Category Archives: News: US

News, articles, photos and videos are related to a variety of news in the United States.

Highlights of Obama’s State of the Union Address 7

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This year, thanks to Huffington Post publishing Obama’s entire speech on line, I was able to read while listening to the President speak. This helped the words sink in more clearly – and, for the most part, I liked what I heard. For the most part. Simply because I am a Democrat does not necessarily mean I will agree with everything the President had to say. His speech was encouraging and very refreshing to hear, especially after we have all been witnessing the deterioration of our country.

Obama began by honoring the enlisted and veterans by saying,

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FACTS About The State Of The Union 7

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Tonight, President Barack Obama will deliver his third State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. The Republican response will be given by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Before you watch the speeches, get the facts:

• Since the last SOTU, the economy has created 1.9 million private sector jobs. [Source]

• The top 1 percent take home 24 percent of the nation’s income, up from about 9 percent in 1976. [Source]

• Private sector job creation under Obama in 2011 was larger than seven out of the eight years Bush was president. [Source]

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Anonymous’s Next Target: Facebook January 28 7

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“An online war has begun between Anonymous, the people, and the government of the United States,” the narrator begins. The reason: SOPA, PIPA and other perceived threats to Internet rights.

In order to bring down Facebook, the video asks for everyone who understands and supports Anonymous’ position to participate in this online protest. This is a protest that began over the last week, says the narrator, with attacks on the CBS.com, Warner Brothers, and FBI sites.

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Utah Doctors Sue Third Largest Mining Corp over Polluting the Air 7

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Here is the first of it’s kind lawsuit….  Taking inspiration from the Occupy movement, in late December a group of doctors and environmental groups in Salt Lake City, Utah, announced a lawsuit against the third-largest mining corporation in the world, Rio Tinto, for violating the Clean Air Act in Utah. This is likely the first time ever that physicians have sued industry for harming public health.

Air pollution causes between 1,000 and 2,000 premature deaths every year in Utah.

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Ralph Hall (R-TX) Speaks Out on Climate Change 8

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The chair of the House of Representatives science committee doesn’t think much of the investigations exonerating the scientists involved in the 2009 Climategate e-mail scandal. He also believes that climate scientists are driven by hopes of financial gain in producing reports that provide evidence for global warming.

Representative Ralph Hall (R-TX) doesn’t do many interviews. So it was a coup when the National Journal’s (NJ) Coral Davenport was able to get the 88-year-old legislator to answer several questions about his views on climate change as part of a 1 December story on how congressional Republicans are reluctant to answer even the most basic questions about where they stand on the issue.     More…

If Megaupload Was Taken Down, Then Why the Need for SOPA/PIPA? 9

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Think about this folks…. The government and the lackey politicians have been carrying on that the country needs SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) in order to stop piracy of copyrighted materials. If we are in such dire need of these two acts, then how did the Fed take down Megaupload and duly make arrests?

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Fire, Floods, Snow and Ice Strikes the Western US | Video Photos 10

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Funny weather forecast. Click to enlarge.

A state of emergency has been declared in Oregon and Washington, where a powerful winter storm brought deadly floods, heavy snows of up to 4 feet, a severe ice storm, and damaging winds Wednesday and Thursday. Heavy rains of 3 – 8 inches have fallen over a wide swath of Western Oregon since Monday, causing major to record flooding on multiple rivers and creeks. In Albany, Oregon, a family of four drove out of a supermarket parking lot and into a flooded Perwinkle Creek Wednesday night, and were swept away. Two people were rescued, but a 20-month-old boy and his mother drowned. The Marys River in Philomath rose to its highest flood on record yesterday, and will remain at major flood stage today before gradually receding tonight. The rains have tapered off over much of the region today, but renewed rains are expected later today and intermittently into early next week.

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Anonymous Goes on Revenge! Gov and Entertainment Industry Sites DOWN 8

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Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, Universal Music, and several others all offline today, although some have come back up.

First of all, let me state that I am typically not a supporter of hacking. Our sites at work were hacked by some idiot that just likes to break in and hack for the challenge. Because he can. I took it personally and felt violated. Fortunately, it was a matter of finding the inserted corrupt file and removing it, so we were lucky no permanent damage was done.

