DECEMBER 2011

We will return January 2012......

Today in History - Friday - December 23, 2011
1783 - George Washington returned home to Mount Vernon, after the disbanding of his army following the Revolutionary War.
1788 - Maryland voted to cede a 100-square-mile area for the seat of the national government. About two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.
1823 - The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore (" 'Twas the night before Christmas...") was published.
1834 - English architect Joseph Hansom patented his 'safety cab', better known as the Hansom cab.
1880 - Thomas Edison incorporated the Edison Electric Light Company of Europe.
1888 - Following a quarrel with Paul Gauguin, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh cut off part of his own earlobe.
1913 - The Federal Reserve Bill was signed into law by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The act established 12 Federal Reserve Banks.
1941 - During World War II, American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.
1942 - Bob Hope agreed to entertain U.S. airmen in Alaska. It was the first of the traditional Christmas shows.
1948 - Former Japanese premier Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo. They had been found guilty of crimes against humanity.
1953 - Soviet secret police chief Lavrenti Beria and six of his associates were shot for treason following a secret trial.
1968 - Eighty-two crewmembers of the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured.
1981 - NASA approved a plan to continue the Voyager II spacecraft on a trajectory that would take it within 66,000 miles of Uranus on July 24, 1986.
1986 - The experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1987 - Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ford in 1975, escaped from the Alderson Federal Prison for Women in West Virginia. She was recaptured two days later.
1990 - Elections in Yugoslavia ended, leaving four of its six republics with non-Communist governments.
1995 - A fire in Dabwali, India, killed 540 people, including 170 children, during a year-end party being held near the children's school.
1997 - Terry Nichols was convicted by a Denver jury on charges of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in the 1995 federal building bombing in Oklahoma City. The bomb killed 168 people.
1998 - Guerrillas in south Lebanon fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel.

Un-Patriotic? Secret US missile cargo bound for S. Korea busted
RT - A ship heading to South Korea and China from Germany has been impounded in a Finnish port after a shipment of dozens of American Patriot anti-aircraft missiles and explosives was found aboard.

Exclusive: Pakistan army wants Zardari out but not a coup
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful army is fed up with unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari and wants him out of office, but through legal means and without a repeat of the coups that are a hallmark of the country's 64 years of independence, military sources said. Tensions are rising between Pakistan's civilian leaders and its generals over a memo that accused the army of plotting a coup after the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

Nato blames bad maps for drone strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops on the Afghan border
Daily Mail -Nato have blamed bad maps for last month's drone strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops at a post close to the Afghan border. An investigation into the attack concluded that reliance on incorrect mapping information shared with the Pakistani liaison officer resulted in a misunderstanding about the true location of Pakistani military units.' The US Defence Department said the investigation found US forces - given what information they had available to them at the time - reacted in self-defence and with appropriate force after being fired upon from the direction of the Pakistani border.

U.S. concedes error in Pakistan attack
A U.S. military investigation released today accepted some blame for the deadliest friendly-fire incident of the war in Afghanistan, but ultimately concluded the airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers were justified -- findings expected to infuriate an already angry Pakistani public and military. The highly-anticipated U.S. investigation admitted that one of its soldiers used an incorrect map and that the U.S. communication with Pakistani officers that November night wasn't as clear as it could have been. Defense Department and NATO statements offered "our deepest regret" and "condolences" though not a direct apology for the incident -- as Pakistan has repeatedly demanded.

Germany: Impounded Patriot missiles were legit
HELSINKI (AP) — A shipment of 69 surface-to-air missiles impounded by Finnish authorities was a legitimate delivery from Germany to South Korea, a German official said Thursday. The announcement came after Finnish authorities seized the Patriot missiles and 160 tons of explosives on a British-registered cargo ship and detained two Ukrainian crew members on suspicion of violating weapons export laws.

Iran's navy to hold drill in international waters
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's navy chief said Thursday his forces plan to hold a 10-day drill in international waters beyond the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, an exercise that could bring Iranian ships into proximity with U.S. Navy vessels. The drill will be Iran's latest show of strength in the face of mounting international criticism over its controversial nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at producing atomic weapons — charges that Tehran denies, insisting the program is for peaceful purposes only.

U.S. Jets Enter Iranian Airspace, Oil Depot Bombed
Kurt Nimmo - The Iranian news agency IRNA reported today that a U.S. missile hit an oil depot in the southwest village of Abadan on Wednesday. IRNA said British and American jets had entered Iranian airspace several times. In addition to the oil depot attack, two rockets reportedly hit the village of Manyuhi near the border of Iraq’s al-Faw Peninsula near the Persian Gulf and the Iraqi city of Basra.

U.S. offers $10-million bounty for Iran-based Qaida financier
The United States on Thursday offered a bounty of up to $10 million for information leading to the capture of an alleged al-Qaida financier based in Iran, Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, also known as Yasin al-Suri. The reward is "aimed at disrupting a financial network that has operated from within Iran's borders since 2005," Treasury Department official Eytan Fisch told a joint press conference at the State Department Thursday, Reuters reported.

Despite observers, Syria's Assad hikes crackdown
BEIRUT (AP) — Bashar Assad's regime would appear to be setting itself on a collision course: It let in outside observers for the first time Thursday to monitor his commitment to halting the crackdown on dissent, even as his security forces unleashed a fiercer onslaught this week, killing more than 200 in two days.

Shi'ites targeted as Baghdad blasts kill 72
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A wave of bombings killed at least 72 people in Baghdad Thursday, the first attacks since Iraq's Shi'ite-led government was engulfed in a crisis that risks fracturing the country along sectarian and ethnic lines. The bombings, just days after the last U.S. troops left Iraq, marked a violent backlash against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's move to sideline two Sunni rivals. The tensions threaten a relapse into the kind of sectarian bloodletting that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago.

