Month: September 2014

The Sedalia Weekly Observer

A recount was conducted Tuesday at the Pettis County Courthouse involving the results of the co-called “Right to Farm” Amendment to the Missouri Constitution.

On Aug. 5, Amendment 1 passed by 2,490 votes, or about a quarter of a percentage point.

Losers of a Missouri ballot initiative are permitted to request a recount if the margin is a half percentage point or less. A coalition of Amendment 1 opponents — including Missouri’s Food for America, the Missouri Farmers Union, and the Missouri Rural Crisis Center — formally called for a recount. A total of 497,091 people voted no on the proposal.   Continue reading “Recount on Missouri’s “Right to Farm” Amendment Conducted”

Nunez Report

Russia does not rule out the possibility that it might close its airspace in response to new Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.

“If there are sanctions connected with energy or further restrictions on our financial sector, we will have to strike back in an asymmetric way, such as restrictions in the transport sphere,” Medvedev said in an interview with Vedomosti, a business daily.   Continue reading “Russia mulls closing airspace in response to new Western sanctions”

ProPublica – by Lois Beckett

The morning after the Sandy Hook shootings, Shannon Watts, a mother of five and a former public relations executive, started a Facebook page called “One Million Moms for Gun Control.” It proved wildly popular and members quickly focused on renewing the federal ban on military style assault weapons.

“We all were outraged about the fact that this man could use an AR-15, which seemed like a military grade weapon, and go into an elementary school and wipe out 26 human beings in less than five minutes,” Watts said.   Continue reading “Why Gun Control Groups Have Moved Away from an Assault Weapons Ban”

New York Daily News – by Don Kaplan

The routine surgical procedure Joan Rivers was supposed to undergo turned deadly when a doctor who arrived at the clinic with the legendary comic’s entourage performed an unplanned biopsy on her vocal cords, a medical source who was briefed on the case told The News.

Such a procedure is not supposed to be performed outside of a hospital, according to medical experts.   Continue reading “Joan Rivers had surprise throat biopsy that cut off her air supply, source claims”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff

Mired in the drought that has dried up so much of the Southwest, Texas is losing patience with Mexico, which owes the state millions of gallons of water.

Under the terms of a 1945 agreement, Mexico and Texas are supposed to send each other a certain amount of water. Texas’ share comes from the Colorado River, while Mexico’s originates along the Rio Grande.   Continue reading “Mexico Owes Water to U.S.”

AlterNet – by Steven Rosenfeld

The federal bureaucratic pipeline that has pumped billions in surplus military weapons and battle gear into thousands of police departments across America does not train cops to use them, does not track when the weaponry is used and does not screen police for history of civil rights abuses. It also does not want to decide whether it is even appropriate to be sending local police weapons as esoteric as rifle bayonettes and combat knives.

These were just some takeaways from a lengthy hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, where top officials from the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice described programs that funneled upwards of $50 billion in gear and grants in recent years to local police. The hearing is expected to prompt a major revamping of these programs, as almost every senator who spoke up, both Democrat and Republican, slammed militarized policing.   Continue reading “The Shocking Militarization of America’s Police Finally Catches the Interest of the US Senate”

RT

The Mayor of Philadelphia has agreed to endorse legislation that decriminalizes the possession and public consumption of marijuana, making it one of the largest American cities to turn back punitive drug laws.

The bill, which Mayor Michael Nutter said he will endorse, was proposed by the city council, and – with the latest amendments – would levy fines of $25 on people caught possessing small amounts of the drug, and $100 for smoking it in public. In neither case would an offender face a criminal charge or arrest.    Continue reading “Philadelphia set to decriminalize marijuana possession”

RT

A fourth American aid worker stricken with the Ebola virus arrived early Tuesday in Atlanta for treatment at Emory University Hospital. Two Americans were successfully treated for Ebola at Emory last month.

The patient, whose identity was not released, will be housed in a special isolation unit, according to hospital officials. No additional details were offered.   Continue reading “Fourth American with Ebola treated in Atlanta”

RT

A Pentagon investigation of the “kill vehicle” warhead, part of a weapons system plagued with years of failed tests, found dozens of quality control problems, according to a new report.

