Showing posts with label National News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National News. Show all posts
Aug 16, 2011
ATF Promotes Fast and Furious Supervisors
Aug 15, 2011
Trinkets not 'Made in Missouri' create a sticky situation
From STL JobWatch - By Steve Giegerich - The shipment arrived at the offices of the state Department of Economic Development within days of the governor launching a "bipartisan Made in Missouri Jobs" initiative. Inside were 6,000 carabiners — a trinket combining a key chain, flashlight and pen. The agency plans to give the items away at the Missouri State Fair next week. One side of the carabiner bore the insignia "Jobs.mo.gov." On the opposite side was a sticker noting the country that produced the gadget: China. Meetings were called. Department officials conferred. Finally, an email memo went out inviting "volunteers" to "assist with removing stickers from State Fair promo item." On the morning of Aug. 1, the senior staff gathered as requested in the conference room of the agency director. There, over doughnuts, a cadre of state officials proceeded to methodically erase all traces of China from 6,000 carabiners. Operation label lift occurred as Gov. Jay Nixon has been criss-crossing the state promoting the "Made in Missouri" jobs campaign and the Legislature is preparing for a special session over whether state tax credits should be used to lure a Chinese air freight hub here. In a statement issued by the agency late Thursday afternoon, the economic development department defended its actions: "The Division of Workforce Development went through the state procurement process to purchase these items from a Missouri-based business. Clearly, the division's preference would have been for the Missouri-based retailer to have purchased their supplies from a domestic supplier." Which raises a question: If the agency followed Missouri guidelines, why were state employees asked to hide the origin of the trinkets? "The division prepared the items for the State Fair, which included removing plastic baggies and any stickers from the items," the agency said. Reached late Thursday, Nixon spokesman Scott Holste declined to comment. Read more:Aug 14, 2011
Jamaican Drug Dealers Head to the Valley
Aug 12, 2011
Former Miss El Paso USA arrested for shoplifting apologized to security officers
From the El Paso Times.com - A former Miss El Paso USA apologized to security officers after she was allegedly caught shoplifting, according to her arrest affidavit. Police arrested Miss El Paso USA 2008 Lorena Tavera, 21, on suspicion of shoplifting Friday at the Dillard's store at Sunland Park Mall. According to her arrest affidavit, at about 6:45 p.m. Friday Tavera and two friends were near a dressing room at the Dillard's store when Tavera was spotted on a store security camera stuffing the $69 Jessica Simpson-brand shirt into a plastic shopping bag, then attempted to leave the store. Store security personnel followed Tavera outside of the store and stopped her as her two friends walked away. Dillard's employees kept Tavera at the store until police arrived. According to the affidavit, they told police they wanted to press charges. Tavera faces a charge of theft for an item over $50 but under $500. She also had two outstanding traffic warrants. Jail records show she was booked into the El Paso County Jail early Saturday and released Saturday afternoon after posting a $728 bond. Read moreSenator Sanders: The Fed Audit
From the Office of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders - The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else." Among the investigation's key findings is that the Fed unilaterally provided trillions of dollars in financial assistance to foreign banks and corporations from South Korea to Scotland, according to the GAO report. "No agency of the United States government should be allowed to bailout a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the president," Sanders said. The non-partisan, investigative arm of Congress also determined that the Fed lacks a comprehensive system to deal with conflicts of interest, despite the serious potential for abuse. In fact, according to the report, the Fed provided conflict of interest waivers to employees and private contractors so they could keep investments in the same financial institutions and corporations that were given emergency loans. Read moreAug 11, 2011
NASA picks Virgin Galactic to fly payloads to space
From NM Politics.net - by Heath Haussamen - NASA has selected Virgin Galactic to fly technology payloads into suborbital space in a move that is certain to benefit Spaceport America in Southern New Mexico. Virgin Galactic announced that it won the NASA contract today in a news release. From the release:“Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS, has been selected by NASA to provide flight opportunities for engineers, technologists and scientific researchers to fly technology payloads into space. This arrangement marks the first time that NASA has contracted with a commercial partner to provide flights into space on a suborbital spacecraft, and represents another important endorsement of the value of regular commercial space access for a wide range of science and educational applications.” Read more
Aug 10, 2011
Use holster and safety: Arizona man hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself
NewsNM Swickard: Darwin moment? I think so. From the New York Daily News - A hapless Arizona man was facing possible gun charges Tuesday after he accidentally shot himself in his private parts - with his fiancee's little pink pistol. Joshua Seto was walking with Cara Christopher to a convenience store in the town of Chandler, AZ, last week when he began stuffing her gun into the front waistband of his pants - and it went off, police said. The bullet pierced the 27-year-old Seto's organ and passed through his left thigh and the blood immediately began gushing. Seto was hospitalized and later released. "We don't know if he suffered any permanent damage," Sgt. J. Favazzo of the Chandler Police Department said Tuesday. "The case remains under investigation and we are still in the process of determining whether to press charges." Favazzo said he did not know what kind of weapon was involved in the accident. Local news outlets reported only that it was pink. In the meantime, police said what happened to Seto should be a lesson to all gun owners who take their safety cues from unrealistic TV shows that depict tough guys stuffing their weapons into their waistbands. Read moreMichigan Dumps 30,000 College Students From Food Stamps Program, Saves $75M
From Fox News.com - About 30,000 college students are getting a real-world lesson in economics after cash-hungry Michigan kicked them off of food stamps to save roughly $75 million per year. Under the new rules, only single moms and students who work 20 hours a week may be able to keep their benefits. Michigan's program provides Bridge cards, which can be swiped like debit cards at grocery stores. But earlier this year as part of a crackdown on welfare fraud, abuse and waste, the state announced that starting in April students would have to show "true need" to keep collecting food stamps. As the new school year starts, Michigan Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan told The Detroit News on Monday that the 30,000 students who were booted out of the program just were about twice as many as officials expected. Read moreAug 9, 2011
Flash Mobs in Philly Draw Rebuke and Curfews
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| Philadelphia Mayor - Michael Nutter |
Washington Times - PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Michael A. Nutter, telling marauding black youths “you have damaged your own race,” imposed a tougher curfew Monday in response to the latest “flash mob” - spontaneous groups of teens who attack people at random on the streets of the city’s tourist and fashionable shopping districts. “Take those God-darn hoodies down, especially in the summer,” Mr. Nutter, the city’s second black mayor, said in an angry lecture aimed at black teens. “Pull your pants up and buy a belt ‘cause no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt.” “If you walk into somebody’s office with your hair uncombed and a pick in the back, and your shoes untied, and your pants half down, tattoos up and down your arms and on your neck, and you wonder why somebody won’t hire you? They don’t hire you ‘cause you look like you’re crazy,” the mayor said. “You have damaged your own race.” Mr. Nutter announced that he was beefing up police patrols in certain neighborhoods, enlisting volunteers to monitor the streets and moving up the weekend curfew for minors to 9 p.m. Parents will face increased fines for each time their child is caught violating the curfew. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Aug 8, 2011
MoveOn.org drives new liberal catch phrase: ‘Tea party downgrade’
From the Daily Caller.com - By Matthew Boyle - The left-wing activist group MoveOn.org picked up the new liberal slogan bashing conservatives for Standard & Poor’s U.S. credit rating downgrade: “Tea Party downgrade.” President Obama’s chief campaign strategist David Axelrod and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry both used the phrase on Sunday talk shows. In a Sunday afternoon email to supporters, MoveOn.org accused tea partiers of being responsible for the first-ever credit downgrade in U.S. history. “This ‘tea party downgrade’ is a shameful blow to our nation’s honor and risks throwing us right back into recession,” Moveon.org wrote. “Worst of all? It was completely avoidable. But when given the choice between extremist posturing and responsible leadership, tea party Republicans chose wrong.” MoveOn.org added that “now, amazingly, they’re trying to pin the blame on Democrats.” Read moreAug 6, 2011
31 U.S. Soldiers Die in Afghanistan Crash
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Thirty-one U.S. special forces members in Afghanistan died aboard a NATO helicopter that crashed Saturday in an area reported to have insurgent activity, officials said. The crash occurred in the eastern province of Wardak, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said in a statement. It is among the worst single-day losses of American lives in the Afghan war. Seven Afghans were also killed during the crash in the restive central-eastern region, the statement said. A Taliban spokesman says the group claimed responsibility for shooting down the vehicle. NATO's International Security Assistance Force spokesman Justin Brockhoff confirmed the crash and acknowledged the helicopter had been flying in area where there was reported insurgent activity, but declined to offer additional details. Last month, a NATO helicopter was brought down by insurgent fire in the country's eastern province of Kunar. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that attack, though no injuries were reported. In a separate incident, a NATO service member died Saturday after an improvised explosive device detonated in southern Afghanistan. Read full story here: News New MexicoAug 5, 2011
TSA to Diabetics: Stay Home
Dow falls 512 in steepest decline since '08 crisis