Migrants flooding OUT of Europe in search of jobs as tens of thousands flee Portugal, Ireland and Greece
Mail Online - Tens of thousands of Portuguese, Greek and Irish people are abandoning their homelands as job prospects look increasingly dire. Migrants used to see the EU as a top destination for work and a better lifestyle, but now a stream of Europeans are leaving the continent, figures show. In the past year, 2,500 Greeks have left for Australia alone and at least 10,000 Portuguese people have moved to Angola, according to the Guardian.

Shell oil spill off Nigeria likely worst in decade
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — An oil spill near the coast of Nigeria is likely the worst to hit those waters in a decade, a government official said Thursday, as slicks from the Royal Dutch Shell PLC spill approached the country's southern shoreline. The slick from Shell's Bonga field has affected 115 miles (185 kilometers) of ocean near Nigeria's coast, Peter Idabor, who leads the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, told The Associated Press. Idabor said the slick continued to move toward the shore Thursday night, putting at risk birds, fish and other wildlife in the area.

Retired, Computerless Woman Fined For Pirating ‘Hooligan’ Movie
Despite not owning a computer or even a router, a retired woman has been ordered by a court to pay compensation to a movie company. The woman had been pursued by a rightsholder who claimed she had illegally shared a violent movie about hooligans on the Internet, but the fact that she didn’t even have an email address proved of little interest to the court. Guilty until proven innocent is the formula in Germany.

VIDEO: Ron Paul defensive over past newsletters
Mt. Pleasant, Iowa (CNN) - Presidential candidate Ron Paul was defensive Wednesday when pressed about controversial newsletters in the 1980s and 1990s that were in his name. Paul, who had left Congress at the time and was practicing medicine, has repeatedly disavowed the controversial remarks in the newsletters.

VIDEO: CNN Poll: Ron Paul Most Popular Republican Amongst Non-Whites
While the establishment media continues to hype a 15-year-old story concerning decades old newsletters as part of a dirty tricks campaign to smear Ron Paul as a racist, the latest CNN poll shows that Paul has the most support from non-whites out of all the Republican candidates. The latest CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday finds that Congressman Paul scores highest amongst minorities when matched up against Barack Obama in a hypothetical election head to head. Paul scores 25% of the vote amongst non-whites, whereas Romney polls at 20% and Gingrich gets 15%.

Busted! Ron Paul racist rant caught on tape! OMG! OMG!
NOT! The media is now playing the race card. Maybe it's the only card left they have to play.

YouTube: Ron Paul Interview on Jerry Doyle
Ron Paul on The Jerry Doyle Radio Show 12-22-11.

Ron Paul Polling In Top Tier In Nevada
Steve Watson - Desperate establishment now dismisses validity of caucuses and primaries as well as Congressman. A new poll out of Nevada shows that Ron Paul is holding his status as a top tier candidate with a solid support base that can only grow exponentially with likely successes in Iowa and New Hampshire. The 8NewsNow/Las Vegas Review-Journal poll has Paul in third place with 12.7 percent of the votes. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney narrowly comes in first with 33.1 percent to Newt Gingrich’s 29.2 percent. All the other candidates polled 5% or less.

YouTube: Adam Kokesh: Speaking for Ron Paul in Iowa (or anywhere else)
Adam brings up several techniques in the above video. - Be calm - Be courteous to your audiences perspective - Be respectful but assertive when delivering the facts - And if you're not just delivering a speech, but debating with somebody one-on-one or in a group, be curious! Ask why it is that your 'opponent' feels the way they do, and get to the core philosophical root of their position and politely attack that if it's illogical (which it usually is when you're debating from the libertarian perspective.) I hope you enjoy this humorous video!

NJ Gov. Christie won't rule out 2012 VP run
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who dashed many Republican hopes when he said he would not run for president in 2012, said on Thursday he had not ruled out running for vice president. Christie endorsed Mitt Romney shortly after announcing in early October that he would not join the group of Republicans vying for the party's presidential nomination. He has been campaigning for the former Massachusetts governor.

2012 Could Be the Year of the Sheriff, the Last Line of Defence Against Tyranny
I am optimistic when Richard Mack who is a former Arizona Sheriff who beat Bill Clinton at the US Supreme Court defeating the Brady bill. This man has been on a crusade to teach county Sheriffs the president cannot tell them what to do. They are the highest executive in the county. In January next year. He will be holding a conference to bring in 150 county Sheriffs from around the nation to teach them to their duties to protect his people from unlawful Federal intrusion.

America's Orwellian Police State Goes Live: US Citizen Convicted of Providing ‘Material Support’ to Terrorists
Global Research - An American citizen from Boston suburb was convicted on Tuesday on terrorism charges, but the charges were loosely defined and the verdict may represent a significant blow to free speech rights. Federal prosecutors claimed that Tarek Mehanna, 29, traveled to Yemen in 2004 with the hope of training as a terrorist and going on to fight American soldiers in Iraq. He failed to find any training camps, but returned home and allegedly promoted al Qaeda by writing about violent jihad against U.S. foreign policy on the Internet.

Appeals court tosses Obama birthplace challenge
The so-called birther movement was dealt another legal blow Thursday when a federal appeals court tossed out a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship and his eligibility to serve as commander in chief. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that none of the challengers had legal standing to file the lawsuit on Jan. 20, 2009, the day Obama was inaugurated. The three-judge panel cited various reasons for disqualifying six sets of plaintiffs, who included Obama's political rivals, taxpayers and military personnel.

