Texas Bill Would Make Recording Police Illegal

A bill introduced to the Texas House of Representatives would make it illegal for private citizens to record police within 25 feet.

House Bill 2918, introduced by Texas Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) on Tuesday, would make the offense a misdemeanor. Citizens who are armed would not be permitted to record police activity within 100 feet of an officer, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Only representatives of radio or TV organizations that hold an FCC license, newspapers and magazines would have the right to record police.

Swedish Prosecutors Offer To Question Julian Assange In London About Alleged Sex Crimes

LONDON (AP) — Julian Assange and his supporters warily welcomed a surprise U-turn Friday by Swedish prosecutors, who now say they are willing to come to London to quiz the WikiLeaks founder over alleged sex crimes.

The reversal, however, doesn't mean the anti-secrecy activist will soon be leaving the Ecuadorean embassy in London, his home and prison for almost three years.

Harper has an ethics problem that just won’t go away

By any rational measure, the Diane Finley affair should be the boot that punts Stephen Harper’s sorry ass out of office.

This one’s a dead skunk in the middle of the road — or maybe a dead flounder on the Highway of Hypocrites. Here’s the bare-bones version:

A Jewish community centre in Markham applied for a federal grant from the federal Department of Human Resources to pay for an expansion to its facilities under the Enabling Accessibility Fund. Totally cool.

Raises for MPs and senators beat those offered to public service unions

MPs are in line for a 2.3-per-cent raise in pay, about five times the increase the Conservative government is offering employees in the public service.

Under legislation, MPs’ yearly salary increases are tied to the average wage settlements negotiated in private-sector companies that have more than 500 employees. That means they are automatically entitled to the average 2.3 per-cent wage hike private sector employers gave their employees in 2014.

The secretive Board of Internal Economy, a group of MPs who oversee the administration of the House of Commons, has been advised of the increase and it’s expected that all MPs will soon be notified of the raise, which kicks in April 1.

Bill C-51 committee hears monologues, but few questions

A lot can be inferred as to someone's leanings on a particular topic by the questions they ask.

In the first hour of testimony at Thursday’s review of the government’s anti-terrorism bill, Conservative MPs posed only one question.

"Are you fundamentally opposed to taking terrorists off the streets?" Conservative MP Rick Norlock asked Carmen Cheung of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association — an echo of former public security minister Vic Toews’s "stand with us or with the child pornographers" statement.

STEPHEN HARPER'S WAR ON WOMEN

Sunday was International Women's Day, and all I got from Prime Minister Stephen Harper was a lousy media release.

Oh yeah, there was also the it-would-be-funny-if-it-weren't-so-blatantly-opportunistic tweet from Defence Minister Jason Kenney, who insinuated, complete with photos of Muslim women in chains, that ISIS would "enslave" all us ladies as soon as the terrorist menace reached our shores. That means "Be afraid, very afraid," and don't pay attention to that loss of civil rights hiding behind the curtain of the so-called anti-terrorism bill. Turns out the photos were from ceremonial processions symbolizing the prophet Mohammed's granddaughter, who was taken in chains to Damascus after her brother Hussein was beheaded.

Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin Suggests Businesses Post Notice Before Discriminating Against Patrons

A Democratic state representative in Oklahoma has offered up an unusual amendment to the state's Religious Freedom Act that would reportedly give businesses the option to discriminate based on their religious beliefs, but would require those establishments to be upfront about it.

In the amendment, Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin suggests that wedding-related companies "not wanting to participate" in a business exchange based on the "sexual orientation, gender identity or race of either party" shall "shall post notice of such refusal in a manner clearly visible to the public in all places of business, including websites," according to The Gayly Oklahoman.

The Security Intelligence Review Committee Is Not Doing the Job

If the prime minister thought public pressure to institute a more robust review system for national security would slowly die down, he has miscalculated.

Last week, a number of former prime ministers and Supreme Court justices penned an open letter calling for the government to keep a closer eye on federal intelligence activities. While certainly increasing the visibility of the issue, the letter was lacking as far as specific policy prescriptions.

There are a number of concrete steps the government should take to address the gap in national security accountability. Chief among those are improving the integrity of the application process for national security warrants, re-establishing the Office of the Inspector General of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and expanding the Security Intelligence Review Committee's (SIRC) size, capabilities and mandate.

Medical Marijuana User Arrested, Says New Health Canada Regulations Discriminate

HALIFAX - A medical marijuana user in Nova Scotia says he would rather go to jail than stop growing his own pot after changes to Health Canada regulations preventing cultivation at home.

Bob Dillman says he and his wife were arrested at their Halifax home on March 4 and charged with production and possession of marijuana after years of being permitted by Health Canada to grow it for medical purposes. They are due in court next month.

Husky Energy Unexpectedly Lays Off 1,100 Workers From Sunrise Project

Husky Energy Inc. has unexpectedly laid off 1,100 workers at its Sunrise oilsands project, as they reported oil has started to flow from the northeastern Alberta site.

Izzy Huygen, a representative of the Christian Labor Association of Canada, told Reuters the layoffs came as a shock to many of the workers, who expected their jobs to carry over into the summer months.

“Guys were just notified this morning as they woke up in camp,” Huygen said Wednesday.