Month: February 2015

Washington Post – by Katie Zezima

PALO ALTO, Calif. – President Obama signed an executive order Friday that urges companies to share cybersecurity-threat information with one another and the federal government.

Obama signed the order, which is advisory in nature, at the first White House summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University here. The summit, which focused on public-private partnerships and consumer protection, is part of a recent White House push to focus on cybersecurity.   Continue reading “Obama signs executive order on sharing cybersecurity threat information”

USA Today – by Michael Winter

With lethal injection under review by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Utah House of Representatives on Friday approved legislation to resume executions by firing squad, which were halted in 2004.

The bill, which narrowly cleared the Republican-controlled chamber, faces uncertain prospects in the GOP-dominated Senate, and Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has not said whether he would sign it into law.   Continue reading “Utah House votes to resurrect firing squads”

Fox News – by Molly Dodd

We are exposed daily to sexual images, innuendos, and conversations in our society. Whether we see them on TV, they come from people passing us on the street or even from our own family — it’s inevitable and we can’t avoid it.

As someone in my early twenties, I admit that I was thrust into this sexually driven culture more rapidly when I began college. I attended a Christian university, but even a controlled environment like that was still subject to subliminal images and messages.   Continue reading “Sex and Relationships: Is love part of the equation anymore?”

Bloomberg – by Emily Greenhouse

On Friday afternoon, Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon resigned, and the Oregon secretary of state Kate Brown, also a Democrat, became the state governor. In an instant, Oregon had the first openly bisexual governor in American history.

For many of Gov. Brown’s constituents, this may mean little, because she is married to a man, and has been for many years. The adjective becomes easy to explain away, then; bisexuality is often dismissed as something made up, a risqué adolescent antic, something college girls do to impress boys. Last January, Lisa Diamond, a scholar of sexual orientation, told the reporter Michael Schulman that many people feel bisexuality “is a transitional stage or a form of being in the closet,” but that in fact it’s more common than strictly same-sex attraction.    Continue reading “Does It Matter That Oregon’s New Governor Is Bisexual?”

Politico – by Jenny Hopkinson

A new genetically modified apple that doesn’t brown when cut open or bruised finally has been cleared to be grown in the U.S.

An arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday — after a three-year wait — that the Okanagan Specialty Fruit’s Arctic Apple in Golden and Granny varieties doesn’t pose any harm to other plants or pests. The apple won’t be at grocery stores yet, though this was its last major regulatory hurdle. The company is still waiting on the conclusion of a voluntary review by the FDA before the apple can enter the market place.   Continue reading “Feds approve GMO apple”

Oregon Live – by Laura Gunderson

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned effective next Wednesday, Feb. 18, in a letter submitted to Secretary of State Kate Brown.

“I am announcing today that I will resign as Governor of the State of Oregon,” he wrote in a statement released just after noon on Friday.

“It is not in my nature to walk away from a job I have undertaken – it is to stand and fight for the cause.  For that reason I apologize to all those people who gave of their faith, time, energy and resources to elect me to a fourth term last year and who have supported me over the past three decades. I promise you that I will continue to pursue our shared goals and our common cause in another venue.”   Continue reading “Governor John Kitzhaber announces his resignation”

Detroit Free Press – by Kathleen Gray

LANSING – A Senate Democrat faces an uphill battle in his quest to bring the death penalty to Michigan for people convicted of killing a police or correctional officer.

State Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, said he promised a constituent – James Bowens, father of Detroit Police Officer Matthew Bowens who was killed during a traffic stop in 2004 – that he would bring the issue up this year.   Continue reading “Michigan State senator pushes death penalty for cop killers”

ABC News

Members of a Connecticut commission reviewing the Newtown school shooting are sending their final recommendations to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, hoping their ideas for addressing school safety, gun violence and mental health will be heeded nationwide.

Friday marked the final meeting of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, appointed two years ago by Malloy following the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School.   Continue reading “Panel Sends Newtown Report to Governor, Hopes It Has Impact”

Mail.com

JERUSALEM (AP) — Rarely has the world had such a front-row seat for a concerted attack by a major air force on an urban area as it did during last summer’s Gaza war. But Israel is far from the only country to have killed civilians during war. The list is long, from Dresden to Japan, from Grozny to Algeria.

