacksonville area secede from the Pulaski County district while Sherwood cannot until the judge declares the district officially desegregated, or unitary.

Pulaski County's unitary status has been held up by shortcomings in facilities, discipline, scholarships and student achievement, according to recent court documents.

"That does not offer us a ray of hope. ... We've been in this court case for 30 years," said Linda Remele, a retired teacher and administrator who backs a separate district for Sherwood and has filed a written objection to the court.

However, the rest of the settlement does not necessarily signal an end to discrimination in the schools, he said.

"The only thing historic about (the settlement) is that the state no longer will have to pay money after four years for trying to help these districts do what they're supposed to do," Walker said, pledging to file another lawsuit if the districts falter.

But Walker said a new suburban high school illustrates the continuing problem for black children. The new high school is in heavily-white Maumelle, and a shiny new middle school in Little Rock is in the Chenal neighborhood, among the wealthiest enclaves in the state.

"The idea has to be that the intended beneficiaries (of the settlement) have their issues addressed," Walker said. "Poor sections of the districts, including Jacksonville, are underserved."

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Google Punishes Rap Genius Website For Manipulative SEO Tactics

Google has removed Rap Genius from the top of its search results after it was discovered that the popular music lyrics website was trying to manipulate the tech giant into giving it better search rankings.  See where lying will get cha, a damn shame...SMH!!!

Via LA Times:

Now, when users search for “Rap Genius” on Google they won’t find any direct links to the music website, which lets users and artists annotate song lyrics. Instead, the results point to news articles, social media accounts and Rap Genius’ Wikipedia page.

Google took down Rap Genius after it was revealed that the lyrics website, which received $15 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz last year, was offering bloggers exposure through its social media accounts in exchange for links to its website on their music blogs.

One of the important factors in the algorithm used to determine Google’s search rankings is how many pages link to each website, so by asking bloggers to link to Rap Genius in exchange for the exposure, the lyrics website was taking the linking into its own hands.

Rap Genius’ tactics came to light after the website posted a status on Facebook asking bloggers to join its affiliate program. John Marbach, a tech entrepreneur, emailed Rap Genius for more details and later published the website’s response.

After the questionable tactics were revealed, the head of Google’s webspam team, Matt Cutts, announced on Hacker News that the company was investigating the music lyrics website.

Since then, Rap Genius has apologized for its affiliate program and has said that it is working with Google to make sure it complies with the tech giant’s policies. Rap Genius also said that its rival lyrics websites also practice the same types of strategies.

“We’re working on it as fast as we can, and expect to be back on Google very soon,” the company said in a statement to TechCrunch. “It sucks to be off Google for us and for the thousands of our community members who have worked so hard to create what’s often the best search result.” Being delisted by Google can be a death sentence for websites since they get the bulk of their traffic from the search engine. Users come to Rap Genius after searching for song lyrics and usually finding Rap Genius at the top of the page.

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Unemployment Benefits to end Saturday for 1.3 million Jobless Americans

More than a million Americans who rely on federal unemployment will see their benefits dry up on Saturday.

Via WJLA 7

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed a short-term extension to a 2008 law that extended unemployment benefits to millions of jobless people, but in the absence of that, about 1.3 million people will lose benefits over the weekend.

In addition to the 1.3 million, another 850,000 will lose their state unemployment over the net three months.

Congress extended or expanded federal aid to the long-term unemployed 11 times since the bill was originally passed, but that lifeline wasn't included in the latest budget deal. A two-year agreement was signed by President Barack Obama on Thursday.

The short-term extension will not be considered by the senate until Congress returns to work in January.

Tens of thousands of those who are losing long-term unemployment benefits live in the greater D.C. area, according to the House Ways and Means Committee.

                                     State Cut off Dec. 28                Cut off June 2014

District of Columbia     4,600                                           6,800 
Virginia                         9,700                                          31,900 
Maryland                     22,900                                          28,500

The development entails potentially significant implications for the recovering U.S. economy and sets up a tense battle when Congress reconvenes in the new year.

For families dependent on cash assistance, the end of the federal government's "emergency unemployment compensation" will mean some difficult belt-tightening as enrollees lose their average monthly stipend of $1,166.

Jobless rates could drop.

But analysts say the economy may suffer with less money for consumers to spend on everything from clothes to cars. Having let the "emergency" program expire as part of a budget deal, it's unclear if Congress has the appetite to start it anew.

