Year: 2018

Rolling Stone

The National Rifle Association warns that it is in grave financial jeopardy, according to a recent court filing obtained by Rolling Stone, and that it could soon “be unable to exist… or pursue its advocacy mission.” (Read the NRA’s legal complaint at the bottom of this story.)

The reason, according to the NRA filing, is not its deep entanglement with alleged Russian agents like Maria Butina. Instead, the gun group has been suing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state’s financial regulators since May, claiming the NRA has been subject to a state-led “blacklisting campaign” that has inflicted “tens of millions of dollars in damages.”   Continue reading “The NRA Says It’s in Deep Financial Trouble, May Be ‘Unable to Exist’”

American Trucker

Uber announced it was halting efforts to develop autonomous trucks, a decision that will not affect its ongoing Uber Freight division that matches available loads with truck drivers through a smartphone app.

Uber said it will continue developing self-driving  cars, but has shut down the truck unit initially known as Otto. It made a splash in October 2016 when it made a 120-mile autonomous delivery of Budweiser in Colorado.   Continue reading “Uber halts development of self-driving trucks”

Statesman Journal

A Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrested on theft and misconduct charges is accused of stealing five shotguns from a deceased Salem man’s home.

According to a Salem police probable cause statement, Sean Thomas Banks was on-duty when he met a Keizer woman at the home of her recently deceased father in Oct. 2015.    Continue reading “Salem police: Deputy stole guns from dead man’s home while on duty”

Fox News

A federal judge on Friday ordered a total restart of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, in a hit to the Trump administration.

The administration last year announced its plan to phase out the program, which provides a level of amnesty to certain illegal immigrants, many of whom came to the U.S. as children.   Continue reading “DACA program should be fully restarted, federal judge rules”

Business Insider

A curious and credible Tweet from the Director of the Nuclear Information Project for the Federation of American Scientists, Hans Kristensen, on August 1, 2018 at 5:14 PM Washington D.C. time claimed that a, “Meteor explodes with 2.1 kilotons force 43 km above missile early warning radar at Thule Air Base.”

The Tweet apparently originated from Twitter user “Rocket Ron”, a “Space Explorer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory”. The original Tweet read, “A fireball was detected over Greenland on July 25, 2018 by US Government sensors at an altitude of 43.3 km. The energy from the explosion is estimated to be 2.1 kilotons.” Rocket Ron’s Tweet hit in the afternoon on Jul. 31. Continue reading “Mystery meteor reportedly makes 2.1 kiloton explosion above US military base — and the Air Force said nothing”

Reuters

Eleven more U.S. states have joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the online distribution of blueprints for 3-D printed guns, after several states on Tuesday convinced a federal judge to block the planned publication of the designs.

California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia were added in a Thursday court filing to the list of eight mainly Democratic-controlled states and the District of Columbia who sued the U.S. government in federal court.   Continue reading “More U.S. states join lawsuit over online 3-D gun blueprints”

If Americans Knew – by Alison Weir

The Senate yesterday passed a bill to give Israel $38 billion over the next 10 years. The legislation, heavily promoted by AIPAC, was adopted in a voice vote. The bill is “S.2497 – United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018.”

This amounts to approximately $23,000 for each Jewish Israeli family of four.   Continue reading “Senate passes $38 billion to Israel – next step House of Representatives”

Business Insider

Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis outlined a change to the Navy’s approach to aircraft carrier deployments, mixing up when carriers leave and return to port, shortening their time at sea, and adding flexibility to where they go and what they do.

The change is meant to lessen the strain on the fleet and its personnel while keeping potential rivals in the dark about carrier movements.

Continue reading “The Navy is moving its aircraft carriers to ready them for a potential fight with China and Russia — here’s where they’re headed”

Mondoweiss – by Richard Falk

The following is a report by Richard Falk on “The Arab International Forum for Justice for Palestine,” held in Beirut on July 29, 2018. His report is followed by a personal account to Falk’s blogreaders of a more personal character, describing the style and manner of the gathering.

1. There was bright sunshine throughout the entire Forum thanks to the announcement that Ahed Tamimi and her mother were released on that very day, and boldly reaffirmed their abiding commitment to resistance. Continue reading “Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ is demand that Palestinians abandon their rights and dreams”

Times Union

BALLSTON SPA — A state health inspector shut down a 7-year-old boy’s lemonade stand after vendors at the nearby Saratoga County Fair complained that he appeared to be running a professional operation that competed with their stands, a state official said Monday.

Just a day after the state issued an apology to Brendan Mulvaney, the state Health Department on Monday said he’ll need a permit if he reopens his stand.  Continue reading “DOH: State closed boy’s Ballston Spa lemonade stand after Saratoga County fair vendors complained”

Chron

The man accused of killing a Houston cardiologist last month in the Texas Medical Center killed himself Friday morning  during a confrontation with police, authorities said.

Joseph James Pappas, who was charged a day earlier with the murder of Dr. Mark Hausknecht, shot himself in the head near the 8800 block of Bob White just over two weeks after the killing that shocked the city’s tight-knit medical community.   Continue reading “Suspect in Houston doctor’s slaying kills self during confrontation with HPD”