Year: 2014

MassPrivateI

Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are conducting a massive,NSA-esque data-mining project collecting account information on an estimated 991 million American credit card accounts.

It was also learned at a Congressional hearing Tuesday that CFPB officials are working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency on a second data-mining effort, this one focused on the 53 million residential mortgages taken out by Americans since 1998.   Continue reading “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is secretly collecting millions of consumer credit card accounts, mortgages”

New York Daily News

ST. LOUIS — With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some death penalty states are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past: firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers.

Most states abandoned those execution methods more than a generation ago in a bid to make capital punishment more palatable to the public and to a judicial system worried about inflicting cruel and unusual punishments that violate the Constitution.   Continue reading “Death penalty states mull return of firing squads, electric chairs”

Above Top Secret

Police are treating the death of the British managing director of Tata Motors as a suspected suicide.

Investigators in Thailand say there are no signs of foul play after Karl Slym, 51, fell from a hotel room window in Bangkok on Sunday.    Continue reading “Managing Director of Tata Motors Commits “Suicide””

Bloomberg -by Zachary Tracer and Noah Buhayar

Mike Dueker, the chief economist at Russell Investments, was found dead at the side of a highway that leads to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. He was 50.

He may have jumped over a 4-foot (1.2-meter) fence before falling down a 40- to 50-foot embankment, Pierce County Detective Ed Troyer said yesterday. He said the death appeared to be a suicide.   Continue reading “Russell Investments Chief Economist Dueker Found Dead”

CenturyLink

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Crews lost control of a natural gas well being drilled off the Louisiana coast Thursday, but officials said no injuries or pollution have been reported and efforts are underway to stop the flow of gas.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement says most crew members were evacuated from the rig, which was drilling in 262 feet of water about 108 miles southwest of Lafayette. The situation was reported at 8:43 a.m., a BSEE spokeswoman said.   Continue reading “Crews lose control of gas rig off Louisiana coast”

CenturyLink

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former city contractor testified Thursday that he and his partners paid $60,000 in bribes sought by former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Nagin’s sons and, in return, began getting work from the city that eventually totaled more than $2.6 million.

Rodney Williams was the first witness called Thursday in the federal corruption trial of Nagin, who served as mayor from 2002-2010. He said he was first approached by Nagin’s two sons, and later by Nagin himself, about paying the money to help support the Nagin’s family-owned granite company.   Continue reading “1st witness says he bribed ex-New Orleans mayor”

End of the American Dream – by Michael Snyder

This week, three inches of snow “paralyzed” the ninth-largest city in the United States, and the highways of Atlanta “resembled a scene in a post-apocalyptic world” according to national news reports.  Hundreds of cars were abandoned on the side of the road, people were spending the night in churches and grocery stores, and many walked for hours in a desperate attempt to get home or find needed provisions.  So if three inches of snow can cause this much chaos in one of our major cities, what will a full-blown economic collapse look like?  Most Americans have no idea how fragile our way of life is.  In the event of a major natural disaster, a massive EMP blast or a complete economic meltdown, our lives would change very rapidly, and most people are totally unprepared for that.   Continue reading “If 3 Inches Of Snow Can Cause This Much Chaos In Atlanta, What Will Economic Collapse Look Like?”

The year was 1947. Some of you will recall that on July 8, 1947 , a little more than 66 years ago, numerous witnesses claim that an Unidentified Flying Object, (UFO), with five aliens aboard, crashed onto a sheep and mule ranch just outside  Roswell ,  New Mexico .

This is a well-known incident that many say has long been covered-up by the U.S. Air Force, as well as other Federal Agencies and Organizations.    Continue reading “So THAT’S what happened!!”

Pat Dollard

Excerpted from Ballot Box: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is running for another term in Congress.

The Democratic leader’s future, a perennial topic of discussion in Washington, came into question once again Thursday with news that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), one of her closest confidants, will retire at the end of the year.   Continue reading “Pelosi Announces She Is Running For Congress Again: ‘My Work Is Not Finished’”

The Hill – by Mike Lillis

The broad immigration-reform principles unveiled by House Republicans Thursday “raise more questions than answers,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) charged.

Pelosi said the Democrats “welcome” the gesture by GOP leaders who have long-resisted legislation to reform an immigration system all sides consider broken. But the one-page document of vague standards, she added, leaves reform supporters hungry for more details.   Continue reading “Pelosi: GOP immigration reform principles ‘raise more questions than answers’”

Shark Tank – by Javier Manjarres

The New York Times has posted a story that the U.S. has informed NATO allies  that Russia has tested a ground-launched cruise missile, which is a big no-no, that is prohibited by the 1987 treaty banning medium-range missiles, signed President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio took the Russians to task, by stating the obvious, “Putin is not to be trusted.”   Continue reading “U.S.-Russian Relations Get Frosty After Russia Tests Banned Cruise Missile”

National Journal – by Matt Vasilogambros

Mitt Romney leads the Republican field among New Hampshire primary voters for 2016. Yes, you read that right.

Why not make it a third run for president? That’s something that the former Republican nominee is definitely not thinking about right now. To put it in his own recent words: “Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no.”   Continue reading “Mitt Romney Is the 2016 Republican Front-Runner (This is not an “Onion” story.)”

Police State USA

TROY, IL — An 11-year-old entrepreneur recently learned a lesson about the economics of living in a police state when her home-based cupcake business was closed-down by local bureaucrats.

When people started noticing young Chloe Stirling’s cake decorating skills, they started requesting she bake them orders for birthdays and holidays.  Her clever designs quickly turned into a childhood business venture, as her eager customers gave her money in exchange for birthday cakes and baked goods.   Continue reading “Government punishes 11-year-old girl for selling cupcakes without permission”

Before it’s News

Let us face it, we have been swimming in a sea of political bad news for about a decade now so I thought I would bring you just a little bit of good news for a change: Henry Waxman has announced that he will not seek reelection.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman, whose legislative record has made him one of the country’s most influential liberal lawmakers for four decades, announced Thursday that he will retire from his Westside seat, the latest in a wave of departures that is remaking the state’s long-stable congressional delegation.    Continue reading “Henry Waxman will not seek reelection”