Drones: invisible to radar but vulnerable to primitive viruses?
The billion-dollar defense complex that keeps America safe and sound is yet again under attack, with an antiquated computer virus now apparently attacking the Pentagon’s drone aircraft fleet. Sykipot, a malicious piece of malware that has been around since at least 2006, was recently waged at the computer systems of US governmental department and defense contractors. Although Symantec, a world-wide leader in anti-virus protection calls the Trojan neither “sophisticated” nor “well-coded,” new reports confirm that the malware was emailed to DoD-affiliated authorities in an attempt to do even more damage to the top-secret drone program.

DHS Spent $9.8M to Store $44M of Steel It Did Not Use to Build Mexico Border Fence
CNS News - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, has spent about $9.8 million to store $44 million in steel that it bought but did not use to build fence along the U.S,-Mexico border, according to a report from the DHS Inspector General. CPB has in storage about 27,000 tons of “extra steel” that could be used to extend the estimated 650 miles of fencing mandated by Congress along the approximately 2,000-mile long southwest border, according to the IG.

Soldier pawns Purple Heart for Christmas
Stars and Stripes - Here’s a harsh reminder that yellow ribbons and care packages aren’t always enough support for the troops: A soldier on leave from Afghanistan walked into a Michigan consignment shop last week to pawn a Purple Heart to help cover his Christmas bills.... Veterans groups and other local charities have been flooding the store with donation requests in the days since the story broke, but the owner has been directing them to other military support programs. He said he has no intention of selling the medal to someone else, and will simply keep it safe until its rightful owner returns.

Civil disobedience possible to fight emergency law
DETROIT (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson and U.S. Rep. John Conyers joined religious and civil rights leaders Thursday to promise protests and possible civil disobedience against Michigan's new emergency manager law that could lead to a takeover of Detroit government..... Michigan recently enacted a law expanding the state's power to push aside local government and school officials whose agencies get in financial trouble.

The One Percent whines: 'no one loves us'
RT - Those in the one percent apparently have feelings too. And on the eve of Christmas, the biggest wish coming out of Wall Street is that others would play nice and stop hating them because of their success. “This attack is destructive,” John A. Allison IV of BB&T Corp. Banks tells Bloomberg.Those assaults, says Allison, shouldn’t be waged at the one percent because they are successful; after all, that success came as a result of such hard work as foreclosing on the thousands of Americans and then benefiting off of their misfortunate. “Instead of an attack on the 1 percent, let’s call it an attack on the very productive,” Allison says.

'How The Gingrich Stole Christmas'
Sit back, have a cup of “socialist tea,” and enjoy the video!s.

Remy: Grandma Got Indefinitely Detained (A Very TSA Christmas)
In seasons past, Grandma only had to worry about getting run over by a reindeer. With "Grandma Got Run Over by TSA," web sensation Remy gets us in the holiday mood with a song about Christmas, Homeland Security, and the joys of civil rights abuses.

Today in History - Thursday - December 22, 2011
1775 - A Continental naval fleet was organized in the rebellious American colonies under the command of Ezek Hopkins.
1807 - The U.S. Congress passed the Embargo Act, designed to force peace between Britain and France by cutting off all trade with Europe.
1864 - During the American Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to U.S. President Lincoln from Georgia. The message read, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."
1894 - The United States Golf Association was formed in New York City.
1895 - German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen made the first X-ray, of his wife's hand.
1910 - U.S. Postal savings stamps were issued for the first time. They were discontinued in 1914.
1943 - Sporting goods manufacturers received permission to use synthetic rubber for the core of baseballs.
1941 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington for a wartime conference with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.
1956 - Colo, the first gorilla to be born in captivity, was born at the Columbus, Ohio zoo.
1956 - The last British and French forces evacuated Egypt.
1961 - James Davis became the first U.S. soldier to die in Vietnam, while U.S. involvement was still limited to the provision of military advisers.
1976 - The last show of "Let’s Make A Deal" was aired.
1984 - New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot four black youths on a Manhattan subway. Goetz claimed they were about to rob him.
1989 - Romania's hard-line Communist ruler, Nicolae Ceausescu, was overthrown in a popular uprising.
1991 - The body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, was found along a highway in Lebanon.
1996 - A car bomb exploded in Belfast, injuring a known IRA supporter. Police suspected that Protestant loyalists were responsible for the attack.
2001 - Thirty Afghans, including two women, were sworn in as part of the new interim government in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai was the head of the post-Taliban government.

Banks gorge on ECB loans, market cheer short-lived
(Reuters) - Banks gobbled up nearly 490 billion euros in three-year cut-price loans from the European Central Bank on Wednesday, easing immediate fears of a credit crunch but leaving unresolved how much will flow to needy euro zone economies. The near half a trillion euro take-up of ECB funds represented the most the bank has ever pumped into the financial system and exceeded almost all forecasts. A total of 523 banks borrowed with demand way above the 310 billion euros expected by traders polled by Reuters, "The take-up was massive ... much higher than the expected 300 billion euros.

US military 'ready to engage in a conflict with Iran'
Telegraph - General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said that the US military had reached a point where they were ready to execute force against Iran if necessary. n an interview with US media in Afghanistan he said: "We are examining a range of options. I'm satisfied that the options that we are developing are evolving to a point that they would be executable if necessary." His comments come just days after Leon Panetta, US secretary of defence, said "no options were off the table" in stopping Iran develop a nuclear weapon.

Does This US And Israel Joint Missile Defense Drill Say Anything About Plans For Iran?
Business Insider - Israel just announced it has finalized a deal with Lt. General Frank Gorenc, commander of the US Third Air Force in Germany, that will bring several thousand U.S. troops and two advanced missile systems to the country for an unprecedented defense drill. Yaakov Katz of the Jerusalem Post reports the "largest-ever" missile defense exercise will commence this spring, in response to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Exposed: US Troops Guarded Terrorist Camp in Iraq
Activist Post - In a move that almost defies belief, is so brazen and hypocritical many will not believe it no matter how many State Department officials confirm it, the US has been guarding a terrorist training camp inside Iraq with US troops and is planning to relocate them, possibly in a freshly abandoned US military base in Iraq, while D.C. lobbyists work feverishly to have them de-listed, armed, and sent to conduct terrorist operations in Iran.

