Month: March 2015

Business Insider – by James Cook

Soon we’re all going to be buying things with our fridge. That’s what Jonathan Vaux from Visa says, at least.

We met with Vaux, an executive director at Visa Europe during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

“Your fridge will have a payment capability,” he said. “People are immediately associating [Samsung Pay] with the phone, but they’re the biggest provider of white goods and so I will have a fridge, I’m sure, that will have connected payments in it.”   Continue reading “Visa says we’re all going to have internet-connected fridges in the future”

Military Times – by Deb Riechmann, AP

WASHINGTON — A Republican effort to quickly pass legislation allowing congressional oversight on any Iran nuclear agreement is angering Democrats.

A key Democratic sponsor of the legislation, which would allow a congressional vote on any deal the United States signs with Iran to curb its nuclear program, said Tuesday night that he’s outraged that GOP leaders want to fast-track the bill.   Continue reading “Democrats upset with GOP effort to fast-track Iran bill”

Washington Examiner – by Paul Bedard

A top police representative on Tuesday said that there is no history of criminals using a round popular among AR-15 rifle shooters against officers, undermining the Obama administration’s argument for banning the 5.56 M855 “lightgreen tip.”

“Any ammunition is of concern to police in the wrong hands, but this specific round has historically not posed a law enforcement problem,” said James Pasco, executive director of the Washington office of the Fraternal Order of Police, the world’s largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers, with more than 325,000 members.   Continue reading “Police say Obama bullet ban isn’t needed, AR-15 round isn’t a threat”

Breitbart – by Caroline May

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved 100,000 applications under President Obama’s executive amnesty expansion before the official kick off date of February 18, the Obama administration reveals.

In a court filing to the federal court in Texas that recently placed a temporarily halt on President Obama’s November 20, 2014, executive amnesty — specifically the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) — the Justice Department reveals that the administration actually jumped the gun on an an aspect of the DACA expansion.   Continue reading “Obama Amnesty: 100,000 Expanded Work Permits Issued Before Court Halted Program”

Breitbart – by Bob Price

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced what some believed to be an unbelievable border crossing statistic on a February episode of “Face the Nation.” Abbott said, “Already this calendar year, since Jan. 1, we have had more than 20,000 people come across the border, apprehended, unauthorized.”

The statement came in response to a question from CBS reporter Bob Schieffer. Abbott was asked if Republicans in Congress should proceed to fully funding the Department of Homeland Security rather than the plan to defund the President’s executive action granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.   Continue reading “TRUE: Abbott’s Reference to 20,000 Border Crossing Apprehensions in 2015, Says Politifact”

Sent to us by the author.

Outpost of Freedom – by Gary Hunt

Looking Back at Waco

On February 28, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), raided the Branch Davidians Church, just outside of Waco, Texas.  After a firefight lasting about 2 1/2 hours in which the Davidians continue, through 911, to have the firing cease, the BATF finally withdrew, with their tail between their legs.  The body count was four dead agents and four dead Davidians (a fifth died within a few days).  BATF had far more injuries than the Davidians, and they did not accomplish their mission.  Disgraced because of the failure of the ill-conceived plan for the raid, the big brother, the FBI, came in and took charge of the remaining operation.   Continue reading “Waco – A Lesson in History”

RT

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee’s chairman has been removed from his post for the first time in the award’s 114-year history. He’s been criticized over a number of the panel’s controversial picks, like US president and the EU.

Ousted Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland, a former Norwegian Labor prime minister, had been in charge of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for six years before he was voted out on Tuesday. He will remain a member of the committee, but the leading role has been passed on to the panel’s deputy chairman, Kaci Kullmann Five, a former conservative party leader.    Continue reading “Unprecedented: Nobel Peace Prize chair who oversaw Obama award demoted”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is sharply divided over the tax subsidies that make insurance affordable for millions of Americans under President Barack Obama’s health overhaul.

The justices on Wednesday aggressively questioned the lawyers on both sides of the latest politically charged fight over the Affordable Care Act. Chief Justice John Roberts said almost nothing in nearly 90 minutes of back-and-forth, and Justice Anthony Kennedy’s questions did not suggest how he will come out. Roberts was the decisive vote to uphold the law in 2012.   Continue reading “Justices sharply divided over health care law subsidies”

Mail.com

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Less than an hour’s drive from one of Earth’s great fresh water sources, some people in Flint are searching for a drop worth drinking.

Since the financially struggling city broke away from the Detroit water system last year, residents have been unhappy with the smell, taste and appearance of water from the city’s river as they await the completion of a pipe to Lake Huron. They also have raised health concerns, reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems. A General Motors plant stopped using the water, saying it was rusting its parts.   Continue reading “Protests on water taste, smell as city breaks tie to Detroit”

Mail.com

PLACENTIA, Calif. (AP) — The Southern California teacher whose students found her hanging from her classroom ceiling knew the devastating effects of suicide: Her own father went missing and was found dead with a bullet wound to his head after committing suicide nearly four years earlier.

