Press TV

The US and Saudi Arabia are playing “good cop, bad cop” on Syria, while both are funding and arming the militant groups fighting to overthrow the government, says a senior lecturer at University of Sydney.

“The story that they are portraying in the Western media is that they are supporting the ‘moderate rebels’ and other extremists are supported by someone else,” Tim Anderson said in a phone interview with Press TV.   Continue reading “US, Saudi Arabia play ‘good cop, bad cop’ on Syria”

article imageOpposing Views – by Doris Quintanilla

A Mississippi police dog has been fired from the force after he was found playing instead of aiding in drug busts.

The Beligian Malinois dog known as “Fred” will be sent back to the training facility where the came from after the city of Gulfport paid between $12,000 and $13,000 for him and his training, the Sun Herald reports.

The Gulfport Police Department says Fred was “slacking off,” despite being given a chance to shape up.

The City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday that considered Fred to be “surplus property.” The Police Department will now sell Fred back to K-9 Unlimited, where they originally got him from.

“We’ll get some of our money back for the dog when we bring him back to the facility,” Chief Leonard Papania said. “I can’t speak specifically about what will happen with Fred. I can tell you nothing terrible will happen to Fred.”

Despite reports of Fred slacking off on the job, Roger Abshire, owner of K-9 Unlimited, told KATC Fred is only leaving Gulfport because he did not work well with his new canine handler.

Fred will soon be moving on to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, and the Gulfport Police Department will be purchasing a replacement dog from K9-Unlimited, KATC reports.

Business is business, but Chief Papania knows letting go of Fred won’t be that easy.

“Your K-9 handlers do have a bond with these animals,” he told the Sun Herald. “They spend a lot of time with them. These animals are kept in their homes. You do have that working bond. But they also are aware of the ultimate responsibility we have with these animals.”

Source: The Sun Herald, KATC

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/police-drug-sniffing-dog-fired-slacking-job-cost-city-13000#

Local 21 News – by Chris Rapst

HARRISBURG — Imagine buying a house, but having someone else pay the mortgage. It sounds great, right? Well, what if that someone else was you?

It sounds unbelievable. But CBS 21 has learned some of our elected officials may be using a flawed per diem system as an investment vehicle to buy houses – courtesy of the taxpayer.

“I’m disgusted,” said Susan Newcomb. “We’re struggling, barely making it. And somebody is going to do that? It’s just wrong.”   Continue reading “Per Diem Loophole Allows Lawmakers to Abuse System”

Forbes – by Samantha Sharf

Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released yet another disappointing jobs report.

Employers added 113,000 jobs in January, well below the 185,000 economists expected. The unemployment rate, which is drawn from a different survey of households, was down slightly to 6.6% from 6.7% in December. The labor force participation rate ticked up to 63% from 62.8%, which was the lowest rate in more than three and a half decades. The employment-population ratio was up to 58.8% from 58.6% in the prior month.   Continue reading “Jobs Report: U.S. Economy Added 113,000 Jobs In January, Unemployment Down To 6.6%”

Michael Bloomberg / APThe Washington Free Beacon

A former member of Michael Bloomberg’s gun control groupclaimed this week that the group’s objectives are far more radical than it has let on.

John Tkazyik, the mayor of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said he quit the former New York City mayor’s group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, after he realized its objective was outright confiscation of firearms from law-abiding citizens.   Continue reading “Former Bloomberg Ally Says ‘Mayors’ Group’s Goal Is Gun Confiscation”

Information Liberation – by Chris

Five months after Fairfax County, Virginia police shot and killed 46-year-old father and husband John Geer in his home, the police’s investigation into the shooting has still yet to be completed, and his friends and family are outraged.

Now, Geer’s best friend Jeff Stewart who witnessed the shooting is speaking out, saying he saw police shoot his friend with his hands up.    Continue reading ““You Just Shot An Unarmed Man!”: Witness Says Police Shot His Friend With His Hands Up”

letter-to-homelessFreeman’s Perspective – by Paul Rosenberg

I see you standing here, asking for help, about once a week. You are always polite, and I respect that. I’d like to do something for you… something that would matter long-term. Giving you a few notes or coins now and then may be fine, but I’d really like to improve your situation more permanently.

In other words, I’d like to give you a job.

I used to hire people, and I especially liked hiring people who had been denied breaks. I did that whenever I could. If you and I could be transported back in time, I’d hire you. And I’d feel good about it, because I think having a job would do you a lot of good.   Continue reading “A Frank Letter to the Homeless Man Under the Bridge”

AP House RepublicansUSA Today – by Susan Davis

WASHINGTON–House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday joined the Senate’s top Republican in suggesting an immigration overhaul this year is unlikely, citing a lack of trust among the GOP towards President Obama.

“There’s widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws, and it’s going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes,” Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Thursday.   Continue reading “Boehner: Distrust of Obama drags down immigration bill”

WGME 13 News

AUGUSTA (WGME) – Safety and security at your schools is firing up debate at the Maine State House. A new bill would make it a crime for students to have fake guns on school property.