Soldiers just back from Iraq get new orders: Afghanistan
CNN - Atlanta (CNN) -- Soldiers who just returned from Iraq are among several thousand being ordered to Afghanistan in six months as part of a mission designed to beef up Afghan forces ahead of a planned 2014 U.S. military withdrawal, officials said. News of the pending Afghanistan deployments came as families at bases across the country were celebrating the return in recent days of troops who turned off the lights at a number of U.S. bases ahead of an end-of-the-year deadline to leave Iraq.

Georgia in U.S. Military Authorization Bill
The U.S. defense authorization bill contains a section, which calls for “normalization” of military cooperation with Georgia, including the sale of defensive arms. The U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, a voluminous document authorizing appropriations for military activities of the Department of Defense, has a section with title “Defense cooperation with Republic of Georgia”. The Senate approved the USD 662 billion defence bill on December 15, a day after the bill was passed by the House of Representatives and it is now expected to be signed by President Obama.

American re-arming of Georgia will spark new aggression – S. Ossetia
RT - The South Ossetian Foreign Ministry has stated that a US Senate draft resolution on the resumption of arms supplies to Georgia can be seen as pushing Tbilisi to aggression against its former republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The ministry voiced its regret over the fact that American senators drew no conclusions from “the tragic events of August 2008 and have once again settled down to a course of encouraging [Georgian President] Saakashvili to a new aggression to please their political ambitions,”cites Interfax.

Iraq PM tells Kurds to hand over Sunni VP
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Shiite prime minister told Kurdish authorities Wednesday to hand over the Sunni vice president, who fled to the semiautonomous region to escape an arrest warrant on charges he ran hit squads targeting government officials. The charges, leveled a day after the last American troops left Iraq, have opened up a new round of the Shiite-Sunni sectarian tensions that pushed the country to the brink of civil war just a few years ago.

Turkey warns of reprisals if France passes ‘genocide denial’ bill
Guardian - Diplomatic relations between France and Turkey were on a knife-edge after Ankara warned of reprisals if the French parliament approves a law making it illegal to deny that the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was genocide. The draft law put forward by a member of Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party would make denying any genocide a criminal offence, punishable by a one-year jail sentence and a fine of €45,000 (£37,400). All French parties back the bill, which will be debated on parliament on
Thursday and is likely to be approved.

Hong Kong culls chickens at market, bans trade, as H5N1 found
(Reuters) - Workers began culling 17,000 chickens at a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong on Wednesday after a dead chicken there tested positive for the deadly H5N1 avian virus, a government spokesman said. The Hong Kong government also suspended imports of live chickens from mainland China and the trading of live chickens for 21 days in a bid to prevent any spread of the disease, which is normally found in birds but can jump to humans.

Top EU court says carbon airline law valid
(Reuters) - Europe's highest court gave unreserved backing on Wednesday to an EU law that charges airlines for carbon emissions on flights to and from Europe, a decision likely to escalate tension with its trading partners, including the United States. All airlines flying to and from European Union airports will have to buy permits under the EU's emissions trading scheme from January 1, the European Court of Justice ruled. The initial cost is expected to be minimal but then rise to an estimated 9 billion euros ($11.8 billion) by the end of 2020.

VIDEO: Hungary Gets Second Junk Debt Rating as S&P Follows Moody’s
It looks like Hungary is going down the drain faster than the European Union. Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — Hungary lost its investment-grade rating at Standard & Poor’s, the second such downgrade in a month, increasing pressure on Premier Viktor Orban to obtain an International Monetary Fund backstop.

Ontario backs down on incandescent bulbs
Forget any fears the light bulb police might be peeking in your windows or pounding on the door New Year’s Day searching for energy-hungry incandescents. Energy Minister Chris Bentley confirmed Wednesday that Ontario is scrapping a five-year-old promise to make it “lights out” for incandescent bulbs in 2012 by banning stores from selling them.

Fukushima reactors could take 40 YEARS to dismantle
Telegraph - A road map produced by the Japanese government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) envisages engineers will use much of the next 10 years just trying to work out how to get at the fuel, which has partly eaten through its containment vessels. Underlining the challenges involved in dealing with the disaster, the plan says that as-yet uninvented technology will be key to safely disposing of the waste left behind by the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Japanese hospitals refuse to see irradiated patients
In Japan, some of the (most of the ) hospitals refuse to see patients who are sick from radiation. Because the connection between the symptoms and the radiation is not clear, it will never be clear ever. The picture below is a document distributed from Japan radiological society to an academic medical center in western Japan. It says, currently radiation level is too low to affect your health condition. Even in the 20~30 km area, if you are in a building, it can not be harmful.

Ron Paul 2012 Official Campaign Website

Grassroots video on Ron Paul's foreign policy converts many
Examiner - Ron Paul's stance on foreign policy, in 2007 and now again in 2011, has been called "dangerous," "naive," and Bill O'Reilly on the 'Today' show on Monday even said it disqualifies Paul not only as a candidate, but "as an American. "Sean Wheeler, a clinical hypnotherapist in Atlanta, could not disagree more. A Ron Paul supporter since 2007, Wheeler decided to spend his nights and weekends over the last three months creating a video he half-jokingly hoped would "change the world," or at the least change some minds about Ron Paul's foreign policy.

