Idaho Falls, Idaho – Would you find it frightening— perhaps even downright Orwellian — to know that a DNA swab that you sent to a company for recreational purposes would surface years later in the hands of police? What if it caused your child to end up in a police interrogation room as the primary suspect in a murder investigation?

In an extremely troubling case out of Idaho Falls, that’s exactly what happened.

Police investigating the 1996 murder of Angie Dodge targeted the wrong man as the suspect, after looking to Ancestry.com owned Sorensen Database labs for help. The labs look for familial matches between the murderers DNA and DNA submitted for genealogical testing after failing to find a match using traditional methods.

According to The Electronic Frontier Foundation:

The cops chose to use a lab linked to a private collection of genetic genealogical data called the Sorenson Database (now owned by Ancestry.com), which claims it’s “the foremost collection of genetic genealogy data in the world.” The reason the Sorenson Database can make such an audacious claim is because it has obtained its more than 100,000 DNA samples and documented multi-generational family histories from “volunteers in more than 100 countries around the world.” Some of these volunteers were encouraged by the Mormon Church—well-known for its interest in genealogy—to provide their genetic material to the database. Sorenson promised volunteers their genetic data would only be used for “genealogical services, including the determination of family migration patterns and geographic origins” and would not be shared outside Sorenson.

Its consent form states:
The only individuals who will have access to the codes and genealogy information will be the principal investigator and the others specifically authorized by the Principal Investigator, including the SMGF research staff.

Despite this promise, Sorenson shared its vast collection of data with the Idaho police. Without a warrant or court order, investigators asked the lab to run the crime scene DNA against Sorenson’s private genealogical DNA database. Sorenson found 41 potential familial matches, one of which matched on 34 out of 35 alleles—a very close match that would generally indicate a close familial relationship. The cops then asked, not only for the “protected” name associated with that profile, but also for all “all information including full names, date of births, date and other information pertaining to the original donor to the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy project.”

It is now fair to ask whether the National Rifle Association is winning — or has in fact won — this era of the gun debate in this country.

Gun control advocates have tried to use the horror that exists in the wake of mass shootings to catalyze the public into action around sensible gun restrictions. But rather than these tragedies being a cause for pause in ownership of guns, gun ownership has spiked in the wake of these shootings.

A striking report released Friday by the Pew Research Center revealed that “for the first time, more Americans say that protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership, 52 percent to 46 percent.”

One of the reasons cited was Americans’ inverse understanding of the reality and perception of crime in this country. As the report spells out, in the 1990s, people’s perception of the prevalence of crime fell in concert with actual instances of violent crime. But since the turn of the century, things have changed: “A majority of Americans (63 percent) said in a Gallup survey last year that crime was on the rise, despite crime statistics holding near 20-year lows.”

ESPN has suspended Britt McHenry for one week, effective immediately, after a video surfaced of the Washington D.C.-based reporter berating a woman working for a towing company.

McHenry can be heard repeatedly and mercilessly attacking the employee in what appears to be security footage of the incident. Among the things said:

- “I’m in the news, sweetheart.”
- “I will fucking sue this place.”
- “That’s why I have a degree and you don’t.”
- “I wouldn’t work in a scumbag place like this.”
- “Makes my skin crawl even being here.”
- “Yep, that’s all you care about is just taking people’s money. With no education, no skill set, just wanted to clarify that.”
- “Do you feel good about your job?
- “So I can be a college dropout and do the same thing?”
- “Why? Because I have a brain? And you don’t?”
- “Maybe if I was missing some teeth they would hire me, huh?”
- “‘Cause they [the employee’s teeth] look so stunning … ‘Cause I’m on television and you’re in a fucking trailer, honey.”
- “Lose some weight, baby girl.”

Attorney breach stalls Milwaukee officers' gun store lawsuit

A long-awaited trial pitting two wounded Milwaukee police officers against the gun store that sold the weapon used to shoot them has been delayed after attorneys from a national gun control group posted information online that the judge had ruled inadmissible.

The lawsuit against Badger Guns and its predecessor, Badger Outdoors, by former officers Bryan Norberg and Graham Kunisch is the first of its kind nationwide to make it this far. It had been scheduled to begin Monday and last three weeks.

The case, however, is not dead. It has been transferred to another Milwaukee County judge and it is due next in court in September. Separately, two other wounded Milwaukee police officers have sued the gun-selling operations. Their case is set to go to trial later.

Milwaukee County Judge Jeffrey Conen on Monday allowed attorneys Jonathan Lowy and Alla Lefkowitz of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to withdraw from the case. They were representing Norberg and Kunisch along with local attorney Patrick Dunphy.

Conen ordered Brady to pay $800 to Milwaukee County, the cost of paying 100 jurors who were called for jury selection for half a day. It was an extra large pool, more than double what judges typically summon.

The Brady attorneys agreed to leave the case after it was disclosed that the organization posted information over the weekend that Conen had ruled inadmissible. Brady has since taken down the information in question and it was not disclosed in open court. Conen discussed the matter off the record with attorneys in his chambers before coming into open court and making brief comments on the record, according to a transcript.

It is hard to imagine that this surreal story does not originate in a nation run by a violent warlord (or maybe it does), but it actually comes from Florida, where Lucas Jewell, a resident of Gainesville noticed local members of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department were riding through town in a tank-like armored vehicle that appears to be a Lanco BearCat, an armored personnel carrier intended for military use.

As Mr. Jewell believes that this is a gross abuse of taxpayers’ dollars and is opposed to the militarization of police, he found this display of military hardware on public roads offensive and showed the individuals in riding in the tank his middle finger and proceeded to continue on his journey.

Game of Thrones is already one of the most pirated shows on TV, and now, on the very eve of season 5’s release, word is that the first four episodes have been leaked simultaneously.

