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”

Smith headshot[1].jpgDetroit 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”

TOKYO AERIAL VIEW IN 1945Mail.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”

ISR STRIKING HOMESMail.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”

Pasco officer involved shootingMail.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”

Eric Parker, Madison police officer recommended for termination after the incident involving Sureshbhai Patel on Feb. 6 (Photo: Limestone County Sheriff's Office)WHNT 19 News – by MELISSA RIOPKA, CLAIRE AIELLO, DREW GALLOWAY AND CHRISTINE KILLIMAYER

MADISON, Ala. (WHNT) – Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey says he has recommended one of his officers be terminated after an incident last week that left a 57-year-old Indian man severely injured.  The officer has also been charged with third-degree assault.

Chief Muncey spoke at a news conference Thursday afternoon, discussing the department’s use of force investigation into the incident.  Police showed video and audio of the officers’ encounter with the man.  Afterward, Chief Muncey said the actions of Officer Eric Parker did not meet the standards of the Madison Police Department.   Continue reading “Madison Police Chief: Officer charged with assault, also recommended for termination after incident that severely injured Indian man”

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?”

50 shadesGateway 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”

mcdonalds-vaccinesNatural 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”

Image source: NorthCoastNowOff 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”

Perm-russian-rouletteOddity Central – by Sumitra

A group of hardcore pain addicts have taken Russian Roulette to the next level, by playing the game with tasers that shoot out 10,000-volt electric darts. Several pictures posted on Russian forums and social media pages show the competitors holding taser guns to each other’s heads or their own, ready to fire. Obviously, the goal of this bizarre new game is avoid getting shocked until only one competitor is left standing.   Continue reading “Shocking New Craze: Thrill-Seekers Play Russian Roulette with 10,000-Volt Tasers”

Pro Liberate – by William Norman Grigg

We want to live pure, we want to live clean, we want to do our best; sweetly submitting to authority – leaving to God the rest….

From “Obedience,” a children’s song teaching the supposed virtues of “Positive Christianity”

“For I know this — that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”   Continue reading “Wolves, “Sheepdogs,” and the Gospel of Leviathan”

Nikola Tesla: Time Travel Experimentsin5d

There are places where time and space are naturally bent. An example is the strange Lordsburg Door, located near Lordsburg, New Mexico. Periodically, as the door opens, a tree stump with a human leg embedded in it is seen near mile marker 17 out on US highway 90.

There is some evidence that these fluxes in space and time can be artificially induced. This appears to have been the case with the USS Eldritch, which took part in the Philadelphia Experiment on August 15, 1943.   Continue reading “Nikola Tesla: Time Travel Experiments”

Company suspends efforts to seize Nebraska land for Keystone photoAJC – by MARGERY A. BECK, AP

OMAHA, Neb. — TransCanada Corp. will temporarily suspend efforts to seize Nebraska land for its much-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline after landowners sued, in what is one obstacle the Canadian company still faces in the 1,179-mile project.

A Holt County District judge issued a temporary injunction Thursday, keeping TransCanada from invoking eminent domain along the proposed Keystone XL route in northern Nebraska while a lawsuit by landowners in that county plays out. TransCanada agreed to the order, hoping to get an accelerated trial schedule so that it can quickly resolve the legal disputes.   Continue reading “Company suspending efforts to acquire Nebraska land for Keystone Pipeline amid legal challenge”

The Daily Signal – by Kelsey Harkness

Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s nominee for attorney general, is facing questions about why she let multiple bank employees who funneled millions of dollars to the Iranian government, Middle Eastern terrorists and Mexican drug cartels walk away without criminal prosecution.

Sen. David Vitter, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today launched an investigation into the matter. He cited the concern as a reason to delay Senate confirmation of Lynch, who was nominated to replace Eric Holder as the chief law enforcement officer in the United States.   Continue reading “Senator to Loretta Lynch: Why Did No One Go to Jail for Laundering Money to Terrorists?”

Modern Healthcare – by Virgil Dickson

The Veterans Affairs Department has taken little to no action on more than 100 recommendations it has received to help improve the quality of healthcare it offers veterans, the Government Accountability Office said in a report (PDF) released late Wednesday. The recommendations, dating as far back as 2000, were made by the GAO.

The consequences of continuing non-action could be severe, the agency warned. “We have found that this ambiguity and inconsistency may pose risks for veterans’ access to VA health care, or for the quality and safety of VA health care they receive,” the GAO stated.   Continue reading “VA ignored 100+ health system recommendations, GAO charges”