Washington Post – by Carol Morello and Karen DeYoung

VIENNA — Iran reentered the global economy Saturday as years of crippling international sanctions ended in exchange for the verified disabling of much of its nuclear infrastructure.

For Iran, implementation of the landmark deal it finalized with six world powers last summer means immediate access to more than $50 billion in long-frozen assets and freedom to sell its oil and purchase goods in the international marketplace. Tehran has hailed the deal as vindication of its power and influence in the world.   Continue reading “International sanctions against Iran lifted”

KHOU 11

PASADENA, Texas — One person is dead and three others are injured after a chemical leak and explosion in Pasadena on Saturday afternoon.

Pasadena officials responded to a call about a chemical leak explosion at the PeroxyChem plant at 12000 Bay Area Boulevard around 12:45 p.m. Saturday.   Continue reading “1 dead, 3 injured in chemical leak, explosion at Pasadena, Texas plant”

LA Times

U.S. officials confirmed Saturday that Iran has released four U.S.-Iranian prisoners, including Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post Tehran correspondent who had been held since July 2014 on espionage and other charges.

Tehran has also agreed to continue to try to find a fifth American, Robert Levinson, who was working in an unauthorized CIA operation when he disappeared in Iran in 2007, a U.S. official said.     Continue reading “Iran releases 4 U.S. prisoners in swap with U.S.; 5th American reportedly freed separately”

Oregon Live – by Les Zaitz

BURNS – Oregon State Police on Friday arrested one of the protesters occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge after he drove into town, accusing him of having a stolen vehicle.

The man was identified as Kenneth Medenbach, 62, of Crescent. He was arrested on suspicion of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. He was to be booked into the Deschutes County Jail in Bend with bail set at $10,000, officials said.   Continue reading “Protester arrested in Burns, accused of driving stolen refuge vehicle”

The Guardian – by Ben Child

A New York police union chief has claimed victory over Quentin Tarantino after the Oscar-winning film-maker’s new western, The Hateful Eight, struggled at the box office.

Patrick J Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of the City of New York, was one of the first officials to call for a boycott of the Pulp Fiction director following his appearance at a rally in support of campaigners against police brutality on 24 October.   Continue reading “Police union claims victory as The Hateful Eight struggles at box office”

Sent to us by the author, John Trowbridge

Supreme Court Case

“[T]he germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body, (for impeachment is scarcely a scare-crow) working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little to-day & a little tomorrow, and advancing it’s noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the states, & the government of all be consolidated into one. to this I am opposed; because whenever all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated. . . .” Thomas Jefferson, quoted in “From Thomas Jefferson to C. Hammond, 18 August 1821,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-2260 [last update: 2015-12-30]).   Continue reading “Petitioner files superseding Lufkin criminal complaint; demands payment of debt totaling $195,988,000”

Sydney Morning Herald

Moscow: Russian authorities have burned more than 50 books and removed more than 500 other volumes from university libraries on the grounds they contain sentiments “alien to Russian ideology”.

The books, most of them textbooks, were published with money from the Soros Fund, which in November was declared an “undesirable agent” and forced to stop its work in Russia.   Continue reading “George Soros-funded books burned in Russia”

Boston Globe – by Laura Crimaldi

SALEM — The wooded spot overlooking Walgreens on Boston Street is unremarkable. The rocky ledge of knotted trees is surrounded by houses, and the path to the top is unpaved.

But the days of anonymity for the site known as Proctor’s Ledge are over. Researchers announced this week they have confirmed the plot is where 19 people accused of witchcraft were hanged in a wave of hysteria that swept this seaside city in 1692.   Continue reading “Researchers pinpoint site of Salem witch hangings”

Fox News

A wanted man who police in Ohio said sent them a selfie because he didn’t like the mugshot that had been made public was arrested in Florida Tuesday morning.

The Lima News reported that Donald “Chip” Pugh, 45, was arrested outside a public library in Century, Fla., just across the border from Alabama.   Continue reading “Fugitive who sent police selfie to replace ‘terrible’ mugshot arrested in Florida”

ABC News

Members of the Michigan National Guard are headed to Flint to help dole out bottled water, filters and other supplies to residents dealing with a drinking water crisis that began months ago.

Gov. Rick Snyder activated the National Guard late Tuesday, and some members were expected to arrive as soon as Wednesday to assist state authorities and volunteers in the distribution effort.   Continue reading “Michigan National Guard, FEMA Help Flint Amid Water Crisis”

NBC News

Ten U.S. sailors detained by Iran were released early Wednesday, officials said.

The sailors — nine men and one woman — were held overnight on Iran’s Farsi Island. They were taken into custody Tuesday when their two small U.S. navy riverine vessels drifted into Iranian-claimed waters during a training mission.   Continue reading “U.S. Sailors Detained by Iran Are ‘Safely Returned’”

KOMO News

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Seattle police raided a suspected burglar’s Bellevue home on Monday and found a cache of stolen guns, ammo and body armor.

Police originally responded to a commercial burglary on New Year’s Eve in the 500 block of Colorado Avenue South. The thief, who made off with dozens of guns and suppressors, was long gone by the time officers arrived, but detectives learned that the prime suspect was a white man driving a late 1990s Toyota Forerunner, according to the Seattle Police Department.   Continue reading “Police find cache of stolen guns, ammo in suspected burglar’s home”

Free Thought Project – by Justin Gardner

While Syria is torn apart by the warring of U.S. imperialists and Islamic fundamentalists—leaving its children to die of starvation—another country plans to take advantage of the chaos by stealing resources from Syria’s southern region. The theft will be carried out by the most notorious pushers of military hegemony, and they don’t care that it violates international law.   Continue reading “Cheney, Rothschild, and Fox News’ Murdoch to Drill for Oil in Syria, Violating International Law”

Sent to us by the author.

The Great Recession – by David Haggith

An economic apocalypse upon us. My 2016 economic predictions provide the full explanation as to why 2016 will bethe year of the Epocalypse — a word that encompasses the roots “economic, epoch, collapse” and “apocalypse.” I needed a word big enough to describe all that is about to befall the world in 2016. When you see the towering forces that are prevailing against failing global economic architecture and the pit of debt beneath that structure, as laid out here, I think you’ll recognize that the Epocalypse is here, and it is everywhere. The Great Collapse has already begun.   Continue reading “2016 Economic Predictions: Year of the Epocalypse”