Seeing green: Marvine Rosales-Martinez, 27, who found a winning scratch-off card while blowing leaves at his landscaping job last fall, was allowed to collect his $1million prize this weekDaily Mail – by SNEJANA FARBEROV

Who said money doesn’t grow on trees?

Marvine Rosales-Martinez, 27, who came upon a winning lottery ticket while blowing leaves at his landscaping job last fall, was finally allowed to collect his $1million prize this week.

Rosales-Martinez, of Hicksville, Long island, was among five lucky winners who were handed oversize checks by the New York Lottery officials Friday.      Continue reading “Lucky landscaper who found $1M lottery ticket while picking up leaves gets to KEEP the money”

Ted CruzThe Guardian – by Joanna Walters 

Senator Ted Cruz has said that he is taking steps to renounce his mysterious Canadian citizenship – in a move he insists does not in any way indicate a run for the White House in 2016.

The junior senator from Texaswho made a name for himself as a driving force behind efforts to bring down the Affordable Care Act by way of a government shutdown, was surprised to learn earlier this year – after some digging by one of his home state newspapers – that he reportedly enjoys dual citizenship.   Continue reading “Ted Cruz ‘taking steps’ to renounce Canadian citizenship”

russiabomb640.jpgFox News

For the second time in as many days, an explosion rocked the Russian city of Volgograd Monday morning. Russian officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up on a trolleybus, killing at least 14 people and wounding nearly 30 others. The latest attack came one day after at least 17 people died in a suicide bombing at the city’s central rail station.

The explosion ripped away much of the bus’s exterior and broke windows in nearby buildings. The BBC reported that the explosion took place near a market in the city’s Dzerzhinsky district. It virtually paralyzed public transport in the city, forcing many residents to walk long distances to get to work.   Continue reading “Russian city hit by suicide bombing for second straight day”

LAPD performing a drug checkpoint.  (Source: NBC Los Angeles)Police State USA

LOS ANGELES, CA — As drivers prove their innocence at warrantless police checkpoints this New Year, they will not only be scrutinized over their potential consumption of alcohol.  A new technology will enable the police to detect and arrest drivers for having marijuana, narcotics, and “other drugs” in their bloodstreams.

The recently unveiled device is a portable saliva swab analyzer, capable of immediately sampling body fluids for the presence of foreign intoxicants.  The machines were paid for by grants from the state.   Continue reading “Police to take saliva & blood from drivers at New Year’s drug checkpoints”

Breitbart – by FRANCES MARTEL

Bill de Blasio’s tenure as mayor of New York City will officially begin on New Year’s Day, before the steps of City Hall, and with President Bill Clinton holding the Bible on which he will be sworn into office.

De Blasio’s transition team announced the presence of both Clinton’s at the ceremony on Saturday, with the former President presiding over the key inaugural act. “I was honored to serve in President Clinton’s administration and on Secretary Clinton’s campaign for U. S. Senate,” de Blasio said in a statement announcing their presence at the inaugural, “and I am honored again that they will both join our celebration for all of New York City.” He also tweeted out an old photo of his family with the Clintons expressing his gratitude for their presence. De Blasio will be using a Bible owned by another former president, Franklin D. Roosevelt.   Continue reading “Bill Clinton will Swear in Bill De Blasio as NYC Mayor”

The Future of Freedom Foundation – by Sheldon Richman

The American people should know that pending right now in Congress is a bipartisan bill that would virtually commit the United States to go to war against Iran if Israel attacks the Islamic Republic. “The bill outsources any decision about resort to military action to the government of Israel,” Columbia University Iran expert Gary Sick wrote to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in protest, one of the bill’s principal sponsors.

The mind boggles at the thought that Congress would let a foreign government decide when America goes to war, so here is the language (PDF):   Continue reading “Congress Must Not Cede Its War Power to Israel”

Digital Journal – by Justin King

Activists from around the world will begin attempting to create a twitterstorm in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Twitter tonight. The opposition is coming from activists on both the left and right wing of the political spectrum.

The twitterstorm operation is set to begin at 7PM Eastern and will attempt to make the hashtag #StopTheTPP trend on Twitter, in hopes of raising awareness of the secretive trade deal being brokered among a dozen nations. The nations involved are the US, Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and Brunei Darussalam. The Office of the United States Trade Representative hosts a blanket statement about the trade deal on its website stating in part:   Continue reading “Opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership explodes on Twitter”

Educate Yourself – by Sheldon Richman 

S.1881 proposed bill wording

S.18 81 – Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013

The 26 Israeli Fifth Columnists sponsoring S.1881:

“The legislation was co-sponsored by twenty-six senators, including: Senators Kirk, Menendez, Schumer, Graham, Cardin, McCain, Casey, Rubio, Coons, Cornyn, Blumenthal, Ayotte, Begich, Corker, Pryor, Collins, Landrieu, Moran, Gillibrand, Roberts, Warner, Johanns, Hagan, Cruz, Donnelly, and Blunt.”   Continue reading “US Senate Zion Fifth Columnists Propose S.1881, “Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013,” To Cede US War Power Decision Against Iran to Israel”

This Dec. 24, 2013 photo released by Lhawang Dhondup shows Tyler Armstrong, from Southern California, standing by a cross on the summit of Aconcagua Mountain in Argentina. The 9-year-old boy has become the youngest person in recorded history to reach the summit of Argentina's Aconcagua mountain, the tallest peak in the Western and Southern hemispheres. (AP Photo/Lhawang Dhondup)New York Daily News

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A 9-year-old boy from Southern California has become the youngest person in recorded history to reach the summit of Argentina’s Aconcagua mountain, which at 22,841 feet is the tallest peak in the Western and Southern hemispheres.

