Author: Admin

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

The system used by the Dept. of Education to collect on defaulted student loans came to a standstill in the last month, leaving an estimated 91,000 accounts in limbo, when the agency ordered debt collectors under contract to stop making collections on accounts.

As Consumerist’s Ashlee Kieler reports, consumers who expected their student loan payments to be deducted from their bank accounts this month have reportedly found the funds untouched, and their calls to the companies unanswered thanks to a Department of Education’s order prohibiting the debt collection companies from working on default accounts in response to two lawsuits against the agency.   Continue reading ““The Crisis Has Become Pandemic” – System To Collect Defaulted Student Loans Is No Longer Functioning”

Las Vegas Review-Journal – by Jenny Wilson

Federal prosecutors said this week they want to retry the first group of defendants in the Bunkerville standoff case before moving forward with the trial of rancher Cliven Bundy and others charged as leaders of the 2014 armed protests.

Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre disclosed the decision, which still needs a judge’s approval, in a Wednesday court filing.
Continue reading “Prosecutors ask to retry gunmen before Bundys go to trial”

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The Advocate

Two large groups have planned Sunday protests and counter-protests over the planned removal of three Confederate monuments in New Orleans.

Sunday’s rally was originally called by Take ‘Em Down NOLA, an organization that has called for the removal of all statues and street and institution names that the group says honor white supremacists. It promises a march and second-line at 1:30 p.m. from Congo Square, next to Municipal Auditorium, to Lee Circle to celebrate the removal of the first of four Jim Crow-era statues in the city last month.   Continue reading “Tensions high at opposing Confederate monument protests in New Orleans”

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The Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder

One sector of the economy that is acting as if we were already in the middle of a horrible recession is the auto industry.  We just got sales figures for the month of April, and every single major U.S. auto manufacturer missed their sales projections.  And compared to one year ago, sales were way down across the entire industry.  When you add this latest news to all of the other signals that the U.S. economy is slowly down substantially, a very disturbing picture begins to emerge.  Either the U.S. economy is steamrolling toward a major slowdown, or this is one heck of a head fake.   Continue reading “U.S. Auto Sales Plunge Dramatically As The Consumer Debt Bubble Continues To Collapse”

Washington Post – by Samantha Schmidt

Neighbors noticed the warning signs — vehicles dropping off large groups of people, who would then nervously scurry into the San Diego home.

When police officers arrived to investigate the property in November, the home’s resident, Dania Olivero, told them she had invited friends over to drink beer. But when they stepped inside the home, officers noticed no one was drinking — the beer cans were unopened and appeared to have just been pulled from the refrigerator.   Continue reading “Woman caught harboring 44 undocumented immigrants, some in shed, is sentenced to prison”

College Fix – by Matthew Stein

But international students pay full price and must certify they have sufficient funds to cover tuition 

A program to be rolled out at Emory University this fall pledges to pay “100% of demonstrated financial need for undergraduate Undocumented Students (with or without DACA) who are admitted as first-year, first-degree-seeking students,” campus officials state online.

The program, called “Need-Based Financial Aid Program for Undocumented Students, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) Students,” is detailed on the private university’s website.   Continue reading “Emory University to pay ‘100 percent’ of the financial need of students in country illegally”

CNN – by Barbara Starr

The incident occurred 40 miles west of Mogadishu near the town of Barii. The wounded are receiving medical attention, the official said. The troops came under small arms fire.  Continue reading “US military member killed in action in Somalia”

NBC News

By the slimmest of margins, the House of Representatives passed the Republican plan to replace Obamacare Thursday afternoon, sending the measure to a skeptical Senate where it would be almost certain to take on a completely different form. Republicans passed the bill by a vote of 217 to 213, just one vote over the 216 needed.

Republicans had been working to piece together a GOP-only coalition of votes ever since their attempt to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act failed nearly two months ago and came into the vote with just 21 votes to spare.   Continue reading “House Narrowly Passes GOP Health Care Bill”

Argus

Washington, 3 May (Argus) — Republicans in the US House of Representatives are dusting off energy bills that died last year as they make a fresh attempt to expedite a permitting process for natural gas and oil pipelines they say takes too long.

The bills under consideration include similar language included in legislation the House passed last year but that never became law. President Donald Trump has pushed to accelerate pipeline approvals, but Republicans view their bills as a more permanent fix to what they consider to be a flawed permitting process and avoid the types of issues that delayed the 830,000 b/d Keystone XL pipeline.   Continue reading “US House looks to expedite pipeline permitting”

Fox News

Two Russian Bear bombers — escorted for the first time by a pair of Su-35 “Flanker” fighter jets — entered Alaska’s Air Defense Zone early Thursday morning, U.S. officials told Fox News.

The Russian formation was intercepted by a pair of U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jets that were already flying a patrol about 50 miles southwest of Chariot, Alaska.   Continue reading “Russian bombers, fighter jets fly near Alaska, prompting Air Force escort”

Fox News

The executive order President Trump is expected to sign Thursday will be focused on the Johnson Amendment and allow non-profit organizations to deny certain health coverage for religious reasons, administration sources told Fox News Wednesday.

The three main points of the executive order, according to a senior White House official, will declare “that it is the policy of the administration to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty,” direct the IRS “to exercise maxim enforcement of discretion to alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment,” and provide “regulatory relief for religious objectors to Obamacare’s burdensome preventive services mandate.”    Continue reading “Trump executive order on religious liberty to focus on Johnson Amendment, sources say”

ABC 7 News – by Stacey Sager

WESTBURY, Long Island (WABC) — Police in Nassau County have announced the arrests of three members of the notorious MS-13 gang on charges of attempted murder in Westbury.

The three undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, all described as “extremely dangerous” reputed members of the gang, were arrested in connection with two separate attacks on 19-year-old men in Westbury.   Continue reading “Police: 3 members of notorious Long Island gang charged with attempted murder”

Argus Media

Washington, 2 May (Argus) — The US Defense Department wants to prolong a drilling ban in the eastern part of the US Gulf of Mexico, an area the oil industry is lobbying President Donald Trump’s administration to open for leasing.

The area is estimated to contain 3.6bn bl of technically recoverable oil and 11.5 Tcf of natural gas but is largely off-limits to drilling until 2022. Existing infrastructure like pipelines from development elsewhere in the Gulf makes the region particularly attractive to oil and gas producers, but military officials worry that drilling and production activity could impede use of the area for training and testing.   Continue reading “Pentagon calls for extension of drilling moratorium in eastern Gulf of Mexico”