Author: Admin

RT

Workers at nine US oil refineries and chemical plants across four states, producing some 10 percent of the country’s fuel, went on strike after their union announced that negotiations on their salaries and safety concerns failed.

The mass walkout of refinery workers – the first since 1980 – took place on Sunday, after the United Steelworkers union (USW) rejected the fifth offer by the industry’s main negotiator, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which in turn halted talks.   Continue reading “Workers on strike at 9 oil refineries producing 10% of US fuel”

New York Times – by MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON — With Russian-backed separatists pressing their attacks in Ukraine,NATO’s military commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, now supports providing defensive weapons and equipment to Kiev’s beleaguered forces, and an array of administration and military officials appear to be edging toward that position, American officials said Sunday.

President Obama has made no decisions on providing such lethal assistance. But after a series of striking reversals that Ukraine’s forces have suffered in recent weeks, the Obama administration is taking a fresh look at the question of military aid.   Continue reading “U.S. Considers Supplying Arms to Ukraine Forces, Officials Say”

The Christian Science Monitor – by Seth Robbins

Thousands of immigrants seeking legalization through the U.S. court system have had their hearings canceled and are being told by the government that it may be 2019 or later before their futures are resolved.

Some immigration lawyers fear the delay will leave their clients at risk of deportation as evidence becomes dated, witnesses disappear, sponsoring relatives die and dependent children become adults.   Continue reading “Immigrants see court dates cancelled as Justice Department is overwhelmed with cases”

SHTF Plan – by Mac Slavo

Want to own your own home, but stuck, temporarily, renting until you can? You aren’t alone.

Wolf Richter outlined a pretty eery scenario.

The 2008 financial Armageddon was in larger part a result of the housing bubble bursting. Thanks to the subprime mortgage scandal, millions of homeowners were put in homes they couldn’t afford, making the awful game of musical chairs an inevitable and tragic charade.   Continue reading “New Housing Bubble: Prices Up, Ownership Down, Wall Street a Mega-Landlord: “America is Becoming a Nation of Renters””

Survival Scout – by Matt Redhawk, My Patriot Supply

Let’s face it. No one likes to feel stressed out.

And if you ever received an email to visit your boss…in person… you know the feeling.

Sweaty palms. Shallow breathing. Increased heart-rate.

Same thing happens when you’re walking alone at night and see a shadowy figure suddenly dart across the street. Your “danger radar” is on high alert.   Continue reading “How to Prepare Your Body for Stressful Times”

Yahoo News – by ALICIA A. CALDWELL

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has ordered federal agents to ask immigrants they encounter living in the U.S. illegally whether they might qualify under President Barack Obama’s plans to avoid deporting them, according to internal training materials obtained by The Associated Press.

Agents also have been told to review government files to identify any jailed immigrants they might be able to release under the program.   Continue reading “US govt tells agents to ID immigrants not to deport”

Reuters – by Ernest Scheyder

WILLISTON, N.D. Jan 28 (Reuters) – North Dakota’s oil industry is pushing to change the state’s radioactive waste disposal laws as part of a broad effort to conserve cash as oil prices tumble.

The waste, which becomes slightly radioactive as part of the hydraulic fracturing process that churns up isotopes locked underground, must be trucked out of state. That’s because rules prohibit North Dakota landfills from accepting anything but miniscule amounts of radiation.   Continue reading “North Dakota oil producers seek changes in radioactive waste disposal laws”

Fuel Fix – by Jennifer A. Dlouhy

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation to accelerate natural gas exports, despite muted opposition from the Obama administration and even as the Senate rejected a more aggressive plan.

The bill, passed 277-133, would force the Energy Department to decide whether to grant licenses to broadly export liquefied natural gas to pending projects within 30 days after they clear an environmental review.   Continue reading “House votes to speed up LNG exports”

Continue reading “They have resumed spraying this morning in North Carolina”

Sent to us by the author, Brett Redmayne-Titley

Nine criminal defendants are not the only ones who are on trial, here, in a San Diego, California courtroom. This trial, it turns-out, is more about the American legal system. Today, this court’s irrational decisions, as attested to by the raised eye brows, sideways glances and sharp words of each of the nine defense attorneys present, proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the criminal sat, not in front of, but behind the bench.

American justice, as evidenced in the courtroom of Judge, David M. Gill this past Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, cares not any longer about the emasculated US Constitution. As the trial of innocent Rap musician, Brandon, “Tiny Doo,” Duncan began at 1:30 PM, it would be a matter of minutes before this supposed trial became a surreal, Kafka-esque scene of first-time, twisted legal logic; turning two-hundred-plus years of legal precedent into farce.   Continue reading “Justice Goes Deaf at Rap Music Trial.”

Sent to us by a reader.

ABC News – by Eric Tucker

The Drug Enforcement Administration abandoned an internal proposal to use surveillance cameras for photographing vehicle license plates near gun shows in the United States to investigate gun-trafficking, the agency’s chief said Wednesday.

DEA Administrator Michelle Leonhart said in a statement that the proposal memorialized in an employee’s email was only a suggestion, never authorized by her agency and never put into action. The AP also learned that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did not authorize or approve the license plate surveillance plan.   Continue reading “DEA chief: US abandoned plan to track cars near gun shows”

RT

An Israeli human rights group has accused the IDF of war crimes during last year’s Gaza invasion by launching airstrikes that intentionally targeted residential areas, killing women and children, while claiming that Hamas was hiding behind civilians.

As prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague are conducting a preliminary inquiry into possible war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories, the 49-page report by B’Tselem human rights group claims the allegations are true.   Continue reading “Gaza war ‘unlawful’: Israeli rights group blames IDF for deliberately targeting residential areas”

ABC 12 News – by Natalie Zarowny

LAPEER COUNTY (WJRT) –(01/26/15) – It’s a sad day for the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Mounted Division.

The team is down a member now, after a coyote attack killed one of their oldest, most well-behaved horses.

“Now she’s gone and you can see they’re just kind of lost. They’re not quite sure just what to do,” said her owner, Kallie Meyers.   Continue reading “Lapeer County Sheriff’s Department’s horse killed by coyotes”