Free Thought Project – by Claire Bernish

Randall and Vicki Weaver and their children wanted nothing more than to be left to live an isolated life in peace in their cabin enclave on a northern Idaho mountaintop called Ruby Ridge. Untrusting of the federal government and of the belief society had taken an insurmountable turn for the worse, the Weavers — as many residents in the remote and breathtaking area — taught their children to be self-sufficient and defend themselves with firearms from unwanted intrusions onto the family’s property.

But the Weaver’s seemingly idyllic life came to an appallingly violent end over several hours from August 21 to 22, 1992, in a horrendously botched federal raid that would also profoundly alter perceptions about the U.S. government in the minds of even ordinary Americans.   Continue reading “25 Years Ago Today the Federal Govt Changed its Rules to Launch a Sniper Attack on Off-Grid Family”

The Daily Caller – by Eric Owens

Vermont’s Attorney General has settled the state’s claims of fraud against Jonathan Gruber, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who served as a technical consultant for President Barack Obama and as one of the chief architects of Obamacare.

Under the terms of the settlement, Gruber will no longer work as a taxpayer-funded economic consultant for the state’s health care system and he won’t seek to be paid any money he might be owed, reports the Rutland Herald, a Vermont newspaper.   Continue reading “Chief Obamacare Architect Sacked After Fraudulent Billing Investigation”

On August 18, during a regular briefing, the Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department Heather Nauert stated that the United States doesn’t intend to extend its stay in Syria after the Islamic State is defeated.

“That is our intent, to defeat ISIS and not do anything more than that. Syria must be governed by its own people and not by the United States or other forces,” Nauert added.   Continue reading “Should Anyone Believe U.S. State Department Promises on Syria?”

I grew up around boats; I’ve had about 5 or 6 of them. I know what the deal is around heavy boating lanes and for the most part, understand right of way rules in shipping lanes. My dad and I regularly navigated in them while fishing marlin, albacore, swordfish you name it. It took us out into big deep water, hundreds of miles offshore.

When you have these big cruisers crashing into huge freighters on a regular basis, there is something seriously wrong with either the competency of the commanders of these ships, or something entirely different is going on here. My first question is why is it only the Americans who are involved in these huge collisions between merchant vessels and our warships?   Continue reading “Unqualified Commanders? Battle Ships Running into Merchant Ships – Why?”

LA Times

Oregon has long been predicted to be a scene of major eclipse traffic jams, and even by Sunday, that was proving to be true: The Oregon National Guard was called in to Madras, a small agricultural city in the sunny part of the state, east of the Cascades.

Traffic was at a standstill for hours Sunday afternoon, gridlocked as well more than 100,000 people flocked to this small, pleasant town of 7,000.

Madras, pronounced like glad or sad — not like the plaid fabric or the megalopolis in India — sits on the centerline of the eclipse’s path of totality.   Continue reading “Solar eclipse gridlock: It was so busy in Madras, Ore., they called in the National Guard”

CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a message for asylum seekers: crossing illegally into the country doesn’t offer an advantage when it comes to obtaining refugee status in Canada.

“If I could directly speak to people seeking asylum, I’d like to remind them there’s no advantage,” Trudeau said at a news conference Sunday in Montreal.

“Our rules, our principles and our laws apply to everyone.”   Continue reading “Trudeau to asylum seekers: Crossing border illegally won’t fast track immigration”

Fox 5 News

Border Patrol agents at a Texas checkpoint found 60 people hiding in a refrigerated tractor-trailer on Saturday.

Agents assigned to the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint sent a truck for secondary inspection that morning after a K-9 alerted officers to the trailer, according to to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Authorities said that upon searching the trailer, which had been set to 49 degrees, they found 60 people inside.   Continue reading “60 people found in refrigerated trailer at Texas border crossing”

The Guardian – by Mark Keierleber

It’s been an excruciating six months since 14-year-old Fatima Avelica watched, sobbing, as immigration agents picked up her father on their way to school.

Fatima’s father, Rómulo Avelica-González, who immigrated illegally from Mexico in the 1990s, had driven Fatima and her 12-year-old sister, Yuleni, to school in Los Angeles every morning for years, despite a deportation order hanging over his head. But a month after Donald Trump took office and promptly called for ramped-up immigration arrests, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled over the family’s car.   Continue reading “‘Sanctuary schools’ across America defy Trump’s immigration crackdown”

The Hill – by Niv Elis

Funding for President Trump’s proposed border wall is poised to be a central issue in this fall’s showdown over government funding.

