In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, columns of smoke rise from heavy bombing by Syrian government forces in Arbeen, Syria, Monday March 18, 2013. Two years after the anti-Assad uprising began, the conflict has become a civil war, with hundreds of rebel group fighting Assad's forces across Syria and millions of people pushed from their homes by the violence. The U.N. says more than 70,000 people have been killed. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)Yahoo News – by ALBERT AJI and ZEINA KARAM | Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian state media accused rebels of firing a chemical weapon for the first time on Tuesday in the north of the country on Tuesday, killing 15 people. Rebels quickly denied the report and accused regime forces of firing the weapon.

Neither of the accusations could immediately be verified.   Continue reading “Syria accuses rebels of firing chemical weapon”

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks at the reopening and remembrance of the Century Aurora Theater in Aurora, Colorado January 17, 2013. James Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 70 others on July 20, 2012. REUTERS/ RJ Sangosti/PoolYahoo News – by Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) – Colorado’s governor will sign three gun control bills into law on Wednesday, including one banning ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds in a state that has experienced two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

The measures that Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper will sign also include a bill requiring universal background checks for gun buyers, and another that requires gun buyers to pay for their own background checks, said the governor’s spokesman, Eric Brown.   Continue reading “Colorado governor will sign 3 gun control measures on Wednesday”

The Star – Reuters

Rwandan-born former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes in Congo, has given himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Monday.

“We have learned today that Bosco Ntaganda entered Rwanda and surrendered to (the) U.S. Embassy in Kigali,” she posted on Twitter.   Continue reading “U.S. confirms Rwandan-born former Congolese general turned himself in at U.S. Embassy in Kigali”

Authorities believe Lanza targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School because a school would provide little resistance, allowing him to rack up victims in a quest for notoriety. NY Daily News – by Mike Lupica

It is three months since the killings in Newtown, since 20 children and six adults were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School less than two weeks before Christmas. And as bad as the story was, and will always be, it is even worse than we originally knew because now we discover that this was slaughter by spreadsheet.

It has been reported previously that law enforcement found research about previous mass murderers at the Newtown, Conn., home the shooter, video gamer Adam Lanza, shared with his mother, the first victim of Dec. 14.   Continue reading “Morbid find suggests murder-obsessed gunman Adam Lanza plotted Newtown, Conn.’s Sandy Hook massacre for years”

caphill_foodstamp.jpgFox News

Salmonella outbreaks. E. coli outbreaks. Millions of dollars in economic losses.

These are among the scenarios the Obama administration warned about last month as it claimed the sequester would force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to furlough meat inspectors.   Continue reading “Dems preserve US-Mexico food stamp ‘partnership,’ while USDA prepares for meat inspector furloughs”

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, center, backed by a group of fellow sheriffs, testifies against proposed gun control legislation in the Colorado Legislature, at the State Capitol, in Denver, Monday March 4, 2013. State Senate committees began work Monday on a package of gun-control measures that already have cleared the House which include limits on ammunition magazine sizes and expanded background checks to include private sales and online purchases. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)Yahoo News – by Associated Press

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado sheriff says he won’t enforce two aggressive gun-control measures waiting to be signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke told The Greeley Tribune (http://bit.ly/141Ee2z ) that Democratic lawmakers are scrambling after recent mass shootings, and the bills are “feel-good, knee-jerk reactions that are unenforceable.”   Continue reading “Colo. sheriff refuses to enforce gun-control bills”

BoomsThe Daily News – by Scott DeSmit

ALABAMA — It was about midnight on a night last week when Randy Smith took his dog outside and for the third time this year, heard the mysterious booms.

“Three times in a row I heard it,” Smith said. “It sounds as loud as a sonic boom. Maybe louder. As soon as it goes off, the dog starts growling and gets startled.”

Smith and his father, Laverne Smith, live at 748 Lewiston Rd. (Route 77) and have been hearing the booms for nearly two years now.   Continue reading “Mysterious ‘booms’ still unexplained”

Freedom Outpost – by William Lafferty

Here’s what Obama’s advisors are telling him about the way to confiscate guns: Tax them.

