Year: 2014

Yahoo News – by RAQUEL MARIA DILLON and JULIE WATSON

GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — A lawyer says the family of a man they believe went on a shooting rampage near a Santa Barbara, California, university called police several weeks ago after being alarmed by YouTube videos “regarding suicide and the killing of people.”

Attorney Alan Shifman said police conducted an investigation and interviewed the man he identified as Elliot Rodger. Shifman said police did not find a history of guns, but did say the man had trouble making friends.   Continue reading “Attorney: son suspected in shooting rampage”

No matter who you are, or where you’ve been,
there’ll always be fond memories of way back when.
Soft Spring days, the gentle breeze,
wafting fragrence through the trees.

Dusty dogs with playful pups,
hot summer eves with mint julups.
Dixie’s a State of Mind.   Continue reading “Dixie’s A State Of Mind”

Dearborn Patch – by Beth Dalbey

For 35 years, the cremated remains of Sgt. Russell A. Shumway sat in a sterile metal can collecting dust at a Michigan funeral home.

A North Dakota native, Shumway served with the Army’s 14th Cavalry in World War I, from May 1917 to September 1919. He was 86 when he died March 31, 1980, in Grand Rapids, MI, forgotten and alone.   Continue reading “Final Resting Place for 250,000 Vets is a Tin Can on a Shelf”

Huffington Post – by David Wood

WASHINGTON — The problems veterans experience getting Veterans Affairs medical care also exist with VA mental health care, where veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and even those at high risk of suicide face long waits, according to VA staffers and internal investigations.

At some VA medical centers, qualified mental health professionals, nursing staff and bed space are in such short supply that some mental health patients are discharged early. “The turnaround on patients has gotten faster — there’s a lot of pressure to get them in and out and a lot of them aren’t ready to leave,” said a VA psychiatric nurse, who added that patients are sometimes discharged “AMA” — against medical advice.   Continue reading “VA Mental Health Care Delays, Staff Shortages, Plague Veterans”

The Guardian – by Peter Beaumont

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has concluded that footage capturing the moment two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli soldiers despite posing no risk to them is “genuine and consistent”, contradicting Israeli army claims that the footage is likely to have been forged.

A short section of edited CCTV footage was released earlier this week showing Nadim Nawara, 17, and Mohammad Salameh, 16, being shot and killed. Since then Israeli military sources have been quoted anonymously on several occasions in the local media trying to undermine the tape’s credibility.   Continue reading “Footage of Palestinian boys being shot is genuine, says Israeli rights group”

Ria Novosti

ST. PETERSBURG, May 23 (RIA Novosti) – Payments under a $400 billion contract signed Wednesday between Russian gas giant Gazprom and China’s CNPC will be made in US dollars, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

The Russian Finance Ministry is currently working on the issue of transferring accounts of export goods into rubles because of Western sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine and Crimea.   Continue reading “China to Pay for Russian Gas in US Dollars – Russian Energy Minister”

RT News

For months state and federal government has been looking into an incident involving radioactive waste at a disposal site in New Mexico. Now, Investigators believe the culprit may have been the wrong kind of cat litter.

In February the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsband, New Mexico was placed on lockdown prompted by the detection of radiation. The underground nuclear waste dump is the only such facility in the entire country.   Continue reading “Cat litter thought behind New Mexico nuclear waste accident”

RT News

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 18km off Greece’s southern coast in the Aegean Sea, near Kamariotissa, at a depth of 10km. Some injuries and damages were reported as far as Jordan. Hundreds have fled their homes in neighboring Turkey.

The under-sea quake caused an immediate injury in Greece, according to local police, as cited by the AP. Further injuries were reported by Greece’s neighbors as panic-stricken residents fled homes.   Continue reading “Magnitude 6.4 quake strikes Greece, with tremors felt as far as Jordan”

RT News

Over 400 cities worldwide will see millions marching against the US chemical and agricultural company Monsanto in an effort to boycott the use of Genetically Modified Organizms in food production.

Marches are planned in 52 countries in addition to some 47 US states that are jointing in the protest.

Follow RT’s LIVE UPDATES on March Against Monsanto   Continue reading “Global anti-GMO action: People unite against Monsanto dominance”

Mail.com

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s coup leaders said Saturday that they would keep former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Cabinet members and anti-government protest leaders detained for up to a week to give them “time to think” and to keep the country calm. Outspoken academics were also summoned to report to the junta.

The ruling military council also dissolved the country’s Senate on Saturday, stripping away the last democratic institution in the country. The moves appear aimed at consolidating power and preventing any high-profile figures from rallying opposition to the military, which seized power Thursday after months of sometimes violent street protests and deadlock between the elected government and protesters supported by Thailand’s elite establishment.   Continue reading “Ex-Thai PM to be held for a week; Senate dissolved”

Mail.com

GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — A drive-by shooter went on a rampage near a Santa Barbara university campus that left seven people dead, including the attacker, and seven others wounded, authorities said Saturday.

The gunman got into two gun battles with deputies Friday night in the beachside community of Isla Vista before crashing his black BMW into a parked car, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. Deputies found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide, he said.   Continue reading “7 dead in drive-by shooting near UC Santa Barbara”

RT News

Chicken and eggs from the occupied West Bank and the annexed east Jerusalem will no longer be seen on European plates, the EU has ruled, reportedly citing gaps in public health standards between the two Jewish zones and the state.

The European Union has informed the Israeli Agricultural Ministry that the veterinary standards of supervision in the Palestinian areas it had taken over after the six-day 1967 Middle East War are not accepted under the circumstances, Israeli news website Walla reported on Thursday.   Continue reading “EU bans poultry imports from Israel-occupied West Bank”