WND – by Jim Fletcher

Parents of a second-grader in Colorado Springs, Colorado, are outraged after their son was questioned by school officials for completing a class assignment in which he said he had seen the figure of a gun in the clouds.

Kody Smith, a student at Talbott Elementary in the Widefield School District, went outside last week with his classmates after being asked to describe figures in the clouds. The students were told to use their imaginations.   Continue reading “Boy sees ‘gun’ in cloud, school goes ballistic”

The Hill – by Keith Laing

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will let more veterans obtain health care at private hospitals, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced Saturday.

Shinseki, who faces calls to resign amid reports of lengthy waiting lists and preventable deaths in the VA’s healthcare system, said the agency is “increasing the care we acquire in the community through non-VA care,” according to the Associated Press.    Continue reading “VA turns to private hospitals for help”

CBS News – by REBECCA KAPLAN

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said on “Face the Nation” Sunday that this weekend’s shooting rampage in California should prompt lawmakers to reconsider legislation that would help provide more resources for the mentally ill and prevent them from buying guns.

“We need more resources to make the country healthier and to make sure that these kinds of horrific, insane, mad occurrences are stopped. And the Congress will be complicit if we fail to act,” said Blumenthal. Continue reading “Senator: California shooting should prompt fresh look at gun laws”

Elliot Rodger, 22, rails against his enemies in a YouTube video before his bloody rampage in Isla Vista, Cali.New York Daily News – by Doyle Murphy

The deranged 22-year-old behind a Santa Barbara killing spree fantasized about a global takeover, a friend says.

After watching the movie “Chronicle” with a group of friends, Elliot Rodger announced he wanted to “dominate the world,” friend Andi Chan told ABC News.

“We all thought he was insane, but we were used to it,” Chan said in the interview. “Maybe in his mind he really wanted to do that.”   Continue reading “Friend: Santa Barbara killer Elliot Rodger wanted to ‘dominate the world’”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Yesterday we showed how Russia and China hold “massive” naval drills in the northern part of the East China Sea (close enough to Japan for us to footnote “ahem Japan and Taiwan”), which in addition to a clear signal to the US (on part of Russia), was sending just as clear a message to Japan (on the part of China). Sure enough, overnight Japan was not too happy with this massive show of force by the two biggest and closest foes near its disputed territory. As a result it dispatched an OP-3C surveillance plane and a YS-11EB electronic intelligence aircraft. China promptly retaliated and as Reuters reports, it scrambled a Su-27, fully-armed with missiles, which came as close as 50 meters of the Japanese fighters – the closest Chinese warplanes had come to aircraft of Japan’s Self-Defense Force according to Japan – in what can only be described as “please take the first punch.”   Continue reading “China Scrambles Fighter Jet, Flies Within 50 Meters Of Japanese Airplanes”

Keithley

Nanotechnology is an important new area of research that promises significant advances in electronics, materials, biotechnology, alternative energy sources, and dozens of other applications. The graphic below illustrates, at a personal level, the potential impact on each of us. And where electrical measurement is required, Keithley instrumentation is being used in an expanding list of nanotechnology research and development settings.   Continue reading “How Nanotechnology Could Reengineer Us”

Mediaite – by Andrew Kirell

Those following the developments in Friday evening’s UCSB shootings are aware of the suspected perpetrator Elliot Rodger‘s frightening YouTube manifesto, describing his bitterness towards women and the men who are able to find a mate.

As it turns out, he had also written a 141-page manifesto that lays out his grievances in painstaking detail, describing stories from his childhood onward that seemed to have laid the foundation for his anger towards women, “alpha males,” and society in general.   Continue reading “Elliot Rodger’s Written Manifesto Is 141 Pages Long and Absolutely Terrifying”

Elliot-rodger-apThis one includes the deleted videos.

Mashable – by Christina Warren

Who was Elliot Rodger?

