Activist Post – by Nicholas West

As we continue to chart our path down the slippery slope of biometric identification for human beings, we’ve had to speculate about how far we could slide. Well, it appears that China is providing an early example that we would all be wise to take notice of.

It is now a fact that nearly all areas of the modern world have adopted some form of surveillance camera apparatus. Meanwhile, biometric identification technology has advanced to a degree where it’s now possible to merge the two and create not only a pervasive surveillance network, but a nearly real-time identification system that police can use to act upon.   Continue reading “China Accused of Using Biometric Surveillance to Send Thousands to Political Detention Camps”

Washington Post – by Laurie McGinley

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a tougher enforcement policy toward homeopathic drugs, saying it would target products posing the greatest safety risks, including those containing potentially harmful ingredients or being marketed for cancer, heart disease and opioid and alcohol addictions.

Homeopathy is based on an 18th-century idea that substances that cause disease symptoms can, in very small doses, cure the same symptoms. Modern medicine, backed up by numerous studies, has disproved the central tenets of homeopathy and shown that the products are worthless at best and harmful at worst.   Continue reading “FDA takes more aggressive stance toward homeopathic drugs”

NPR

The National Transportation Safety Board says an Amtrak passenger train that derailed from an overpass south of Tacoma, Wash., leaving at least three people dead, was traveling at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone.

At a news conference late Monday Pacific Time, NTSB board member Bella Dinh-Zarr said that the speed of the train at the time of the accident had been determined by downloading the Event Data Recorder from the train’s rear locomotive.   Continue reading “NTSB: Amtrak Washington Train Doing 80 MPH In 30 MPH Zone”

Just two weeks ago, the mayor of Lakewood (just north of Dupont where the Amtrak train derailed) warned there would be accidents if this were to go through.

KOMO News, December 4, 2017

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – City leaders gave a chilly reception to a new high-speed rail plan for Amtrak trains that starts running later this month.

The idea is to use the Sound Transit tracks that cut through the city and open them up to Amtrak trains. However, huge safety concerns remain.   Continue reading “Two weeks ago: Lakewood, WA mayor predicts deadly accidents from high-speed train service”

KOMO News

TACOMA, Wash. – An Amtrak train making the first-ever run along a new route hurtled off an overpass Monday near Tacoma and spilled some of its cars onto the highway below, killing at least six people authorities said.

Seventy-eight passengers and five crew members were aboard when the train derailed about 40 miles south of Seattle before 8 a.m., Amtrak said. An official who was briefed on the investigation also says preliminary signs indicate the Amtrak train may have struck something on the track before going off the track, according to the Associated Press.   Continue reading “At least 6 dead, scores injured after Amtrak train plunges off bridge onto I-5”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

It’s not just the ultra rich, as well as a dazed and confused Bob Corker who is set to reap a $1+ million windfall from the passage of a tax bill which he opposed until just days ago, who will benefit from the passage of tax reform: according to Goldman Sachs among the biggest beneficiaries from the GOP tax cuts are, drumroll, the big banks. In an analysis from Goldman’s Richard Ramsden, the FDIC-insured hedge fund writes that based on its “preliminary analysis of the current tax bill under consideration by  Congress, our EPS estimates for our coverage would increase by 13% on average if the US statutory rate were to be reduced to the proposed 21%, all else being equal.”  Continue reading “Goldman Finds Tax Reform Will Greatly Benefit The Big Banks”

Freedom Outpost – by Tim Brown

Washington State Representative Matt Shea met with Shari Dovale of Redoubt News and dropped a bombshell concerning the sealed hearings that are currently taking place in the Bundy Ranch trials, informing Americans about the “unethical and potentially illegal behavior” of the Bureau of Land Management when it came to dealing with the Bundy family.

Shea began by putting forth a type of disclaimer, presumably in the event that he would end up dead or “suicided.”   Continue reading “Washington State Rep Matt Shea on Sealed Hearings in Bundy Ranch Trial & Why This Could Get The Bundy Case Tossed”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson (D) is reacting to the rising crime in her city by offering to give people groceries in exchange for their firearms.

She will do this via the kind of buyback program that Democrats in other cities have unsuccessfully implemented around the country.

On December 8, 2017, KSDK reported that St. Louis had witnessed more murders in 2017 than in any year since 1995. On December 11 the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department listed the number of murders, year-to-date, at 197.  Continue reading “St. Louis Mayor: Give Us Your Guns, We’ll Give You Groceries”

The Independent – by Tom Embury-Dennis

A 93-year-old woman was handcuffed and jailed after refusing to leave a care home she claimed was no longer accepting her rent.

