Should Taking Kids Out of School for Family Vacation Be Illegal?Life Hacker – by Melanie Pinola

In some states, it is illegal for parents to pull kids out of school for “unallowed” reasons, such as family events or vacations, with some parents charged with misdemeanors, given fines, or even threatened with jail time. But is this fair?

From the school’s point of view, these absences can definitely be disruptive and cause unfair additional work for the teacher to get the kids back on track or pre-plan classwork so the students aren’t behind.   Continue reading “Should Taking Kids Out of School for Family Vacation Be Illegal?”

The massive property in Annapolis was valued by an insurance company at some $14 million. The entire home burned to the ground early Monday in a fire.New York Daily News – by Sasha Goldstein

A massive Annapolis, Md., mansion burned to the ground early Monday, sending authorities sifting through the still-smoking wreckage of the $14 million residence in a desperate search for the home’s owners.

The 16,000-square-foot home on Childs Point Road was mostly reduced to rubble after the blaze raged out of control for some four hours after the call first came in at 3:30 a.m., the Capital Gazette reported.   Continue reading “6 unaccounted for in 4-alarm blaze that gutted mansion in Annapolis, Maryland”

Reuters

More than half the world’s wealth will be owned by just one percent of the population by next year as global inequality soars, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday

In a report released ahead of this week’s annual meeting of the international elite at Davos in Switzerland, Oxfam said the top tier had seen their share of wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014.   Continue reading “Richest 1 percent will own more than the rest by 2016: Oxfam”

Israeli border police officers (Reuters/Ronen Zvulun )RT

Israel has indicted seven Israeli Arabs suspected of being members of an “Islamic State cell in Palestine.” The group was allegedly planning to carry out a shooting attack on Israeli soil, according to the Israeli security service.

Believed to be the first cell operating in Israel and Palestine, all seven men have admitted their allegiance to the Islamic State, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced. Initially a Salafi jihadi group based in the West Bank, the cell was allegedly planning to become an “official” Islamic State branch in Israel.   Continue reading “Israel indicts ‘ISIS in Palestine’ jihadi cell”

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The Burning Platform

Government data reports are so funny. The blaring headlines today tells us that prices dropped in December. We are all saving billions from the drop in oil and gas. Hallelujah!!!

The corporate MSM never digs into the numbers to get the real truth. These reports and their distribution to the sheep are designed to keep you sedated and calm. Facts are not necessary. How this data pertains to your everyday life is not important to the .1% who control the flow of information.   Continue reading “No inflation unless you eat food, use water, live in a house or apartment, heat your home, get sick, travel, pay car insurance, go to school, mail letters, or do your taxes”

Smoke rises following what witnesses said were Israeli air strikes in Gaza August 23, 2014.(Reuters / Ahmed Zakot)RT

The International Criminal Court in the Hague has opened a “preliminary examination” of possible war crimes conducted on Palestinian territory during the last year’s military conflict with Israel in Gaza.

A preliminary examination is the first step in the court’s legal process, and evaluates whether a full investigation is necessary.   Continue reading “ICC opens inquiry into possible war crimes in Palestinian territories”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder leaves after making a statement about the grand jury decision not to seek an indictment in the Staten Island death of Eric Garner during an arrest in July, in Washington December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Business Insider – by CHRISTINA STERBENZ, ERIN FUCHS

State and local police in the United States will no longer be able to use federal laws to justify seizing property without evidence of a crime, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday.

Under the official law, the Justice Department’s Equitable Sharing Program, local police departments can keep 80% of the stuff seized during drug raids and other investigations.

The practice of local police taking property, including cash and cars, from people that they stop, and of handing it over to federal authorities, became common during the country’s war on drugs in the 1980s.   Continue reading “The Attorney General Just Ended The Law That Allows Police To Seize Your Assets Even If You’re Innocent”

Star Tribune – by John Reinan

Nick and Sarah Bloom were startled from sleep Thursday night by the sound of gunshots outside their home on a usually quiet Bloomington street. Their bedroom was lit up with the red glare from flashing squad car lights, and they heard shouting.

