Month: December 2014

Mail.com

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas airman accused of aggravated assault for exposing multiple sex partners to HIV at swinger parties in Wichita will have his appeal heard this week before the nation’s highest military court.

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will take up on Tuesday in the case against David Gutierrez, an appeal the defense contends could upend similar prosecutions in the U.S. military. “This case will have the potential of decriminalizing sexual contact with someone with HIV,” defense attorney Kevin McDermott said.   Continue reading “Military appeals court to hear Kansas HIV case”

Mail.com

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two decades after Israeli spies helped Syrian Jews whisk ancient Hebrew bibles from Damascus to Jerusalem, Israel’s national library asked an Israeli court on Monday to grant it custodianship over the manuscripts — a move that could spark an ownership battle over some of the Syrian Jewish community’s most important treasures.

Known as the Crowns of Damascus, the nine leather-bound parchment books — some featuring microscopic calligraphy and gold-leaf illumination — were written mostly in Spain and Italy between 700 and 1,000 years ago. For hundreds of years, they were guarded inside synagogues in the Syrian capital, presented only on special occasions.   Continue reading “Syrian Jewish bibles could spark ownership dispute”

The Daily Bell

Arkansas governor pardons own son for a pot offense. He should pardon a lot more people … Mike Beebe, the Arkansas Democrat whose term as governor is expiring early next year, has formally announced that he plans to pardon his own son for a 2003 marijuana conviction. The plan was first reported last month by local media. It’s perfectly reasonable to believe that dealing marijuana – which is now legal in multiple states – shouldn’t make someone a felon. But there were 5,876 people arrested for marijuana possession in 2003, the year Beebe’s son Kyle was charged. And thousands of Arkansans – every one of which was someone’s son or daughter – have been arrested for marijuana possession every year since then. If Kyle deserves mercy – and he does – then so do others convicted under the same laws. – Vox Continue reading “What Happens If People Decide the War on Drugs Was Not Only Dysfunctional but Also False?”

The American Vision – by Dr. Gary North

I begin with an insight offered by Professor Carroll Quigley (1910—1977), who taught history to Bill Clinton at Georgetown University. He had such a profound impact on Clinton that Clinton referred to him in his 1992 nomination acceptance speech. Quigley is famous among conservatives for his book, Tragedy and Hope (1966), in which he devoted 20 pages to the connections between Wall Street banking firms and American foreign policy, which has been dominated by the liberal left (pp. 950ff). But Quigley was also an expert in the history of weaponry. One of his books, Weapons Systems and Political Stability: A History, was printed directly from a typewritten manuscript and is known only to a handful of specialists, was a 1,000-page history of weaponry that ended with the Middle Ages. In Tragedy and Hope, he wrote about the relationship between amateur weapons and liberty. By amateur, he meant low cost. He meant, in the pejorative phrase of political statists, Saturday-night specials.   Continue reading “Is it Time to Disarm the Police?”

Wall Street on Parade – by Pam and Russ Martens

On Thursday, November 20, 2014, the body of 54-year old Melissa Millan, a divorced mother of two school-age children, was found at approximately 8 p.m. along a jogging path running parallel to Iron Horse Boulevard in Simsbury, Connecticut. A motorist had spotted the body and called the police.

According to the coroner’s report, it was determined that Millan’s death was attributable to a stab wound to the chest with an “edged weapon.” Police ruled the death a homicide, a rarity for this town where residents feel safe enough to routinely jog by themselves on the same path used by Millan.   Continue reading “Slain MassMutual Executive Held Wall Street “Trade Secrets””

American Everyman – by Scott Creighton

I think at a certain point one has to understand that globalization amounts to treason. These greedy Vichy politicians we have in Washington need to be removed before they hand over everything in the country that isn’t nailed to the floor.

This is Tonto National Forest. It is yours. It is this country’s fifth largest forest and has on average 5.8 million visitors annually. It was set aside as a national forest back in 1905 in order to protect its watersheds around key reservoirs used by the people of the communities around it which include Phoenix, Flagstaff, Prescot, Snowflake, Winslow and the Fort Apache Reservation. “The forest produces an average of 350,000 acre-feet of water each year” feeding into Theodore Roosevelt Lake and the Salt River which bisects the national forest running east to west. In 1955 Eisenhower used Public Land Order 1229 to protect parts of Tonto National Forest from the mining industry that wanted to despoil it for profits. There’s copper in them there hills and therefore, there’s gold. Thanks to that and the work of conservationists over the decades, without a doubt, it is one of the most beautiful unspoiled areas this nation has left… and Sen. John McCain wants to give it to a British mining company by using the latest version of the NDAA to do it.   Continue reading “John McCain Trying to Use NDAA to Give Tonto National Forest to a British Mining Company”

Oddity Central

A purring feline in the Bulgarian seaside resort town of Varna has been making headlines because of its unusually emerald green fur. Although several theories have tried to explain the radioactive color of the stray animal, the true cause of its coloration remains a mystery.

