MIAMI, FL - FEBRUARY 03:  The sign logo for a Staples store is seen on February 3, 2015 in Miami, Florida. Reports indicate that Office Depot and Staples are in talks to merge.  (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Philly – by Joseph N. DiStefano

UPDATE: The American Postal Workers Union says it “will vigorously oppose” the “monopolistic and unlawful” Staples-Office Depot merger before the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.  The union says in a statement that the U.S. Postal Service “plans to transfer USPS work to Staples in order to reduce employment and hours of service to the public in neighborhood post offices.” Staples and Office Depot pay lower wages and less benefits than the Postal Service.

EARLIER: In a move expected to accelerate the shutdown of office-supply stores across the U.S., Staples Inc. has agreed to pay stock worth $6.3 billion to acquire rival Office Depot, which last year absorbed the former Office Max chain. The price works out to $11 per Office Depot share, up from $7.60 on Monday (Office Depot shares started rising Tuesday as deal rumors were reported in the financial news).   Continue reading “1,000 stores likely to close, as Staples buys Office Depot”

Members of Poland's special commando unit Lubliniec disembark from a Mi-17 helicopter during the "Noble Sword-14" NATO international tactical exercise at the land forces training centre in Oleszno, near Drawsko Pomorskie, northwest Poland (Reuters / Kacper Pempel)RT

The NATO Response Force in Europe might increase to 30,000 troops from the current 13,000, said the alliance’s secretary general ahead of a defense ministers meeting in Brussels. Most of the RDF troops are set to be stationed near to Russia’s borders.

“I expect that the ministers will agree on several important elements of a package that increases our collective defense,” said Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the eve of a meeting of the alliance’s 28 defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels.   Continue reading “30,000 troops, 6 rapid units: NATO increases military power in Eastern Europe”

The Cannabist – by Carla K. Johnson

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner awarded licenses Monday to dozens of medical marijuana businesses across the state after conducting an internal review that found flaws in the never-completed license award process under former Gov. Pat Quinn.

Letters to 18 winning cultivation centers and 52 retail shops were sent out Monday afternoon, Rauner spokesman Lance Trover told The Associated Press. In eight districts, Rauner delayed the licenses for further review, leaving those jurisdictions awaiting word on which companies will be able to join what could be a $36 million industry in 2016.   Continue reading “Illinois medical marijuana licenses awarded by Gov. Rauner”

Robert Roy ClarkMail.com

KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities in northwestern Arizona say a man wanted in the killings of an elderly Ohio couple and armed robberies in three states tried to flee in a vehicle and on foot but was found and arrested.

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that one of 29-year-old Robert Clark’s two companions, who are suspects in the robberies, is still on the loose. Authorities say deputies tried to stop the fugitives’ vehicle on Interstate 40 near Kingman, 91 miles southeast of Las Vegas.   Continue reading “Man wanted in elderly Ohio pair’s slayings nabbed in Arizona”

Mail.com

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — The suspects in a shooting that wounded two students outside a high school basketball game in Maryland were still at large Thursday morning, and police said they haven’t ruled out any motives.

Police said they’re investigating a range of possibilities in the Wednesday night shooting at Frederick High School, including reports from students that it could be gang-related or stem from a rivalry between the two schools playing in the game.   Continue reading “2 students hurt in shooting outside Maryland high school”

Sniper Chris KyleMail.com

DALLAS (AP) — With a trial set to begin next week for the man accused in the fatal shootings of famed Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and a friend of Kyle’s, court officials in Texas are set to begin the process of screening potential jurors.

Candidates are to begin reporting Thursday to district court in the small town of Stephenville, about 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth. They’ll be deciding the case of former Marine Eddie Ray Routh, 27, who’s charged with capital murder in the killings two years ago at a gun range outside of Stephenville.   Continue reading “Screening for jurors in Chris Kyle slaying trial to start”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge is hearing arguments by lawyers who want him to disclose what happened in secret proceedings before a grand jury declined to press criminal charges in the police chokehold death of an unarmed man.

Judge William Garnett on Thursday asked lawyers to describe why he should open records in the Eric Garner case. The 43-year-old black Staten Island man died last summer after he was put in a chokehold by a white police officer. A grand jury decided not to indict the officer.   Continue reading “New York court asked to release chokehold death details”

Crack Two

Movato Real Estate has compiled some interesting data that compared gun ownership in the 50 states with gun ownership in other countries using the methodology outlined below:

We started with a research group in Switzerland called Small Arms Survey and its report “Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City.” Among other things, it estimated gun-ownership numbers for 178 countries, including the United States (which it estimates has about 270 million guns).