From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - NEW YORK (AP) — Gripped by fear of a new recession, Wall Street suffered its worst day Thursday since the financial crisis in the fall of 2008. The firestorm of selling that erased more than 500 points off the Dow Jones industrial average then spread overseas. The sell-off wiped out the Dow's remaining gains for 2011. It put the Dow and broader stock indexes into what investors call a correction — down 10 percent from their highs in the spring. In Friday trading in Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average was down more than 3 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 4 percent. "We are continuing to be bombarded by worries about the global economy," said Bill Stone, the chief investment strategist for PNC Financial. Across the financial markets, the day was reminiscent of the wild swings that defined the financial crisis in September and October three years ago. Gold prices briefly hit a record high. Oil fell even more than stocks — 6 percent, or $5.30 a barrel. And frightened investors were so desperate to get into some government bonds that they were willing accept almost no return on their money. It was the most alarming day yet in the almost uninterrupted selling that has swept Wall Street for two weeks. The Dow has lost more than 1,300 points, or 10.5 percent. By one broad measure kept by Dow Jones, almost $1.9 trillion in market value has disappeared. For the day, the Dow closed down 512.76 points, at 11,383.68. It was the steepest point decline since Dec. 1, 2008. Read moreAug 4, 2011
New Bombshell: Feds allegedly allowed Sinaloa cartel to move cocaine into U.S. for information
From the El Paso Times.com - U.S. federal agents allegedly allowed the Sinaloa drug cartel to traffic several tons of cocaine into the United States in exchange for information about rival cartels, according to court documents filed in a U.S. federal court. The allegations are part of the defense of Vicente Zambada-Niebla, who was extradited to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges in Chicago. The court in Chicago held a status hearing today and ordered the U.S. government to respond to Zambada-Niebla's motion containing the allegations by Sept. 11. The case could prove to be a bombshell on par with the ATF's "Operation Fast and Furious," except that instead of U.S. guns being allowed to walk across the border, the Sinaloa cartel was allowed to bring drugs into the United States over a five-year period, the documents allege. Read moreGun Industry Sues Over New ATF Gun Rules
Aug 1, 2011
Vote looms for a debt-limit deal
From the Washington Times - President Obama and congressional leaders late Sunday said they’ve settled on the outlines of a deal to raise the government’s borrowing limit, and will pitch the deal to their colleagues Monday to try to tamp down burgeoning rebellions among both Democrats and Republicans. “This process has been messy. It’s taken far too long,” Mr. Obama said at the White House in announcing the leaders’ agreement. “Nevertheless, ultimately the leaders of both parties have found their way toward compromise.” Already, though, pressure was growing from both ends of the political spectrum to reject the deal, and Republican leaders in the House and Senate both pointedly told their colleagues there is just a framework, and any final deal will depend on the reactions of rank-and-file lawmakers. Read moreJul 29, 2011
Another Fort Hood Massacre Averted
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| Naser Jason Abdo |
Oops Polar Bear Alarmist on Administrative Leave
Jul 28, 2011
Issa: Obama admin intimidating witnesses in ATF gun probe
From the Washington Times - The Obama administration sought to intimidate witnesses into not testifying to Congress on Tuesday about whether ATF knowingly allowed weapons, including assault rifles, to be “walked” into Mexico, the chairman of a House committee investigating the program said in an interview Monday. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, said at least two scheduled witnesses expected to be asked about a controversial weapons investigation known as “Fast and Furious”received warning letters from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to limit their testimony. Mr. Issa's committee is set to hear testimony from six current or former ATF employees, including agents and attaches assigned to the bureau’s offices in Mexico, about the operation — in which, federal agents say, they were told to stand down and watch as guns flowed from U.S. dealers in Arizona to violent criminals and drug cartels in Mexico. Read moreJul 22, 2011
Biologists hope insect can help wipe out invasive weed
From KOB-TV.com - For more than 80 years southwestern Colorado has been plagued with a weed that officials have never been able to get rid of. For La Plata County weed director, Rod Cook, the Russian knapweed is a foreign plant that’s adapted to the area. "We're kind of the epicenter for the state of Colorado and southwestern Colorado," said Cook. The weed thrives in the area because of the high mountain desert climate. Cook said it’s also addictive and poisonous for horses, burros, and mules. "Once they reach that threshold of being poisoned they can no longer chew, they can no longer swallow food". Seeds help spread the plant but it’s the creeping roots that make it impossible to pull out. Officials told us sometimes the roots can grow as long as 20 feet. Recently, the Bureau of Land Management released a hundred tiny bugs from Asia called a gall midge. Their primary food source is the Russian knapweed. "Once you put them out there and they go to work for you doing their job...you can't beat that," said Cook. But—like anything else—there are some concerns. "There's really no guarantee that the bug may not adapt to some other plant," said Cook. Read more
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