Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan speaks at the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 25, 2013. REUTERS-Andrew Burton-PoolReuters – by Ghaith Shennib and Ulf Laessing

Former rebel gunmen freed Libya’s prime minister on Thursday after holding him for several hours in reprisal for the capture by U.S. forces at the weekend of a Libyan al Qaeda suspect in Tripoli.

“I am fine, thank God,” Ali Zeidan tweeted after his release. “If the aim of the kidnapping operation was for me to present my resignation, then I won’t resign.   Continue reading “Libyan PM freed after being seized over US raid”

APA

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov – APA. Russia is deploying new offensive military vehicles in the Southern Military District covering the territories around the Caspian Sea and Black Sea

APA reports quoting Russia’s Defense Ministry that military units of the Southern Military District will acquire more than 450 modernized military vehicles including trucks, self-propelled artillery systems, armored vehicles and various missile complexes. 100 missile-artillery systems, including Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems, 120-caliber 2S9 Nona-C self-propelled howitzers, Chrysanthemum-S anti-tank missile complexes will be included in the inventory of regional military units.   Continue reading “Russia deploying offensive military vehicles in territories around Caspian Sea and Black Sea”

Economic Policy Journal

Janet Yellen is currently the Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Previously, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton, and Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.   Continue reading “Everything You Need to Know About Janet Yellen”

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) at the hearing where he discussed his bill to create a bipartisan committee to tackle fiscal issues.NPR – by Frank James

The latest House GOP gambit in the fiscal fight is … wait for it … a supercommittee.

But Republicans aren’t calling it a supercommittee since that’s the term for the failed panel that brought us the the sequester.

Instead, it’s called the Bicameral Working Group on Deficit Reduction and Economic Growth. The special panel would have 20 members, evenly divided between the House and Senate, who would recommend a budget for fiscal 2014 (which began Oct. 1), and craft details of a new debt ceiling and spending cuts.   Continue reading “House GOP’s Latest Idea: A Fiscal Supercommittee, Sort Of”

**FILE** Traffic on Interstate 95 near the Capital Beltway exit in Beltsville, Md. (Associated Press)Washington Times – by Andrea Noble

Truck drivers will descend on the Beltway on Friday for a political rally protesting causes ranging from the government shutdown to low wages for drivers — but claims the group planned to shut down the region appear to have been overstated.

Originally billed “Truckers to Shut Down America,” the protest is now called “Truckers Ride For The Constitution” after the organizing group’s original social media sites were shut down.   Continue reading “‘Truckers Ride for the Constitution’ to take to Beltway in protest”

Obama doctorsThe Weekly Standard – by JERYL BIER

Maryland’s Health Connection, the state’s Obamacare marketplace, has been plagued by delays in the first days of open enrollment.  If users are able to endure long page-loading delays, they are presented with the website’s privacy policy, a ubiquitous fine-print feature on websites that often go unread. Nevertheless, users are asked to check off a box that they agree to the terms.

The policy contains many standard statements about information automatically collected regarding Internet browsers and IP addresses, temporary “cookies” used by the site, and website accessibility.  However, at least two conditions may give some users pause before proceeding.   Continue reading “Obamacare Marketplace: Personal Data Can Be Used For ‘Law Enforcement and Audit Activities’”

PANDA – by Dan Johnson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBANY, NY – On October 7, 2013, the Albany, NY Common Council unanimously passed Resolution 80.92.13becoming the first city in America to prohibit indefinite military detention without charge or trial, specifically under the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, to declare it is not a “battlefield” and resolve that its citizens and residents are not subject to “detention under the law of war.”   Continue reading “Victory! New York Capitol Unanimously Passes Anti-NDAA Resolution 11-0”

Sun Sentinel – by Megan O’Matz and John Maines

Using databases and exhaustive research, Sun Sentinel reporters spent six months looking into Sunrise’s undercover narcotics unit.

