Author: Admin

New York Times – by CORAL DAVENPORT

WASHINGTON — On the heels of the Senate’s passage of a long-awaited farm bill, the Obama administration is to announce on Wednesday the creation of seven regional “climate hubs” to help farmers and rural communities respond to the risks of climate change, including drought, invasive pests, fires and floods.

White House officials described the move as one of several executive actions that President Obama will take on climate change without action from Congress.   Continue reading “Next Phase of Obama’s Executive Push: Climate Hubs”

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LAist – by Matthew Bramlett

One year after the Christopher Dorner manhunt, the LAPD has determined that the officers who fired on two women, mistaking them for Dorner, were in the wrong.

Chief Charlie Beck and the Los Angeles Police Commission, a civilian panel, both agreed on the ruling that the eight officers involved violated the department’s rules on excessive force. The next step is to determine what kind of penalties are in store for them, according to ABC 7.   Continue reading “LAPD Chief: Cops Who Mistook Delivery Women For Christopher Dorner Were Wrong To Shoot Them”

Disinformation – by JacobSloan

Scientists have created a network which various smart devices and artificial intelligences will use autonomously to share information and learn from each other – increasing their capabilities. Should we just surrender now? The BBC reports:

A world wide web for robots to learn from each other and share information is being shown off for the first time. The system has been developed by research scientists from Philips and five European universities including Eindhoven.   Continue reading “Skynet Has Arrived? European Union Unveils RoboEarth, An Internet Just For Robots”

Fox News – by Todd Starnes

Students and parents at a Colorado high school are outraged after administrators turned down their request for a spirit week day honoring America because it might offend non-Americans.

“They said they didn’t want to offend anyone from other countries or immigrants,” a 16-year-old member of the student council told me. “They just really did not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.”   Continue reading “You can’t celebrate America, school says”

CNN – by Lisa Desjardins

Washington (CNN) — It may be the most overlooked mega-bill of the past 12 months.

The nearly $1 trillion farm bill received final approval on Tuesday from the Senate, which sent the compromise already passed by the House to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.   Continue reading “5 things the farm bill will mean for you”

Fox News

A top Republican senator is calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to provide a legal defense for President Obama’s planned executive orders as outlined in his State of the Union address last week.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote a letter to Holder Monday demanding the Justice Department publicly release its “opinions, analyses and conclusions” regarding the legality of the orders. Grassley states in the letter he wants Holder to do so because he is concerned Obama’s use of executive action is an attempt to circumvent the Constitution, and asks him to respond by Feb. 14.   Continue reading “Sen. Grassley calls for Holder to provide a legal defense for Obama’s executive actions”

Free-Man’s Perspective – by Paul Rosenberg

You may have heard something about this story, but I think it’s important to take a few minutes to restate the facts clearly. In the modern news environment, stories come and go so fast – and in so many parts – that it’s very easy to get lost along the way.

So, here’s what we know so far:   Continue reading “Where the *Bleep* Is Germany’s Gold?”

Fox News

The IRS’ announcement Monday that it will pay cancelled 2013 bonuses has infuriated Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who wants to know why an agency with employees who “inappropriately” targeted conservative political groups would reinstate the rewards.

“The IRS is accused of targeting conservative groups, with many of its employees having conducted themselves in a manner inappropriate for government officials, and the agency decides to reinstate employee bonuses?” asked Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “This is outrageous.”   Continue reading “Senator rebukes IRS over decision to reinstate 2013 employee bonuses”

Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder

Would you like to buy a house for one dollar?  If someone came up to you on the street and asked you that question, you would probably respond by saying that it sounds too good to be true.  But this is actually happening in economically-depressed cities all over America.  Of course there are a number of reasons why you might want to think twice before buying any of these homes, and I will get into those reasons in just a little bit.  First, however, it is worth noting that many of the cities where these “free houses” are available were once some of the most prosperous cities in the entire country.  In fact, the city of Detroit once had the highest per capita income in the entire nation.  But as millions of good jobs have been shipped overseas, these once prosperous communities have degenerated into rotting, decaying hellholes.  Now homes that once housed thriving middle class families cannot even be given away.  This is happening all over America, and what we are witnessing right now is only just the beginning.   Continue reading “You Can Buy A House For One Dollar Or Less In Economically Depressed Cities All Over America”

Activist Post – by Catherine J. Frompovich

As a concerned citizen, who feels that freedom of speech and expression are inherent rights, especially when they concern problems associated with human rights and control issues, I decided to share information forwarded to me recently in an email and to give it voice with some editing from me.

Even though the vote took place in 2013, U.S. citizens are very concerned about it and want those who voted for the UN Small Arms Treaty to have to reap the ‘rewards’ of their actions.    Continue reading “Vote to End U.S. Sovereignty Way Too Close For Comfort”

NBC News – by Michael O’Brien

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Monday acknowledged that his office had been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey in relation to the bridge scandal that has rocked his administration.

Christie said his office would comply with the federal subpoena.

The Republican governor’s acknowledgement comes after a former aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, who allegedly conspired to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge as political retribution against a local mayor invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in the state legislature’s investigation.   Continue reading “Christie acknowledges federal subpoena”

Fox News

The decision to rescind the Academy Awards original song nomination for “Alone Yet Not Alone” from the small faith-based film of the same title is due to integrity, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in a statement Saturday.

The academy revoked the song’s Oscar nod Wednesday after it discovered composer Bruce Broughton, a music branch executive committee member, emailed 70 members of the group to alert them of his submission.   Continue reading “Academy cites integrity for pulling Oscar nomination for original song ‘Alone Yet Not Alone’”

National Journal – by Shane Goldmacher

Members of Congress and their aides took more free trips around the world in 2013 than in any year since new restrictions were put in place after the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal.

The website LegiStorm, which compiles congressional travel records, said Monday that lawmakers and their staffs took a combined 1,887 free trips last year for a total cost of almost $6 million.   Continue reading “Congress Took More Free Trips in 2013 Than in Any Year Since the Abramoff Reforms”

New York Times – by TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

The number of exonerations in the United States of those wrongly convicted of a crime increased to a record 87 during 2013, and of that number, nearly one in five had initially pleaded guilty to charges filed against them, according to a report to be released on Tuesday as part of a project led by two university law schools.

Nearly half of the exonerations — 40 — were based on murder convictions, including that of a man wrongly convicted and subsequently sentenced to death in the fatal stabbing of a fellow inmate in a Missouri prison in 1983, according to the report by the National Registry of Exonerations. The registry is a joint program of the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law.   Continue reading “Study Puts Exonerations at Record Level in U.S.”