Continue reading “Chart Shows How All 50 States Rank on Gun Ownership Compared To Nations Around the World”

The Daily Sheeple

A new petition up on White House.gov is asking the Obama Administration to “Stop NSA/Air Force/Navy/DOD/CIA/US DOJ Signals Intelligence from broadcasting radar signals into people.”   Continue reading “New White House Petition Asks Military-Industrial Complex to Stop “Broadcasting Radar Signals into People””

Sinai Miller. (Courtesy of Fox 59) PLEASE ADD THIS LINK IN THE STORY: http://fox59.com/2015/02/04/girl-scout-recovering-after-being-shot-by-stray-bullet/Washington Post – by Terrence McCoy

“What did I do wrong?”

That was the question a 9-year-old, Sinai Miller, asked after she was shot on Tuesday in Indianapolis while selling Girl Scout cookies.

She had only just left her apartment with her sisters around 4 p.m. to knock on neighbors’ doors when a blue Ford Expedition drove past on the street out front. An arm stuck out. It held a gun.   Continue reading “9-year-old girl shot while selling Girl Scout cookies”

Fox News

As police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson seek alternatives to the sort of lethal force that led to Michael Brown’s death, they’re testing a new device that attaches to a handgun barrel and is designed to turn a bullet into a projectile intended to stun but not kill.

Mayor James Knowles III said Wednesday that a few Ferguson officers will test the device, known as the Alternative, at a shooting range Thursday. But Knowles said the department is early in the evaluation stage and the city has not decided whether to purchase the device.   Continue reading “Ferguson police testing new device aimed at reducing fatal police encounters”

NBC Bay Area – by Cheryl Hurd

Council members in San Leandro on Monday voted in favor of allowing the city to use a grant to purchase a controversial armored rescue vehicle.

The Medevac Armored vehicle is the only one of its kind in Northern California.

Residents packed a meeting Monday night to voice opposition against the armored rescue vehicle. But reaction in the room was mixed, with council members ultimately giving the go ahead for this controversial piece of equipment.   Continue reading “San Leandro Approves Purchase of Armored Rescue Vehicle”

Investment banker, art curator among 6 killed in train crashNew York Post – by Aaron Short, Lorena Mongelli, Larry Celona and Joe Tacopino

A chemist, an art expert and three Wall Street executives were the five men killed when their Metro-North train slammed into an SUV, friends said Wednesday.

Robert Dirks, a 36-year-old father of two, was remembered by his father for not only being a brilliant scientist, but a doting dad to his kids.   Continue reading “Investment banker, art curator among 6 killed in train crash”

Sea Coast Online – by Elizabeth Dinan

PORTSMOUTH — A 78-year-old man was Tased twice after driving into several parked cars, including a police cruiser, while suffering a medical emergency and refusing police commands to stop driving, said police and fire officials.

First responders were called about the incident on Sunday at 11:37 a.m., when they were dispatched to the BJ’s Wholesale Club store on Woodbury Avenue, said Deputy Police Chief Corey MacDonald. Initial reports were that a man crashed his car into a couple of parked cars in the BJ’s parking lot and when officer Andre Wassouf arrived, the man was starting to drive away, MacDonald said.    Continue reading “NH Cop uses Taser on elderly man suffering diabetic episode: ‘Our police officers are not paramedics’”

China Daily – by Jack Freifelderin

The number of Chinese citizens receiving the new extended United States B1 business and B2 tourist visas surged in December and January, just a few months after the US and China announced a change to their international visa reciprocity agreement.

The US issued 351,650 business and tourist visas to Chinese citizens in December and January, a year-over-year jump of 68.2 percent. At this time last year, the US had given 209,100 visas, a US State Department official said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.   Continue reading “Chinese swarm for new 10-year US visas”

Huffington Post – by Ali Watkins

WASHINGTON — When the new Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Richard Burr (R-N.C.), announced that, allegedly unbeknownst to him, the former chairwoman had widely distributed the panel’s study of CIA torture, he said he was perturbed. A sensitive document — one whose validity he has vehemently challenged — now being spread within the executive branch? Concerning, Burr said, to say the least.

Except most of the recipients that Burr is concerned about never even opened their copy.   Continue reading “CIA Torture Report Sinks A Little More, As Agencies Don’t Bother To Read It”

James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, speaks during an event for National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month at the Justice Department in Washington, Jan. 29, 2015.   ( JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)Huffington Post – by Matt Sledge

The federal government this week announced a reform to an investigative tool that gives the FBI sweeping surveillance power. But a target of that surveillance said the change appears to leave investigators with vast power to snoop — in secret.

The FBI uses national security letters to force business owners to hand over records on their customers, as long as the records are related to a national security investigation. No court approval is needed, and the FBI can impose a gag order on recipients, forbidding them from revealing even the existence of a letter.   Continue reading “The Gaping Hole In Obama’s FBI Surveillance Reform”