Maine State Senator Dawn Hill (D-District 1) proposed a new law that would prohibit non-firing, replica firearms, in other words, fake guns, from being on or near school property. Students who are caught with them could be sent to jail for six months and fined up to $1,000.   Continue reading “Fake firearm bill fires up debate in Maine”

thumb_2_toy-guns.jpgSonoma County Gazette

Legislation authored by Senators Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) and Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) to regulate the appearance of toy, imitation or “copycat” guns passed out of its first policy committee with a 4-1 vote.  In an effort to stem a reoccurring tragedy involving toys being mistaken for real firearms Senate Bill 199, the Imitation Firearm Safety Act, would amend California law to define what an imitation firearm is and what those imitations must look like to differentiate real guns from fake guns.  Currently, toy guns such as airsoft and bb guns are not included in California’s legal definition of imitation weapons.    Continue reading “Bill to Regulate Toy Guns Advances in CA Senate”

Would the U.S. Postal Service Make a Better Banker for the Poor?Bloomberg – by Joshua Brustein

Banks have been consistently uninterested in providing financial services to poorer Americans, but others are increasingly jumping at the chance to do so. The latest is the United States Postal Service (pdf), whose inspector general published a paper last week detailing how serving the so-called unbanked with savings accounts and small-scale loans could provide a valuable public service while shoring up the finances of the vulnerable agency.   Continue reading “Would the U.S. Postal Service Make a Better Banker for the Poor?”

The Blaze – by Jason Howerton

A former Republican lawmaker has contacted the FBI over allegations that Cover Oregon project managers misled the federal government about the progress of the state health insurance exchange in order to get millions of dollars in funding.

More specifically, KATU-TV reports that project managers allegedly “initiated the design of dummy web pages to convince the federal government the project was further along than it actually was.”   Continue reading “‘If It’s True, Someone’s Going to Prison’: Serious Allegations Hit Oregon’s State Health Insurance Exchange”

screenshot of required Illinois sticker found by way of Village of Oak Park ILThe Daily Caller – by Eric Owens

Administrators at a school in the South Suburbs of Chicago are up in arms over a state law (House Bill 0183) that requires schools to post small signs announcing that guns cannot be carried in schools.

The new law relates to a new concealed-carry license law, reports the SouthtownStar, a suburban newspaper. Schools in Illinois did not allow guns previously. Now, though, schools — and churches, government agencies, liquor stores and certain other organizations — must post 4-by-6-inch stickers as visible reminders that guns are forbidden on premises.   Continue reading “School officials deeply troubled over guns appearing ON SIGNS BANNING GUNS”

              FILE - In this June 13, 2013 file photo, US Border Patrol agent Jerry Conlin looks out over Tijuana, Mexico, behind, along the old border wall along the US - Mexico border, where it ends at the base of a hill in San Diego.  After dropping during the recession, the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally into the U.S. appears to be on the rise again, according to a report released Monday, Sept. 23, 2013 by Pew Research CenterThe Daily Caller – by Caroline May

The Obama administration has issued new exemptions to a law that bars certain asylum-seekers and refugees who provided “limited material support” to terrorists who are believed to pose no threat from the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department published the new exemptions Wednesday in the Federal Register to narrow a ban in the Immigration and Nationality Act excluding refugees and asylum seekers who had provided limited material support, no matter how minor, to terrorists.   Continue reading “Obama admin unilaterally changes law to allow immigrants with ‘limited’ terror contact into US”

Members of the Philadelphia Police Department in action on Nov. 30, 2011 [AFP]Raw Story – by Arturo Garcia

Authorities in Palm Beach County, Florida, shot and killed a man who apparently went on a naked rampage Tuesday night, injuring three people and exhibiting what was described as superhuman strength.

The Palm Beach Post reported that the man, identified as 28-year-old Anesson Joseph, was first spotted running in the nude outside a Delray Beach residential community. He then allegedly attacked and beat on a 66-year-old retired police officer Douglas R. Kozlik before chasing 16-year-old Tania Grein.   Continue reading “Cops shoot and kill naked Florida man after face-biting rampage”

Forbes – by Avik Roy

Yesterday, Washington’s official non-partisan bean-counter, the Congressional Budget Office, dropped a bomb. By 2024, says the CBO, Obamacare will reduce the size of the U.S. labor force by 2.5 million full-time-equivalent workers. That’s roughly triple what the CBO had estimated three years ago. Such a sizeable decline in the labor force will have substantial detrimental effects on the U.S. economic and fiscal picture. But the CBO wasn’t responsible for the most amazing thing that happened yesterday. That title belongs to the Obama White House, where Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed that 2.5 million Americans leaving the workforce was a good thing, because they would no longer be “trapped in a job.”   Continue reading “White House: It’s A Good Thing That Obamacare Will Drive 2.5 Million Americans Out Of The Workforce”