Juanita Fitzgerald, from Lake County, Florida, was arrested on Tuesday after she said the National Church Residences’ Franklin House housing community had decided to “put her out” after blaming her for mould in her apartment.   Continue reading “93-year-old woman handcuffed and jailed after refusing to leave her care home”

Tech Crunch – by Devin Coldewey

Despite overwhelming opposition from Congress, technical experts, advocacy organizations, and of course the American people, the FCC has voted to eliminate 2015’s Open Internet Order and the net neutrality protections it established.

The order passed today, “Restoring Internet Freedom,” essentially removes the FCC as a regulator of the broadband industry and relegates rules that prevented blocking and throttling content to the honor system. The FTC now ostensibly has that role, but it is far from an expert agency on this topic and cannot make preemptive rules like those that have been in place for the last few years.   Continue reading “The FCC officially votes to kill net neutrality”

Fox News

The Argentinian submarine that vanished last month was being chased by a British helicopter and Chilean ship shortly before disappearing, one of the doomed vessel’s sailors told his sister in a “strange” message that was one of the last sent from the sub.

The sister’s account, made public Wednesday, was immediately blasted by Argentinian military officials as “completely untrue.” But Jessica Medina, whose brother Roberto Daniel Medina served aboard the sub, told Argentina’s La Gaceta newspaper in an exclusive interview that she received the message on WhatsApp just days before the vessel vanished Nov. 15.   Continue reading “Argentina submarine chased by British helicopter before vanishing, sailor’s sister claims”

Fox 2 News

ST. LOUIS, MO — Two police officers were shot at Thursday around 7:30am in north St. Louis County. They were hit in the chest. Their bulletproof vest may have saved their lives.  The officers are conscious and speaking.

The incident occurred in Bellefontaine Neighbors at the intersection of Chambers and Bellefontaine roads.  One suspect is barricaded in a home in the 10100 block of Bellefontaine.  He may be armed with an AR-15 rifle.  Police appear to be negotiating with him.   Continue reading “Two police officers shot in north St. Louis County; Suspect barricaded”

Business Insider

Republican leaders on Wednesday reached an agreement on their final tax bill, paving the way for an overhaul of the federal tax code by Christmas.

Republicans are moving with full speed to pass the tax bill, a process that gained urgency after the Democrat Doug Jones’ unexpected victory Tuesday in Alabama’s special election for a US Senate seat.   Continue reading “Republicans have a final deal on their tax bill — here’s what’s in it”

Oil & Gas Journal – by Nick Snow

US Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) has introduced a pair of bills designed to facilitate US exports of LNG. H.R. 4605 would let exporters begin shipments after completing the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s review process instead of requiring them to wait for US Department of Energy approval, Johnson said. H.R. 4606 would codify DOE’s efforts to begin exports of small volumes of LNG to Caribbean and Central and South American countries.   Continue reading “US House bills introduced aimed at easing LNG exports”

Yahoo News

Back in late-2015, the Federal Aviation Administration introduced new rules requiring owners of  small drones to submit their devices to a database and attach a registration code to the side of the product. In May of this year, a judge in the D.C. Circuit shot the rule down, and the FAA began the process of returning the $5 registration fee.

Now the registry is back on, courtesy of a bill signed into law earlier today by President Trump. The reinstated rules were one small piece of the $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act, about which the President reportedly said, “We need our military, it’s gotta be perfecto.” Likely the bit about drone registration didn’t even register a blip on the President’s radar.   Continue reading “Trump signs bill reinstating the FAA’s drone registration requirement”

Fox News

An illegal immigrant from Vietnam faces life in prison after being convicted Monday in the 2012 hammer-killing of a family of five after losing money at a casino earlier in the evening.

Binh Thai Luc, who had a violent criminal history and was supposed to be deported in 2006, was found guilty in the murders of a family of Chinese immigrants. He was also found guilty of five counts of attempted robbery and two counts of burglary.   Continue reading “Illegal immigrant found guilty in murder of family of five in San Francisco”

US News

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge in the criminal conspiracy trial of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and three other men on Monday warned that prosecutors’ failure to produce documents that could support defense arguments may lead to a mistrial.

The four men, including two of Bundy’s sons Ammon and Ryan, are accused of conspiring to use the threat of force in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents near Bundy’s ranch. It galvanized right-wing militia groups challenging U.S. government authority over public lands in the American West.

Continue reading “U.S. Judge Warns of Mistrial in Nevada Rancher Bundy’s Trial”

KXAN

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were injured and five people were arrested during a protest in downtown Austin Saturday, including one who pointed a gun at officers.

DPS said there were two opposing protests happening at the Texas State Capitol. One was an “anti-sanctuary cities” demonstration and one was an “anti-xenophobia in Austin” protest. In a series of videos on social media, protesters and counter protesters can be seen carrying banners and signs along with American flags and Confederate flags.   Continue reading “3 troopers injured, 5 people arrested Saturday in downtown Austin protest”