Author: Paul

RT

The Pentagon has confirmed the military buildup along Russia’s borders to ensure long-term “peace and stability” in the region. Earlier Moscow accused NATO of a sharp increase in air activity and intelligence flights in the border zone.

Replying to RIA Novosti’s query on the increased number of NATO flights around Russia’s borders, a Pentagon representative told the news agency that the military presence of the alliance has increased, but all operations are carried out under utmost“transparency.”   Continue reading “Pentagon confirms military buildup along Russian borders for ‘peace and stability’”

Truthout – by Moshe Z. Marvit, In These Times

Stories of the horrid conditions for workers in Amazon warehouses have been trickling out for years: The temperatures at the warehouses vary wildly, with some workers having to work in sub-zero conditions, others passing out from days where the temperature soared above 100 degrees, workers crying from not being able to keep up the brutal pace demanded, and then being threatened with termination for crying. And we can now add another indignity to the list, coming yesterday at the hands of the US Supreme Court, which ruled in a 9-0 decision that it is legal for Amazon warehouse workers not to be paid for a portion of their workday.   Continue reading “SCOTUS Rules Workers Don’t Need to Be Paid for All Their Time Working”

The Daily Caller – by MICHAEL BASTASCH

Climate scientists are saying 2014 is on track to be the hottest year on record, but it’s also been a record year for global sea ice coverage.

Global sea ice coverage hit the highest coverage since 1988 during December 2014 — the fourth highest global sea ice extent ever recorded for that time. Most of this has come from huge expansions of Antarctic sea ice during the South Pole’s winter, but scientists have recently acknowledged that Arctic sea ice is looking more stable than was previously thought.   Continue reading “‘Hottest Year On Record’ Sees Record-High Sea Ice Coverage”

Descrier

A pub has been inundated with offers to help after its offer to give a free Christmas dinner to local homeless people went viral.

Adam Hardiman, head chef at William IV pub at Shepherdess Walk, London, offered to make lunch for 100 homeless people, and posted the offer to Twitter   Continue reading “Pub’s offer to give homeless a free Christmas dinner goes viral”

Want China Times

China is developing a large nuclear-powered aircraft carrier similar to the Nimitz-class or Ford-class aircraft carriers of the United States Navy, Associate Professor Andrew S Erickson from the Strategic Research Department at the US Naval War College wrote in his recent article for National Interest magazine.

Erickson said three models of aircraft carriers displayed at Jinshuai Model Crafts based in Zhanjiang in Guangdong province show what China’s future aircraft carriers will look like. Jinshuai Model Crafts is located close to the headquarters of the PLA Navy’s South Sea Fleet and the models it makes usually provide reliable and detailed information about the design of China’s future warships.   Continue reading “China plans nuclear-powered aircraft carriers: US expert”

Raw Story – by ARTURO GARCIA

A Richmond, California police officer was allowed to testify in several criminal cases despite being under investigation for mishandling 5 pounds of seized marijuana,Richmond Confidential reported.

Defense attorneys accused the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office of violating ethics rules by not informing them that Officer Joe Avila was under investigation while continuing to use him as a key witness.   Continue reading “Calif. cop won’t be charged despite stashing seized marijuana at home and lying about it”

Down Trend – by  Brian Carey

And you thought that this year couldn’t get any better.

You were probably riding on the news about faux moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu losing her seat (and, by extension, the Democrats losing the South) a couple of weekends ago. You might have even told yourself: “Well, that’s a nice way to close out the year!”

But the year wasn’t over.

There’s one more bit of good news for you to savor. Gabby Giffords’ old Congressional seat has gone to a pro-gun Republican.

Breitbart, make yourself useful.   Continue reading “The Icing On The Cake: Gabby Giffords’ Old Seat Goes To A Pro-Gun Republican”

Common Dreams – by Andrea Germanos

An out-of-control natural gas fracking well in Monroe County, Ohio forced more than two dozen families from their homes and may pose the threat of an explosion.

The blowout at the Triad Hunter-operated well on the Utica Shale happened at approximately 2:00 p.m. EST on December 13, 2014, according to a statement released Sunday by the operator’s parent company, Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation.   Continue reading “Out of Control Fracking Well Forces Evacuations”

Bloomberg – by Doni Bloomfield

Two months after the first U.S. Ebola patient died in Dallas, thousands of people have been screened at airports and tracked by health workers, and millions of dollars have been spent readying hospitals.

And there’s been just one new case diagnosed in America.

Of 10 patients treated for the disease in the U.S. — most of which were controlled medical evacuations from the outbreak in West Africa — eight have survived.   Continue reading “U.S. Ebola Panic Vanishes Just as Money Is About to Flow”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman

With help from Congress and particularly a U.S. senator, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spent four years and hundreds of millions of dollars building a special tower for a program that had already been cancelled.

The “A-3 test stand” tower was originally designed to test a new rocket engine—the J-2X—that would be used to take American astronauts back to the moon and even to Mars. It was to cost $119 million and take three years to build.   Continue reading “NASA Spent $349 Million for a Useless Lab Tower for a Project that had Already been Cancelled”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman

Fifty years of firing radioactive munitions by the U.S. Army has left a large swath of Southern Indiana toxic and dangerous: More than 160,000 pounds of depleted uranium projectiles and millions of artillery shells have been left behind, unexploded, at the firing range.

The Army, however, is showing no signs of cleaning up the mess. In fact, it appears to be trying to walk away from the problem altogether, leaving local residents at potential risk.   Continue reading “Army Claims it’s too Dangerous to Clean Up Radioactive Weapons Test Site in Indiana”

Independent – by Gregory Korte, USA Today

President Obama has issued a form of executive action known as the presidential memorandum more often than any other president in history — using it to take unilateral action even as he has signed fewer executive orders.

When these two forms of directives are taken together, Obama is on track to take more high-level executive actions than any president since Harry Truman battled the “Do Nothing Congress” almost seven decades ago, according to a USA TODAY review of presidential documents.   Continue reading “Barack Obama issues ‘executive orders by another name’”

Natural Society – by Mike Barrett

Due to consumer demand, the largest German poultry producer, Wiesenhof, has announced that it will turn back to using GM-free animal feed. This is yet another example of the health movement sparking necessary change within Big Ag and Big Food.

Wiesenhof had actually moved to GMO feed previously after using GMO-free feed for its chicken. The decision to now revert to GMO-free feed comes just 10 months after the German Poultry Association (ZDG) unilaterally declared that it would stop using GM-free animal feed.   Continue reading “Another Victory: Poultry Industry Giant Goes GMO-Free”

Prevent Disease – by Mae Chan

Researchers have found new evidence that explains how some aspects of our personality may affect our health and wellbeing, supporting long-observed associations between aspects of human character, physical health and longevity.

Daily consumption of supplements containing extracts from French maritime pine bark may shorten the duration of the common cold and reduces the severity of sore throat, congestion, headache, coughing and sneezing, says a new study from Italy.   Continue reading “Pine Bark Extract Reduces Cold Symptoms And Decreases Severity”