New York Times Republican Primary Projections
These forecasts are formulated from an average of recent surveys, with adjustments made to account for a polling firm's accuracy, freshness of a poll and each candidate's momentum. Although this improves accuracy, there is still considerable uncertainty in the forecast as is reflected in the range of possible vote totals for each candidate. Last updated on Dec. 21, 2011, Ron Paul is in the lead by 49%, Mitt Romney 27% and Newt Gingrich at 12%.

YouTube: New Ron Paul Ad: Staying on the Right Path
The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign unveiled its new prolife ad “Always on the Right Path” featuring four former patients of Dr. Paul’s medical practice in Brazoria County, Texas. Read more here.

YouTube: DemocracyNOW supporting Ron Paul 2012
In an amazing turn of typical support for the left wing, Amy Goodman and DemocracyNOW featured a segment about Ron Paul’s incredible rise in popularity and the upcoming Iowa primary Republican caucus. Also some protestors were arrested as they displayed Occupy Obama banners at the Democrat’s party offices! Incredible!

The Hill: Ron Paul's Brilliant Iowa Campaign
I try to be a little ahead of the media curve, especially regarding Ron Paul. For today I want to make one major point, which is that his campaign in Iowa is one of the most brilliantly run campaigns I can remember. I do not know his staff, but the result is clear. The quality and timing of his television ads, his multi-dimensional message, his targeting of voters outside normal political channels, his sequencing of various aspects of the campaign simultaneously and the high level of professionalism of his campaign structure are all exceptional.

Ron Paul’s plans for taxes, spending
The Ticket - If you know anything about Ron Paul's economic views, it's probably that he's not a big fan of the Federal Reserve system, or that he loves the gold standard. But those are hardly the only noteworthy planks in his platform. The Republican congressman from Texas, who now looks to have a real chance of winning the Iowa caucuses in less than two weeks, also wants to abolish five Cabinet departments, drastically lower corporate taxes, and allow younger workers to opt out of the Social Security system.

VIDEO: Martial Law Attempt In Louisiana Echoes Ron Paul’s Warning
Kurt Nimmo - Following the fatal shooting of a toddler in a crime ridden New Orleans housing project, a Louisiana state representative has called for what amounts to martial law. Austin Badon contacted Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office Monday and asked that the National Guard be deployed. Jindal’s office said Badon was told that any such a request would have to come from the New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu.... The Constitution says nothing about dispatching the military to fight domestic crime, a task usually undertaken by local law enforcement. Related article here.

Americans will be transferred to foreign prisons under NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act)
RT - If you’re upset that congressional approval of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 can send you away to military prisons and be tortured in America, don’t worry — it could be worse. The US could send you somewhere else.... While the bill that left Capitol Hill last week and awaits authorization from US President Barack Obama allows for the United States to indefinitely detain and torture American citizens suspected of aiding enemy forces, one provision in the bill specifies that that detention doesn’t necessarily have to occur domestically — nor does it have to be in a foreign prison run by the US.

YouTube: Ron Paul explains his opposition to the NDAA 12/19/11 (National Defense Authorization Act)
Ron Paul gets asked about the NDAA at a townhall meeting in New Hampshire on December 19, 2011.

Senate Vote on Conference Report: H.R. 1540: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Dec 15, 2011 - List of Senators who voted for and against the bill. Yea: 86 (86%) Nay:13 (13%)

Company Who Lobbied for the NDAA Indefinite Detention Bill Given 23 Million Dollar Contract for Night Raid Equipment
Intel Hub - According to reports from the Daily Kos and Russia Today, a company specializing in night raid equipment was awarded a 23 million dollar contract from the Department of Defense and subsequently went on to lobby for the NDAA which has given the government the power to indefinitely detain American citizens. Surefire LLC openly lobbed for the House version of the NDAA, a bill many have claimed has effectively ended the Bill of Rights, months after receiving the 23 million dollar contact from the DOD.

Local police forces stockpile high-tech, combat-ready gear
If terrorists ever target Fargo, N.D., the local police will be ready. In recent years, they have bought bomb-detection robots, digital communications equipment and Kevlar helmets, like those used by soldiers in foreign wars. For local siege situations requiring real firepower, police there can use a new $256,643 armored truck, complete with a rotating turret.... Fargo, like thousands of other communities in every state, has been on a gear-buying spree with the aid of more than $34 billion in federal government grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Manning's accuser is a convicted drug addict
RT - On Tuesday, the government presented perhaps the most significant witness against Manning, Adrian Lamo, a former hacker. Lamo had forged an online friendship with Manning and says he opened himself up for the soldier to confide in him regarding the leaked documents he is accused of uploading to WikiLeaks, only to later turn him into the authorities. During Tuesday’s testimony, however, Lamo confirmed that he had battled problems with drug abuse and was convicted of a felony. The ex-hacker also attested that he had overdosed on amphetamines, suffered an addition of prescription narcotics in the past and was involuntarily institutionalized at one point.

DHS to takeover Arizona Sheriff jurisdiction on illegals
LA Times - The Homeland Security Department will use 50 immigration agents to screen jail inmates in Arizona's most populous county after revoking the sheriff's authority to access its systems, the agency said Monday in a letter to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).... The agents will replace county officers who had special training and the authority to perform the task in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's lockups. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano revoked that authority last week after a Justice Department investigation concluded that Arpaio's office engaged in a pattern and practice of civil rights and constitutional violations and discriminated against Latinos.

EXCLUSIVE: Beset By Strife at Chemical Security Office, DHS Internal Report Claims Anti-Terrorism Program Now In Jeopardy
A federal program aimed at securing potentially dangerous chemicals is now in jeopardy after being beset by a series of deep-seated problems, including wasteful spending and a largely unqualified workforce that lacks "professionalism," according to a scathing internal Department of Homeland Security report obtained exclusively by Fox News.

