Author: Angel - NYC

Rolling Stone – by Jon Dolan

Lou Reed, a massively influential songwriter and guitarist who helped shape nearly fifty years of rock music, died today. The cause of his death has not yet been released, but Reed underwent a liver transplant in May.

Look back at Lou Reed’s remarkable career in photos

With the Velvet Underground in the late Sixties, Reed fused street-level urgency with elements of European avant-garde music, marrying beauty and noise, while bringing a whole new lyrical honesty to rock & roll poetry. As a restlessly inventive solo artist, from the Seventies into the 2010s, he was chameleonic, thorny and unpredictable, challenging his fans at every turn. Glam, punk and alternative rock are all unthinkable without his revelatory example. “One chord is fine,” he once said, alluding to his bare-bones guitar style. “Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz.”   Continue reading “Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71”

AmmoLand

WASHINGTON –-(Ammoland.com)-Senate legislation introduced today that would increase hunting and angling access on public lands and bolster the nation’s outdoor recreation economy was welcomed by a broad coalition of influential sportsmen’s groups and outdoor interests.

The Hunt Unrestricted on National Treasures Act, or “HUNT Act,” introduced this afternoon by Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, directs federal agencies to inventory all public lands greater than 640 acres where hunting and fishing are legal but inaccessible with the goal of expanding access for members of the public. The legislation finances land acquisitions from willing sellers through a small percentage of Land and Water Conservation Fund monies. Heinrich introduced similar legislation in 2012, when he was a member of the House of Representatives.   Continue reading “New Bill Promoting Public Lands Access for Hunting, Angling Draws Praise from Outdoors Community”

Forbes – by J. Justin Wilson

You can tell him he doesn’t have the authority to levy soda taxes under New York State law. You can strike down his ridiculous ban on restaurant sodas. But you cannot run from the soon-to-be-ex-Mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg, and his imperial war on soft drinks and just about anything else we enjoy eating.

Under normal circumstances, if all else fails people can escape the invasive arm of the nanny state by moving. It is called “voting with your feet.” Unfortunately for consumers, Bloomberg is worth billions, and he is hellbent on going to the ends of the earth through his “charitable” arm, Bloomberg Philanthropies, to tax and ban sodas into submission in the name of fighting obesity.   Continue reading “You Can’t Run From Mayor Bloomberg, And Things He Doesn’t Like”

Chron – by PAUL J. WEBER

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — State troopers arrested two men said to be carrying antique pistols outside the Texas Capitol on Saturday during a demonstration by a gun-rights group that also helped spearhead a rally of openly armed supporters last week at the Alamo.

The two men were arrested for criminal trespass and have refused to identify themselves to authorities, Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said.   Continue reading “2 arrested at Texas Capitol gun-rights rally”

American-Statesman – by Andra Lim

Voice of Russia

Huffington Post

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Brazil said Friday it is working with other countries to draft a U.N. General Assembly resolution that would guarantee people’s privacy in electronic communications. That follows a series of reports of alleged U.S. eavesdropping on foreign leaders and others that has surprised and angered allies.   Continue reading “Brazil, Germany Drafting UN Anti-Spying Resolution To General Assembly To Curb U.S. Surveillance By NSA”

The Guardian – by Jim Newell

Thousands gathered by the Capitol reflection pool in Washington on Saturday to march, chant, and listen to speakers and performers as part of Stop Watching Us, a gathering to protest “mass surveillance” under NSA programs first disclosed by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Billed by organizers as “the largest rally yet to protest mass surveillance”, Stop Watching Us was sponsored by an unusually broad coalition of left- and right-wing groups, including everything from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Green Party, Color of Change and Daily Kos to the Libertarian Party, FreedomWorks and Young Americans for Liberty.   Continue reading “Thousands gather in Washington for anti-NSA ‘Stop Watching Us’ rally”

Fox News – Associated Press

NEW YORK –  Police say a Tennessee man has checked luggage containing a loaded, defaced rifle at New York’s Kennedy International Airport.

