A clash between knife-wielding assailants and police officers in China’s restive Xinjiang region left 16 people dead, including two police, state media said Monday.
The region’s official news portal, Tianshan Net, said “several thugs” threw explosives Sunday night at the officers, who were pursuing unidentified suspects, and attacked them with knives. Continue reading “16 Die in Clash in Restive Western China”
GREELEY, Colo. — When Sheriff John Cooke of Weld County explains in speeches why he is not enforcing the state’s new gun laws, he holds up two 30-round magazines. One, he says, he had before July 1, when the law banning the possession, sale or transfer of the large-capacity magazines went into effect. The other, he “maybe” obtained afterward.
When a state trooper pulled the couple over along Interstate 78 last month, he said he stopped them because they were going 5 miles over the speed limit and hugging the side of the lane.
The violent and racially charged “Knockout Game” – where participants, often black youths, attack an unsuspecting victim unprovoked, attempting to “knock out” the target – has gained increased national attention. But there is one shocking aspect of the brutal trend that is rarely mentioned: Nationwide, there have been at least six deaths attributed to the Knockout Game. Continue reading “Deadly Truth Behind ‘Knockout Game’”
On October 24, the Houston Police Department announced the results of its yearlong investigation into the shooting death of Brian Claunch, a mentally ill double amputee killed by an officer last September after refusing to drop a pen. HPD cleared the officer, Matthew Marin, of any wrongdoing.
That may not come as a surprise, since HPD hasn’t found a single police shooting unjustified in at least six years. Between 2007 and 2012, HPD officers fatally shot 109 people and injured another 111. All those shootings were found justified. (For the full story on HPD shootings and beatings, read the Observer investigation here.) Continue reading “How a Texas Cop Who Killed a Double Amputee Holding a Ballpoint Pen Got Away With It”
Edward Snowden, through the leakage of several top secret NSA documents, has reveals the depths of the NSA spying program. Because of this he was forced to flee the United States and now lives in asylum in Russia.
Several companies have stopped using BPA in plastic production due to consumer outrage, but just because a plastic container says it is “BPA Free” doesn’t mean it’s free of potentially harmful chemicals. As a matter of fact, recent research out of Germany indicates there are more than 24,000 of such chemicals in any given bottle of water—with some of them causing serious hormone-disrupting effects.
According to the story from Goethe University Frankfort, the researchers tested 18 different bottled water products in an effort to look for endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs. They found far more than expected, identifying 24,520 different chemicals in their testing. After isolating the chemicals and determining their impact on the body, the researchers narrowed down those with anti-estrogenic properties to one: DEHF or di(2-ethylhexyl) fumarate. This finding was of major concern. Continue reading “Bottled water wreaking havoc with our bodies”
The actor’s 1962 portrayal of an English ally of embattled Arabs is a high water mark of cinema. Long after overcoming stomach cancer in the 1970s, Peter O’Toole died in a London hospital following an illness.
O’Toole stopped acting last year, saying, “I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell.” He said his career in movies and on stage fulfilled him emotionally and financially, connecting him “with fine people, good companions with whom I’ve shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits.” Continue reading “Peter O’Toole, Star of ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ Dead at 81”
Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, happened 75 years ago when Nazi thugs conducted a wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms on the streets of Berlin and other cities in Germany. U.S. President Barack Obama, on the 2014 Anniversary of Kristallnacht, issued a statement to commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht, stating that “the event foreshadowed the systematic slaughter of six million Jews and millions of other innocent victims.” Continue reading “The Modern State of Israel: A Hegelian Paradigm”
This woman, Anna Breytenbach is able to communicate with animals. This video and documentary gave me so much peace. She proves the oneness of our world. She shows all of us are able to do this. We need to just go within and to become at peace to see what the animals are saying.