Occupy Wall Street Has a Drone: The Occucopter
Now the protesters are fighting back with their own surveillance drone. Tim Pool, an Occupy Wall Street protester, has acquired a Parrot AR drone he amusingly calls the "occucopter". It is a lightweight four-rotor helicopter that you can buy cheaply on Amazon and control with your iPhone. It has an onboard camera so that you can view everything on your phone that it points at. Pool has modified the software to stream live video to the internet so that we can watch the action as it unfolds.

Today in History - Wednesday - December 21, 2011
1620 - The "Mayflower", and its passengers, pilgrims from England, landed at Plymouth Rock, MA.
1849 - The first ice-skating club in America was formed in Philadelphia, PA.
1909 - McKinley and Washington schools of Berkeley, CA, became the first authorized, junior-high schools in the U.S.
1913 - The "New York World" Sunday edition included the first crossword puzzle as an added feature of the "Fun" supplement.
1937 - Walt Disney debuted the first, full-length, animated feature in Hollywood, CA. The movie was "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
1944 - Horse racing was banned in the United States until after the end of World War II.
1945 - U.S. Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident.
1958 - Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France.
1968 - Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon. The craft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 27.
1971 - The U.N. Security Council chose Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as secretary-general.
1978 - Police in Des Plaines, IL, arrested John W. Gacy Jr. and began unearthing the remains of 33 men and boys that Gacy was later convicted of killing.
1988 - 270 people were killed when Pan Am Boeing 747 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, due to a terrorist attack.
1990 - In a German television interview, Saddam Hussein declared that he would not withdraw from Kuwait by the UN deadline.
1991 - Eleven of the 12 former Soviet republics proclaimed the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
1995 - The city of Bethlehem passed from Israeli to Palestinian control.
1996 - After two years of denials, U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted violating House ethics rules.
1998 - The first vaccine for Lyme disease was approved.
2001 - The Islamic militant group Hamas released a statement that said it was suspending suicide bombings and mortar attacks in Israel.
2002 - Larry Mayes was released after spending 21 years in prison for a rape that maintained that he never committed. He was the 100th person in the U.S. to be released after DNA tests were performed.

China hackers breached U.S. Chamber of Commerce: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hackers in China broke through the computer defenses of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year and were able to access information about its operations and its 3 million members, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. In Beijing, China dismissed the report. The Journal, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported the operation against the top American business lobbying group involved at least 300 internet addresses and was discovered and shut down in May 2010.

Awlaki video urges U.S. Muslims to join al Qaeda
DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S.-born al Qaeda militant Anwar al-Awlaki, killed in a CIA drone strike in September, posthumously called on U.S. Muslims to join the group in the Middle East in a video released on Tuesday. Awlaki, identified by U.S. intelligence as "chief of external operations" for al Qaeda's Yemeni branch and a Web-savvy publicist for the Islamist cause, was killed in a remote Yemeni town by missiles fired from multiple CIA drones. "You have two choices: either hijra (emigration) or jihad (holy war)," Awlaki said in the video, which was posted on Islamist websites.

Seoul: North Korea raises security, has troops on alert
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea has tightened internal security and put troops on alert since the announcement of leader Kim Jong Il's death as it moves to consolidate power behind his young son and heir, South Korean intelligence indicated Wednesday.

US targeted over failure to condemn Israel
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Fourteen frustrated members of the U.N. Security Council pointed a finger at the United States Tuesday for blocking any condemnation of Israel's accelerated settlement construction in Palestinian territory.... While the United States was not mentioned by name, the diplomats anger was clearly directed at Washington which vetoed a resolution in February backed by the 14 other council members that would have demanded an immediate halt to all settlement building.

Europe fights to save cap-and-trade as crisis hits
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Europe's main weapon in the battle against climate change is now fighting for its own survival. In early January, investors in the continent's cap-and-trade system still had to pay some euro14 ($18.30) for the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide into the air. By last week, the price of one emission allowance had tumbled to a meager euro6.41 - making it much cheaper to pollute and slashing the financial incentives for companies to invest in low-carbon technologies.

Mexico Mayan region launches apocalypse countdown
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Seize the day. Only 52 weeks and a day are left before Dec. 21, 2012, when some believe the Maya predicted the end of the world. Unlike enthusiasts of other doomsday theories who suggest putting together survival kits, southeastern Mexico, the heart of Maya territory, plans a yearlong celebration. "The world will not end. It is an era," said Yeanet Zaldo, a tourism spokeswoman for the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, home to Cancun. "For us, it is a message of hope."

PLA sends soldiers to North Korean border: human rights center
Blacklisted News - The Chinese military has sent 2,000 soldiers to the border close to North Korea shortly after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, according to a human rights center. All the soldiers came from the “16th Army,” the sources said. The center said that at the end of this month, some 30,000 additional PLA soldiers will be stationed at the border.

UK man selling Iran missile parts is latest victim of US entrapment
Guardian - A retired British businessman who faces extradition to the US for allegedly plotting to export missile components to Iran is the victim of entrapment by unscrupulous American customs agents, the court of appeal has been told. Christopher Tappin, 64, from Orpington, south-east London, could receive a prison sentence of up to 35 years if convicted of charges that he assisted in the planned export to Iran of a type of battery used in US-made Hawk surface-to-air missiles.

US hits 10 firms for links with Iran shipping
Activist Post - WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States government hit 10 firms linked to Iranian's shipping industry with sanctions on Tuesday, accusing them of helping the Islamic Republic's missile and other military programs. The Treasury Department said 10 Malta-based shipping and front companies and one individual were linked to the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, Irano Hind -- a joint venture with the Indian government -- and ISI Maritime.

