Demonstrators toss out smoke bombs during a march in Berkeley, California on Saturday, December 6, 2014. Demonstrators were responding to the grand jury verdicts in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York City by local police officers in their communities. Photo: Sam Wolson / Special To The Chronicle / ONLINE_YESABC News

Two officers were injured as a Northern California protest over police killings turned violent, with protesters smashing windows and throwing rocks and bricks at police, who responded by firing tear gas, authorities said.

Several officers were struck, but there were just two reports of injuries, Berkeley police spokeswoman Jenn Coats said. A Berkeley police officer received hospital treatment for a dislocated shoulder after being hit with a sandbag, while another sustained minor injuries.   Continue reading “Berkeley Protesters Smash Windows; 2 Officers Hurt – Police use tear gas on protesters”

New Mexico’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shown in a 1999 file photo.Wall Street Journal – by Dan Frosch

SANTA FE, N.M.—New Mexico has fined the U.S. Energy Department more than $54 million over accidents at the country’s only underground repository for nuclear waste.

The fines, which state officials announced Saturday morning, stem from an underground fire and a radiation leak earlier this year at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, known as WIPP. Nearly two dozen workers were exposed to contamination at the plant, which handles radioactive waste from the nation’s nuclear-weapons program.   Continue reading “New Mexico Fines U.S. $54 Million for Nuclear Accidents”

Luke SomersCNN – by Jim Sciutto and Ben Brumfield

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Al Qaeda militants killed American hostage Luke Somers and a South African captive in Yemen during a raid conducted by U.S. forces to rescue Somers, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday.

President Barack Obama ordered Friday’s raid because “there were compelling reasons to believe Mr. Somers’ life was in imminent danger,” Hagel said.   Continue reading “Al Qaeda kills hostages during SEALs raid on Yemen, Hagel says”

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Counter Current News

Is anything that corrupt cops get away with surprising any more?

Another story out of Florida comes to us, telling of an off-duty police officer abusing his power by arresting a citizen who he claimed “stole” his parking spot.

Now to be sure, stealing parking spots is not cool. But Clausel Pierre says that he pulled into a parking space at a Deerfield Beach shoe store back in January 2011 and never saw a BSO off-duty officer waiting to pull in.   Continue reading “Man Sues After Being Arrested For ‘Stealing Parking Space’ From Cop”

APWashington Free Beacon – by Adam Kredo

The Obama administration is refusing to discuss reports that emerged early Thursday claiming that the White House is considering imposing sanctions on Israel for continuing construction on Jewish homes in Jerusalem.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf dodged several questions on Thursday when confronted with reports that the administration had held secret internal meetings to discuss taking action against Israel for its ongoing building in East Jerusalem.   Continue reading “Reports: Obama Mulling Sanctions on Israel”

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Real Currencies – by Anthony Migchels

The call for a Basic Income is both old and mounting. Success of the scheme is dependent on funding. If it’s some sort of National Dividend, sharing the bounty of the Commons, it’s necessary. If it’s a Marxist tax based redistribution scheme, it’s worse than the disease it’s supposed to heal.

A Basic Income, in whatever form, is very much on the agenda at the moment. And it’s eminently transparent why: growing desperation for economic justice in the face of the blatant centralization of wealth in ever fewer hands. Through Usury, badly exacerbated by the crunch, which saw huge increase of wealth for the 0,001%, while the rest continues to suffer badly.   Continue reading “The Basic Income”

Mediaite – by Josh Feldman

Eric Garner‘s daughter Erica appeared on CNN tonight to discuss her father’s death, the grand jury the declined to indict the officer responsible, and the national uproar over his case. Garner told Don Lemon she’s glad to see people of all races and backgrounds coming together to protest the decision.

Lemon asked her a question that’s been on everyone’s minds the past day: is this about race? And Garner actually said, “This is not a black and white issue.”   Continue reading “Eric Garner’s Daughter: ‘This Is Not a Black and White Issue’”

The Hill – by Sarah Ferris

Immigration reform champion Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) on Tuesday urged undocumented immigrants to take quick advantage of President Obama’s executive actions giving them temporary legal status.

Speaking in both English and Spanish, he urged those eligible for the new program to also get their paperwork ready for legal status.

“When that door opens, we should have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, with their documents, ready to submit them,” Gutiérrez said at a Capitol Hill press conference. “While Republicans are complaining and bellyaching, we’re going to act.”   Continue reading “Gutiérrez presses ‘millions’ to get documents ready for legal status”

Reuters/Kevin LamarqueRT

The long-awaited publication of the so-called “CIA torture report” is expected to finally occur early next week, but would-be readers, be warned: according to leaks, the executive summary will be absent any and all use of the word “torture.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), the chair of the United States Senate Intelligence Committee, now says that the public will be able to read the executive summary of her panel’s years-long investigation into the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques next week, with journalist Jason Leopold reporting that the release of the document will come as early as Monday.   Continue reading “CIA torture report to be published on Monday without the word ‘torture’”

Times of India – by Saibal Dasgupta, TNN

BEIJING: China will stop harvesting organs of prisoners on the death row for organ transplants from January 1 next year. The announcement was made by a former official of the Health Ministry at a seminar with the backing of the government.

Future organ transplants will depend entirely on voluntary donations of organs, Huang Jiefu, former vice-minister of Health said at a seminar organized by the government backed China’s Organ Procurement Organization.   Continue reading “China to stop organ harvesting of prisoners from next year”

Fox News

President Obama has picked former Pentagon official Ashton Carter to be his next secretary of Defense, a White House official confirmed.

The official said Obama would announce his intent to nominate Carter to replace Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during a Friday morning press conference.

The president’s selection of Carter, 60, who was deputy Defense secretary from October 2011 to December 2013, was widely rumored but not confirmed by the White House until now.   Continue reading “Obama picks former Pentagon official Ashton Carter to be Defense secretary”

Truth Revolt – by Bradford Thomas

In a case with several parallels to both the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases, a South Carolina grand jury indicted a white police officer with murder Wednesday for the shooting of an unarmed black man. Despite the significant parallels and timing, however, the national media has largely ignored the story.

In May 2011, Bernard Bailey, a 54-year-old African American, came to the Eutawville (population 300) police department to complain about his daughter’s recent taillight ticket. When Police Chief Richard Combs, 35, attempted to arrest Bailey for obstruction of justice, Bailey refused and marched outside to his truck. Combs pursued Bailey to his truck and attempted to turn off the ignition, which resulted in a physical struggle between the two, ending with Combs shooting Bailey twice in the chest.   Continue reading “SC Jury Indicts White Officer for Killing Black Man – Media Ignores”

View image on TwitterGateway Pundit – by Kristinn Taylor

The Progressive Labor Party, a self-described ‘revolutionary communist organization’,’ handed out a chant sheet at Thursday evening’s Eric Garner protest in New York City.

A reporter for DNAInfo, Lisha Arino, posted a photo of the chant sheet to Twitter:   Continue reading “Communist Chant Sheet Distributed at NYC Eric Garner Protest”

The JungleYahoo News – by MARTHA MENDOZA

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Police and social-workers on Thursday began clearing away one of the nation’s largest homeless encampments, a cluster of flimsy tents and plywood shelters that once housed more than 200 people in the heart of wealthy Silicon Valley.

Authorities have been trying for years to resolve problems at the camp known as the Jungle, including violence and unsanitary conditions.   Continue reading “Crews break up homeless camp in Silicon Valley”