Tyler Armstrong of Yorba Linda reached the summit on Christmas Eve with his father Kevin and a Tibetan sherpa, Lhawang Dhondup, who has climbed Mount Everest multiple times. They were in fine spirits Friday as they left Aconcagua, whose sheer precipices and bitter cold have claimed more than 100 climbers’ lives.   Continue reading “California boy, 9, becomes youngest person to scale Argentina’s Aconcagua mountain”

CBS 12 News – by Scott T. Smith

LAKE MARY, Fla. (WKMG/CBS) — A bear crashes a Lake Mary family’s Christmas and it was all caught on camera.

It’s just the latest bear in a series of close encounters the past few weeks in Central Florida.

The bear was caught breaking into the back patio of a home on Redwood Grove Terrace in search for a late-night snack.   Continue reading “Bear Breaks Into Florida Homeowner’s Screened Patio Looking For Food”

Fox News

A Chinese icebreaker boat trying to eat through a dense ice block in Antarctica to rescue 74 people trapped on a ship since Christmas Day has had to halt efforts because the ice is too thick.

The Chinese “Snow Dragon” reached the ice floe off the coast of Cape de la Motte, and got about 6.7 nautical miles from the Russian-operated MV Akademik Shokalskiy  Friday, before calling off the mission, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.     Continue reading “Icebreaker sent to rescue ship trapped near Antarctica can’t penetrate ice”

AP Sgt Gale Stauffer nt 131226 16x9 608 Cop Killer Manhunt Goes NationwideABC News – by Mike Levine

The manhunt for a “cop killer” was expanded today to a nationwide dragnet to find the suspected bank robber who fatally shot a Mississippi  police officer two days before Christmas, according to the FBI.

Tupelo Police Department officer Gale Stauffer and another officer were hit by gunfire Monday when they confronted suspected bank robbers during their getaway in the city.   Continue reading “‘Cop Killer’ Manhunt Goes Nationwide”

CN image kethalexanderCruxial CIO – by Antone Gonsalves

Two federal judges have issued contradictory rulings on the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s massive collection of Americans’ phone data, setting the stage for a final decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III in New York issued a 54-page ruling Friday that said the NSA’s gathering of bulk telephone metadata was lawful and necessary in order to identify callers and recipients of conversations involving terrorists. Metadata includes numbers called, and records of when and how long the calls last.   Continue reading “With Lower Courts At Odds, Supreme Court May Hear NSA Metadata Case”

philduckA&E and the Robertsons make bank with marketing gimmick.

USA Today – by Gary Levin

A&E has ducked away from a controversy surrounding the stars of its hugely popular reality series Duck Dynasty.

The network issued a statement late Friday backing off from its previously announced suspension of Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the clan behind the successful Louisiana-based Duck Commanderduck-calling business. The suspension was triggered by Robertson’s interview with GQ, published last week, in which he made anti-gay statements, which he said reflected his religious beliefs.   Continue reading “A&E calls off ‘Duck Dynasty’ suspension”

Image from flickr user@P.V.O.G. Police-Vehicle-Owners-Group RT News

The Los Angeles Police Department has announced plans to ramp up use of a portable tool that checks for drug use, beginning with a New Year’s Eve crackdown on intoxicated drivers. Officials cited increased medical marijuana use as a main justification.

A state grant supplied the LAPD with a swab testing tool that will be employed at DUI (driving under the influence) checkpoints and jails, Los Angeles officials said at a Friday press conference.   Continue reading “LAPD deploys drug detection swab test at sobriety checkpoints”

Liver tissueComputer World – by Lucas Mearian

Computerworld – Approximately 18 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant. But that may change someday sooner than you think — thanks to 3D printing.

Advances in the 3D printing of human tissue have moved fast enough that San Diego-based bio-printing company Organovo now expects to unveil the world’s first printed organ — a human liver — next year.   Continue reading “The first 3D printed organ — a liver — is expected in 2014”

sandy hook elementary shootingBusiness Insider – by PAMELA ENGEL

The State’s Attorney of Danbury, Conn. has released its full report on the Dec. 14, 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.

Authorities released a summary of their report last month that said investigators weren’t able to determine a motive for Adam Lanza’s massacre. He killed 20 school children, six adults, and his own mother before shooting himself in the Newtown, Conn. school.  Continue reading “Full Police Investigation Into Sandy Hook Shooting Released”

WJLA News

(CNN) – More than a million Americans who rely on federal unemployment will see their benefits dry up on Saturday.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed a short-term extension to a 2008 law that extended unemployment benefits to millions of jobless people, but in the absence of that, about 1.3 million people will lose benefits over the weekend.   Continue reading “Unemployment benefits to end Saturday for 1.3 million jobless Americans”