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The FBI Can Activate Built-in Laptop Cameras Without Users Even Knowing

If you weren’t particularly worried about privacy before, it may be time for a little concern. An alarming new allegation brought forth by a Washington Post article about the search for a bomb suspect warns that the FBI has had the capacity to spy on people by turning on their built-in computer cameras “without triggering the light that lets users know it is recording” for years.

Via Complex:

According to Marcus Thomas, the former assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division, this kind of stealth spying is restricted to investigations that involve terrorism and/or the “most serious” criminal cases. But even if innocent civilians aren’t being targeted, just knowing that the agency has the technology to carry out this kind of spying is a terrifying prospect.

The newspaper also claims that the FBI uses malware to introduce surveillance software to targets’ computers. The practice was given the OK in at least one case by a federal magistrate. The same judge, however, nixed the use of sneaky camera spying on the grounds that it was “extremely intrusive” and could represent a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

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Nathan "Bodie" Barksdale who claimed to inspire 'The Wire' charged in federal court

Nathan “Bodie” Barksdale, who claimed to inspire the character Avon Barksdale, a main character from HBO’s critically acclaimed series "The Wire" was arrested on November 29 on federal heroin and gun charges.

Via The Baltimore Sun

Barksdale, 52, is accused of taking part in a heroin conspiracy with alleged drug supplier Suraj Tairu, who is also charged in the case. The pair would meet to conduct deals at Rite Aid parking lots just north of downtown Baltimore, according to court documents.

Tairu’s lawyer said his client has pleaded not guilty, and he is reviewing the evidence ahead of a trial scheduled for next year. Barksdale’s attorney declined to comment on the case.

But his mother, Emma Grier, said she did not know anything about the charges and believed Barksdale’s life was back on track.

“He was working and everything,” she added. “He’s turned his life around.”

But the DEA’s Special Investigations Group, a team of federal agents and Baltimore police, has long been working to bring down top figures in the BGF, said DEA spokesman Edward Marcinko. The agency first named Barksdale as a BGF member in court documents in 2010.

At the time, Barksdale, who Marcinko said has been shot more than 20 times, denied having any link to the gang when asked about the claim by the Baltimore City Paper.

“I’m a filmmaker,” he said. “I’m pushing 50, man. I’m too old for that. That’s for teenagers.”

Shortly before that, Barksdale worked to develop a television series portraying himself as the “real Avon Barksdale.” He said his middle name was indeed Avon.

Barksdale was a notorious Baltimore criminal in the 1980s, and Simon detailed his violent heroin-dealing operation in the Murphy Homes, reporting that he counted Hitler and Machiavelli among his heroes.

But in an email, Simon said that while he had no problem with Barksdale marketing his own show, Nathan Barksdale and Avon Barksdale were not one and the same. Nor for that matter is the character Bodie on “The Wire” modeled on Nathan Barksdale, Simon added.

“There are some anecdotal connections between his story and a multitude of characters,” Simon said. “We mangled street and given names throughout ‘The Wire’ so that it was a general shout-out to the west-side players. But there is nothing that corresponds to a specific character.”

As in “The Wire,” authorities used a wiretap to help build the case against Barksdale. His calls were recorded after an informant provided officers with his number this past spring, according to court documents.

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Police Find Stockpile Of Guns While Searching George Zimmerman’s Home

George Zimmerman the former neighborhood watchman who was acquitted in the murder trial of 17-year old Trayvon Martin, was arrested last week after allegedly pointing a shotgun in the face of his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe. Check out what the Police found while searching Zimmerman's home.

via This is 50:

The 30-year old was charged with battery, criminal mischief and felony aggravated assault with a weapon in the case. He was released the day after his arrest after posting $9000 bail.

TMZ reports that a subsequent search of the home Zimmerman shared with Scheibe turned up a stockpile of weapons belonging to him (see pic above).

Police found an AR-15 assault rifle, 3 handguns, a pocket knife and a Kel-Tec shotgun, the same one he’s accused of pointing at Scheibe. No word on if all of the guns were obtained legally.

Scheibe kicked him out of her home after last week’s incident and at this point it’s not known where Zimmerman is living.

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News: Google To Pay $17 Million Fine For Secretly Following You Online

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reported Monday that Google has agreed to pay $17 million to settle charges that it secretly tracked some consumers’ activities on the Web, even after promising such tracking had been blocked.

Huffington Post Reports:

Attorneys general in 28 states had alleged that Google violated state consumer protection laws and computer privacy laws by not telling users of Apple’s Safari browser that it was bypassing privacy settings in order to show them targeted advertisements.

“Consumers should be able to know whether there are other eyes surfing the web with them,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “By tracking millions of people without their knowledge, Google violated not only their privacy, but also their trust.”