The online history and detailed writings of Rodger, who police identified as the gunman in a series of shootings near the University of California, Santa Barbara, paint a chilling profile of a 22-year-old obsessed with appearance, acceptance and getting a girlfriend.   Continue reading “Elliot Rodger: Portrait of a Lonely Outcast Obsessed With Status”

ELLIOT RODGERHuffington Post – by GILLIAN FLACCUS and OSKAR GARCIA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Before Elliot Rodger killed six people in a beachside California college community, the 22-year-old repeatedly talked online in videos about being sexually frustrated, alone and miserable.

Rodger’s family worried about him enough to call police about his videos on YouTube, saying they were alarmed by seeing him talk of suicide and killing people, family attorney Alan Shifman said Saturday. Three weeks later, Rodger stabbed three people at his apartment to death, gunned down two women outside a sorority and killed one more person outside a deli. Police believe he killed himself after a roving gunbattle with police.   Continue reading “Elliot Rodger’s Videos Raised Alarm Before Santa Barbara Shooting”

Absolute Proof the Santa Barbara Convenience Store Shooting is a HoaxSent to us by a reader who said: This was a staged event imo. I watched that childs’ video and thought to myself this can’t be real. Yesterday. There was one picture that I didn’t save in an article and it was pic of a spent casing next to a puddle of pink blood(fake.) It’s been scrubbed. It would be nice if someone saved it. Ironic that big sis’s new venture is the director of all the uc’s? I think not. Adventures in hoaxland continues…

NoDisinfo

This entire claim of a wild, roaming shooter on the loose in Santa Barabara, who gunned down and killed 6 people, is mere dramatics. As grandiose as it is it would appear as if it was written for a Hollywood plot.   Continue reading “Absolute Proof the Santa Barbara Convenience Store Shooting is a Hoax”

AOL

URUMQI, China (AP) – Authorities announced a security crackdown Saturday in China’s Muslim northwest after a deadly bombing raised questions about whether tightening Beijing’s grip might be feeding anti-Chinese anger and a rise of organized terrorism.

Thursday’s bombing at a vegetable market in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region, killed at least 43 people and left the region’s ethnic Chinese on edge.   Continue reading “China launched anti-terror drive after bombing”

Dallas News – by Jeffrey Weis

Several superintendents have taken an unusually public stance against the state’s school accountability system in advance of this week’s release of STAAR results. One letter by the head of Paris ISD drew attention from East Texas to Bangkok.

Paris ISD Superintendent Paul Jones posted his letter to parents on Friday, de-emphasizing the importance of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness tests.   Continue reading “Superintendents push back against STAAR before latest results”

mosquito on a leaf Mosquito Fighting Plants for Your YardBuild Direct – by Steffani Cameron

Nothing wrecks a warm night outdoors quicker than the arrival of mosquitoes. The buzzing, the stabbing, the bleeding, the itching — who needs it?

With barbecue season upon us, it’s time to fight back! There are a lot of great steps you can take to fight mosquitoes, from attacking standing water on your property through to ditching your scented products, but today we’re talking about planters.   Continue reading “Mosquito-Fighting Plants for Your Yard”

24/7 Wall Street – by Alexander E.M. Hess and Thomas C. Frohlich

The United States is currently engulfed in one of the worst droughts in recent memory. More than 30% of the country experienced at least moderate drought as of last week’s data.

In seven states drought conditions were so severe that each had more than half of its land area in severe drought. Severe drought is characterized by crop loss, frequent water shortages, and mandatory water use restrictions. Based on data from the U.S. Drought Monitor, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the states with the highest levels of severe drought.   Continue reading “Seven States Running Out of Water”

Bloomberg's "Pouring on the Pounds" anti-obesity campaign started in 2009 and endures beyond his time in office.New York Daily News – by Annie Karni

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is gone, but his shock ads warning about obesity endure.

The graphic spots, which show grisly images of how consuming sugary drinks can lead to diabetes, obesity and heart disease, are playing on television, five months after Bloomberg left office.   Continue reading “Michael Bloomberg’s gross-out anti-obesity TV ads continue fight against sugary drinks”