Month: December 2014

Market Watch – by Brett Arends

Hang on to your hats, America.

And throw away that big, fat styrofoam finger while you’re about it.

There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it: We’re no longer No. 1. Today, we’re No. 2. Yes, it’s official. The Chinese economy just overtook the United States economy to become the largest in the world. For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet.   Continue reading “It’s official: America is now No. 2”

Yahoo News – by MARTHA MENDOZA

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Police and social-workers on Thursday began clearing away one of the nation’s largest homeless encampments, a cluster of flimsy tents and plywood shelters that once housed more than 200 people in the heart of wealthy Silicon Valley.

Authorities have been trying for years to resolve problems at the camp known as the Jungle, including violence and unsanitary conditions.   Continue reading “Crews break up homeless camp in Silicon Valley”

RT

The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a document which strongly condemns Moscow’s actions against its neighbors, calling them a policy of aggression.

Passed with 411-10 votes, the resolution slams Russia’s “continuing political, economic, and military aggression” against Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova and the “continuing violation of their sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.”   Continue reading “House of Representatives passes resolution against Russia”

Mail.com

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Attorneys for a Montana man say he was defending his home against a prowler when he fired a shotgun into his garage late one April night, killing a 17-year-old German exchange student.

Montana prosecutors contend that Markus Kaarma lured high-schooler Diren Dede into the garage by leaving the door partially open and a purse inside. Opening statements in Kaarma’s murder trial began Thursday in what’s become another test of “stand your ground” laws in the U.S.   Continue reading “Exchange student’s death tests ‘stand your ground’”

Mail.com

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates’ interior minister said Thursday that police have arrested a female suspect in the stabbing death of an American schoolteacher in the country’s capital and revealed that the attacker also planted a bomb outside the home of another American.

Word of the gruesome killing, which left a trail of blood in a public restroom at an Abu Dhabi mall, has rattled the Emirates, a Western-allied, seven-state Gulf federation that includes the glitzy commercial hub of Dubai.   Continue reading “Emirates police make arrest in American’s stabbing”

Mail.com

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen has threatened an American hostage kidnapped over a year ago, giving Washington three days to meet unspecified demands and denouncing U.S. actions in the Arabian Peninsula country in a new video released Thursday.

The hostage, identified as 33-year-old Luke Somers, an American photojournalist born in Britain, is featured for the first time in the video, which was posted on the al-Qaida offshoot’s Twitter account. It was first reported by SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant sites.   Continue reading “Yemen’s al-Qaida threatens US hostage in new video”

Fox Nation – by Valerie Richardson, The Washington Times

In three weeks, Utah intends to seize control of 31.2 million acres of its own land now under the control of the federal government. At least, that’s the plan.

In an unprecedented challenge to federal dominance of Western state lands, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert in 2012 signed the “Transfer of Public Lands Act,” which demands that Washington relinquish its hold on the land, which represents more than half of the state’s 54.3 million acres, by Dec. 31.   Continue reading “Utah to Seize Own Land from Government, Challenge Federal Dominance of Western States”

Prevent Disease – by DAVE MIHALOVIC

Some of the top medical procedures in the world involve either radiating, poisoning or surgical removal of human tissue. To medical professionals, the solution is to eliminate the problem in the fastest way possible, regardless of the short or long-term consequences. Think twice before you decide to commit to any of these procedures. There is always an alternative.   Continue reading “7 Of The Top Medical Procedures Whose Risks Far Exceed Any Benefit”

Alternative Media Syndicate

The Fort Lauderdale ordinance that has become infamous throughout the world in just one month has now been suspended by a Florida judge.

Broward Circuit Judge Thomas Lynch suspended enforcement of the ordinance restricting the all public feeding of homeless people. But the suspension is only for 30 days so far. During that time, the judge has ordered mediation on the issue.   Continue reading “Florida Judge Just Lifted Controversial Ban On Feeding Homeless”

WTF RLY?

Reports out of Russia have confirmed that a gun battle erupted in Chechnya’s capital city of Grozny, killing unknown numbers of police and gunmen. Most of the details cannot be confirmed but what is clear is that the security response was significant and the battle left the city’s news media center in flames.

Rocket fire was partially responsible for the damage to the building.   Continue reading “Press center in Chechnya burns after gun battle with conflicting number of unknown ‘militants’”

Tea Party

(Washington Times) – Homeland Security officials wasted little time in ramping up for President Obama’s amnesty, posting 1,000 job openings the day after his announcement and announcing it already has space for hundreds of employees at a new space in Arlington, Virginia — an indication that it had laid its plans well before Mr. Obama said.

And even though Mr. Obama said his policy is temporary, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is hiring the employees for permanent positions, at salaries of up to $157,000 a year, according to the job postings listed on the official federal jobs website.   Continue reading “DHS Already Hiring 1,000 Employees To Carry Out Obama Amnesty”

The Hill – by Timothy Cama

Lawmakers added a bipartisan series of long-awaited energy and public lands measures to a compromise defense bill.

Congress had not passed any significant bills related to public lands in years, frustrating lawmakers from western states with large swaths of publicly owned and managed property.

The proposed National Defense Authorization Act, considered a must-pass bill to enable the Defense Department’s programs to continue, had its text released late Tuesday night after months of negotiations by the House and Senate.   Continue reading “Energy, public land measures tacked onto defense bill”

The Intercept – by Ryan Gallagher

In March 2011, two weeks before the Western intervention in Libya, a secret message was delivered to the National Security Agency. An intelligence unit within the U.S. military’s Africa Command needed help to hack into Libya’s cellphone networks and monitor text messages.

For the NSA, the task was easy. The agency had already obtained technical information about the cellphone carriers’ internal systems by spying on documents sent among company employees, and these details would provide the perfect blueprint to help the military break into the networks.
Continue reading “Operation Auroragold: How the NSA Hacks Cellphone Networks Worldwide”