Unless Congress approves a new funding bill, the government will shut down on Oct. 1.

Trump is demanding funds for the wall that was the centerpiece of his successful presidential campaign, but Democrats have warned they will vote en masse against any legislation that includes money for the wall.   Continue reading “Trump poised for a September fight over border wall”

New York Times – by Caitlin Dickerson

The Trump administration is working with like-minded sheriffs from around the country on a plan to channel undocumented immigrants from local jails into federal detention, according to several sheriffs involved in the discussions. If it succeeds, it could vastly expand the dragnet that has already begun to transform immigration enforcement in the United States.

The plan is intended to circumvent court decisions that have thus far limited the role of local law enforcement in immigration. It involves a legal move regarding detainers, which are requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to local sheriffs or police departments to hold people who are suspected of being in the country illegally, even after they have posted bail, finished their jail sentence or otherwise resolved their criminal cases.  Continue reading “Trump Administration Moves to Expand Deportation Dragnet to Jails”

The Organic Prepper

How often do you hear people talk about how they would live their dreams if they only had a bit more money? People always dream about…

  • quitting the jobs they hate
  • starting a business
  • moving to a remote cabin in the woods
  • staying home with the kids
  • being completely debt-free
  • having a little homestead and raising their own food
  • living in an RV and roaming the country

Continue reading “How to Radically Reduce Your Expenses So You Can Change Your Life”

Washington Post – by Chico Harlan

BRANDENBURG, Ky. — The leaders in this small town said they wanted history to be preserved, not erased, so they piled into a car last summer for what they considered an important mission: to save a Confederate monument from possible destruction. The monument had stood in Louisville for 121 years — 70 feet tall, more than 100 tons of granite. But Louisville wanted it removed and called a public meeting to help determine its relocation. One speaker said the structure should be “obliterated.” Another said he would gladly help drop it into the river. And then, one by one, up to the microphone came the people from Brandenburg.

“I think it would be well-received by the county and the residents,” the county judge executive said.   Continue reading “A 121-year-old Confederate monument was coming down. This Kentucky town put it back up.”

AP

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) — The huge raised-relief images show a Confederate trinity sitting astride their horses, high above the ground. Hats held across their chests, President Jefferson Davis and Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson ride across the face of Stone Mountain into faded glory.

Part theme park and part shrine to Dixie’s Lost Cause, this granite outcrop east of Atlanta — sculpted like a Mount Rushmore of the Confederacy — is once again an ideological battlefield as a new fight rages over rebel symbolism across the South.  Continue reading “Stone Mountain another (huge) test for Confederate symbols”

Washington Examiner – by Joel Gehrke

An exhibit alongside the nation’s chief memorial to Thomas Jefferson will receive an update that reflects “the complexity” of his status as a founder of the United States and a slaveholder, according to stewards of the National Mall.

The decision reflects an acute awareness of the furor currently surrounding Confederate statues across the country. A non-profit group that provides critical support for the National Mall is bracing for similar protests against the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial, although “there has been much broader support for maintaining them,” as one official put it. But the Trust for the National Mall, which depends on private donors to fulfill its mission, is getting out in front of the uproar.   Continue reading “Jefferson Memorial exhibit update will acknowledge slavery record”

ABC 13 News

AUSTIN, Texas — University of Texas President Greg Fenves ordered the immediate removal of statues of Robert E. Lee and other prominent Confederate figures from a main area of campus, saying such monuments have become “symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism.”

Fenves announced the move late Sunday night as crews were in place to begin taking the statues down. The school also blocked off the area during the process, and the statues are expected to be gone by mid-morning Monday, a spokesman said.   Continue reading “UT-Austin begins swift removal of remaining Confederate statues”

Zoom In Korea

On August 14–ahead of the 72nd anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule–Korean Americans across the United States rallied to demand the U.S. government stop war provocations against North Korea and start talks towards peace. Korean Americans and other anti-war peace activists in New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles held coordinated protest actions in their respective regions.
Continue reading “Korean Americans Denounce US War Threats in Coordinated Protests”