The copies were first spotted on the private torrent tracker IPT yesterday afternoon, but by the evening, the files had made their way to big public sites including The Pirate Bay, RARBG and KickassTorrents. According to Torrent Freak, during the first three hours of the leak, the episodes were downloaded more than 100,000 times, and that number may climb to over a million by later today.

This is unhappy news for HBO, to say the least. The cable network carefully timed the release of its new standalone streaming service, HBO Now, around season 5’s debut. With a primary selling point of HBO Now being easy, cable-free Game of Thrones access, and now, nearly half of the first season out before the first episode premiers...well, let’s just say Cersei probably isn’t the only one who’d like a few heads brought to her this morning.

Gun owners would receive tax breaks for voluntarily turning in high-powered assault rifles under new legislation proposed Monday.

The Support Assault Firearm Elimination and Education of our (SAFER) Streets Act expected to be reintroduced next week by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) would provide gun owners with an incentive to turn in their firearms to local police departments.

“Assault weapons are not about hunting, or even self-defense,” DeLauro said. “There is no reason on earth, other than to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible, that anyone needs a gun designed for a battlefield.”

Though DeLauro is in favor of stronger guns laws that would completely ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, she emphasized this bill would not force gun owners to turn in their firearms.

The legislation would provide up to $2,000 in tax credits for gun owners who voluntarily hand over assault weapons to their local police departments.

On 14 January 2013, she introduced a bill allowing for the voluntary surrender of assault-type weapons with compensation to come in the form of tax credits.

Dozens of billboards to replace landmark Mass. Pike sign
New sites donated as sign is removed


The Newton nonprofit that for two decades sponsored the eye-grabbing billboard along the Massachusetts Turnpike that inveighed against gun violence is promising to keep that message fresh in the minds of motorists with a new series of targeted ads.

Beginning Tuesday, Stop Handgun Violence will be “saturating” highway signs at three-dozen locations across the state, an interim solution until cofounder John Rosenthal finalizes construction of the Fenway Center complex over the turnpike.

The new highway signs being installed this week will read, “We’re Not Anti-Gun. We’re Pro-Life. Massachusetts Gun Laws Save Lives,” and feature a Bushmaster XM-15 assault rifle, with a white surrender flag poking out from the barrel.

Billboard space was donated by Clear Channel, Logan Communications, Total Outdoor, and Outfront Media, Rosenthal said. All but four of the signs will be on digital displays.

“It will be huge coverage,” Rosenthal said. “Having billboards all over the state that are literally positioned to have maximum exposure from the highways is a huge win.”

Dear VScott, Please contact Clear Channel Outdoor/Boston TODAY and ask that they give GOAL equal space on billboards, or take the Stop Gun Violence messaging down. Please see release below with info.

Gun Owners' Action League (GOAL) Asks Billboard Companies To Take Down Discriminatory Messaging or Provide Equal Space

Northborough, MA. The Gun Owners' Action League today wondered if Clear Channel and other local billboard companies are playing an April Fools joke as it was released that John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence is receiving free advertising promoting a false and discriminatory message.


The message being broadcast for Mr. Rosenthal, at no charge by the companies, provides inaccurate, discriminatory, and misleading information, which will do nothing to bolster firearms safety or prevent crime. "Our first thought was, is this a joke? Because the messaging certainly does not reflect reality." said Jim Wallace, Executive Director of GOAL.


Over the last two decades the restrictive gun laws of Massachusetts have been an abysmal failure, as demonstrated by the drastic increase in violent crime since the passage of these laws in 1998. The policies and messaging broadcast by Stop Handgun Violence have continually misled the public on the truth behind Massachusetts' gun laws. This long-term ruse is simply an effort to convince the general public to discriminate against the rights of law-abiding gun owners.


"If the billboard companies were really interested in saving lives they would grant space to GOAL. We have a proven record of providing gun safety and legislative solutions that work," said Mr. Wallace. "Since 1998, firearm related homicides have doubled and firearm related assaults have tripled."

Gun violence billboards pulled after protest

The advertising giant Clear Channel took down the billboards it donated to a campaign against gun violence, a decision the company said it made because the messages in support of firearms laws had become “politicized.”

The new ads, which went up Tuesday, drew an immediate backlash from gun rights advocates.

Clear Channel was the largest contributor to the billboard campaign, donating 25 of the 36 posted statewide. Stop Handgun Violence, which organized the effort, will soon have to remove its iconic, 252-foot billboard from the side of the Massachusetts Turnpike near Fenway Park.

The new billboards said, “We’re Not Anti-Gun. We’re Pro-Life. Massachusetts Gun Laws Save Lives,” and featured a Bushmaster XM-15 assault rifle with a white surrender flag in the barrel.

“This campaign has become politicized and misconstrued as a political position by our company, so we have taken it down,” said Clear Channel Outdoor spokesman David Grabert in a statement.

Grabert said the company had received “a number of messages expressing concern” about the signs.

The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating a video that shows an Uber driver being pulled over in the West Village on Monday and subjected to a xenophobic rant by a man who appears to be a plainclothes cop.

The driver filed a complaint with police, which prompted the NYPD to assign the case to the Internal Affairs Bureau. But the driver was not given a summons, according to Uber, and police said investigators are working to determine whether the driver was pulled over by a plainclothes officer from the department or an outside law enforcement agency.

"I don't know where you're coming from, where you think you're appropriate in doing that; that's not the way it works. How long have you been in this country?"the man, who is white, hollered at the driver after pulling him over in an unmarked car with flashing lights, according to video of the encounter.

Moments before slamming the car door and storming away, the hot-headed man shouted at the driver: "I don't know what f---ing planet you're on right now!"