A F-16 fighter jet belonging to the U.S. Air Force takes off during bilateral one-week training exercises in TransylvaniaYahoo News

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) — Air Force officials say they believe an F-16 fighter jet has crashed in the Gulf of Mexico.

A news release from Tyndall Air Force Base says the jet was on a routine training mission over the Gulf Thursday morning when the Florida Panhandle base lost contact with the pilot.   Continue reading “Air Force believes fighter jet crashed in Gulf”

File picture shows an undated image taken from the Free Gaza Movement website on May 28, 2010 of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara taking part in the "Freedom Flotilla" heading towards the Gaza Strip. 
(AFP Photo / HO / Free Gaza Movement)RT

The killing of nine Gaza Freedom Flotilla protesters in 2010 by Israeli forces lacked “sufficient gravity” to come under its jurisdiction, the ICC said, adding that there was reason to suspect war crimes were committed.

“Following a thorough legal and factual analysis of the information available, I have concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court were committed on one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, when Israeli Defense Forces intercepted the ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla,’” the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou B. Bensouda said in a statement.   Continue reading “ICC: Israel’s killing of 9 Gaza flotilla protesters ‘not of sufficient gravity’ for war crimes probe”

HOUSE SILHOUETTEHuffington Post – by Michelle Conlin, Reuters

NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Many thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the housing bust, but have since begun to rebuild their finances, are suddenly facing a new foreclosure nightmare: debt collectors are chasing them down for the money they still owe by freezing their bank accounts, garnishing their wages and seizing their assets.

By now, banks have usually sold the houses. But the proceeds of those sales were often not enough to cover the amount of the loan, plus penalties, legal bills and fees. The two big government-controlled housing finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as other mortgage players, are increasingly pressing borrowers to pay whatever they still owe on mortgages they defaulted on years ago.   Continue reading “Debt Collectors Harass Americans Even After They’ve Lost Their Homes To Banks”

Hot Air – by Noah Rothman

The results of the midterm elections are not yet fully known, but it is safe to say at this point that Republicans won a historic victory.

As of this writing, the Republicans have won a 52-seat Senate majority outright. Republican candidates are expected to take seats in Alaska and Louisiana, resulting no less than a 54-seat Senate majority in the 115th Congress. NBC News projects that the GOP will hold a 250-seat majority in the next Congress, among the largest Republican majorities in generations. On the gubernatorial level, where Republicans were expected to lose ground, the GOP defied expectations and picked up four new executive mansions while losing only one. Republicans now control governorships and state legislatures in 24 states while Democrats control those in only 7 states.   Continue reading “Out of the gate, Obama reminds the GOP a majority didn’t vote for them”

Washington Post – by Terrence McCoy

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Phil Rudd, who has drummed for AC/DC for decades, was charged in New Zealand court Thursday morning with drug possession and trying to hire a hitman to kill two people.

Pictures show a bedraggled Rudd, shoeless and in a tattered sweater, arriving at a Tauranga District Court for a hearing, where he was accused of attempting to arrange the murders of two people, threatening to kill a complainant, and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.   Continue reading “AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd charged with attempting to hire a hit man to kill two people”

Wired – by Andy Greenberg

As 3-D printed guns have evolved over the past 18 months from a science-fictional experiment into a subculture, they’ve faced a fundamental limitation: Cheap plastic isn’t the best material to contain an explosive blast. Now an amateur gunsmith has instead found a way to transfer that stress to a component that’s actually made of metal—the ammunition.

Michael Crumling, a 25-year-old machinist from York, Pennsylvania, has developed a round designed specifically to be fired from 3-D printed guns. His ammunition uses a thicker steel shell with a lead bullet inserted an inch inside, deep enough that the shell can contain the explosion of the round’s gunpowder instead of transferring that force to the plastic body or barrel of the gun. Crumling says that allows a home-printed firearm made from even the cheapest materials to be fired again and again without cracking or deformation. And while his design isn’t easily replicated because the rounds must be individually machined for now, it may represent another step towards durable, practical, printed guns—even semi-automatic ones.   Continue reading “The Bullet That Could Make 3-D Printed Guns Practical Deadly Weapons”

Jewish Federation shooting survivor and initiative backer Cheryl Stumbo takes the podium during an Initiative 594 return watching party at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle. The initiative will require mandatory background checks for firearms sales. Photographed on Tuesday, November 4, 2014. (Joshua Trujillo, seattlepi.com)Seattle PI – by Joel Connelly

The gun-control movement in Washington, launched after the mass murder of first graders in Newtown, Connecticut, won an historic victory Tuesday as returns showed Initiative 594 winning statewide, with a top-heavy majority in populous King County.