The case stems from Google’s method of displaying targeted ads by using “cookies,” or small files installed on web browsers that create invisible records of online browsing habits. Google had said on its website that Safari’s privacy settings could prevent Google from tracking these cookies. But a story in the Wall Street Journal last year revealed that Google was able to go around those settings by exploiting a loophole in Safari’s browser, and then track users across websites in the company’s DoubleClick ad network. For example, a Safari user who visited websites on how to get out of debt could then be served Google ads on other sites offering them debt relief services.

“We work hard to get privacy right at Google and have taken steps to remove the ad cookies, which collected no personal information, from Apple’s browsers,” the company said in a statement. “We’re pleased to have worked with the state attorneys general to reach this agreement.”

In a separate case brought last year by the Federal Trade Commission, Google agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine over similar charges that it bypassed privacy settings in the Safari browser. That fine was the largest settlement ever obtained by the commission.

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News: Just 1.5 Percent Of ‘Stop-And-Frisk’ Arrests Resulted In Jail Or Prison Sentence

According to an in-depth analysis released by the New York Attorney General’s Office. Only 1.5 percent of Stop-and-Frisk arrests, the discriminatory policy that racially profiles Black and Brown men on the streets of New York City, has resulted in a jail or prison sentence.

The Urban Daily:

“My office’s analysis of the city’s stop-and-frisk practices has broad implications for law enforcement, both in New York City and across the state,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. “It’s our hope that this report – the first of its kind – will advance the discussion about how to fight crime without overburdening our institutions or violating equal justice under the law”.

Even more telling, only 0.1 percent of all arrests under the policy led to a conviction for a violent crime, a point that was the linchpin of former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg‘s rationalization for keeping the policy in place.

“There is just no question that stop-question-frisk has saved countless lives,” Bloomberg said. “And we know that most of the lives saved, based on the statistics, have been black and Hispanic young men. “It’s worth remembering that as recently as 1990, New York City averaged more than six murders a day,” the mayor added. “Today, we’ve driven that down to less than one murder a day”.

As previously reported by NewsOne, U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that the New York Police Department deliberately violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of New Yorkers with its Stop-and-Frisk policy, and that an independent monitor is needed to oversee major changes. Scheindlin cited Trayvon Martin’s death in a lengthy opinion that infuriated Bloomberg. New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, the architect of Stop-and-Frisk, insisted that the policy saves lives and the city risks a resurgence in crime if it is no longer in effect. Kelly also said that more Black people are stopped because more Black people commit crimes:

“You have to apply a formula of sorts. ‘Do the stops comport with the description given by the victims of perpetrators of violent crime?’ And our stops certainly do,” Kelly said. “Nobody wants to be stopped…we have engaged in a major training evolution for several years, focusing on these issues, to do these stops with courtesy, do them with respect”, he added.

In a shocking ruling on October 31, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Judge Scheindlin’s ruling will be stayed pending the outcome of an appeal by the city. She was also thrown off of the case due to allegations that interviews she gave during the trial called her impartiality into question.

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After Jay Z’s Barneys Decision, Mega Retailers Unveil Big NY Plan

With multiple racial profiling cases against the high-end retailer Barney's still mounting this week a handful of popular stores are expected to unite this week in New York to discuss big topics including racial profiling. This is on the heels of Jay Z deciding to stick with Barney's which caused mixed reactions from the masses.

Sohh:

According to reports, clothing outlets ranging from Lord & Taylor to Barneys New York will meet Friday (November 22) to discuss big topics including racial profiling.

Major retailers will gather Nov. 22 at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church at 7 West 55th Street here to discuss such topics as racial profiling, loss prevention and store operations. The forum will be cohosted by the Retail Council of New York State and the New York Metropolitan Retailing Association. Retailers such as Macy’s Inc., Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus Group, Lord & Taylor, Saks Inc. and Bloomingale’s confirmed to WWD they are planning to send representatives to the meeting, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A spokeswoman for Neiman’s said Thursday of the upcoming meeting, “People are coming from New York and Dallas. We believe in the goals that they are trying to achieve.” (WWD)

Heading into the weekend, Young Hov issued a public statement to the masses regarding his decision to stay with Barneys.