Gov’t Report: Rioting arsonists should be shot by police
London Telegraph - New UK report advises using live rounds to quell public unrest. The use of firearms could be justified given the ''immediacy of the risk and the gravity of the consequences'', legal advice published in the review said. London Telegraph's online poll: Should police be allowed to shoot arsonists during riots? A shocking 82% said yes.

Fitch may downgrade France, Spain, 5 others over eurozone crisis
FirstPost - France’s possible downgrade is not imminent but could come in two years, Fitch said in a statement, as it revised the outlook of the country’s AAA rating to negative. For the other countries – Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia and Spain – a downgrade could come much sooner. Those nations, which already had a negative rating outlook from Fitch, were placed on credit watch negative, which traditionally signals the possibility of a downgrade within three months at most.

Is Poland's Premier Leading his Country into a New Slavery?
Activist Post - [Prime minister] Donald Tusk is making a name for himself by singing the praises of the European Union at every opportunity. A few months ago he he was quoted as saying that, “The European Union is the greatest institution in the World.” He has now been joined by the foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who seems particularly keen on supporting German leadership of radical reforms to the euro zone. Tusk and Sikorski are, it seems, absolutely determined to hook Poland into the euro and 'monetary union' within four years – “provided the euro zone undergoes necessary reforms” (Sikorsky).

Ron Paul Polls Strong v Obama in Relation to Paul’s Competitors
Survey shows Dr. Paul popular among broad, conventional voting base
LAKE JACKSON, Texas – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul polls strong against incumbent President Barack Obama in a general election matchup, according to a new CNN / ORC poll has Ron Paul. Poll highlights include Paul besting Obama 47 to 46 percent among those 65 years and older, said to be the most reliable voters. Paul also beats Obama among whites 51 to 46 percent, persons who reside in rural areas 52 to 44 percent, and independents by 48 to 47 percent.

YouTube: Why Ron Paul Shouldn't be Dismissed - Neil Cavuto Defends Ron Paul Against media Establishment
Fox News 12/20/11 - Neil Cavuto defends against media smear and dismissal of Ron Paul.

YouTube: Cafferty: People in Iowa are rallying around someone who, for the first time in a long time, represents real change
CNN 12/20/11.

YouTube: Ron Paul Interview with John King
CNN 12/20/11.

Davenport, Iowa newspaper: Ron Paul Soundly Defeats Obama for These 11 Reasons
Establishment political personalities are quick to claim poor “electability” to diminish Ron Paul’s chances because they presume that Paul holds no positive advantage in a head-to-head matchup against President Barack Obama in the general election. That’s an apparent premise of their calculation. This is either a sublime miscalculation or a profound deception. If Ron Paul can win the Republican nomination, the path to the White House could seem downhill by comparison. Why?

Mass. man convicted of conspiring to help al-Qaida
BOSTON (AP) -- A man who grew up in the Boston suburbs was convicted Tuesday of conspiring to help al-Qaida and plotting to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq after a two-month trial in which jurors heard references to Osama bin Laden and saw dramatic images from the Sept. 11 attacks. The federal jury deliberated about 10 hours over three days before finding Tarek Mehanna, 29, guilty of four terror-related charges and three charges of lying to authorities. He faces life in prison, though his attorneys plan to appeal.... "This is one the most cynical government cases I've ever seen tried," said defense attorney Janice Bassil. "Picture after picture just wanting to scare the jury. Deal after deal to government witnesses. All those government witnesses did way more than Tarek Mehanna."

Will Ron Paul kill the caucuses?
Politico - Conservatives and Republican elites in the state are divided over who to support for the GOP nomination, but they almost uniformly express concern over the prospect that Ron Paul and his army of activist supporters may capture the state’s 2012 nominating contest — an outcome many fear would do irreparable harm to the future role of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Related article here.

VIDEO: Ron Paul Endorsed by Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show Host Jerry Doyle
Today it is official Jerry Doyle has endorsed Ron Paul for President 2012 live on the air “I moved to endorsing Congressman Ron Paul for the President of the United States” then he goes on to say “Ron Paul’s time has come, Ron Paul’s movement has come” and pointing out that “It’s not just Ron Paul, it’s the movement…a Revolution”

YouTube: Hacking Democracy - Full Length Documentary
Watch and save this documentary. Share it with your friends. Vote fraud is epidemic in the United States, and Ron Paul needs to win in Iowa by such a huge margin that vote fraud is too obvious to try.

Congress ending 2011 with worst approval rating ever
Raw Story - The governing body is now set to end 2011 with the lowest one-time approval rating in its history: 11 percent. Their annual average for 2011 came to a whopping 17 percent, which is also the lowest ever recorded. Overall, Gallup found that the nation’s 112th Congress had an 86 percent disapproval rating by the end of December, 2011: yet another record-breaking statistic.

Obama administration switches border security strategy before election year
Texas on the Potomac - The Obama administration is cutting the 1,200 National Guard troops along the southwest border for the past 18 months to just 300 troops. It’s part of a Pentagon shift from boots on the ground to “air mobility support” for armed US Border Patrol agents. The Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security announced the change in course today.

YouTube: OWS Victory in Atlanta - Press Conference In Front Of Brigitte Walkers House
Press conference on the day Occupy Atlanta set up an encampment on Army Veteran Brigitte Walkers lawn in an attempt to save the house from Chase bank. After two press conferences on her lawn, a national call in day, and direct action on Chase Bank, Occupy Atlanta did what Brigitte Walker couldn’t do in years, get a loan modification. If it weren’t for Occupy Atlanta and Brigitte Walker’s willingness to resist Chase Banks she would have had her American Dream auctioned off on the Fulton county court house steps. Read the article here.

