Yahoo News – by Kavitha Surana, Foreign Policy Magazine

During his campaign for president, Donald Trump repeatedly called for rewriting the U.S.-Mexico relationship. He peppered Mexicans with nasty stereotypes (“criminals,” “rapists,” and “bad hombres”), advocated ripping up the North American Free Trade Agreement, and promised to build a “big beautiful wall” on the border — on Mexico’s dime.

Now some prominent Mexicans are raising their own quibbles about the border. They are making the case that Mexico should return to its 1848 boundaries, before the United States snatched large chunks of their territory, including most of California, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona, during the Mexican-American war.   Continue reading “The Other Dispute on the U.S.-Mexico Border”

People – by Char Adams

An Ohio man accused of raping a 10-year-old girl and setting a fire that killed her and her grandparents jumped to his death from a fourth-floor courthouse balcony on Monday before he could face trial, reports say.

Robert Seman Jr., 48, was walking through the Mahoning County Courthouse with police in Youngstown after a pre-trial hearing when he quickly ran from the officers and jumped over a banister at around 9:30 a.m., WKBN reports.   Continue reading “Ohio Man Jumps to His Death in Courthouse Before Trial for Raping Girl, 10, and Killing Her and Grandparents”

Argus

Washington, 10 April (Argus) — President Donald Trump’s attempts to impose a “Buy American” policy for oil and gas pipelines is worrying energy companies that say it could delay the very infrastructure the administration is trying to support.

US midstream company Energy Transfer Partners says the policy would “severely delay project schedules” and reduce pipeline quality. Magnolia LNG, which is considering building a $4.5bn gas export facility in Louisiana, says it has created uncertainty that could slow final investments. And an energy industry coalition is warning of long construction delays and project cancellations.   Continue reading “Oil, gas industry concerned over requirement to buy American steel, pipe”

RT

A pink moon is heading our way Tuesday – but those expecting to see a literal pink sphere sailing above us in the sky may be disappointed.

Any full moon that occurs in April is called a ‘Pink Moon’ simply because of the pink flowers, such as North America’s wild ground phlox, which blossom in April and are seen to symbolize new beginnings.   Continue reading “2017’s ‘Pink Moon’: Here’s what it means”

KGW 8 News – by Kristena Hansen

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon state lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would shield the names, birthdates and other identifying information of marijuana users from being accessed by federal drug agents amid worries of heightened enforcement.

The bill was approved 53-5 by the Oregon House on Monday and is largely in response to mixed signals about the new White House administration’s stance on the federal marijuana prohibition.   Continue reading “Oregon set to shield marijuana user data from US officials”

Yahoo News

Seoul (AFP) – North Korea denounced the US deployment of a naval strike group to the region Tuesday, warning it is ready for “war” as Washington tightens the screws on the nuclear-armed state.

The strike group — which includes the Nimitz-class aircraft supercarrier USS Carl Vinson — cancelled a planned trip to Australia this weekend, heading to the Korean peninsula instead in a show of force.   Continue reading “North Korea vows response to ‘reckless’ US Navy move”

Fox News

Egypt’s president called for a three-month state of emergency Sunday after at least 44 people were killed and more than 100 more were injured in two Palm Sunday suicide attacks at Coptic Christian churches, each carried out by the ISIS terror group.

Sunday’s first blast happened at St. George Church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, where at least 27 people were killed and 78 others wounded, officials said.   Continue reading “Palm Sunday attacks: 44 dead, more than 100 injured in church bombings carried out by ISIS in Egypt”

Yahoo News

Washington (AFP) – The US Navy said on Saturday it had sent a carrier-led strike group to the Korean peninsula in a show of force against North Korea’s “reckless” nuclear weapons program.

The move will raise tensions in the region and comes hard on the heels of a US missile strike on Syria that was widely interpreted as putting Pyongyang on warning over its refusal to abandon its nuclear ambitions.   Continue reading “US navy strike group heads toward Korean peninsula”

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The Saker

I have an important update: based on Russian sources, including video footage and the reports of one Russian journalist on the ground, Evgenii Poddubnyi, it has become clear that the US strike was largely symbolic.  Here is the evidence:   Continue reading “SITREP: Important update on the US attack on Syria”

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The ” town” has been called a village by the media. It’s population in 2011 before being taken by Al – Nusra in 2014 was almost FIFTY THREE THOUSAND People! That is not a hamlet or village with a donkey going ’round a watering hole! No one can answer the question why would Assad target this area? Please research the SS Donald Cook and the Russians “buzz” fly by. They knocked out all the AEGIS electronic defence technology leaving it a sitting duck. They did this TWICE 3 years apart. When the ship docked in Romania for repairs all 27 crew on board resigned. It’s called Khibiny technology. The navy is obsolete….I think it’s a fake war. No fly by this time!

