Fox News

BEIJING –  Donald Trump’s unprecedented phone conversation with Taiwan’s president and tweets criticizing China point to the possibility of major friction between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump’s talk with Tsai Ing-wen diverged sharply from U.S. practice since Washington switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. Especially noteworthy were his direct reference to Tsai as “president” and to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan — a practice that particularly infuriates Beijing.   Continue reading “Trump’s Taiwan call, tweets point to flashpoints with China”

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Jurist

California’s 5th District Court of Appeals[official website] on Thursday reversed and remanded [opinion, PDF] a lower court ruling which rejected a challenge to a state law requiring gun microstamping. In 2007 then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger [official profile] signed a bill[materials] intended to combat gun trafficking and ease crime investigations involving bullet casings. The bill required [AP report] gun manufacturers to double-mark semiautomatic pistols with “a microscopic array of characters” that would identify the weapon and imprint on inserted cartridges when fired. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) [advocacy websites] later challenged the law, stating that microstamping guns on two different areas is technologically impossible. Continue reading “California appeals court remands challenge to gun microstamping law”

McClatchy DC – by Theresa Welsh

Nearly 600 veterans could have been infected with HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C at a Veterans Affairs facility in Tomah, Wis. because a dentist didn’t properly clean his instruments.

The Tomah VA is investigating the dentist, who has not been fired but was removed from patient care. According to acting Medical Center Director Victoria Brahm, the dentist was using his own equipment for routine dental exams, then cleaning it and using it again. This violates VA rules, which require use of disposable equipment to ensure sterility.   Continue reading “VA may have infected 600 veterans with HIV and Hepatitis”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

So much for that much anticipated rebound in the participation rate.

After it had managed to post a modest increase in the early part of the year, hitting the highest level in one year in March at 63%, the disenchantment with working has returned, and the labor force participation rate had flatlined for the next few month, ultimately dropping in November to 62.7%, just shy of its 35 year low of 62.4% hit last October. This can be seen in the surge of Americans who are no longer in the labor force, who spiked by 446,000 in November, hitting an all time high of 95.1 million.    Continue reading “Americans Not In The Labor Force Soar To Record 95.1 Million: Jump By 446,000 In One Month”

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WPXI 11 News – by Brianna Chambers

A Virginia school has temporarily banned two American classics after a parent said her high school-age son was negatively impacted by the racial slurs they contain.

The decision to remove “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain and “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee came after a parent filed a complaint, WAVY reported. The parent cited excessive racial slurs as the reason for wanting the books banned, Superintendent Warren Holland told the news station.   Continue reading “Virginia schools ban ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ ‘Huckleberry Finn’ for racial slurs”

Wall Street Journal – by Ted Mann

Indiana officials agreed to give United Technologies Corp. $7 million worth of tax breaks over 10 years to encourage the company’s Carrier Corp. unit to keep about 1,000 jobs in the state, according to people familiar with the matter.

The heating and air conditioning company will invest about $16 million to keep its operations in the state, including a furnace plant in Indianapolis that it had previously planned to close and shift the work to Mexico, the people said.   Continue reading “Indiana Gives $7 Million in Tax Breaks to Keep Carrier Jobs”

Reuters

A last-ditch effort in the Senate to block or delay rule changes that would expand the U.S. government’s hacking powers failed Wednesday, despite concerns the changes would jeopardize the privacy rights of innocent Americans and risk possible abuse by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden attempted three times to delay the changes, which will take effect on Thursday and allow U.S. judges will be able to issue search warrants that give the FBI the authority to remotely access computers in any jurisdiction, potentially even overseas. His efforts were blocked by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican.   Continue reading “FBI to gain expanded hacking powers as Senate effort to block fails”

Yahoo News

A man who discovered a real-life pot of gold was captured on surveillance video apparently stealing it from the back of an armored truck in broad daylight. The aluminum pail was filled with 86 pounds of gold flakes, worth an estimated $1.6 million.

