AOL – by PAIGE SUTHERLAND

MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) – Colleges are paying students to take a year off after high school to travel, volunteer or do internships so that students of all income brackets can benefit from “gap years.”

A new program at Tufts University and existing ones at a handful of other schools aim to remove the financial barriers that can keep cash-strapped students from exploring different communities and challenge their comfort zones before jumping right into college.   Continue reading “Colleges offer to pay students to take year off”

Yahoo News

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – Russia vetoed a Western-backed resolution condemning the Crimea referendum at a UN Security Council emergency vote Saturday but China abstained, isolating Moscow further on the Ukraine crisis.

The draft resolution, which says Sunday’s referendum would have no validity, got 13 votes in the 15-member council. But it was rejected when permanent member Russia exercised its veto.   Continue reading “UN resolution on Crimea: Russia vetoes, China abstains”

A stingray training variant torpedo is fired from Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster during an exerciseTelegraph

Military chiefs have launched a major investigation after a Royal Navy warship accidentally fired a torpedo at a nuclear dockyard.

HMS Argyll was moored at Devonport Naval base in Plymouth when the 9ft missile suddenly shot out of its starboard side during a training drill.   Continue reading “Royal Navy warship accidentally fires torpedo at nuclear dockyard”

Obama SignRon Paul Institute – by Daniel McAdams

Do you, like 56 percent of the US population, believe that the US should “not get too involved” in the Ukraine situation? Do you think that the US administration putting us on a war footing with Russia is a bad idea? Are you concerned that the new, US-backed leaders of Ukraine — not being elected — might lack democratic legitimacy? Are you tempted to speak out against US policy in Ukraine; are you tempted to criticize the new Ukrainian regime?   Continue reading “Against Ukraine War? Obama May Seize Your Assets”

Russia shuts down internet sites - Tech Eye

Garry Kasparov’s web site  is being banned from being accessed in Russia along with other web sites that Vladimir Putin doesn’t admire.

That’s according to Reuters, which  said a new piece of draconian legislation allows the government to prevent access to web sites it doesn’t care for.   Continue reading “Russia shuts down internet sites”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

With a day left until the critical, if widely expected, results from the Crimean referendum are revealed, it is worth recalling the main footnote in last night’s State Department travel alert for Russia: “all U.S. citizens located in or considering travel to the border region, specifically the regions bordering Ukraine in Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh, and Rostov Oblasts and Krasnodar Krai, should be aware of the potential for escalation of tensions, military clashes (either accidental or intentional).” See, for the purpose of a military provocation, “accidental” will do. It is therefore not surprising to see that moments ago all major news wires blasted the following headline, quoting the Ukraine ministry of defense:   Continue reading “Ukraine Says It Has Repelled A Russian Army Attempt To Enter Region Adjacent To Crimea”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (AFP Photo/Juan Barreto)RT News

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua has called US Secretary of State John Kerry a murderer and accused him of inciting violence in Venezuela. Jaua’s words came in retaliation to Kerry’s accusation that the Venezuelan government is terrorizing its own people.

In a heated rebuke to Kerry, Jaua denounced him as a murderer of the Venezuelan people.   Continue reading “Venezuela accuses Kerry of murder and inciting violence”

AOL – Accuweather

Severe thunderstorms are expected to rumble from Texas on Saturday to Georgia by Sunday as a complex and multi-faceted storm takes shape.

Plenty of warm, moist air transported northward from the Gulf of Mexico will clash with colder air surging southward across the Plains. As a result, violent thunderstorms will erupt over eastern Texas, including Dallas and Houston.   Continue reading “New Storm to Bring Severe Thunderstorms to South, Snow to East”

AFP Photo / Robyn BeckRT News

The US had 875,000 people in its terrorist watchlist system as of December 2012. Those secretly blacklisted have no real path to challenge their status, states a new report, thus indefinitely restricting those listed from travel or simply getting a job.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans and foreigners languish in the watchlist system, considered“known or suspected terrorists” based on secret rules and evidence that are basically impenetrable should the average suspect attempt to contest them, says a new report by the ACLU that highlights these challenges.   Continue reading “875,000 left in bureaucratic black hole that is US terror watchlist system”

WPXI 11

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A south-central Pennsylvania municipality is agreeing to pay $500,000 to settle two federal civil rights lawsuits that claimed its police officers beat two suspects in separate incidents then made false reports to cover up the assaults.