The Pentagon’s inspector general said in the report released Monday that the “kill vehicle,” a warhead meant to intercept missiles, fell short of quality standards in 48 specific cases, including issues with software testing, supply chain demands, and design changes, making the kill vehicle “susceptible to quality assurance failures.”   Continue reading “Pentagon: Missile defense ‘kill vehicle’ still plagued with problems after years of failure”

RT

The American fast-food giant witnessed a sharp decline in global profits in August, hit by the closure of its restaurants across Russia and a “rotten meat” scandal in China.

McDonald’s earnings slid with stores open at least 13 months taking a worse-than-expected hit in August, falling 3.7 percent, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based hamburger chain said in a statement on Wednesday. This is the biggest monthly drop since 2003, according to Bloomberg. Market analysts had expected a 3.1 percent drop in earnings.   Continue reading “​McDonald’s suffers worst monthly decline in more than a decade”

National Park Service

Giant Living Flag Created to Honor Bicentennial of The Star-Spangled Banner

BALTIMORE – In a spectacular show of red, white and blue today at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, more than 6,600 Maryland students, teachers and chaperons created the largest 15 stars and 15 stripes Star-Spangled Banner Living Flag ever assembled.    Continue reading “Living Flag Makes History at Fort McHenry National Monument”

Mail.com

Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, this was supposed to be a season of relief, with Iraq managing on its own and most U.S. troops finally ending their combat duty in Afghanistan. Instead, Americans are bracing for another upsurge of military engagement in a region where one war blurs into another. Across the world, a generation has now grown up amid this continuous conflict, and there’s no end in sight.

“The Cold War took 45 years,” said Elliott Abrams, a longtime diplomat who was top Middle East adviser to President George W. Bush. “It’s certainly plausible that this could be the same. … It’s harder to see how this ends.”   Continue reading “No end in sight for America’s Mideast war duties”

Mail.com

CAMDEN, Ala. (AP) — Authorities expect to charge a South Carolina man in connection with the deaths of his five children after he led them to a secluded dirt road in Alabama where their bodies lay wrapped in individual garbage bags.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr. has been charged with child neglect and police expect to lodge additional charges against him, the Lexington County, South Carolina, Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. Jones, 32, is awaiting extradition to South Carolina from Mississippi, where he has been jailed since his arrest Saturday on a drunken-driving charge, Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said in a statement.   Continue reading “Charges expected against father of 5 dead children”

National Journal – by Brendan Sasso

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wants to give federal regulators sweeping new powers over Internet access.

The move is necessary, she said Monday, to save net neutrality and protect Internet users. But Republicans and business groups warn that applying utility-style regulations to the Internet would strangle economic growth and ultimately mean worse Internet service.   Continue reading “Nancy Pelosi Backs Controversial Internet Powers to Save Net Neutrality”

Video Rebel’s Blog – by Lasha Darkmoon

WHO DID 9/11?

1. Introduction

LASHA DARKMOON: I’d like to start by saying that every statement you read here is a 100 percent authentic quote. Nothing has been fabricated. You can check out every word and phrase on the internet. The only bits you won’t find already published are my own interconnecting comments. As the editor of the article, I have allowed myself the privilege of taking part in this imaginary “debate”.   Continue reading “Lasha Darkmoon 9/11: The Shocking Truth Laid Bare”

RINF

If you don’t want to get probed, poked, pinched, tasered, tackled, searched, seized, stripped, manhandled, arrested, shot, or killed, don’t say, do or even suggest anything that even hints of noncompliance. This is the new “thin blue line” over which you must not cross in interactions with police if you want to walk away with your life and freedoms intact.

The following incidents and many more like them serve as chilling reminders that in the American police state, “we the people” are at the mercy of law enforcement officers who have almost absolute discretion to decide who is a threat, what constitutes resistance, and how harshly they can deal with the citizens they were appointed to “serve and protect.”    Continue reading “The Violent Cost of Challenging the American Police State”

Fox News

The company that runs the conservative Breitbart.com news site says the IRS has selected the network for an audit, in a move company executives suggest is politically motivated.

Breitbart News Network, a California-based company which runs several conservative websites, says the IRS recently audited its 2012 financial information.

“The Obama administration’s timing on this is exquisite, but try as they might through various methods to silence us, we will only get more emboldened,” Stephen K. Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart News Network, said in a written statement.

The audit comes as the agency faces sustained complaints that it targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny as they sought nonprofit status, before the agency ended the practice last year.    Continue reading “Breitbart News says IRS targeted company for audit”