However, in light of SOPA/PIPA and the bull crap from the entertainment industry wanting the government to do their dirty work, I am not finding myself quite so disliking these hacks. Honestly, I’m surprised Anonymous waited this long. A few comments made on the Gizmodo post really sums it up best: More…

Keystone XL DENIED! Obama Threatened by Oil Companies 7

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The Keystone XL pipeline was denied today by Obama – at least for now. TransCanada will be allowed to refile. This is hailed as a huge victory by those opposed to the pipeline, and I am sure the earth, environment and wildlife appreciate this as well.

I checked out #keystone on Twitter a while ago and just happened to catch Boehners tweet that Obama is killing thousands of jobs. Well, horse hockies! Do people really buy this line of crap? And as if this is the only source of jobs available in this country? First of all, bring back all our jobs that are now overseas – such as the 200,000 jobs displaced to China via Wal-Mart. This alone will well exceed Boehners over-inflated amount of jobs from the Keystone XL pipeline. I just bet that ol’ Sam Walton is turning over in his grave since he did found his company on the belief of all Made in the USA products – then his money-grubbing children changed all that. What about a combination of American companies, not just Wal-Mart? The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, says American companies have created 1.4 million jobs overseas in 2010. More…

The Best Statement Yet On Why Stopping SOPA/PIPA Must Succeed 1

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By far, this is the best summaries I have seen yet about why it is important to stop SOPA/PIPA….

It’s not a coincidence that the Global Democracy Movement is happening now, just as technology is emerging to allow the People to stand up to military dictators and banking oligarchies using Facebook and Twitter.  You see, the fate of democracy and the fate of the Internet are intimately linked.  This is why the movement to stop SOPA has been so powerful, and, this is why it must succeed. ~ Eric Byler http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/sopa

The Great Internet Black Out Has Commenced 1

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On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill – PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House – to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity. Many sites have blacked out today in protest of the SOPA/PIPA bills and followed Reddit’s lead. And finally this is getting some major media coverage.  Check them out…. More…

The Greatest Protest in History Has Just Started 6

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There have been so many large protests throughout the history of mankind, but in my opinion, so many sites going black ranks now as Number One!  The organization, the participation is on such a grand scale!  Many sites are going black from 8 AM to 8 PM EST on Wednesday, January 18, 2012, but Wikipedia went black as of midnight. More…

Wikipedia Blackout: Jimmy Wales Announces Protest Of SOPA, PIPA On January 18 2

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Wikipedia has apparently joined the ranks of several high-profile websites that are planning a “blackout” on Wednesday, January 18, in protest of Congress’ proposed anti-piracy legislation. During the blackout period, many web pages will become unavailable and will likely be replaced with information about the protest.

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales took to Twitter on Monday to announce that the English-language version of Wikipedia will go dark on Wednesday for 24 hours — from midnight EST on January 18 until midnight EST January 19. He noted in a later tweet that “Final details [are] under consideration but consensus seems to be for ‘full’ rather than ‘soft’ blackout!” More…

A Few Comments From the Republican Debate in South Carolina 10

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Well, the circus continues.  Here are a few statements made tonight.

• Mitt Romney says he’ll “keep an open mind” around April in regards to releasing his tax filing.

Sorry, I do not believe this. It is very clear he is hiding something.

• Santorum said these three things will keep you out of poverty: “Work, graduate high school, and get married before you have children.” More…

Tim: The Only Person With Down Syndrome to Own and Operate a Business 5

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I saw this story on one of our local news station the other night, and had no idea this restaurant existed, nor knew of Tim Harris. And such a wonderful story this is.

Tim’s father has searched all over the country, and although it is not definite, it appears that Tim may very well be the only person with Down Syndrome to own and operate a business, which is Tim’s Place, a restaurant located right here in Albuquerque NM. More…

Follow-Up Interview with Woman Hit on Bus by Cop 5

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Julie Nelson, 42 years old, was the woman who was hit by an LA deputy on the bus. The brutality was caught on cell phone video and since gone viral.

The chain of events began when a fellow passenger called 911 to say that Nelson was threatening people while waiting at a bus stop in Bellflower. Nelson did admit to the reporter that there was a verbal confrontation. According to the LA County Deputies Department, the two officers that boarded the bus recognized the woman from prior issues.

This first video below is the raw footage taken by a cell phone camera. More…

Dept of Homeland Security Monitors Journalists 4

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Imagine for a moment, that you write articles for any one of a number of political blogs, posting them on various social media websites.  How would you feel knowing that the federal government has permission to monitor your activities and collect personal information about you?