They are advising him to tax guns, ammunition, magazines, and licenses and then attach draconian remedies for failure to register and pay the taxes. Set the taxes low the first year, then increase them gradually to the point where a person owning an AR 15, three magazines and a box of ammo would owe $5,000 a year in taxes.   Continue reading “Obama’s Advisors: Disarm America Through Taxation”

Flex Your Rights

There are four general types of checkpoints you might encounter: DUI checkpoints, US border checkpoints, drug checkpoints, and TSA checkpoints. In a legal sense, they are not all created equal. So depending on which one you encounter, you’ll want to be prepared to flex your rights appropriately.   Continue reading “What are my rights at various “checkpoints”?”

Colorado State Sen. Steve King, who has opposed new gun control laws, addressed his colleagues during a period of debate before votes on gun bills.NY Daily News – Associated Press

A landmark expansion of background checks on firearm purchases was approved Friday by lawmakers in Colorado, a politically moderate state that was the site of last year’s mass shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater.

The bill previously passed the state Senate and now heads to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is expected to sign it into law within two weeks.   Continue reading “Colorado legislature approves expanded background checks for gun purchases”

The Daily Caller – by Caroline May

During the Senate Budget Committee’s Thursday markup of the Senate budget resolution, Democrats prevented an effort to block funds for the Agriculture Department’s “partnership” with the Mexican government, which is aimed at promoting nutrition assistance programs among Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals and migrant communities in America.

In a party-line 12 to 10 vote, the Democrats on the committee rejected a proposal to prevent funding for such endeavors from ranking member Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, who has spoken out against the program in recent months.   Continue reading “Senate Democrats block effort to end USDA/Mexico food stamp promotion partnership”

My Budget 360

What does it say about our economy that at the same time the Dow Jones hits a peak, we have the highest percentage of Americans on food stamps?

It is a dichotomy that speaks to the current state of our economy.  Food stamp usage has peaked at the very same time that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is setting new highs.  Of course, the Dow is setting new nominal highs but still has a way to go to catch up to the eroding effects of inflation.   Continue reading “An economy of peak food stamp usage, peak Dow, and peak Debt”

Mashable – by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai

For the first time, NSA chief and head of the U.S. Cyber Command Gen. Keith Alexander admitted America is ready to attack in cyberspace. Never before has a U.S. official acknowledged that the U.S. government is working on or is in possession of malware capable of attacking a foreign nation in a cyber conflict, despite the fact that at least one attack — the famous Stuxnext worm — has been attributed to the U.S.   Continue reading “NSA Chief Says America Is Ready to Cyberattack”

Annie Dhookan (right), a former Massachusetts crime lab chemist, is accused of falsifying evidence in more than 30,000 cases. The state's criminal justice system is now reeling as former defendants are challenging their convictions and hundreds have already been released.NPR – by Tovia Smith

A scandal in a Massachusetts crime lab continues to reverberate throughout the state’s legal system. Several months ago, Annie Dookhan, a former chemist in a state crime lab, told police that she messed up big time. Dookhan now stands accused of falsifying test results in as many as 34,000 cases.

As a result, lawyers, prosecutors and judges used to operating in a world of “beyond a reasonable doubt” now have nothing but doubt.   Continue reading “Crime Lab Scandal Leaves Mass. Legal System In Turmoil”

Deal Book NY Times – by JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG AND BEN PROTESS

JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, ignored internal controls and manipulated documents as it racked up trading losses last year, while its influential chief executive, Jamie Dimon, briefly withheld some information from regulators, a new Senate report says.

The findings by the Congressional investigators shed new light on the multibillion-dollar trading blunder, which has claimed the jobs of several top executives and prompted an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.   Continue reading “JPMorgan Faulted on Controls and Disclosure in Trading Loss”

Some 60,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and other employees will be furloughed for up to 14 days, according to notices dated Thursday. The furloughs could begin April 21 and last through the end to the fiscal year in September.Federal Times – by SEAN REILLY 

Some 60,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and other employees will be furloughed for up to 14 days, according to notices dated Thursday. The furloughs could begin April 21 and last through the end to the fiscal year in September, according to the notice, which attributes the move to across-the-board budget cuts that began taking effect March 1.   Continue reading “60,000 Customs, Border Patrol agents face furloughs”

NPR – Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The head of a U.N. team investigating casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan declared after a secret research trip to the country that the attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the Pakistani government made clear to him that it does not consent to the strikes — a position that has been disputed by U.S. officials.   Continue reading “UN Says US Drones Violate Pakistan’s Sovereignty”