Year: 2015

The Des Moines Register – by Grant Rodgers

Does protecting America’s lucrative genetically modified seed corn industry warrant the use of national security laws intended to fight terrorists and government spies?

The FBI says yes, and it has invoked the broader powers afforded by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, to surreptitiously gather evidence against two Chinese siblings accused of plotting to steal patented seed from Iowa cornfields, according to court records.   Continue reading “FBI: Plot to steal seed corn a national security threat”

Personal Liberty – by Michael Boldin

The Internal Revenue Service gives subsidies when it wants. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Environmental Protection Agency redefine words on a whim in an effort to give themselves more power and more control over your life. “Legislating from the bench” has been superseded by this even more dangerous “lawmaking” by unelected, unaccountable federal agencies.

As Chapman law professor Ronald Rotunda noted recently, we “have come a long way towards governance by bureaucrats.” Some states, however, are taking positive steps in 2015 to thwart the effects of these unilateral — and wildly unconstitutional — acts.   Continue reading “States tell Feds to pound sand”

WSVN 7 News

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WSVN) — A Florida student and her parents say she received an unfair punishment for doing the right thing.

Eleven-year-old Brianna Cooper, a fifth-grader at Fort Pierce Elementary School, said her teacher had been mean to students in the past and she wanted to prove it. Inside her classroom, Brianna recorded the instructor saying to a classmate, “Don’t let the size fool you. I will drop you.”   Continue reading “Fort Pierce 5th-grader suspended after recording teacher’s taunting remarks”

21st Century Wire – by Patrick Henningsen

CARSON CITY, NV – Tomorrow the Nevada state legislature will be hearing a bill which could potentially transform the land use across the southwest.

Nevadan’s Resource Rights Bill AB408 would effectively open the door for residents to develop land resources in traditionally key sectors in the state including farming, ranching, mining and recreation. Presently, the US Federal Department of Interior and its subsidiaries claim ‘managerial control’ and ownership over nearly 90% of the state of Nevada’s public lands.   Continue reading “Nevada Residents: ‘Public Land Belongs to the People, Not DC’”

Channel News Asia

BEIJING: China’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday its warships had completed an evacuation of Chinese nationals from Yemen, with more than 570 people safely transported across the Red Sea to Djibouti, from where they will be flown home.

The Chinese were evacuated in two batches, one from Aden and the other, much larger group from Hodeidah, the ministry said in a statement on its website.   Continue reading “China completes evacuation of its nationals from Yemen”

Truthdig – by Alison Rose Levy

In the 1976 film “Network,” a news anchor, played by the late actor Peter Finch, urges his television audience to open their windows and shout the infamous phrase, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

According to people I’ve talked to on the ground in Oregon, that may be something close to what many residents there are feeling right now. But instead of shouting out the window, Oregonians are petitioning and phoning their senator, Ron Wyden, to ask him to oppose granting so-called fast-track authority to President Obama.   Continue reading “Oregonians Are ‘Mad as Hell’ About Trade Deals That Threaten Their Food Supply”

The Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder

The average American spends more than 10 hours a day using an electronic device.  And most of that activity is not even interactive.  The vast majority of the time we are just passively absorbing content that someone else has created.  This very much reminds me of the movie “the Matrix”, but with a twist.  Instead of humans being forcefully connected to “the Matrix”, we are all willingly connecting ourselves to it.  There is a giant system that defines our reality for us, and the length of time that the average American spends connected to it just continues to keep growing.  In fact, there are millions upon millions of us that simply do not “feel right” unless there is at least something on in the background.   Continue reading “How Much Time Do Americans Spend Plugged Into The Matrix Every Day?”

Look Within – by Russ Curran

A few months ago, I spoke with a traditional oncologist about laetrile (aka vitamin B17 and amygdalin), which is found in the pits of peaches and apricots, apple seeds, and many other plants and grasses. Despite the fact that the oncologist is really an “outside the box” type thinker, he still believed that the studies have shown laetrile to be ineffective at treating cancer, citing specifically the “California Report” of 1953. Nothing could be further from the truth.   Continue reading “Natural Cures For Cancer From An Apricot Seed?”

