Month: January 2015

Newsweek – by Lauren Walker

The Justice Department is building a national database that tracks vehicles’ movements around the U.S. in real time using information obtained from the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) license plate scanning program, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The program not only tracks car, driver and passenger locations via high-tech cameras along highways, but uses data mining “to identify travel patterns.”

According to the newly uncovered documents, the primary goal of the program is to seize assets, such as cars and cash, to combat drug trafficking. But former and current officials told the Journal that the database’s use has expanded to hunt for automobiles associated with a slew of other crimes.   Continue reading “Asset Forfeiture Drives Justice Department’s License Plate Tracking”

U.S. Air Force

WASHINGTON (AFNS) — Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, in coordination with the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall, has determined the Boeing 747-8 will serve as the next presidential aircraft, commonly known as Air Force One.

“The presidential aircraft is one of the most visible symbols of the United States of America and the office of the president of the United States,” James said. “The Boeing 747-8 is the only aircraft manufactured in the United States (that), when fully missionized, meets the necessary capabilities established to execute the presidential support mission, while reflecting the office of the president of the United States of America consistent with the national public interest.”   Continue reading “AF Identifies Boeing 747-8 platform for next Air Force One”

Yahoo News

(Reuters) – A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck just offshore of northern California on Wednesday, rattling a wide coastal area below the Oregon border, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, but local officials said no major damage or injuries were reported.

The tremor, initially reported as a weaker magnitude 5.1, was relatively shallow, occurring at 10.7 miles (17.2 km) below the seabed, the USGS said. It was centered 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Eureka, a town that lies about 25 miles (40 km) south of the Oregon border.   Continue reading “Magnitude 5.7 quake hits off northern California coast”

AOL – by SUSAN COOPER EASTMAN

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Reuters) – A Florida woman who says she fired a warning shot at her abusive husband was released from a Jacksonville jail on Tuesday under a plea deal that capped her sentence to the three years she had already served.

Marissa Alexander, 34, was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 but her conviction was later overturned. She faced another trial on charges that could have put her behind bars for 60 years before she agreed to a plea deal in November.   Continue reading “Marissa Alexander, Florida woman in ‘warning shot’ case, released from jail”

RT

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It turns out scientists care less about that age-old question than about getting a cooked egg back to the form that a mother hen would recognize. That ability could have dramatic implications for cancer research.

“Yes, we have invented a way to unboil a hen egg,” Gregory Weiss, the study’s lead author, said in a University of California, Irvine (UCI) statement.   Continue reading “Breakthrough in cancer research? Scientists quickly un-boil an egg”

Mail.com

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan is willing to swap an Iraqi woman prisoner involved in deadly 2005 hotel bombings for a Jordanian pilot captured in December by extremists from the Islamic State group, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

Such a swap would run counter to Jordan’s hardline approach toward Islamic militants and to the position of its main ally, the United States, of not negotiating with extremists. An exchange also would set a precedent for negotiating with Islamic State militants, who in the past have not publicly demanded prisoner releases.   Continue reading “Jordan ready to swap inmate for pilot held by IS”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — They appeared to be scenes from a frozen apocalypse.

Streets across the nation’s largest city were empty, the only movement the changing traffic lights signaling to cars that weren’t there. The subway system was shuttered, the city’s pulse rendered still. Hardy souls who braved the snow were threatened with fines or arrest.   Continue reading “Cuomo, de Blasio, defend strict NYC storm regulations”

Mail.com

DENVER (AP) — A passenger who was in a car when a 17-year-old girl was shot and killed by Denver police has disputed authorities’ account of her death, saying officers opened fire before one of them was struck by the vehicle.

The passenger, speaking late Tuesday to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because of safety concerns, said her friend, Jessica Hernandez, lost control of the vehicle because she was unconscious after being shot.   Continue reading “Prosecutors promise thorough probe of police killing of teen”

There is a very, very tall coconut tree, and there are four animals…,
A Lion, A Chimp, A Giraffe … AND… A Squirrel

They decide to compete to see who is the fastest to
get a banana off the tree.

Who do you guess will win?   Continue reading “The Banana Test”

Breitbart – by Dan Riehl

Former Secretary of State and likely 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has agreed to testify before the House Select Committee on the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi.

Reportedly, she was first contacted in that regard by the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings.   Continue reading “Report: Hillary Clinton Agrees To Testify Before Benghazi Panel”

Global Research – by Joachim Hagopian

Like pretty much all ailments and illnesses in the United States, returning soldiers from the warfronts suffering from acute cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are currently being treated, or more like snowed under, with powerful, mind-altering psychiatric drugs. Because it is unnatural for the vulnerable human psyche to witness the insanity of war, watching your buddies or yourself get blown up by IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices), instantly your life can forever be changed into a permanent living nightmare. Continue reading “Big Pharma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): The Deadly Toll that Permanent War Takes on US Soldiers, Awaits the Rest of Us”

UPI – by Andrew V. Pestano, Ed Adamczyk

JERUSALEM, Jan. 28 (UPI) — Two soldiers were killed and seven wounded Wednesday by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile launched at an Israeli military vehicle on the Israel-Lebanon border.

The missile firing, into territory disputed by the two countries, prompted Israel to respond by firing shells into southern Lebanon. Escalating incidents at the border in the past two weeks have prompted fears a full-scale war may erupt.   Continue reading “Israel and Hezbollah exchange gunfire at Lebanon border”

Press TV

International lawyer Barry Grossman says the FBI’s claim of busting a spy network in New York City is a Washington’s propaganda ploy against Moscow, even as the US security apparatus engages in espionage activities across the world.   

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Monday it has arrested three Russian spies, including Evgeny Buryakov who posed as a banker working for a Russian-owned bank in Manhattan, New York City.   Continue reading “FBI’s claim of busting Russian spy network is propaganda ploy: Grossman”

Privacy SOS

In 2011, 1 in 25 Americans was arrested. In a few years, if the FBI has its way, the federal government will possess the DNA of all of those people and more. Under the radar of most lawmakers and journalists, the Bureau—with private industry and congress’ help—is pushing the most massive expansion of biometric state surveillance since the invention of the fingerprint.

Late last year, the FBI cut the ribbon on its one billion dollar biometrics database, called Next Generation Identification. Since NGI’s official launch, state and local law enforcement officials have been encouraged to submit face prints, fingerprints, retina scans, photos of tattoos and scars, and DNA collected from people nationwide to the FBI’s central database. Those state and local officials can also search against the FBI’s biometrics store, if they want to identify someone. With NGI in full operation, the scary future of Minority Report infamy takes a giant leap forward into the world of non-fiction.    Continue reading “The FBI’s plan to collect everyone’s DNA just got a huge boost from congress”

Against Crony Capitalism

The Speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver was recently arrested on corruption charges. Millions of dollars in bribes may have found their way to the politician. Given that the Manhattan Democrat was the most powerful person in the state legislature for years, this is no small deal.

At least part of what concerns authorities is Silver’s connection to an oncologist, Dr. Robert N. Taub a leading light in the effort to fight mesothelioma. Mr. Taub’s office may have improperly referred cancer patients to the law firm of the Assembly Speaker. These patients translated into millions of dollars in lawyer fees.   Continue reading “Cancer and Cronyism in the New York State Assembly”