Author: Sunfire

“Under Obama’s leadership, almost 2 million people have been removed from the U.S.”

I think they meant to type:  “Under Obama’s tyranny, more than 2 million illegals have been welcomed to the U.S. and given free housing, food, medical, and education….at your expense!” 

Mail.com

PHOENIX (AP) — Immigration advocates and supporters rallied Saturday in cities across the country in a renewed effort to push President Barack Obama to put a freeze on deportations.   Continue reading “Rallies in cities across US decrying deportation”

Mail.com

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sam Robinson said it’s been about 15 years since he last played the videogame Tetris on a Game Boy. On Saturday night, he played it on the side of a skyscraper.

Robinson, 30, was among the hundreds of Tetris fans who had a little fun Saturday with a big version of the classic video game on the side of the 29-story Cira Centre in downtown Philadelphia. “It has been probably 15 years since I played Tetris last on a Game Boy, and it’s much different playing on the side of building that’s a half-mile away,” the city resident said. “Everything’s happening so quick.”   Continue reading “Tetris in the sky: Gamers play on Philly building”

RT News

Following North Korea’s launching of mid-range ballistic missiles over the sea last Saturday, Japan has promised to use one of its destroyers in the Sea of Japan to shoot down any further possible launches in April that may threaten Japan.

The order to intercept was issued on Thursday by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and concerned any launches that may take place from April 3-25, the 82nd anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army, according to The Asahi Shimbun.   Continue reading “Tokyo orders military to shoot down missile launches by N. Korea”

RT News

US officials on Friday slammed plans to construct an EU-centric communication system, designed to prevent emails and phone calls from being swept up by the NSA, warning that such a move is a violation of trade laws.

Calling Europe’s proposal to build its own integrated communication system “draconian,” the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said American tech companies, which are worth an estimated $8 trillion per year, would take a financial hit if Brussels gives the initiative the green light.    Continue reading “US blasts Europe’s plan for anti-snooping network as ‘unfair advantage’”

RT News

Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that the Obama administration will reassess its role in attempting to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestine after the latest round of discussions proved to be all but fruitful.

Speaking to reporters from Rabat, Morocco amid his latest tour overseas, Kerry said that the most recent attempts from the United States to find common ground between leadership in the Middle East have failed.   Continue reading “Kerry gives up on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks”

RT News

The US State Department is unable to explain how it spent billions of dollars worth of contract funds in areas throughout the world, according to a newly unveiled report by the department’s internal watchdog.

The Office of Inspector General explained in a March 20 “management alert” to department leaders that approximately $6 billion has gone unaccounted for over the past six years. The note said the number of missing documents “exposes the department to significant financial risk” and is a dangerous lack of oversight.   Continue reading “$6 bn worth of contracts misplaced by State Department”

RT News

Yahoo has announced it has fully encrypted traffic moving between its data centers, as well as mail between servers and other mail providers in order to protect private users from mass surveillance. The move helps put a lid on NSA spooks and hacking.

“We implemented the latest in security best-practices, including supporting TLS 1.2, Perfect Forward Secrecy and a 2048-bit RSA key for many of our global properties such as Homepage, Mail and Digital Magazines,” Alex Stamos, Chief Information Security Officer, wrote in his Tumblr blog post.   Continue reading “Yahoo introduces new encryption methods to protect users from spying”

RT News

The Mississippi Legislature passed a bill on Tuesday that would allow individuals and businesses to legally discriminate on the basis of their religion.

The state House and Senate approved a conference report on SB 2681, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, despite previous indications from the House that its version of the bill was on hold based on objections about the implications for discrimination.   Continue reading “Mississippi Legislature passes bill allowing legal discrimination on basis of religion”

RT News

A rash of earthquakes within the last week along a section of the Earth infamous for seismic activity is causing concern that more tremors will soon occur near the ominously named “Ring of Fire.”

Experts don’t think that a series of quakes in recent days are related to one another, but all seem to agree that three major incidents in both North and South America share at least one common bond: each quake and their subsequent aftershocks were located along the circum-Pacific seismic belt, or “Ring of Fire,” where scientists with the United States Geological Survey say 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur.   Continue reading “‘Ring of Fire’ fears renewed following earthquakes in California, Chile and Panama”

Mail.com

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Attorneys for a serial killer have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution until the state releases information about who supplied its new lethal injection drug stock.

Serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells is set to die Thursday evening with a recently obtained supply of pentobarbital. Texas prison officials say the pharmacy that supplied the drug needs to be kept secret to protect it from threats of violence.   Continue reading “Supreme Court to decide Texas execution drug case”

RT News

A US federal court has granted Hawaiian lawmakers permission to slash benefits for residents whose families formerly lived on a string of Pacific islands that the US military used as a nuclear test site in the decades after World War II.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit removed an injunction Tuesday that prevented the state from reducing the health benefits paid out to residents of Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands, where a number of people claim they are still suffering from health problems caused by the military tests.   Continue reading “Hawaii may cut health benefits to Pacific islanders affected by nuclear testing”

RT News

Things aren’t getting much better for the gap between America’s rich and poor: a new study reveals that inequality within the United States is only getting worse.

The Sadoff Investment Research firm of Wisconsin has released the results of a recent report, and it indicates that the ongoing issue of inequality is continuing to keep America’s poor vastly separated from the more financially fortunate.   Continue reading “Inequality gap between super rich and poor continues to widen”

Mail.com

IQUIQUE, Chile (AP) — Authorities in northern Chile discovered surprisingly light damage and just six reported deaths Wednesday from a magnitude-8.2 quake — a remarkably low toll for such a powerful shift in the Earth’s crust.

President Michelle Bachelet arrived in Iquique before noon to review damage after declaring a state of emergency. Hours earlier, she sent a military plane with 100 anti-riot police to join 300 soldiers deployed to prevent looting and round up escaped prisoners.  Continue reading “Experts: Chile’s M8.2 quake not ‘the big one’”

Mail.com

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber wearing a military uniform struck the heavily fortified Interior Ministry compound in the heart of Kabul on Wednesday and killed six police officers, authorities said, in an escalation of Taliban violence aimed at disrupting this weekend’s presidential election.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the bomber got through several checkpoints to reach the ministry gate before detonating his explosives. An Interior Ministry statement said the bomber was among other men in uniform entering the compound.   Continue reading “Blast kills 6 at Afghan Interior Ministry compound”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reeling from allegations by federal prosecutors that he knew about the dirty tricks that helped him get elected four years ago, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray tried to rally his base. But his core supporters weren’t nearly enough, as a scandal-weary electorate rallied behind a much-younger challenger who promised honest and ethical leadership.

D.C. Councilmember Muriel Bowser defeated Gray in Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary, leaving Gray to serve nine months as a lame duck with potential criminal charges hanging over his head. The defining moment of the election occurred three weeks earlier in a courtroom. Federal prosecutors say Gray knew about an illegal $668,000 slush fund that helped him defeat incumbent Adrian Fenty in 2010. Five people involved with his previous campaign have pleaded guilty to felonies and the new allegations surfaced as part of a plea deal for the businessman who provided the illegal funds.   Continue reading “Scandal-weary voters boot DC mayor from office”

I personally did not sign up for Obamacare.  I am sure many here at the 
trenches did not do so either! 😉

Mail.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A blizzard, jammed phone lines and unreliable websites failed to stop throngs of procrastinating Americans from trying to sign up for health coverage by the midnight Monday deadline for President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative.   Continue reading “Deadline brings high interest for health insurance”

RT News

Following Congress’ decision to approve a $1 billion aid package to Ukraine last week, former libertarian Congressman Ron Paul has published an op-ed strongly criticizing it as a bad deal for both American taxpayers and Ukrainian citizens.

In the column, published by Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, the iconic libertarian said the bill effectively puts the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in charge of the Ukrainian economy, needlessly directs money towards “democracy promotion” and additional sanctions on Russia. He also accused the US government of ignoring its own role in the crisis currently unfolding in Eastern Europe.   Continue reading “Ron Paul: Ukraine aid bill is bad deal for all”

RT News

A Senate report found that CIA officials lied to the government and public about its post-9/11 torture program, most notably by distorting intelligence gleaned from traditional interrogations as that attained by far more brutal methods.

The Washington Post reported Monday that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report outlines a long list of “unsubstantiated claims” from CIA officials in the agency’s pursuit of a global torture regime that resulted in little, if any, substantive intelligence, according to US officials who have reviewed the document.   Continue reading “CIA lied about torture’s effectiveness, according to unreleased Senate report”

RT News

Private prison company GEO Group coaxed around $1 million out of Arizona Republicans, despite assertions by the state Department of Corrections that the money is not needed based on the state’s contract with GEO Group.

The last-minute funding attempt came late Friday, when Arizona House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh (R) added $900,000 into a budget proposal after GEO Group lobbyists convinced him that the company was not seeing enough profit from emergency inmate beds it supplies Arizona’s prisons in Phoenix and Florence.   Continue reading “Arizona Republicans try to pump $1 mil into private prison for non-existent inmates”