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The Great Recession – by David Haggith

When I predicted the economic apocalypse would begin for the US this month, I said the stock market would rise euphorically after the Fed raised its interest target. Rise it did. Steeply, too. I also said it would fall shortly after. Fall it did. Quickly, too. Now I’m saying the Epocalypse is here.   Continue reading “Epocalypse Now: The Economic Apocalypse is Here”

Sent to us by the author John Trowbridge: ….. ALL the documents are here, to help YOU avoid Federal entanglements and to help YOU escape their clutches if you’re “already in court” — This newest posting summarizes the cases and gives you the framework to understand the issues!

Supreme Court Case

The Union is the collective of the 50 respective commonwealths united by and under authority of the Constitution, and the geographic area they occupy.   Continue reading “Criminal complaint filed with military authorities against all Lufkin Federal actors”

Sent to us by Clay.

CBS Sacramento – by Kelly Ryan

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A new ban on concealed handguns on college and school campuses will go into effect in California on Friday, as the state joins 19 others with similar bans.

It was just a week after this school shooting in Oregon last October where a gunman killed nine people at a community college when Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to ban the concealed carry of handguns at colleges and school campuses.   Continue reading “Gun Control Opponents Say Campus Firearm Ban Won’t Make People Safer”

Yahoo News

An Ohio Grand Jury has declined to indict two police officers in the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot dead by a Cleveland police officer last year, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said today.

McGinty said he also recommended that no charges be filed.   Continue reading “Grand Jury Declines to Indict Officers in Tamir Rice Case, Prosecutor Says”

Tulsa World – by Michael Overall

In a ruling that could affect virtually every well drilled in the past 45 years across Osage County, a federal judge has invalidated an oil and gas lease for not including a site-specific environmental assessment.

The lawsuit, Hayes v. {span}Chaparral Energy and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, specifically mentions only one lease and two drilling permits. But it could serve as a test case for a pending class-action lawsuit that, if decided the same way, would have a much wider impact.

Both cases involve the National Environmental Policy Act and whether it requires the BIA to consider the potential environmental impact of each specific well site. The BIA has generally granted drilling permits based on an environmental assessment of the whole county conducted in 1979, but U.S. District Chief Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled that the countywide assessment is too generic and outdated to satisfy the law.

“Unlike 1979,” the judge wrote, “today virtually every drilling operation in Osage County involves hydraulic fracturing.”

The logic of this ruling, if applied to a 2014 class-action lawsuit known as the Donelson case, could invalidate nearly every lease signed since NEPA was enacted in 1970, said attorney Donald Lepp, who is representing the plaintiffs in both cases. Although, as Lepp noted, the courts will also have to decide whether a statute of limitations would protect leases signed more than several years ago.

“The BIA ignored its duties under NEPA when it approved the lease and drilling permits,” Lepp told the Tulsa World. “As virtually every lease and permit approved by the BIA in Osage County were handled similarly, the ruling will have impact beyond just this case.”

This week’s ruling poses yet another problem for an Osage oil industry that has been in turmoil for more than a year. The BIA, partly in response the Donelson class-action lawsuit, has made it more difficult and time-consuming to get drilling permits, and producers took the BIA to federal court to block stricter environmental standards that they say would have made oil production virtually impossible in the county.

If BIA regulations haven’t been in compliance with NEPA, oil producers aren’t to blame, said Jamie Sicking, an attorney for the Osage Producers Association.

“The real bad actor here again is the BIA,” he said. “The producers have to trust that the BIA is doing their job correctly.”

Sicking finds hope for the future of the Osage oil industry in one of the judge’s footnotes, acknowledging that federal regulators could go through the process of issuing a “categorical exclusion” for the county, relieving at least some of the environmental burdens imposed by NEPA. But in the meantime, “we’re all caught in a very scary situation right now,” he said.

BIA officials could not be reached for comment.

—————

Michael Overall 918-581-8383

michael.overall@tulsaworld.com

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/court-ruling-could-have-big-impact-on-osage-oil-industry/article_66aa0f47-362c-5260-aef1-3cf30dfca6d0.html

 

Yahoo News

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s parliament passed a controversial new anti-terrorism law on Sunday that requires technology firms to hand over sensitive information such as encryption keys to the government and allows the military to venture overseas on counter-terror operations.

Chinese officials say their country faces a growing threat from militants and separatists, especially in its unruly Western region of Xinjiang, where hundreds have died in violence in the past few years.   Continue reading “China passes controversial counter-terrorism law”

Fox News

A Maine landlord wants tossed a lawsuit filed by a retired Maine lobsterman who shot an intruder with a gun he bought less than a day earlier for protection against burglars.