The Hill – by Jordan Fabian

The U.S. will impose new economic sanctions against Syria designed curb its government’s use of chemical weapons, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday.

“We view sanctions as being a very important tool,” Mnuchin told reporters at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla.   Continue reading “US preparing new sanctions against Syria”

Anti-Media – by James Holbrooks

East Asia — As journalists, analysts, and world leaders wait to see what transpires at the much-hyped summit between Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping this Friday, Asian media reported Monday that the U.S. and its allies in East Asia are conducting their first ever joint anti-submarine drills. They are aimed at coordinating an “effective response” to the purportedly belligerent North Korea.

“Japan, South Korea and the U.S. have conducted the first joint anti-submarine warfare (ASW) drills involving the three countries,” The Japan Times reports, “amid North Korea’s growing submarine-launched ballistic missile threat.”   Continue reading “U.S., Japan, and S. Korea Hold First Ever Anti-Submarine Drills Targeting North Korea”

The Hill – by Alexander Bolton

The Senate on Friday confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, giving President Trump the biggest victory of his first 100 days in office.

The 54-45 vote caps a bitter political battle that began with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia more than a year ago and resulted in the Senate triggering the “nuclear option,” breaking Democrats’ blockade and ending filibusters for Supreme Court nominees.  Continue reading “Senate confirms Gorsuch to Supreme Court”

Fox News

A Russian warship entered the eastern Mediterranean Friday and was heading toward the area where two U.S. Navy destroyers launched missile strikes into Syria, Fox News has learned.

The Russian frigate, Admiral Grigorovich RFS-494, crossed through the Bosphorus Strait “a few hours ago” from the Black Sea, according to a U.S. defense official.    Continue reading “Russian warship steams toward US destroyers that launched Syria strikes”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

March was a month of giving back: after a very strong, if downward revised start to the year, with both January and February payrolls revised lower by a total of 38,000 jobs, March saw the worst job gains since May 2016, with only 98,000 jobs added. While many have claimed it was the weather’s fault, the BLS reported that 164K people said they were unable to work in March due to poor weather conditions. This was just fractionally more than the 143K long-term average.   Continue reading “Where The March Jobs Were: Plunging Retail Workers Offset By Doormen Hiring Surge”

Press TV

Moscow says it is halting an agreement with Washington aimed at avoiding mid-air collisions during their military missions in the Syrian airspace after US launched a missile attack against a Syrian army airbase.

“The Russian side is halting the effect of the memorandum for prevention of incidents and ensuring safety of air flights during operations in Syria which was agreed with the US,” said a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.   Continue reading “Russia suspends Syria flight safety deal with US after missile attack”

When disaster strikes, you’ve basically got two options: to bug in or to bug out… and it’s pretty clear that venturing outside is going to be more dangerous than hiding into your house, safe room or underground shelter.

When you’re on the run, there are worse things that can happen to you than watching your house catch fire. Thieves, gangs, law enforcement impersonators, wild animals, extreme temperatures, lack of food, water and shelter are just a few of the things you might have to deal with.  Continue reading “Bug Out Accidents and How to Prevent Them”

NBC News

The United States launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night at a Syrian airfield in response to what it believes was the Syrian government’s use of banned chemical weapons blamed for having killed at least 100 people on Tuesday, U.S. military officials told NBC News.

The U.S. military fired at least 50 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target — Ash Sha’irat in Homs province in western Syria, the officials said.   Continue reading “U.S. Launches Missiles at Syrian Base After Chemical Weapons Attack”

The Hill – by Max Greenwood

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday said the U.S. is considering an “appropriate response” to the Syrian government’s apparent use of chemical weapons and that he sees “no role” in the country for President Bashar Assad.

“The process by which Assad would leave is something that requires an international community effort both to first defeat ISIS within Syria, to stabilize the Syrian country to avoid further civil war and then to work collectively with our partners around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad leaving,” Tillerson said at a news conference in Palm Beach, Fla.    Continue reading “Tillerson: ‘Steps are underway’ to remove Assad”

The Hill – by Jordain Carney

The Senate voted Thursday to move forward with Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination after Republicans took a historic step that lowers the vote threshold for high court nominees to a simple majority.

Senators voted 55-45 to end debate on Gorsuch’s nomination, setting up a final confirmation vote for Friday. Thanks to a procedural move that changed Senate rules earlier Thursday, a simple majority was needed to move forward.   Continue reading “Senate goes ‘nuclear’ to advance Trump Supreme Court pick”