When they peeked out the window, they saw a man lying face-up on the curb bordering their front yard and five or six police officers, guns drawn, advancing on the man.   Continue reading “Suicidal man dies in encounter with Bloomington police”

A picture taken on March 1, 2014, shows rebel fighters inspecting the wreckage of a Syrian army helicopter allegedly destroyed by the Islamic State group.US News – by Fehim Taştekin, Al-Monitor

Secret official documents about the searching of three trucks belonging to Turkey’s national intelligence service (MIT) have been leaked online, once again corroborating suspicions that Ankara has not been playing a clean game in Syria. According to the authenticated documents, the trucks were found to be transporting missiles, mortars and anti-aircraft ammunition. The Gendarmerie General Command, which authored the reports, alleged, “The trucks were carrying weapons and supplies to the al-Qaeda terror organization.” But Turkish readers could not see the documents in the news bulletins and newspapers that shared them, because the government immediately obtained a court injunction banning all reporting about the affair.   Continue reading “Turkish Military Says MIT Shipped Weapons to al-Qaeda”

GendarmerieTelegraph – by Henry Samuel

A hostage taking is under way in a post office in Colombes, a suburb of northwest Paris.

According to police, an armed man is currently detaining two hostages, but they insisted there was no link to terrorism.

The man is known by the authorities, and had contacted the police himself, they said.

Continue reading “Hostages taken in Paris suburb post office”

photoUT San Diego – by Susan Shroder

PALM DESERT, Calif. — The body of Omar Meza, a finance company vice president and San Diego native who went missing a week ago during a business trip in Palm Desert, was found Thursday, his family said.

Palm Desert police said in a statement only that the body of a man was found in a “body of water” off Country Club Drive about 2:15 p.m. The cause of death was not yet determined pending an autopsy by the Riverside County Coroner’s Office.   Continue reading “Body of missing AIG vice president found in Palm Desert”

belgium_terror_raidsUSA Today – by Kim Hjelmgaard

Authorities in France, Belgium and Germany arrested more than two dozen people in anti-terror raids across continental Europe on Friday.

The police raids in Belgium came after authorities Thursday night moved swiftly to pre-empt what they called a major impending attack, killing two suspects in a firefight and arresting a third.

Prosecutors in Brussels on Friday gave more chilling details about the case.   Continue reading “Two dozen arrested in anti-terror raids across Europe”

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Progressives Today – by Michael Strickland

Portland area radio host, Carl Wolfson, was a featured speaker at a “gun violence prevention summit” in January, 2014, presented by Ceasefire Oregon. During the event, he mentions an encounter with Oregon state Senator Betsy Johnson, a pro gun democrat who was the swing vote that stopped new gun restrictions. Mr. Wolfson says he wanted to lobby for her support of a background check bill, and says he “couldn’t tell which way she was leaning, because of her walker.”   Continue reading “Liberal Radio Host Makes Fun Of Pro Gun Senator’s Disability”

Gun Owners of America

Congress got back to work last week.  And within the next month, the congressional GOP leadership is expected to move a “bait and switch” scheme that could seriously impact the Second Amendment.

The scheme is called “fast track.”

In “fast track,” Congress passes a bill which delegates to Barack Obama the legislative authority to do anything he wants — ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING — so long as he includes it in a “trade agreement.”     Continue reading ““Fast Track” to Delegate Enormous Power to Obama”

Fox News

At least 3 people were killed in an anti-terror raid in Belgium Thursday that one official confirmed was “jihadist related,” and a man suspected of selling guns used in last week’s terror attacks in France was being detained in another part of the country, according to multiple reports.

The deadly raid was in Verviers, in eastern Belgium, according to the Telegraph. Belgian public television channel RTBF reported that the public prosecutor’s office confirmed the deaths of two suspects and arrests of “several” more. The station said there were no casualties among the security forces involved and that several people had been arrested. Federal prosecutors were quoted as saying there had been a police operation near the center of the city of 55,000, some 70 miles from Brussels.   Continue reading “3 jihadists reportedly killed in counter-terrorism raid in Belgium”