RT

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has approved extending the Trans Mountain pipeline, which may help Canada become the largest oil producer in the Americas.

The pipeline aims to move crude from central Alberta to the Pacific coast. The expansion would triple its initial capacity up to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the current 300,000 barrels.

The project will cost Can$6.8 billion ($5 billion) and is expected to open the Asian market to crude exports from Canadian oil sands.   Continue reading “Canada expands controversial oil pipeline to Pacific”

RT

Congress has managed to finalize a $618.7 billion defense bill for the 2017 fiscal year, boosting it with an extra $3.2 billion for manpower, while stripping extra ships and jets. Requirements for women to register for the draft are also gone from the bill.

After months of negotiations, both legislative chambers have reached an accord on the new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is set to come to a final floor vote in the House this week and in the Senate next week.   Continue reading “Military draft for women among dropped ideas in compromise 2017 defense bill”

Mail.com

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — For a half-century after the deadliest submarine disaster in U.S. history, Navy Capt. Paul “Bud” Rogers struggled with feelings that it should have been him — and not his last-minute replacement — on the doomed voyage of the USS Thresher in which 129 men died.

This week, at his family’s request, a Navy submarine is bringing his cremated remains to be buried at sea near the Thresher’s wreckage some 200 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “I’m just so happy. I feel like my husband will be at peace,” said his widow, Barbara Rogers, 86, of Wernersville, Pennsylvania. “He felt he should have gone down with the Thresher.”   Continue reading “Navy to scatter vet’s ashes near site of 1963 sub sinking”

Mail.com

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The judge in the murder trial of a white former patrolman who fatally shot a black motorist decided Wednesday to let the jury consider a lesser charge of manslaughter, meaning prosecutors won’t have to prove the officer acted out of malice when he shot the fleeing man in the back.

Michael Slager is charged in the April 2015 shooting death of Walter Scott, who fled from a traffic stop and resisted arrest. The final moments of their encounter were captured on a bystander’s cellphone video that shocked the nation.   Continue reading “Judge allows manslaughter in fired officer’s murder trial”

The Hill – by Jessie Hellmann

More than 2,000 veterans have announced plans to assemble in an effort to protect protesters at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota next week.

The effort, called Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, is meant to be a nonviolent intervention to defend protesters from what they described as “assault and intimidation at the hands of the militarized police force.”   Continue reading “2,000 vets vow to defend Dakota pipeline protesters”

Daisy Luther

When Americans aren’t paying attention, sneaky things tend to happen. While we were all distracted by the aftermath of the election, the US Congress decided to get the war ball rolling with Syria.

On November 15, while cities across America were under siege from anti-Trump protesters and rioters, a handful of members of the House of Representatives quietly passed H.R.5732 – the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2016. Of course, they’re going to be “protecting” those civilians with a no-fly zone over the country. Consortium News reported:   Continue reading “Congress Is Sneaking Through Legislation for a No-Fly Zone Over Syria”

Mississippi Today – by Kate Royals

Faced with a public records request from Mississippi Today for the state’s contract with EdBuild, a legislative committee voted Tuesday to adopt a new policy mandating that all contracts it approves be confidential.

The House Management Committee, which approves contracts entered into by the House of Representatives, used a voice vote to pass the policy, which states “All contracts entered into by the House Management Committee shall be confidential and shall not be released to any person or entity, except as specifically directed by the House Management Committee only when the committee deems necessary for the execution of the contract.”   Continue reading “Mississippi Legislature: All our contracts are secret”

Tenth Amendment Center – by Michael Maharrey

AUSTIN, Texas (Nov. 29, 2016) – A “Constitutional Carry” bill filed for the 2017 legislative session would make it legal for Texans to carry a concealed firearm without a license, and foster an environment hostile to federal gun control.

Rep. Jonathan Strickland (R-Bedford) filed House Bill 375 (HB375) on Nov. 16. If passed into law, it would end Texas’ conceal carry licensing requirements and remove the need for government permission to carry a concealed firearm in the state. The new law reads in part:   Continue reading “Permission not Required: “Constitutional Carry” Bill Introduced in Texas”

Nextgov – by Mohana Ravindranath

The Homeland Security Department wants to install more cameras for facial recognition in airports.

Customs and Border Protection is looking for sources to provide “mounted facial recognition cameras” to be deployed in an “airport environment,” according to a solicitation posted earlier this month.

Those would be procured through a “small business track” on DHS’ indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract vehicle, FirstSource II.   Continue reading “DHS Wants New Facial Recognition Cameras in Airports”

Bloomberg

OPEC clinched a deal to curtail oil supply, confounding skeptics as the need to clear a record global crude glut — and prove the group’s credibility — brought about its first cuts in eight years, Bloomberg News reports.

OPEC will reduce production by 1.2 million barrels a day to 32.5 million a day, a delegate said Wednesday in Vienna, asking not to be identified as the decision isn’t yet public. Oil jumped 7.6 percent to $49.90 a barrel in London at 1:23 p.m. local time.   Continue reading “OPEC Agrees to Cut Production in Drive to End Global Glut”

Liberty Blitzkrieg – by Michael Krieger

An article published in The New York Times this past Sunday perfectly demonstrates how out of control and unconstitutional America’s foreign policy has become. It highlights the latest war being perpetrated by the Obama administration, which is expanding with very little scrutiny from the press or the government branch supposedly in charge of waging war, the U.S. Congress.

The latest growing battlefield is in Somalia, and it threatens to spiral out of control just like so many other undeclared war zones before it. From the NY Times:   Continue reading “Obama Creates New Al-Qaeda Out of Thin Air to Justify His Somalia War”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

While it has yet to be officially confirmed by the Trump transition team, moments ago the NYT reported that – in what had previously been leaked on several occasions on various other outlets most notably the WSJ – former Goldman banker and Soros employee, Steven Mnuchin “a financier with deep roots on Wall Street and in Hollywood but no government experience”is expected to be named Donald J. Trump’s Treasury secretary as soon as Wednesday.

The WSJ has confirmed as much, reporting that “President-elect Donald Trump will name longtime banker and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, turning to a campaign loyalist and fundraiser for the incoming administration’s top economic cabinet post, a transition official said Tuesday.”   Continue reading “Trump Picks Former Goldman Banker Steven Mnuchin As Treasury Secretary”

Washington Post – by Dana Milbank

“Report: Three Million Votes in Presidential Election Cast by Illegal Aliens; Trump may have won popular vote.”

— Infowars,
website of leading conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Nov. 14

“In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”

— Donald Trump, president-elect of the United States, Nov. 27   Continue reading “Trump’s ‘news’ source: Alien lizards, fluoride mind control and voter fraud”