Yahoo News – by Alan Fram

WASHINGTON (AP) — Backed by the National Rifle Association, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican leader is introducing legislation that would reward states for sending more information about residents with serious mental problems to the federal background check system for firearms purchasers.

The bill promoted Wednesday by Sen. John Cornyn, who has an A-plus rating from the NRA for his gun rights record, is far more modest than a Senate measure expanding background check requirements that the organization and Republicans helped defeat two years ago. Cornyn’s proposal also is narrower than a measure a top Senate Democrat announced this week.   Continue reading “No. 2 Senate Republican proposing gun background check bill”

TMZ

Wrestling legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper has died at the age of 61 … TMZ Sports has learned.

Piper — born Roderick George Toombs — died from cardiac arrest in his sleep at his home in Hollywood on Thursday night. He was discovered on Friday.

Piper was a wrestling icon — one of the biggest stars in the WWE back in the ’80s, and even wrestled in “Wrestlemania I” back in 1985 … squaring off against Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.    Continue reading “‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper — Dies at 61 from Cardiac Arrest”

Yahoo News – by Mark Henricks

Bastrop (United States) (AFP) – The conspiracy theories grew wilder as the massive military exercise grew closer: food riots and martial law were coming to the United States, some said.

Dissidents would be assassinated, Wal-Marts turned into prison camps, foreign troops brought in to help.   Continue reading “US military exercise sparks fears of martial law”

Obama to give eulogy for slain Charleston pastorYahoo News – by Oliver Knox

President Barack Obama on Friday will deliver the eulogy for pastor and South Carolina state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine victims of the mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston last week. Vice President Joe Biden will also attend the service.

The White House confirmed that the two would travel to Charleston on Friday for the funeral. The news was first reported by the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper.   Continue reading “Obama to give eulogy for slain Charleston pastor”

2015-05-14-1431620823-4452197-Blogphoto.jpgHuffington Post – by Evan Bernick

Every part of Shawn Northrup’s midsummer evening walk with his wife, daughter, grandson, and dog was legal — including the holstered handgun he openly carried on his hip. But that was not enough to keep Northrup from being disarmed, handcuffed, and threatened with arrest by a police officer. Fortunately, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to let the officer who illegally detained Northrup escape accountability, exemplifying the kind of judicial engagement that is needed to protect law-abiding citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures.   Continue reading “Federal Appeals Court to Police Officer: No, You Can’t Slap Cuffs on Peaceful Gun Owners”

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, right, mother of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar TsarnaevYahoo News – by Dylan Stableford

The mother of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev condemned the guilty verdict delivered by the jury in his federal death penalty trial on Wednesday, calling Americans “terrorists” and proclaiming her sons’ innocence.

In an interview with the website Vocativ conducted over the WhatsApp messaging application, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva insisted on the innocence of her Chechen sons, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who planted the twin bombs that killed 3 people and wounded nearly 300 others near the finish line of the 2013 marathon. She went on to say that the United States will ultimately pay for “framing” them.   Continue reading “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s mother: ‘My sons are innocent’”

Yahoo News

Kiev (AFP) – Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday took delivery of ten US armoured vehicles, two days after American lawmakers voted to urge President Barack Obama to provide “lethal” aid to Kiev.

Dressed in camouflage, the Ukraine leader thanked Washington for the 10 Humvees, the first of 30 promised by Washington, as they arrived at Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport.   Continue reading “Ukraine receives first batch of US Humvees”

Roar of bombers replaced by drone buzz in North DakotaYahoo News – by Dave Kolpack

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The roar of mammoth Air Force bombers and tanker planes has long been silenced at the Grand Forks Air Force Base, but backers of the nation’s first unmanned aircraft business park say the drones are creating a buzz.

Construction on the Grand Sky grounds won’t likely begin until May, but national and international companies are jockeying for position in the 1.2 million-square-foot park that sits near the former alert pad where bombers and tankers were poised for takeoff on a moment’s notice.   Continue reading “Roar of bombers replaced by drone buzz in North Dakota”

Durbin and Reid hold a news conference after weekly party caucus policy luncheons at the U.S. Capitol in WashingtonYahoo News – by Charles Babington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress can get so busy that senators and their staffs don’t always have time to scrutinize bills they pass and letters they sign — or so it seemed this week, anyway.

Two episodes left Democrats blushing, some Republicans muttering under their breath, and taxpayers perhaps wondering what those well-educated people do on Capitol Hill.

First, Republicans ridiculed Democrats for claiming they somehow missed a key provision in a bill filed two months ago. The bill, unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would combat human sex trafficking.   Continue reading “Capitol Hill Buzz: Who has time to read these bills we pass?”