Washington’s Blog – by Eric Zuesse

For the first time today (December 15th), the United States has publicly and officially accepted the position that Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon have consistently held on the Syrian situation: that only a free and fair internationally monitored and accepted election of Syria’s President by the people of Syria can legitimately determine whom the President of Syria ought to be, and that no Syrian citizen, not even the current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he decides to be a candidate, can be blocked by any foreign power from being a candidate in that election.   Continue reading “U.S. Ends Its Opposition to Democracy in Syria”

Washington’s Blog – by Robert Barsocchini

From ‘Empire Files‘: “Abby Martin interviews retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former national security adviser to the Reagan administration, who spent years as an assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell during both Bush administrations.”
Continue reading “Bush Military Official: US Citizens Must Stand Up to Stop the Empire”

Sputnik – by Pete Escobar

Nobody needs to read Zbigniew “Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski’s 1997 opus to know US foreign policy revolves around one single overarching theme: prevent – by all means necessary – the emergence of a power, or powers, capable of constraining Washington’s unilateral swagger, not only in Eurasia but across the world.

The Pentagon carries the same message embedded in newspeak: the Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine.
Continue reading “You Want War? Russia is Ready for War”

Med Page Today – by J. Leonard Lichtenfeld MD, MACP

So you are a health professional or knowledgeable consumer and think you understand the issues surrounding privacy and exchange of personal health information? So did I, until I recently became a patient and had the temerity (or is that foolishness and patience?) to actually read the consent when I went to the outpatient surgical center for a cancer screening procedure.

And what I read was — to say the least — disturbing. When it came to sharing my health information, there were no middle options: either it could be shared with other exchanges, vendors, consultants, and others nationwide, or I wouldn’t be able to get access when I really needed it — especially in an emergency situation.   Continue reading “Len’s Lens: Privacy and Personal Health Information – What patient consent really looks like”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people executed in the United States this year dropped to the lowest level since 1991, as states impose fewer death sentences and defendants in capital cases get access to better legal help.

The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that opposes capital punishment and tracks the issue, said 28 inmates were executed as of Dec. 15, down from 35 last year and far below the peak of 98 in 1999.   Continue reading “Executions at lowest level since 1991; death sentences fall”

Mail.com

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 39-year-old woman and a teenage boy are suspected in the deaths of two children whose bodies were found inside a storage unit in Northern California, in a case that came to light after police checked on a 9-year-old girl who was found starving and injured but alive, authorities said.

Autopsies for the 3-year-old girl and 6-year-old boy, who bodies were found at a storage facility in Redding, were planned for Wednesday. Authorities have not identified them nor said how they were related to the woman and her teenage companion.   Continue reading “Pair linked to deaths of 2 children in Calif. storage unit”

Mail.com

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jurors said they were deadlocked Tuesday as they weighed manslaughter and other charges against a police officer in the death of Freddie Gray. The judge told them to keep deliberating and they went home for the night without reaching a verdict.

The jury reported its difficulty in a note to Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams after about nine hours of discussions over two days. It wasn’t clear if they were stuck on one or more of the four charges Officer William Porter faces. He is the first of six officers to stand trial.   Continue reading “Freddie Gray jurors deadlocked, judge says keep deliberating”

AmmoLand – by Justin Stakes

Fairfax, VA -(AmmoLand.com)- On Tuesday, December 15, the Oakland City Council Public Safety Committee will be meeting to discuss several anti-gun related ordinances at 6 PM in the Sgt. Mark Dunakin room, on the first floor of City Hall.

The following ordinances and one resolution are on the agenda to be heard:   Continue reading “California: Oakland City Council Looking to Restrict Your Second Amendment Rights”

Daily Mail – by Nikki Schwab

The force is strong with the American public who, in a new poll, said they’d rather elect Star Wars characters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi president than the political party’s two current frontrunners.

Yoda trumps Republican frontrunner Donald Trump by 18 points, with 42 percent saying they’d support the Jedi in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, while 24 percent would support Trump, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs poll.   Continue reading “The American public would rather elect Star Wars characters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump”

Sputnik

Since September 30, the Russian aviation group in Syria has destroyed 1,200 fuel trucks carrying illegal oil, the Russian General Staff said Tuesday.

“Since the start of the air campaign, Russian aircraft have destroyed over 1,200 such trucks,” Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said in a statement.   Continue reading “Russian Jets Destroy Over 1,200 Fuel Trucks Carrying Daesh Oil in Syria”

BATR – by James Hall

Government funding of companies provides a steady stream of support for tech developing innovations. One vehicle for facilitating this relationship can be found in an entity called, In-Q-Tel. IQT describes their function as: “In-Q-Tel is the independent, not-for-profit organization created to bridge the gap between the technology needs of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) and emerging commercial innovation. We invest in venture-backed startups developing technologies that provide ready-soon innovation (within 36 months) vital to the IC mission. These technology startups are traditionally outside the reach of the IC; in fact, more than 70 percent of our portfolio companies have never before done business with the government.”   Continue reading “CIA Funding of Tech Companies”

Liberty Fight – by Martin Hill

“From 1770 to today, grand juries have investigated “willful misconduct in office by public officers”, issued indictments or “presentments” holding government agents accountable. When a LEGAL grand jury acts upon their full independent power to investigate, and tells a “protecting prosecutor” to “shut-up, sit down, and we will call you when we need you”, there is justice. Examples of accountability include the Rodney King situation, 5 NOPD officers during Katrina, and in Kentucky (2010), Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge. There are unique legal strategies to accomplish more with a grand jury. If you are from Council,Idaho and want to become involved in getting this case in front of a Grand Jury in Adams County which is the proper venue for this case contact me on Facebook here.   Continue reading “Grand Jury Author Proposes Adams County, Idaho Grand Jury For Jack Yantis Killing”

Washington’s Blog

“Some In the Turkish Government … Believed they Could Get Assad’s Nuts In a Vice By Dabbling With a Sarin Attack Inside Syria”

Two members of the Turkish parliament gave a press conference in October saying that they have wiretapped recordings and other evidence showing that Turkey supplied the sarin used in Syria.   Continue reading “The Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack Was a False Flag By Turkey and ISIS”

Breitbart – by Caroline May

President Obama warned against the immigration mistakes of the past Tuesday, comparing Syrian refugees to the Jewish refugees who fled the Holocaust and the plight of Mexican immigrants to the discrimination faced by Catholic immigrants in the past.

“In the Mexican immigrant today, we see the Catholic immigrant of a century ago. In the Syrian seeking refuge today, we should see the Jewish refugee of World War II,” he said.   Continue reading “Obama: Syrians Seeking Refuge Like ‘Jewish Refugees of World War II’”