The United States has killed civilians in its recent conflicts — in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last decade, and earlier in Vietnam and Korea as well. Syria’s ongoing civil war has killed an estimated 220,000 people in about four years, nearly half civilians and many of those bombed by their own government. And Israel itself has killed civilians before, including in previous Palestinian campaigns and during wars in Lebanon.   Continue reading “War history is littered with civilian deaths”

Mail.com

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The youngest to die was a 4-day-old girl, the oldest a 92-year-old man.

They were among at least 844 Palestinians killed as a result of airstrikes on homes during Israel’s summer war with the Islamic militant group, Hamas. Under the rules of war, homes are considered protected civilian sites unless used for military purposes. Israel says it attacked only legitimate targets, alleging militants used the houses to hide weapons, fighters and command centers. Palestinians say Israel’s warplanes often struck without regard for civilians.   Continue reading “High civilian death toll in Gaza house strikes”

Newsday – by GUS GARCIA-ROBERTS

Even as Nassau County Police Department investigators determined that former officer Anthony DiLeonardo committed four felonies during his 2011 off-duty shooting of an unarmed cabdriver, a special grand jury convened to investigate the incident expired last year with no criminal charges brought, Newsday found.

There were dozens of potential witnesses to the shooting and its aftermath, including medical personnel, civilians and law enforcement officials from both Nassau and Suffolk counties. Newsday recently interviewed seven of the incident’s central figures, or their attorneys, and all said they had not been asked to testify before the grand jury, which was set to expire in January 2014.   Continue reading “Special Suffolk grand jury expires without findings in Nassau cop’s unjustified shooting of cabbie”

Mail.com

PASCO, Wash. (AP) — Officers killed a man accused of hurling rocks in the fourth fatal police shooting since last summer, a death that is shaking this agricultural city of 68,000 in southeastern Washington and drawing criticism from as far away as Mexico.

The killing Tuesday of orchard worker Antonio Zambrano-Montes sparked protests after witnesses said he was running away when he was shot in a busy intersection in Pasco, a city about 215 miles southeast of Seattle.   Continue reading “Mexico condemns deadly police shooting in Washington state”

Hot Air – by Ed Morrissey

If this turns out to be a lie, it might be one of more egregious of Brian Williams’ truncated-for-now career. As NBC goes through what has been described as a “dossier of lies” (which reportedly also includes his expense reporting), another tall tale has emerged from the public record. Ever since Seal Team 6 killed Osama bin Laden, Williams has told David Letterman and others that he embedded with the elite special-ops unit on several occasions, becoming close enough with them that the SEALs gave him a piece of the downed chopper in the bin Laden raid as a memento of their friendship.   Continue reading “Another chopper whopper: Did Williams lie about Seal Team 6?”

Gateway Pundit – by Jim Hoft

Middle school students in Monessen School District in Pennsylvania were given “Fifty Shades of Grey” puzzles to work on for an assignment. The puzzles included terms like spanking, bondage, submissive and leather cuffs.
WKRG reported:

Parents in a Pennsylvania school district are turning 50 shades of red over word search puzzles given to middle school students based on an erotic novel and movie. Continue reading “Parents Upset After Middle School Students Given ’50 Shades of Grey’ Bondage Puzzles”

Natural Society – by Anthony Gucciardi

Would you like a side of hepatitis A shot with your Happy Meal? As it turns out, your child may just be able to receive a number of significant vaccinations at your local McDonald’s on behalf of the Department of Public Health.

I was just as shocked as you are when I heard news from an email tip that one reader’s local McDonald’s was launching a ‘free vaccination’ program alongside their fast food marketing campaign, and I was reasonably skeptical that even McDonald’s would launch such a strange combination. Especially when consider the extreme financial downfall that the company is experiencing as millions abandon their fake food amid public knowledge over the true extent of their synthetic ingredient list.   Continue reading “McDonald’s Gives Free Vaccines With Happy Meals In Texas”

Off the Grid News – by Wally Peterson

The country we now live in is no more than a shadow of what our Founders designed and intended to leave as their legacy. The United States was meant to be a bastion of liberty and personal freedom, yet we live today in something much different, with the government being the end-all, be-all when it comes to deciding what is best for us and how we should live.

The “greater good” has become the backdrop against which almost all public policy is made, and the federal government supersedes the individual states when it comes to what is not only allowed, but what is required. The Roman Empire is alive and well here, although in many ways the ways of Communist China have infiltrated our system just as much.   Continue reading “3 Ways Your Children Are Already Wards Of The State”