Freedom of speech might allow journalists to get away with a lot in America, but the Department of Homeland Security is on the ready to make sure that the government is keeping dibs on who is saying what. More…

SOPA/PIPA Infographic 4

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“The potential for abuse of power through digital networks – upon which we as citizens now depend for nearly everything, including our politics – is one of the most insidious threats to democracy in the Internet age … This is no time for politicians and industry lobbyists in Washington to be devising new Internet censorship mechanisms, adding new opportunities for abuse of corporate and government power over online speech.”
- Rebecca MacKinnon (New York Times)

 “When ideas are blocked, information deleted, conversations stifled and people constrained in their choices, the Internet is diminished for all of us.. There isn’t an economic Internet and a social Internet and a political Internet. There’s just the Internet.”

WordPress Comes Out STRONGLY Against SOPA/PIPA 5

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I have been doing the “happy dance” since I read that WordPress is now strongly voicing their opposition to SOPA/PIPA.  If you are not sure what SOPA/PIPA (yeah, I know… saying SOPA and PIPA consecutively sounds like a Mexican fried pastry)… anyway, if you are not sure what it is, please click on my SOPA/PIPA category in the top menu and side bar to catch up on what has been going on.  Basically, rather than corporations, such as Disney, Viacom, Nike, and many others, using their attorney’s to file suit against those who infringe upon their copyright’s, these supporters want the government to do their dirty-work for them – thus saving all that precious money and profit even more.  On a simple accusation, these bills will allow any corporation to shut down any website WITHOUT PROOF of infringement.  As WordPress says: More…

Cop Punches Non-Violent Special Needs Woman on Bus 14

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The police brutality is truly getting out of hand. It is such a shame, too, more so to the citizens and those undeserving of such treatment, but also because there are many good cops in this world who are bearing the burden of the officers who abuse their “power”… but the “good cops” seem to be going the way of the dinosaur.  There are many schools with zero tolerance toward violence and drugs…. why can we not implement a zero tolerance on officers in matters such as this?

In this video, the police boarded a Los Angeles bus and confronted a mentally challenged woman by name. Appears there may be history there. But regardless, the most violent activity she showed is shouting obscenities.  It is very apparent she is not showing any physical threat whatsoever. In fact, it even appears as though she is having a difficult time just standing, let alone causing physical harm to the officers. Then, suddenly, wham! The cop to the right throws a right punch directly to her face. More…

Stopped They Must Be; On This All Depends | SOPA PIPA 2

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Just blogged today on Reddit’s blog:

The freedom, innovation, and economic opportunity that the Internet enables is in jeopardy. Congress is considering legislation that will dramatically change your Internet experience and put an end to reddit and many other sites you use everyday. Internet experts, organizations, companies, entrepreneurs, legal experts, journalists, and individuals have repeatedly expressed how dangerous this bill is. If we do nothing, Congress will likely pass the Protect IP Act (in the Senate) or the Stop Online Piracy Act (in the House), and then the President will probably sign it into law. There are powerful forces trying to censor the Internet, and a few months ago many people thought this legislation would surely pass. However, there’s a new hope that we can defeat this dangerous legislation. More…

Elementary School in Georgia Use Slavery in Math Word Problems 7

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Apparently a couple word math problems written in a lesson at the Beaver Ridge Elementary School in Norcross GA included the following two questions:

“Each tree had 56 oranges. If 8 slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?”

“If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in 1 week?” More…

Guantanamo by the Numbers | Infographic 2

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Here is an infographic provided by the ACLU on Guantanamo Bay.

Did you know… there are 89 men who have been cleared for release, yet still being held prisoner?  This is costing the US approximately $70 million per year to house them.

Did you know… that 92% of the prisoners at Guantanamo were never al Qaeda fighters, according to government data?

Did you know the youngest prisoner held at Guantanamo was 13 years old?

I didn’t know most this… but glad I do now.  Rather a rude awakening as to what’s really going on.

More details below. More…

Alabama Farmers Look to Replace Migrants With Prisoners 12

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The United States is one of the most modern countries in the world, yet we have the largest prison population which is growing rapidly every year.  One would think that our country would have the lowest population (per capita) for several reasons, which really do not need to be listed.  Sadly, the greed and corruption of our private corporations have taken over, and their main concern is passing laws which are designed to increase the prison population.  Should the passing of an illegal immigrant law back fire due to a large percentage of illegals leaving the state, which is what is happening in Alabama, then there are other ways in which to profit…. More…