Author: Admin

The Oregonian – by Maxine Bernstein

Prosecutors on Friday urged a federal judge to allow them to retry Nevada cattleman Cliven Bundy, his two sons and a fourth man, arguing that any failure to provide evidence to the defense in the last trial was simply “inadvertent” or because they reasonably believed the law didn’t require them to share the material.

“The Brady violations found by the court are regrettable and benefit no one,” Nevada’s Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre wrote in a 55-page legal brief. “But because the government neither flagrantly violated nor recklessly disregarded its obligations, the appropriate remedy for such violations is a new trial.”   Continue reading “NV prosecutors seek new trial against Bundys, say evidence violations were ‘inadvertent’”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

According to reports circulating widely in Israeli media today, the United States has quietly given Israel the green light to assassinate Iran’s top military officer, Iranian Revolutionary Guards al-Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The leader of Iran’s most elite force also coordinates military activity between the Islamic Republic and Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah, and Hamas – a position he’s filled since 1998 – and as Quds Force commander reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, and oversees Iran’s covert operations in foreign countries.  Continue reading “US Intelligence Reportedly Gives Israel Green Light To Assassinate Iran’s Top General”

ABC News

Minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve, a 16-year-old boy allegedly used a semi-automatic rifle owned by a family member to shoot and kill his parents, sister and a family friend inside the parents’ home in a coastal city in southern New Jersey, the county prosecutor said.

The teen, whose name has not been released, is in police custody in connection with the shooting deaths of his father, Steven Kologi, 44; mother, Linda Kologi, 42; sister, Brittany Kologi, 18; and a family friend, Mary Schultz, 70, who was residing at the Kologi home in Long Branch, New Jersey, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni and a statement from his office.   Continue reading “16-year-old allegedly killed parents, sister, family friend minutes before new year”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Adding to the pressures on bitcoin early this morning, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that bitcoin users across Australia are reporting that their accounts have been abruptly frozen by the country’s “Big Four” banks. And while the banks have remained largely tight-lipped about the closures, many angry account-holders are jumping to conclusions and blaming the banks for punishing them because of their involvement with bitcoin.   Continue reading “Australian Banks Reportedly Freeze Accounts Of Bitcoin Users”

Yahoo News

A 25-year-old man has been arrested over an alleged prank call that led to police killing a man in Kansas on Thursday, Los Angeles police said.

Tyler Barriss from South Los Angeles was arrested Friday, according to ABC station KABC in Los Angeles.

The incident took place late Thursday when police were called about a supposed domestic incident at a Kansas man’s home, where he had shot his father and was holding his other family members at gunpoint, police said in a press conference Friday. When police arrived, the man who opened the door was told to raise his hands — a command he obeyed until he moved his hands down to his waist, police said.   Continue reading “LA man arrested over ‘swatting’ incident that led to police killing Kansas man”

ABC News

A gunman on a motorcycle opened fire Friday outside a church in a Cairo suburb and at a nearby store, sparking a shootout that killed at least nine people, including eight Coptic Christians, Egyptian authorities said. It was the latest attack targeting the country’s embattled Christian minority.

The gunman was also killed, along with at least one police officer, officials said.  Continue reading “Egypt says 10 killed in attack outside Cairo church”

The Hill

The Trump administration will take its final step to repeal the Obama administration’s 2015 rule setting standards for hydraulic fracturing on federal land.

A formal notice from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) making the repeal final was posted publicly Thursday and is due to be published in the Federal Register Friday.   Continue reading “Trump to repeal Obama fracking rule”

The Oregonian – by Gordon R Freidman

The Oregon Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a decision by Oregon’s labor commissioner that forced two Gresham bakers to pay $135,000 to a lesbian couple for whom the bakers refused to make a wedding cake.

Melissa and Aaron Klein made national headlines in 2013 when they refused to bake a cake for Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer, citing their Christian beliefs. The Bowman-Cryers complained to the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, saying they had been refused service because of their sexual orientation.   Continue reading “Appeals court upholds fine against Christian bakers who refused to make same-sex wedding cake”

The Guardian

Donald Trump on Thursday said he was “very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea” and said such moves would prevent “a friendly solution” to the crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Earlier, China said there had been no sanction-breaking oil transfers between Chinese ships and North Korean vessels, of the kind described by a South Korea newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, which said spy satellites had detected 30 instances of such transfers since October.   Continue reading “Trump ‘very disappointed’ in China over alleged oil supplies to North Korea”

The Oregonian – by Maxine Bernstein

In a July 5 email, Ryan Payne’s lawyers asked prosecutors for copies of all threat assessments prepared before the April 2014 standoff between Cliven Bundy’s supporters and federal officers trying to impound Bundy’s cattle for years of failing to pay grazing fees and fines.

Prosecutors characterized the defendants’ continued push for the assessments as another in their “long list of frivolous and vexatious pleadings.”   Continue reading “Unsealed motions in NV Bundy case detail prosecution’s violations”

Fox News

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was wounded after being struck by a bullet fired from Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.

The agent, whose name was not released, was shot from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River near Brownsville where he was assigned to patrol it by boat, according to the Brownsville Herald.   Continue reading “Border Patrol agent wounded from bullet shot from Mexican side, agency says”

The New American – by Dave Bohon

Continuing his efforts to make California a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants, California Governor Jerry Brown pardoned two convicted felons December 23 who were slated to be deported back to their native Cambodia. Brown’s actions bring to 150 the number of immigrant criminals he has either pardoned or whose sentences he has commuted to prevent their ejection from the United States in sweeps by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The two men, 39-year-old Mony Neth and Rottanak Kong, 42, came to the United States as children when their parents fled the communist Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. Kong was convicted of felony joyriding in 2003 and Neth was convicted in 1995 on a felony weapons charge with a gang enhancement.   Continue reading “California Governor Pardons Felons Set for Deportation”

Bloomberg – by Tom Metcalf and Jack Witzig

The richest people on earth became $1 trillion richer in 2017, more than four times last year’s gain, as stock markets shrugged off economic, social and political divisions to reach record highs.

The 23 percent increase on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, compares with an almost 20 percent increase for both the MSCI World Index and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.   Continue reading “World’s Wealthiest Became $1 Trillion Richer in 2017”

Bloomberg

China’s imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. jumped last month as the country snatched up a record volume of the fuel to meet surging demand for heating and industrial use.

Shipments from the U.S. totaled 407,325 metric tons in November, up from nothing the same month a year earlier and 57 percent from October, placing one of the world’s newest LNG sellers as the third-biggest supplier to China, behind stalwarts Australia and Qatar.  Continue reading “U.S. Gas Sales to China Boom as Buyers Seek to Avoid Pinch”