Reporters reviewed 644,000 jail bookings processed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office since 2009. They found that every year, Sunrise arrested more people on cocaine trafficking charges than any other city in the county — including Fort Lauderdale, with three times more sworn officers than Sunrise.   Continue reading “Cops. Cash. Cocaine: How We Did It”

My Fox LA – by Tony McEwing

Malibu, with its glistening pristine coastline and its multi-million dollar mansions and movie stars, is capturing the spotlight for a much less glamorous and possibly life-threatening reason. One third of the teachers at Malibu High School claim recent construction and moldy classrooms are making them seriously sick. The health complaints range from cancers to skin diseases as well as other ailments and illnesses.   Continue reading “Cancer Cluster At Malibu High?”

BitcoinsExtreme Tech – by Ryan Whitwam

Closing down the Silk Road and arresting its alleged operator has left the FBI in uncharted territory. After shuttering the hidden site, law enforcement went to work confiscating the money and materials belonging to supposed drug kingpin Ross Ulbricht, but this usually routine procedure is proving especially troublesome in this case. The cache of more than 600,000 bitcoins in Ulbricht’s personal fortune are still inaccessible to the FBI.   Continue reading “FBI unable to seize 600,000 Bitcoins from Silk Road operator”

Top Secret Writers- by Kathleen Roberts

Why would a bright and promising cardiologist be fired from the University hospital that she had practiced at since 2000?

Apparently, protecting her patients is grounds for dismissal. At least, that is the case at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Despite being promoted to Valve Director in 2006, Dr. Nalini M. Rajamannan was terminated in 2008 after reporting the use of non-FDA approved, experimental medical devices being implanted in patients without their knowledge.   Continue reading “Whistleblower Terminated from Northwestern for Revealing Human Experimentation”

Ron Paul Institute – by Ron Paul

Last week, for the first time since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the US president spoke with his Iranian counterpart. Their 15 minute telephone call was reported to open the door to further high-level discussions. This is a very important event.

I have been saying for years that we should just talk to the Iranians. After all, we talked to the Soviets when they actually had thousands of nuclear missiles pointed at us! The Iranians have none, according to our own intelligence services. I even suggested a few years ago that we should “offer friendship” to them. Unfortunately, so many so-called experts have a stake in keeping tensions high and pushing us to war. They did not want to hear what I was saying. It seems, though, this is beginning to change now with these recent events.   Continue reading “An Opening to Iran?”

The Justice Department is seeking the dismissal of a House lawsuit demanding that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. produce records on Operation Fast and Furious. President Obama has invoked executive privilege in the matter. (Associated Press)Washington Post – by John Solomon

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is blocking the main whistleblower in the Fast and Furious case from publishing a book, claiming his retelling of the Mexico “gun-walking” scandal will hurt morale inside the embattled law enforcement agency, according to documents obtained by The Washington Times.

ATF’s dispute with Special Agent John Dodson is setting up a First Amendment showdown that is poised to bring together liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and conservatives in Congress who have championed Mr. Dodson’s protection as a whistleblower.   Continue reading “ATF tries to block whistleblowing agent’s Fast and Furious book”

The Independent Sentinel – by Sara Nobel

Take a look at these third grade Common Core worksheets [Correction: Common Core-aligned worksheets].*

The first story for third graders takes a twisted social work approach to learning. The next story is about a cheating husband and father, and, again, it’s for third grade.   Continue reading “Common Core Reaches a New Low – Check This Out!”

Gold Bars Bloomberg – by Nicholas Larkin & Debarati Roy

Ben S. Bernanke, the world’s most-powerful central banker, says he doesn’t understand gold prices. If his peers had paid attention, they might have stopped expanding reserves that lost $545 billion in value since bullion peaked in 2011.

Bernanke, who holds economics degrees from Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and led the Federal Reserve through the biggest financial disaster since the Great Depression, told the Senate Banking Committee in July that “nobody really understands gold prices and I don’t pretend to really understand them either.”   Continue reading “Gold Befuddles Bernanke as Central Banks’ Losses at $545 Billion”