Married gay couples living in all U.S. states can file joint federal tax returns, even if local authorities don’t recognize their marriages, the Obama administration said today.
The decision by the Treasury Department implements the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which had forbidden the Internal Revenue Service from letting married homosexual couples file jointly. Continue reading “Gay Spouses in All States Can File Joint Taxes, U.S. Says”
American neighborhoods are increasingly being policed by cops armed with the weapons and tactics of war. Federal funding in the billions of dollars has allowed state and local police departments to gain access to weapons and tactics created for overseas combat theaters – and yet very little is known about exactly how many police departments have military weapons and training, how militarized the police have become, and how extensively federal money is incentivizing this trend. It’s time to understand the true scope of the militarization of policing in America and the impact it is having in our neighborhoods. Since March 6th, ACLU affiliates in 25 states filed over 260 public records requests with law enforcement agencies and National Guard offices to determine the extent to which federal funding and support has fueled the militarization of state and local police departments. Stay tuned as this project develops. Continue reading “The Militarization of Policing in America”
A reporter with Israel’s most widely read newspaper has been told by defense establishment officials that a US-led attack on Syria will begin on Saturday and end when Barack Obama meets Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance will give $2.5 million in funding to the Connecticut State Police and local law enforcement for their response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Air pollution in major US cities is the largest cause of premature mortality, a new study has revealed. An average of 200,000 people have their lives cut short by about a decade every year because of continuous exposure to toxic fumes.
Researchers from MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment carried out a nationwide study, tracing ground-level emissions and their effect on citizen mortality. The team of investigators looked at sources such as car exhausts, industrial smokestacks and commercial and residential heating and found that an average of 200,000 people die prematurely each year because of exposure. Continue reading “Air pollution cause of 200,000 premature US deaths – study”
The annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this past week (August 22-24), sponsored by the Federal Reserve, elicited a collective yawn from the establishment media. Since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had announced earlier that he would not be attending — the first time in 24 years a Fed chairman has missed the annual confab — most media reports downplayed the significance of the conference and focused on speculation over how soon the Fed might begin its announced “tapering” program (Will it be in September, December, or January?), and by how much (Will it be a reduction of $10 billion/month, or $15 billion, or $20 billion?). An even bigger diversion was the speculation over the anticipated departure of Bernanke from the Fed and who his replacement is likely to be — with Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers leading the short list of candidates. Continue reading “Jackson Hole Conclave: Central Bankers Plan Global Theft, Massive Pain”
On TV, you often see commercials for this medication or that medication. The one thing that always catches my attention are all of the side effects they list. Sudden death, fatal heart attack, stroke. It is all said as if it is normal and nothing to be concerned about. We’ve inadvertently become a nation of pill popping junkies. The use of sleeping has sky rocketed in recent years. Insomnia seems to be more abundant now. Technology may play a role in a sleep deprived nation. Continue reading “America: A Nation Of Pill Poppers”
Power grid vulnerabilities are finally garnering some attention by government officials.
An electrical grid joint drill simulation is being planned in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Thousands of utility workers, FBI agents, anti-terrorism experts, governmental agencies, and more than 150 private businesses are involved in the November power grid drill.
Facing strong opposition in the UK parliament, military action against the Syrian regime over the alleged use of chemical weapons could be delayed. Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama said he has not yet made a final decision about the military attack.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Striving to take action where Congress would not, the Obama administration announced new steps Thursday on gun control, curbing the import of military surplus weapons and proposing to close a little-known loophole that lets felons and others circumvent background checks by registering guns to corporations.
Four months after a gun control drive collapsed spectacularly in the Senate, President Barack Obama added two more executive actions to a list of 23 steps the White House determined Obama could take on his own to reduce gun violence. With the political world focused on Mideast tensions and looming fiscal battles, the move signaled Obama’s intent to show he hasn’t lost sight of the cause he took up after 20 first graders and six adults were gunned down last year in an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Continue reading “Obama offers new gun control steps”
Iran is threatening to launch a massive missile strike against Israel if the United States attacks Syria for using chemical weapons against its own people, which could touch off a full-blown war in the region.
High altitude bombing and long-range missile attacks always bring nightmares of dead children and suicidal veterans. The president’s plans for rocketing yet another mid-east country without a UN mandate are being rationalized by pointing to bad actions by others — in this case Syria’s overlords.
When bystanders and the elderly and women and children and illiterate peasants are blown to bits or maimed by U.S. missiles fired by U.S. jets, the unnumbered deaths and dismemberments (the Pentagon will not count them) will be called “accidents” or “unintended consequences.” The endless failure of the peace movement means that the bodies of unidentified villains and countless innocents are to be sacrificed by U.S pilots in their thoughtless obedience to illegal orders. Continue reading “Bombing for Peace: Oxymorons of Humanitarian War”
OKLAHOMA CITY — Beating the late-summer heat isn’t as easy as running to the sink in one northeast Oklahoma town, as residents there are being asked not to drink tap water after red worms were found in the filtering system.
The new American way of life is to sit back and follow everything that the boob tube tells them! The news is 99% lies and about 1% half truth, but the sheeple of the country sit back and take it in like its the “Word Of God” and how dare you say any different to the fact! Well my dear Sheep you are being lied to every day of your sick weak life!
Now this news is not news to some of us. I’m sure a large percent of the people that read my blog know that the sheep are asleep and are sure to die or live a life in a FEMA camp. We, Being the awake and alert people to the real truth and the false flag lies of this Government know that doom is only a short time away. Continue reading “Sheep, Fools, and The American Way Of Life”
For nearly 15 years, the state of Michigan has had special laws in place that protect small, family-scale farmers from being driven off their land by local zoning ordinances, nuisance lawsuits, and other legal measures often used to prevent individuals from growing and raising their own food. And even after all this time, the Michigan Right to Farm Act (MRFA) still serves as a model template for protecting and encouraging local, sustainable food systems that work.
The law, which was passed back in 1999 and came into effect in 2000, essentially protects individuals who wish to farm or otherwise use their land to produce food from being targeted by their cities and townships for elimination. Backyard chicken farmers, for instance, or families that grow their own fruits, vegetables, and herbs, are recognized as having the freedom to do so by MRFA, so long as they follow generally accepted agricultural and management practices. Continue reading “Michigan Right to Farm Act: A shining example of a law that supports small-scale farmers, local and sustainable food systems”