Jillian Jacobson, 31, had spoken with students about her father’s suicide and had counseled one class of students just a few weeks ago, saying if they ever felt down, they should ask for help. Jacobson did a weeklong unit on depression for freshmen, emphasizing that suicide wasn’t the answer to anyone’s problems and it affected many people greatly.   Continue reading “California teacher found hanging knew suicide’s devastation”

NJ.com – by Kathleen O’Brien

How did Gov. Chris Christie’s administration come up with its policies and protocols for handling Ebola?

To get the answer, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey asked to see emails and other policy communications from top officials in the N.J. Department of Health.

Those requests were denied or otherwise rebuffed, the group said in a lawsuit filed yesterday that claims the state is in violation of the Open Public Records Act. Its lawsuit asks the court to fine the state and order it to provide the documents.   Continue reading “ACLU sues Christie administration over withheld Ebola documents”

Fellowship of the Minds

We were dressed and ready to go out for the New Year’s Eve Party.

We turned the answering machine on, covered our pet parakeet, and put the cat in the backyard. We didn’t want the cat shut in the house because she always tries to eat the bird. Then we phoned the local cab company and requested a taxi.

The taxi arrived. Just as we were opening the front door to leave the house, the cat we had put out in the back yard, scoots past our legs back into house.   Continue reading “Wednesday Funny: Say goodbye to mother”

Sent to us by Mary.

Geoengineering Watch – by Roger Landry, The Liberty Beacon

So you refuse to get vaccinated, and will never allow vaccines in the system of the children you love and care for so much … Hmmm, sorry but you have little choice in the matter. No I am not talking about mandatory or forced vaccinations … Look … up in the sky … it’s a bird … it’s a plane … no … it’s a delivery system for vaccines that you are not even aware of, never agreed to, and probably never would consent to, but your consent was not sought and was never considered!   Continue reading “Vaccinations From The Sky”

UPI – by Amy R. Connolly

WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) — A lone gunman responsible for several shootings in the Washington, D.C. area, including near the National Security Agency headquarters early Wednesday, has been arrested, the FBI said.

The suspect, whose name and age was not released, is thought to be responsible for shootings on the Intercounty Connector in Maryland, near the NSA at Fort Meade and other locations around the Baltimore and D.C. suburb area in the past two weeks. Two people sustained minor injuries in one of the incidents. There have been no reports of serious injuries.   Continue reading “Shots fired at NSA building, suspect arrested”

RT

In a landmark ruling on Monday the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court has seemingly allowed Jews to pray on Temple Mount – a highly divisive issue that was one of the catalysts for the Second Palestinian Intifada.

The ruling is a victory for Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a hardline Jewish activist, who brought an action against the Israeli police for banning him from visiting the site for two years.   Continue reading “Jerusalem court allows Jewish prayer on Temple Mount in historic ruling”

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism – by Melanie Newman

The Supreme Court has confirmed that where the state retains data on individuals without their consent, it is interfering with their privacy even when that data is public.

But despite this finding the court ruled that the Metropolitan Police acted lawfully by keeping details of the activities of a 90-year-old pensioner with no criminal record as the interference with his private life was “minor”.   Continue reading “Supreme Court: Police retention of data on peaceful protester breaches privacy rights, but is justified”

ArsTechnica – by Cyrus Farivar

The New York Police Department (NYPD) will soon have the ability to track stolen or wanted cars even if they are well outside of the five boroughs.

The NYPD is set to sign a $442,500 deal over three years with Vigilant Solutions to subscribe to the company’s massive private automated license plate reader (ALPR or LPR) database, according to a recent contract awards hearing. The database reportedly contains 2.2 billion records.

Neither the NYPD nor Vigilant Solutions immediately responded to Ars’ request for comment. The company already makes its database available to other law enforcement agencies across the country, but the NYPD is likely the largest local client agency.   Continue reading “NYPD to conduct “virtual stakeouts,” get alerts on wanted cars nationwide”

Independent – by Andrew Buncombe

A leading US conservative currently considering a presidential run sparked controversy today when he claimed sexuality was a matter of choice because a lot people entered prison straight and emerged gay.

Ben Carson, a black neurosurgeon-turned-conservative activist, told a US broadcaster the fight for gay marriage equality bore no resemblance to that struggle for civil rights because people “have no control” of their race.   Continue reading “Ben Carson: Potential Republican presidential candidate says sexuality is a choice because ‘straight people turn gay in prison’”