RT

DNA from antibiotic-resistant bacteria is spreading from cattle feedlots across the US through the air, a new study has found. The report indicates that so-called superbugs threatening humans could be traced to the use of antibiotics in cattle feed.

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial DNA is known to be transferable to humans if ingested via water or meat. The authors of the study sought to determine the extent to which antibiotics, antibiotic-resistance genes and microbes associated with ruminants like cattle are dispersed into the air via particulate matter derived from large scale beef cattle feedyards, they wrote in their abstract. The paper is set to be published in April.   Continue reading “Use of antibiotics in cattle feed leads to airborne antibiotic-resistant bacteria – study”

CBC

Canadian fighter jets will soon be launching airstrikes in Syria now that the House of Commons has approved the federal government’s plan to expand and extend its military mission in Iraq.​

Federal MPs voted 142-129 in favour of a motion extending the mission for up to a full year and authorizing bombing runs in Syria against targets belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.   Continue reading “ISIS mission: Canadian airstrikes on Syria could come within days”

Breitbart – by  William Bigelow

The U.S. Supreme Court, prompted by the May 5, 2010 incident at Live Oak High School near San Jose where several students were punished after they wore shirts emblazoned with the American flag on Cinco de Mayo, may institute new standards for free speech.

On Cinco de Mayo 2009, Mexican-American students at the school raised a Mexican flag and marched around the campus, some white students responded by chanting, “USA! USA!” The white students answered one year later with the shirts adorned by American flags; the Mexican-American students then called them racists and protested to Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez.   Continue reading “Supreme Court May Hear Case on Banning US flag on Cinco de Mayo”

Breitbart

NEW YORK (AP) — A mentally ill British man pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. charges he plotted to set up an al-Qaida training camp on a ranch in a remote part of Oregon that was likened to Afghanistan.

Haroon Aswat admitted he traveled to Bly, Oregon, in 1999 at the direction of Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, a double-amputee and radical cleric based in London. His orders were to help train recruits “who wanted to participate in jihad on behalf of a terrorist organization,” he said in a barely audible voice at the sentencing in federal court in Manhattan.   Continue reading “Briton Pleads Guilty to Plans for Jihadist Training Camp in Rural Oregon”

Forbes – by Richard Eisenberg

The AARP Public Policy Institute just released a survey of 2,492 people ages 45 to 70 who’d been unemployed at some point during the past five years. Its chief finding: Many are now back at work, but about half of them (48%) are earning less than they did in their former jobs.

“A lot of them are in their pre-retirement years, when their earnings are supposed to be the highest in their lives,” Lori Trawinski, Director of Banking and Finance at the AARP Public Policy Institute and one of the report’s authors, said at the American Society on Aging’s annual conference I attended in Chicago last week.   Continue reading “Older Job Seekers: You’re Hired (For Less)”

Denver Post – by Yesenia Robles

Colorado policies around teaching non-English speakers should include teacher preparation requirements and funding for pre-school aged English learners, according to a report released Tuesday by the Education Commission of the States.

The report, the ECS and National Experts Examine: State-level English language learner policies, outlined recommendations for state and federal policies.   Continue reading “New report suggests more teacher preparation for English learners”

Washington Examiner – by Sean Higgins

The federal government has signed agreements with three foreign countries — Mexico, Ecuador and the Philippines — to establish outreach programs to teach immigrants their rights to engage in labor organizing in the U.S.

The agreements do not distinguish between those who entered legally or illegally. They are part of a broader effort by the National Labor Relations Board to get immigrants involved in union activism.   Continue reading “U.S. signed agreement with Mexico to teach immigrants to unionize”

The Telegraph – by Con Coughlin and Ben Farmer

Continue reading “Intelligence agencies in ‘technology arms race’”

KMJ NOW – by Aaron Abeytia

FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ) — 12 California public officials have acknowledged using personal e-mail accounts, to conduct government business.

That’s according to the AP, who surveyed 4 legislative leaders, and 8 top officials.   Continue reading “CA Officials Use Personal E-Mail for Government Business”