Keenan Draughon (DRAW’-guhn) was arrested Saturday morning trying to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C., after Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police found the weapons. Police spokesman Joseph Pentangelo says Draughon also had high-capacity magazines, which are illegal in New York.   Continue reading “Police: Tenn. man arrested at JFK airport after loaded, defaced rifle was found in his luggage”

New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — The F.B.I. is investigating the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy by a sheriff’s deputy in Northern California.

Sheriff Steve Freitas of Sonoma County said in a statement Friday afternoon that he would cooperate fully with federal investigators and that he welcomed their participation. The shooting of the boy, Andy Lopez, in Santa Rosa on Tuesday has generated numerous protests and marches, with many residents questioning the deputy’s decision to fire on the boy.  Continue reading “F.B.I. Begins Inquiry in Deputy’s Killing of 13-Year-Old Boy”

Time Newsfeed – by Jacob Davidson

A Virginia woman has become an inspiration to fed-up citizens everywhere after she rode her horse to the local DMV in protest of poor service.

NBC 12 reports that, after getting the run around from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, Amelia resident Ashlee Owens decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. Despite sending in her insurance information — both via email and through the postal service — DMV officials claimed they never received proof that Owens was insured. As a result, her license was suspended, and a new one would end up costing the 26-year-old $645 in fees.   Continue reading “Woman Rides Horse to DMV in Protest of Poor Service”

Huffington Post

RIDGECREST, Calif. — RIDGECREST, Calif. (AP) — A homicide suspect was killed by police on a Mojave Desert highway early Friday after a lengthy pursuit in which the man fired at vehicles and two hostages in his car trunk, authorities said.

The suspect called a Ridgecrest police officer’s cell phone and said he wanted to come to the department and shoot officers but because police had too many guns he would “wreak havoc” elsewhere, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood told a press conference.   Continue reading “Mojave Desert Shooting Spree Ends With Dead Suspect”

Air Force Times

The Air Force Academy on Friday announced that it will now be optional for cadets to recite “so help me God” at the end of its honor oath.

The academy made the change in response to a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates for the separation of church and state in the military.   Continue reading “Academy makes ‘God’ optional in cadets’ oath”

Huffington Post – by Eric Zuesse

An extensive new research report explains how the Koch brothers’ business operation and their political operation are actually mutually reinforcing sides of one single operation. The report, by the International Forum on Globalization, an anti-globalization think tank, finds:

Page 2: The Kochs own 2 million acres in Alberta’s tar sands land (in addition to their 25% ownership of the XL if it gets built) and would therefore increase their net worth by around $100 billion if the XL gets built (which would make the world’s dirtiest oil cost-competitive to sell).  Continue reading “Keystone XL Pipeline Would Double the Kochs’ Net Worth, Says New Report”

AmmoLand – by AWR Hawkins

Washington DC – -(Ammoland.com)-  In their non-stop push for more gun control, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly have presented Congress with a letter referencing “16 more mass shootings” since the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14, 2012.

They do not list the supposed 16 mass shootings in their letter, which was published online by Politico, but they do mention the Tucson shooting from January 2011, the Aurora movie theater shooting from July 2012, and the Sikh Temple attack in August 2012. All three of these crimes occurred well before, not after, the shooting at Sandy Hook.   Continue reading “Giffords, Kelly Claim ’16 More Mass Shootings’ Since Sandy Hook – Did We Miss Something?”

Reuters

Pirates attacked an oil supply vessel off the Nigerian coast and kidnapped the captain and chief engineer, both U.S. citizens, an American defense official and security sources said on Thursday.

Pirate attacks off Nigeria’s coast have jumped by a third this year as ships passing through West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, a major commodities route, have come under threat from gangs wanting to snatch cargoes and crews.   Continue reading “Pirates kidnap two U.S. sailors off Nigerian coast -sources”