The alleged theft happened earlier this fall in midtown Manhattan, on Sept. 29 at about 4:30 p.m., according to a news release from the New York Police Department on Tuesday.

Continue reading “Man Walks Off With $1.6 Million Pot of Gold in Apparent Theft Caught on Camera”

ABC News

A San Francisco supervisor is proposing more money for lawyers to defend immigrants who face possible deportation under a Trump administration.

KCBS reports ( http://cbsloc.al/2fzRzvR ) that San Francisco Supervisor David Campos will introduce legislation Tuesday setting aside $5 million from the city’s budget to help pay for lawyers to represent people in deportation proceedings.   Continue reading “San Francisco Officials Seek $5M to Block Deportations”

RT

The US has reached a new energy milestone after the volume of the natural gas exported in November exceeded the amount imported during the same period.

The country has become a net exporter of natural gas for the first time in nearly six decades, according to the US Energy Department.

Gas exports totaled 7.4 billion cubic feet per day this month, compared to the 7 billion cubic feet per day the country imported, according to data from S&P Global Platts.   Continue reading “US net exporter of natural gas for first time in 60 yrs”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

While it has yet to be officially confirmed by the Trump transition team, moments ago the NYT reported that – in what had previously been leaked on several occasions on various other outlets most notably the WSJ – former Goldman banker and Soros employee, Steven Mnuchin “a financier with deep roots on Wall Street and in Hollywood but no government experience”is expected to be named Donald J. Trump’s Treasury secretary as soon as Wednesday.

The WSJ has confirmed as much, reporting that “President-elect Donald Trump will name longtime banker and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, turning to a campaign loyalist and fundraiser for the incoming administration’s top economic cabinet post, a transition official said Tuesday.”   Continue reading “Trump Picks Former Goldman Banker Steven Mnuchin As Treasury Secretary”

Truthstream Media – by Melissa Dykes

Some people still aren’t sure on this point, so just for the record, yes: US government domestic propaganda use against American citizens has been fully made legal.

Looking around at what’s going on in “the news” today, that certainly explains a lot, doesn’t it?   Continue reading “Yes, US Government Propaganda Use Against American Citizens Is Officially Legal Now”

CBS News

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Police said they killed at least one suspect during an active shooter lockdown at Ohio State University on Monday morning, reports CBS Columbus affiliate WBNS. It is not clear whether there are more suspects.

Ohio State University officials have canceled classes for the day. Nearby school districts in Upper Arlington and Grandview Heights were also placed on lockdown.

Officials say at least eight people were injured, one critically, in an incident that began at the campus’ chemical engineering building.    Continue reading “At least 8 injured in Ohio State University attack; one suspect dead”

NBC 4

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Firefighters say at least seven people have been transported after the active shooter was reported on campus.

The nature of the injuries are not known at this time.

An alert was issued for an active shooter on Ohio State University’s Campus, Monday morning.   Continue reading “Active shooter reported on Ohio State campus, one person hospitalized”

PJ Media – by Rick Moran

The Obama administration is preparing to give the middle finger to the American electorate by ignoring the results of the recently held election and continuing with Obama’s efforts to “transform” America.

The president has been unable to effect much transformation via Congress, so he has once again picked up his pen and is readying a dizzying array of new regulations from a dozen different agencies that will massively increase the burden on American business.   Continue reading “Obama to Push Nearly 100 New Regulations Before Leaving Office”

The Motley Fool – by Leo Sun

2016 looks like it will be a record year for gun sales. The number of NICS background checks for firearm purchases has risen annually for 18 straight months, hitting 22.2 million at the end of October versus 23.1 million in 2015.

Analysts expect Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ:SWHC) and Sturm Ruger (NYSE:RGR) — the only two publicly traded gunmakers in the U.S. — to respectively grow their revenues by 26% and 13% this year. Let’s take a look back at the five top selling handguns of the year, as listed by Gunbroker.com, and what they tell us about today’s American firearm market.   Continue reading “The 5 Best-Selling Handguns of 2016”