The lawsuit had been filed last month by Harvey Lembo, 67. He uses a wheelchair and says he armed himself after five burglaries in six years at his Rockland apartment complex. Lembo bought an old gun on Aug. 31 and the next day he shot and wounded a man he believed had broken into his apartment to steal prescription medication he uses for chronic pain, according to the Bangor Daily News.   Continue reading “Maine landlord asks judge to dismiss tenant’s gun rights lawsuit”

KARE 11 News

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to review the case of a convicted felon sentenced to five years in prison for possessing a BB gun.

David Lee Haywood was charged in Ramsey County in 2013 with possession of a firearm by an ineligible person. He was convicted after the judge told the jury a BB gun counts as a firearm.   Continue reading “MN Supreme Court to consider if BB guns are firearms”

Motley Fool

There are probably as many favorite guns among firearms enthusiasts as there are models manufactured. One way to determine what the “best” gun is is to see what people are buying. But that’s not a straightforward endeavor.

Since Smith & Wesson Holding (NASDAQ:SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger (NYSE:RGR) are the only publicly traded gunsmiths, we’re able to gain some insights into their sales, but mostly of broad categories rather than specific models.   Continue reading “The 5 Best-Selling Guns of 2015”

Fox News

The Houston Fire Department said Saturday investigators believe the two-alarm blaze at a mosque was intentionally set.

KHOU.com reported investigators are taking a look at surveillance video in the shopping center where the Islamic Society of Greater Houston is located. Houston firefighters responded to the fire around 2:45 p.m. Friday, according toFox 26 Houston. It took about 80 firefighters to quench the blaze.   Continue reading “Houston authorities say blaze at mosque was intentionally set”

NBC News

A new line of storms was barreling through Texas on Sunday as officials worked to assess damage from a series of tornadoes and severe weather which left at least 11 people dead overnight.

Authorities said the full extent of the damage from Saturday’s spate of storms was not yet known — but warned the region should get ready for another hit. Forecasters warned of more “severe” weather and heavy rain.   Continue reading “Texas Storms, Tornadoes Leave at Least 11 Dead Around Dallas Area”

USA Today

A Chicago police officer shot and killed two people early Saturday while responding to a domestic dispute call, authorities said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office identified the two killed as Bettie R. Jones, 55, and Quintonio Legrier, 19. Both died at nearby hospitals shortly after the incident, police said. The incident comes as the troubled city is already embroiled in a federal civil rights investigation after a 2014 officer-involved shooting.   Continue reading “Chicago police officer fatally shoots 2 while responding to call”

Reuters

Leaders of the church-based Sanctuary Movement vowed on Friday to offer their places of worship as refuge for immigrants facing deportation under an Obama administration crackdown on Central American families who entered the United States illegally.

The statement came two days after The Washington Post first reported the U.S. government was planning a series of raids to remove hundreds of undocumented families as early as January in the first such large-scale effort targeting the recent flood of border crossers.   Continue reading “Churches offer refuge for Central Americans facing U.S. deportation”

ABC News

Authorities say two Odessa police officers were shot Wednesday while attempting to serve a warrant at an apartment complex in the West Texas city, and a nine-hour standoff ended with the suspect being taken into custody.

Police said that the officers were taken to the hospital and are listed in fair condition. Police said Sgt. Pete Gonzales was shot in the arm and Officer Cory Wester sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and upper leg.   Continue reading “2 Police Officers Shot in Odessa, Texas; Standoff Ends”

Fox News

The Department of Homeland Security is planning deportation raids targeting hundreds of families who have entered the United States since the start of last year, according to a published report.

The Washington Post, citing officials familiar with the plan, reported that the raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would detain and deport adults and children who have already been ordered removed by an immigration judge. The targeted groups include illegal immigrants who failed to show up for court dates to hear their asylum applications after they were detained by federal agents.    Continue reading “Homeland Security reportedly readying deportation raids early next year”

ABC News

Seven people have been killed in storms and tornadoes across the South late Wednesday, with at least 40 people injured, according to officials.

Among the dead was a 7-year-old boy in Holly Springs, Mississippi, according to Mayor Kelvin Buck. No further details about the circumstances were immediately available. An additional 15 people were injured in Holly Springs. Search and rescue efforts will continue overnight, the mayor told ABC News.   Continue reading “7 People Killed, At Least 40 Injured in Storms and Tornadoes”

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Backwoods Resistance – by Scott M. Terry

It is often joked about in the rural sections, that the USDA is the only federal agency that’s success is measured by the number of constituents it kills off.  Unfortunately, this is the sole purpose of the USDA and its mission.  The centralization of agriculture, through the USDA, began during the Lincoln administration.  This administration ushered in the end of the old republic and not surprisingly was full of Marxists.  It wasn’t until the 1930s however, that the USDA really began to work its collectivist magic.   Continue reading “The Consolidation and Collectivization of American Agriculture”