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”

calif_cell_052411.jpgFox News – by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

As if out of a Charles Dickens novel, people struggling to pay overdue fines and fees associated with court costs for even the simplest traffic infractions are being thrown in jail across the United States.

Critics are calling the practice the new “debtors’ prison” — referring to the jails that flourished in the U.S. and Western Europe over 150 years ago. Before the time of bankruptcy laws and social safety nets, poor folks and ruined business owners were locked up until their debts were paid off.    Continue reading “Local courts reviving ‘debtors’ prison’ for overdue fines, fees”

airport-securitySHTF Plan- by Mac Slavo

Every day hundreds of thousands of travelers are subjected to long lines and intrusive screenings by the Transportation Security Administration. Under the pretext of protecting Americans from terrorists the TSA, an agency which has never actually captured a terrorist in its ten year history, has spent billions of dollars on what they claim is a necessity in today’s dangerous world.

But with all the money being spent and a government control grid being implemented across the entire country, a cross-dressing fence jumper somehow managed to thwart a multi-million dollar  impenetrable external perimeter defense system at Newark airport.   Continue reading “Breach: Man Defeats $300 Million Airport Perimeter Fence: “Substandard Security System””

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses his year-end news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, December 20, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstReuters – by ROS KRASNY

President Barack Obama on Thursday signed a compromise budget that reduces the risk of another government shutdown and a defense bill that cracks down on sexual assault in the military and smooths the path for transferring detainees from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The two-year U.S. budget agreement, negotiated by Congress earlier this month, and the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2104 were among seven pieces of legislation signed by Obama, who is vacationing with his family in Hawaii.   Continue reading “Obama Signs National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014”

Looney Tunes - Photo by Ramon F VelasquezThe Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder

It is time to crank up the Looney Tunes theme song because Wall Street has officially entered crazytown territory.  Stocks just keep going higher and higher, and at this point what is happening in the stock market does not bear any resemblance to what is going on in the overall economy whatsoever.  So how long can this irrational state of affairs possibly continue?  Stocks seem to go up no matter what happens.  If there is good news, stocks go up.  If there is bad news, stocks go up.  If there is no news, stocks go up.  On Thursday, the day after Christmas, the Dow was up another 122 points to another new all-time record high.  In fact, the Dow has had an astonishing 50 record high closes this year.    Continue reading “The Stock Market Has Officially Entered Crazytown Territory”

AP PhotoABC News – by LINDA DEUTSCH AP

A short, slender man speaking in a hoarse voice pleaded not guilty Thursday to 11 federal charges, including the murder of a Transportation Security Administration screener and the wounding of three other people during a rampage at Los Angeles International Airport last month.

The charges could bring him the death penalty. The decision on whether the government will seek the ultimate penalty will take a long time and will ultimately rest with U.S. Attorney General Erik Holder.   Continue reading “Suspect in LA Airport Shooting Pleads Not Guilty”

bioterrorismfbImagine the nightmare scenario of an attack from a terrorist group or hostile nation. It probably involves a radioactive blast and a mushroom cloud, right? What about an attack that involves germs and surgical masks? How does that factor in? The reality is biological attacks may be just as devastating as the typical terrorist attack. How prepared is the U.S., and what’s the history of biological warfare and terrorism throughout the world?   Continue reading “Biological Attack — Are We Ready?”