“In the past several weeks two separate investigations were launched as a result of the wrongful detention of Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips. My team has been privy to the status of the Barneys third party consultant investigation. In continuing our research, we also contacted the New York State Attorney General’s office for the status of their investigation into both Barneys and Macy’s. Those findings are not yet available. While I await the findings of the Attorney General’s Office, I have agreed to move forward with the launch of BNY SCC collection under the condition that I have a leadership role and seat on a council specifically convened to deal with the issue of racial profiling. I am in a unique position to use my voice to affect change to this disturbing issue. The easy position would have been to walk away and leave policy making to others hoping that someone addresses the problem. I will not leave the outcome to others. I will take this into my own hands with full power to recommend, review and revise policies and guidelines moving forward. I am choosing to take this head on.” (Life & Times)

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Rap Genius Amongst 50 Sites Targeted, Pressured By Shutdown Threats

The National Music Publishers' Association has targeted lyrics-based website RapGenius.com, along with other websites to either remove its content or take the risk of having their sites being shutdown. Take down notices are being issued to to select sites according to reports.

Reports Sohh:

David Israelite, the president of the trade group, said that his organization was filing take-down notices against what it called the 50 “worst offenders” based on a web search conducted by David Lowery, a researcher at the University of Georgia. “These lyric sites have ignored the law and profited off the songwriters’ creative works, and N.M.P.A. will not allow this to continue,” Mr. Israelite said in a statement, referring to his organization. “This is not a campaign against personal blogs, fan sites or the many websites that provide lyrics legally. N.M.P.A. is targeting 50 sites that engage in blatant illegal behavior, which significantly impacts songwriters’ ability to make a living.” (The New York Times)

Widely visited overnight site, Rap Genius, is one of the key targets.

No. 1 on Mr. Lowery’s “Undesirable Lyric Website List” may come as a surprise to many fans: Rap Genius, whose detailed annotations of hip-hop songs — sometimes scholarly, sometimes farcical — are widely cited by journalists and bloggers. Last year, the site attracted a $15 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capital firms. In October, according to comScore, 5.3 million unique visitors from desktop computers in the United States went to Rap Genius. (New York Times)

Rap Genius founder Ilan Zechory has since issued a statement regarding the controversy.

“The lyrics sites the N.M.P.A. refers to simply display song lyrics, while Rap Genius has crowdsourced annotations that give context to all the lyrics line by line, and tens of thousands of verified annotations directly from writers and performers. These layers of context and meaning transform a static, flat lyric page into an interactive, vibrant art experience created by a community of volunteer scholars.” (Statement)

A year ago, Rap Genius blew up after landing a $15 million investment.

“I’m delighted to announce that Andreessen Horowitz is investing $15 million in Rap Genius. Given that Rap Genius is a web site where people explain rap lyrics, and given that my partner Ben is a noted rap fanatic , your first reaction might be, “That Horowitz guy has completely lost his mind .” I, on the other hand, find rap every bit as comprehensible as ancient Mesopotamian . That’s why I’m writing this

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The C.I.A Pays AT&T $10 Million A Year For Call Data?

According to government officials, The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls.

Via New York Times:

The cooperation is conducted under a voluntary contract, not under subpoenas or court orders compelling the company to participate, according to the officials. The C.I.A. supplies phone numbers of overseas terrorism suspects, and AT&T searches its database and provides records of calls that may help identify foreign associates, the officials said. The company has a huge archive of data on phone calls, both foreign and domestic, that were handled by its network equipment, not just those of its own customers… 

Because the C.I.A. is prohibited from spying on the domestic activities of Americans, the agency imposes privacy safeguards on the program, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is classified. Most of the call logs provided by AT&T involve foreign-to-foreign calls, but when the company produces records of international calls with one end in the United States, it does not disclose the identity of the Americans and “masks” several digits of their phone numbers, the officials said. 

 Still, the agency can refer such masked numbers to the F.B.I., which can issue an administrative subpoena requiring AT&T to provide the uncensored data. The bureau handles any domestic investigation, but sometimes shares with the C.I.A. the information about the American participant in those calls, the officials said.

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Another robber gets shot!!!

A man who was shot with his own gun after attempting to rob a Swansea convenience store is expected to appear in court later this week.

Denzell D. Grant, 19, was charged with armed robbery after he allegedly tried to rob Max's One Stop at 1319 N. 17th St. while armed with a small caliber handgun on Oct. 13. The clerk wrestled with Grant over the weapon and Grant was shot in his arm in the struggle, according to Swansea Police Chief Mike Arnold.

Grant was taken to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville and then transferred to an undisclosed hospital in St. Louis. His condition and the extent of his injuries were not revealed.

The clerk suffered a minor injury to his hand, Arnold said.

Grant is a soldier in the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and apparently was visiting in the metro-east at the time of the crime.

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/10/22/2862967/alleged-armed-robber-shot-with.html#storylink=cpy

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