Lawyer Devon M. Jacob said Thursday that Springettsbury Township will pay $250,000 each to the plaintiffs, Steven Landis and Debra Lynn Williams. Township Manager John Holman acknowledged the payments.   Continue reading “Pa. town pays $500K in police brutality settlement”

John Twombly was beaten unconscious at his own wedding. (Source: WHOtv.com)Police State USA

DES MOINES, IA — A settlement has been reached for a groom who was beaten unconscious at his own wedding reception, although the city still refuses to admit their officer did anything wrong.

Wedding Bash

The case dates back to 2011, when John Twombly and his bride Khamla made their vows.   They held a reception with roughly 275-300 guests, and hired an off-duty Des Moines police officer, Andrew Phipps, to provide security.   Continue reading “Groom beaten unconscious by police at his own wedding”

Posted on Social MediaCleve Scene – by Doug Brown

One year ago this month, the U.S. Justice Department announced it had opened an investigation into the Cleveland police department and its troubled history with use of excessive and deadly force. The investigation, spurred on by the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, the two unarmed suspects who were killed after Cleveland cops fired 137 shots into their car at the end of the now infamous cross-city chase that began with a routine traffic stop and ended in a hail of blood and gunfire on the east side, is still ongoing.   Continue reading “A Traffic Ticket and a Bullet Through the Chest”

privacy.istockThe Raw Story

Via Moyers & Company. Julia Angwin, 3/13/2014 10:42:15 AM

The following is an excerpt from Julia Angwin’s Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance. Who is watching you?

This was once a question asked only by kings, presidents and public figures trying to dodge the paparazzi and criminals trying to evade the law. The rest of us had few occasions to worry about being tracked.   Continue reading “Dragnet Nation: Here’s how you may already be getting hacked”

Mary Magdalene RootCBS Baltimore -by Gigi Barnett

HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WJZ)—An 81-year-old great-grandmother is placed behind bars for a minor pet violation committed nearly a year ago. The Harford County woman says she tried paying thousands of dollars in fines but couldn’t afford them.

As Gigi Barnett explains, the senior citizen says her punishment doesn’t fit the crime.   Continue reading “81-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Jailed For 2 Days For Pet Violation”

World Events and the Bible

(Source: WSJ) – The value of U.S. government bonds held by foreign central banks at the Federal Reserve shrank by a record amount this week, causing a stir in the Treasury market.

Treasury securities held in custody for foreign official and international accounts dropped by $105 billion in the week that ended Wednesday, according to the latest weekly data published by the Fed. That decline brought the current figure to $2.855 trillion, a 15-month low.   Continue reading “Big Drop in Foreigners’ Treasury Holdings at Fed Stirs Talk”

A security guard stands at the entrance of a compound where the house of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah is located in Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur March 15, 2014. — Reuters picThe Malay Mail

SHAH ALAM, March 15 — Police were seen arriving at the residence of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of the Flight MH370 at about 2.42pm today.

This followed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s press conference on the development of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft.

A check by Bernama noted that three plain clothed police personnel introduced themselves as coming from Bukit Aman police headquarters to the security guard manning the Laman Seri residence at Section 13 here before obtaining a security pass to go in.   Continue reading “Police search home of MH370 pilot”

Facebook users duped by missing Malaysia Airlines spamMetro

Spam videos enticing people to click on fake news stories about the missing Malaysia Airlines jet have been spreading malware on Facebook.

The fake ‘breaking news’ clips, which falsely claim the missing plane has been found, have been cluttering users’ timelines the week.

One bogus video has the headline: ‘Malaysia Plane MH370 Has Been Spotted Somewhere Near Bermuda Triangle. Shocking Videos Release Today.’   Continue reading “Spam ‘missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 jet spotted near Bermuda Triangle’ video spreads on Facebook”