Initiative 594, designed to close the “gun show loophole,” took 60 percent of the vote across Washington and nearly 75 percent of the vote in King County. It led from Whatcom County at one end of the state to Asotin County at the other.   Continue reading “Washington voters choose gun control; huge majority in Seattle area”

Now that the Republirats will be in control of both the Senate and the House, do you think they will overturn Obama’s threatened amnesty executive order?  Or for that matter, any of the other millions of infringements on our Bill of Rights?

They do have the power to overturn any executive order, as referenced here:   Continue reading “Congress Can Overturn Executive Orders”

water filterSent to us by the author, Russ Michaud

There is a feeling in the country that things are changing for the worse; the government is deep in debt, politicians are just looking out for themselves, and society as a whole is beginning to fray. For a variety of reasons it appears that the good old days are winding down and harder times are coming. A lot of folks look at our high-tech lifestyles and realize that if critical functions were removed they would be utterly helpless to fend for themselves. Living without the internet seems unimaginable to many; just think if they lost electricity, or grocery stores, or running water…

As the bad news continues to come in there are a lot of folks preparing for a life without some or all of our modern conveniences. There’s a variety of books, blogs, and TV shows discussing how this might be possible. Of course there are many unknowns when planning for disaster, such as what happens, how long it lasts, your living situation, location, and financial circumstances. One thing that you will always need, no matter what happens, is access to clean water. Even a disaster that only lasts for a few days could become deadly if it leaves you without water.   Continue reading “Top of the List”

RT

Republicans have gained control of the United States Senate for the first time since 2006, wresting victories from Democrats as midterm voters expressed frustration with President Barack Obama and the White House.

The GOP victory comes after conservative candidates emerged victorious in Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, North Carolina and Iowa, where Republicans were able to unseat incumbent Democratic lawmakers. Republicans also fended off an Independent challenger in Kansas, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – and likely the new Majority Leader – safely escaped a Democratic challenger to hold onto his seat in Kentucky.   Continue reading “Republicans take control of US Senate, ousting Democrats in midterms”

Sent to us by the author.

Part One

I wont go into how the gold and silver markets are manipulated or why it is wise decision to invest in gold and silver, what I will do is demonstrate how worthless “money” is in 2014. I will be discussing the US financial system, US markets, and the Federal Reserve. In order to put a monetary value on gold and silver we have to understand what money is, There are two types of money in 2014. Many financial experts, when referring to the government funding its debt or “quantitative easing”-(QE) speak of “printing money”. Continue reading “It has been said “In the age of information, ignorance is no longer an excuse.”.”

Western Journalism – by Norvell Rose

Here’s another black eye for the integrity of the voting process in a key swing state in the midterms on Tuesday — North Carolina.

Conservative activist James O’Keefe, whose undercover work last week showed Democrat campaign workers readily condoning voter fraud, as Western Journalism reported, has released another incriminating video that suggests the potential for voter fraud in the Tarheel State is widespread.   Continue reading “Undercover Video Exposes Possible North Carolina Voter Fraud”

Sent to us by a reader.

Jack wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his company’s Christmas Party. Jack is not normally a drinker. He didn’t even remember how he got home from the party.

As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong. Jack had to force himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose! ! Jack sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed.   Continue reading “He Thought His Wife Was Going To Kill Him. But Then This Happens…Priceless.”

FedZeroHedge – by Sprout Money

What has been expected for quite a while has now officially happened. The Federal Reserve stated that it would stop intervening on the market where it has been buying treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities like there was no tomorrow anymore. The program started at a rate of $45B per month but was upscaled rather fast to $85B per month before being gradually scaled back since the beginning of this year. The Fed’s balance sheet has expanded considerably as you can see on the next chart.    Continue reading “Newsflash: The Fed Isn’t Stopping QE!”

Bloomberg – by Alex Morales and Stefan Nicola

In fixing a limit for the amount of fossil fuels that can be burned if the world is to hold back climate change, a panel of scientists gathered by the UN set out with mathematical precision the choice facing policymakers.

The findings in a United Nations report released today suggest that the world can only consume a fraction of the known oil, natural gas and coal reserves if it’s to keep temperature increases from causing widespread droughts, more violent storms and melting of polar ice caps.   Continue reading “Fossil Fuel ‘Budgets’ Suggested to Curb Climate Change”