The ‘green cat of Bulgaria’, as the brightly colored feline has come to be known online, was spotted prowling the streets of Varna a few days ago, and as soon as photos of it appeared on the internet, it became an international news topic. Truth be told, it’s not every day that you get to see a real-life emerald cat, and the inexplicable cause of its bizarre color simply made the topic even more intriguing.   Continue reading “Inexplicably Green Cat Turns Heads in Bulgaria”

The Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder

There has only been one other time in history when the price of oil has crashed by more than 40 dollars in less than 6 months.  The last time this happened was during the second half of 2008, and the beginning of that oil price crash preceded the great financial collapse that happened later that year by several months.  Well, now it is happening again, but this time the stakes are even higher.  When the price of oil falls dramatically, that is a sign that economic activity is slowing down.  It can also have a tremendously destabilizing affect on financial markets.  As you will read about below, energy companies now account for approximately 20 percent of the junk bond market.  And a junk bond implosion is usually a signal that a major stock market crash is on the way.  So if you are looking for a “canary in the coal mine”, keep your eye on the performance of energy junk bonds.  If they begin to collapse, that is a sign that all hell is about to break loose on Wall Street.   Continue reading “Guess What Happened The Last Time The Price Of Oil Crashed Like This?…”

Amigabit – by Daisy Wood

As dangerous as a virus is to your computer, delete it by yourself can be even more dangerous. Removing a virus without the help of antivirus software is possible but risky. It should only be done by someone who is able to recognize which files are needed for the computer and that are part of the virus. You must delete all files and registry keys associated with the virus to get rid of it. You may not be able to delete some of them without changing them. Your computer’s command prompt can help you accomplish this task.   Continue reading “How to Remove a Virus Manually without Using Antivirus Software”

Watchdog – by Yaël Ossowski

U.S. Ron Wyden of Oregon wants to ban the practice of requiring tech companies to integrate back doors into their devices, allowing the federal government to snoop on Americans.

In a bill introduced Thursday, titled the Secure Data Act, Wyden, a Democrat, lays out the case for scrapping government requirements for companies who produce cell phones and computers to include capabilities for law enforcement and federal agencies to secretly access user data.   Continue reading “Wyden: No more ‘back doors’ in Americans’ computers, phones”

11 Alive – by Jeremy Campbell

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — A Stone Mountain mother is outraged after her 6-year-old was handcuffed for misbehaving at Pine Ridge Elementary School. Her child, Patrick, is a first-grader there and is a special needs student.

“My husband got a call that something was going on with Patrick at school, and they needed us to come. We go into the school and a gentleman takes us back. I hear my son yelling and screaming” Lakaisha Reid recalled.

She snapped photos of the bruises left on his wrist on Friday after he was handcuffed by a student resource officer.   Continue reading “Boy, 6, handcuffed at school”

Seattle Times – by Mike Carter

Federal prosecutors say they will review an incident in which a Seattle police officer punched and seriously injured a handcuffed, intoxicated woman, after King County prosecutors said Friday they won’t charge the officer.

Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes, said her office will look at the June 22 incident involving Officer Adley Shepherd for a possible federal criminal civil-rights violation.   Continue reading “No felony charges for SPD cop’s bone-breaking punch of handcuffed woman”

The Marshal Project – by SHAWN MUSGRAVE, TOM MEAGHER and GABRIEL DANCE

You may have heard that the image-conscious Los Angeles Unified School District chose to return the grenade launchers it received from the Defense Department’s surplus equipment program. You probably have not heard about some of the more obscure beneficiaries of the Pentagon giveaway:

• Police in Johnston, R.I., with a population less than 29,000, acquired two bomb disposal robots, 10 tactical trucks, 35 assault rifles, more than 100 infrared gun sights and two pairs of footwear designed to protect against explosive mines. The Johnson police department has 67 sworn officers.

Continue reading “The Pentagon Finally Details its Weapons-for-Cops Giveaway”

SHTF Plan – by Mac Slavo

While outrage continues to brew over the non-indictment of the officer that choked Eric Garner to death for selling “loose” untaxed cigarettes on the streets of New York, the NYPD is digging in, as the above New York Daily News image suggests.

Amid anti-police sentiments, the NYPD has claimed that members of the “Black Guerilla Family” are threatening to shoot on-duty police officers in New York. The group is known as an “ideological African-American Marxist revolutionary organization composed of prisoners” set up in the sixties, with inspiration from black leaders including Marcus Garvey.   Continue reading “Gangs of New York: Post-Garner NYPD on Watch for Militant Blacks ‘Preparing to Shoot On-Duty Police Officers’”

ABC News

The Department of Justice is announcing today new limits on racial profiling, and the department’s hope is that other law enforcement agencies will follow the example.

Although the process of drawing up the new limits on profiling began in 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder pushed diligently over the last several weeks to have the policy finalized before he leaves office, a DOJ official said.   Continue reading “DOJ to Announce New Limits on Racial Profiling”

LA Times – by LAUREN RAAB, SHELBY GRAD

A massive fire in downtown Los Angeles early Monday engulfed an apartment tower under construction, damaged two other buildings and left freeways and roads closed.

The 110 Freeway northbound remains closed, but Caltrans reopened the 101 and 110 southbound at around 4:30 a.m.

More than 250 firefighters are battling the blaze at an apartment tower under construction in the 900 block of Fremont Avenue, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz said.   Continue reading “Massive downtown L.A. fire closes freeways, burns 3 towers”

Time – by Brad Tuttle

It’s no wonder that many are calling for higher gas taxes lately: Gas prices are the cheapest they’ve been in years, so a hike in gas taxes is less likely to drive drivers nuts.

Raising taxes is never popular. But if there was ever a way to make a tax increase more palatable to Americans, it would be with a tax hike that didn’t seem like much of a tax hike. Like, say, one that was optimally planned so that even after the tax increase was instituted, the average household wouldn’t feel like it was paying much more out of pocket than it was in the recent past.   Continue reading “As Gas Prices Go Down, Likelihood of Higher Gas Taxes Goes Up”