Common Dreams – by Sarah Lazare

Debate and positions on controversial military aid shrouded in secrecy, conjuring memories of Iraq War buildup.

After the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week passed the Obama administration’s controversial plan to funnel arms to Syrian rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the vote and debate remain hidden from the public under the label of “classified” information.   Continue reading “Classified: Senators Hide Their Votes on Arming Syrian Fighters from Public”

Common Dreams – by Chris Woods with additional reporting by Mushtaq Yusufzai

A field investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in Pakistan’s tribal areas appears to confirm that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) last year briefly revived the controversial tactic of deliberately targeting rescuers at the scene of a previous drone strike. The tactic has previously been labelled a possible war crime by two UN investigators.   Continue reading “Bureau Investigation Finds Fresh Evidence of CIA Drone Strikes on Rescuers”

Gun RightsFreedom Outpost – by Tim Brown

I have been writing for Freedom Outpost for nearly a year and then at the former Front Porch Politics for six months before that. There was a commenter who would always come on and say that no one is coming for our guns, and yet, here we are. The evidence abounds that gun confiscation is the goal and is currently taking place. We first saw it in New York under the NY SAFE Act and then in California. Now we’re seeing it in Cook County, Illinois, former home to Barack Obama. This is why American patriots have warned against gun registration, because it inevitably leads to gun confiscation.   Continue reading “Illinois’ Cook County Begins Gun Confiscation”

photo courtesy of Joe Brusky, Overpass Light BrigadeWisconsin Citizen Media – by wcmcoop

A Lutheran pastor from Madison suffered cardiac symptoms while in police custody on Friday, July 26, after being arrested in the Wisconsin Capitol during what Capitol Police deemed an “unlawful assembly” of the Solidarity Sing Along.

As the Rev. Carter Dary, 67, was being taken to the basement of the Capitol for processing, he began experiencing chest pain. Capitol Police placed a nitroglycerin capsule from Dary’s keychain in his hand without removing his handcuffs. (His hands were cuffed in front of him instead of behind him after he told officers he was having chest pain.)  Patrick Knowles, who was also arrested, was with Dary at the time and said later, “I was told by someone released after me that they had to try three times to get his blood pressure. It is not known to me what his current condition is, but would characterize it by what I saw as grave. My prayers are with him.”  Knowles provided this eyewitness account:   Continue reading “Exercising Rights in Capitol May Be Harmful to Your Health”

Combat Studies Group

Between the rifle and the pistol, I will generally spend more training time on the pistol. There are a couple reasons for this…

1) All things being equal, it takes more skill to be consistently accurate with a pistol than with a rifle – the rifle having the benefit of a longer sight radius (or optics) and the inherent stability that comes with a stocked firearm. (Not to mention the weight-to-trigger pull ratio disparity with a pistol).   Continue reading “Improve Your Pistolcraft…”

Sh.jpegAll Alabama -by Cassie Fambro

Washington state legislator Rep. Matt Shea (R) says preparation is crucial to get ready for what he calls “the inevitable collapse” of the US economy.

The Self-Reliance Rally event at an Idaho State Park had several speakers encouraging attendees to prepare by gathering arms and ammunition and considering forming militias.

“When it happens, we need to look at this as a opportunity, not a crisis,” Shea said. “Who’s job is liberty? That’s our job.”  Continue reading “Legislator to tea party: Get your guns ready for economic collapse”

armyhitmen.jpgFox News

Mexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border, according to law enforcement experts.

The involvement of three American soldiers in separate incidents, including a 2009 murder that led to last week’s life sentence for a former Army private, underscore a problem the U.S. military has fought hard to address.   Continue reading “Mexican cartels hiring US soldiers as hit men”

Texas Death ChamberMail.com

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The nation’s most active death penalty state is running out of its execution drug.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Thursday that its remaining supply of pentobarbital expires in September and that no alternatives have been found. It wasn’t immediately clear whether two executions scheduled for next month would be delayed. The state has already executed 11 death-row inmates this year, and at least seven more have execution dates in coming months.   Continue reading “Texas prison system running out of execution drug”

Mail.com

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Old Faithful it’s not.

Yellowstone National Park’s Steamboat Geyser — the world’s tallest — has erupted for the first time in more than eight years. The nine-minute blast sent steaming hot water an estimated 200 to 300 feet in the air, park geologist Hank Heasler said Thursday.

Unlike the park’s popular and famous Old Faithful geyser, which spews water like clockwork every hour-and-a-half, no one knows when Steamboat will erupt next. In the past, it’s gone as long as 50 years without a major event. In 1964, it erupted a record 29 times. The last blast came in 2005.   Continue reading “Rare eruption at Yellowstone geyser”

Lei YixinMail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Chinese sculptor has removed a disputed inscription from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial statue that he designed on the National Mall and said Thursday that he is working on a new finish for the side of the artwork.

Plans call for sculptor Lei Yixin to carve grooves over the former words to match existing horizontal “striation” marks in the memorial. Lei said he is working to deepen all the memorial’s grooves so that they will match.   Continue reading “Disputed inscription removed from MLK Memorial”

CyclosporaMail.com

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Food safety advocates say they are alarmed by a lack of information being disseminated about the spread of a nasty intestinal illness that has sickened nearly 400 people nationwide, including cases in two states that have been linked to prepackaged salad.

The outbreak of the rare parasite cyclospora has been reported in at least 15 states, and federal officials warned Wednesday it was too early to say that the threat was over. But if you’re looking to find out exactly where it came from, you may be out of luck.   Continue reading “Critics: Consumers should know more about outbreak”

Yahoo News Canada – by Steve Mertl | Daily Brew

We’ve all heard of diplomatic immunity, the international convention that exempts select representatives of foreign countries from arrest and prosecution unless that protection is specifically waived by their government.

The privilege has been occasionally abused, but it’s a vital element in allowing diplomats to operate in sometimes hostile environments without fear of being detained.   Continue reading “U.S. expects immunity for its cops working in new cross-border policing program”

Washington’s Blog

Tepco Has No Idea How to Stabilize the Reactors

You’ve heard bad news about Fukushima recently.

But it’s worse than you know.

The Wall Street Journal notes that radiation levels outside the plant are likely higher than inside the reactor:   Continue reading “You Won’t BELIEVE What’s Going On at Fukushima Right Now”

swatThe Organic Prepper

Be careful what you Google….you never know when it might get you a visit from the  federal anti-terrorism task force, despite the government’s claims that information about average Americans is not being analyzed.

What shows up in your search history?  I just checked mine.   Continue reading “Feds Visit Family Who Googled Backpacks & Pressure Cookers…But the NSA Isn’t Watching You”

The Seattle Times – by Dominic Gates

Local Boeing workers who’ve lost their jobs will receive substantial additional federal unemployment benefits after two unions at the company sought aid under a program for employees laid off due to outsourcing and foreign trade.

Thanks to a federal program lined up by their unions, local workers laid off during the current dip in employment at Boeing Commercial Airplanes will enjoy a financial cushion that’s much, much plumper than what the average unemployed state resident gets.   Continue reading “Feds give laid-off Boeing workers a big helping hand”