CIA won’t disclose involvement in OWS crackdowns
RT - The Partnership for Civil Justice (PCJF), a Washington DC-based civil rights group, filed a Freedom of Information Act request last month to see what role, if any, the CIA has had in the brutal raids of OWS encampments that have left thousands jailed and droves of demonstrators beaten, in some instances ending up in intensive care. Now after reviewing the request to publically release any information, the Agency is scoffing at the PCJF, who in turn is calling this “a classic case of CIA-double speak” used to hide its involvement.

Today in History - Tuesday - December 20, 2011
1790 - The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, RI.
1803 - The US Senate ratified a treaty that included the Louisiana Territories from France for $15 million. The transfer took place in New Orleans.
1820 - The state of Missouri enacted legislation to tax bachelors between the ages of 21-50 for being unmarried. The tax was $1 a year.
1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the American Union.
1864 - Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, GA as Union Gen. William T. Sherman continued his "March to the Sea."
1879 - Thomas A. Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, NJ.
1880 - New York's Broadway became known as the "Great White Way" when it was lighted by electricity.
1928 - Mail delivery by dog sled began in Lewiston, ME.
1946 - In Indochina (Vietnam), full-scale guerrilla warfare between Vietnam partisans and French troops began.
1954 - Buick Motor Company signed Jackie Gleason to one of the largest contracts ever entered into with an entertainer. Gleason agreed to produce 78 half-hour shows over a two-year period for $6,142,500.
1963 - The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners. It was only for the holiday season. It closed again on January 6, 1964.
1989 - General Noriega, Panama's former dictator, was overthrown by a United States invasion force invited by the new civilian government. The project was known as Operation Just Cause.
1995 - An American Airlines Boeing 757 en route to Cali, Colombia, crashed into a mountain, killing all but four of the 163 people aboard.
1996 - Doctors reported that a Cypriot woman who had taken fertility drugs was carrying about 11 embryos.
1998 - In Houston, TX, a 27-year-old woman gave birth to the only known living set of octuplets.
1999 - Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples were entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples of the opposite sex.
1999 - Sovereignty over the colony of Macao was transferred from Portugal to China.
2001 - The U.S. Congress passed a $20 billion package to finance the war against terrorism taking place in Afghanistan.
2001 - Argentina's President Fernando De la Rua resigned after two years in power.
2001 - The first British peacekeepers arrived in Afghanistan to help the nation heal after decades of war.

Sunni Iraq VP denies charges of running hit squads
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's Sunni vice president wanted by the Shiite-led government for allegedly ordering hit squads against government officials says he's innocent of any charges

Hezbollah denies US money laundering charges
BEIRUT (AP) -- Lebanon's Hezbollah is denying US allegations of involvement in a $300 million laundering scheme and drugs trafficking, with its deputy leader claiming in comments published Tuesday the charges were false and that America was "not fooling anyone" with accusations meant to harm his anti-Israeli group.

Philippines sends coffins as toll nears 1,000 dead
ILIGAN, Philippines (AP) -- The government shipped more than 400 coffins to two flood-stricken cities in the southern Philippines on Tuesday as the death toll neared 1,000 and President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity.

EU fails to reach euro200 billion IMF loan target
BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union finance ministers have come up euro50 billion ($65.19 billion) short of their goal of providing the International Monetary Fund with euro200 billion ($260.78 billion) to help heavily indebted nations avoid default.

Iraq War Ends With A $4 Trillion IOU
Daily Bail - WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The nine-year-old Iraq war came to an official end on Thursday, but paying for it will continue for decades until U.S. taxpayers have shelled out an estimated $4 trillion. Over a 50-year period, that comes to $80 billion annually. Although that only represents about 1% of nation’s gross domestic product, it’s more than half of the national budget deficit. It’s also roughly equal to what the U.S. spends on the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency combined each year.

Pentagon chief sees close partnership with Libya
TRIPOLI - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that Tripoli could become an important security partner of Washington as he visited Libya on Dec. 17 for talks with new regime officials. "We are and will be your friend and partner," Panetta said at a news conference with Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib. "This new and free Libya can become an important security partner of the United States," he said, adding that Washington was looking forward to building a close partnership. "We stand ready to offer whatever assistance in the spirit of friendship and a spirit of mutual respect."

Syria to allow Arab monitors, 100 dead in violence
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syria agreed Monday to an Arab League plan to send foreign monitors, bowing to growing international pressure to end its bloody crackdown on a nine-month uprising. However the opposition saw the deal as a stalling tactic, especially given reports by activists that more than 100 people were killed on the same day.

Obama criticizes Venezuela's ties to Iran, Cuba
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Barack Obama criticized Venezuela's human rights record and its ties to Iran and Cuba, telling a Venezuelan newspaper in comments published Monday that he is concerned about threats to democracy in the country.

North Korea test fires short-range missile
North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Monday, the same day it announced the death of leader Kim Jong-Il, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. The agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying the launches were unrelated to the announcement that Kim had died Saturday of a heart attack. "The missiles are estimated to have a range of about 120 kilometres (72 miles)," the official said on condition of anonymity.

VIDEO: North Koreans: The Most Enslaved People On Earth
Paul Joseph Watson - This is something the establishment media has completely failed to explain properly. All the video footage of weeping North Koreans stricken with grief over the death of the “dear leader” Kim Jong-Il is by no means spontaneous or natural. It’s all part of the fun of living in a Stalinist dictatorship. If citizens do not show the appropriately sullen facial expressions, if they don’t produce tears, and if they don’t properly grieve for the dead dictator, they face imprisonment and possible execution.

Defector: Rumors Circulating Kim Jong-Il Was Assassinated
Paul Joseph Watson - A prominent North Korean defector and a South Korean politician are contradicting reports that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il died of a heart attack, pointing to rumors that he was assassinated as result of an internal power struggle between the ruling Communist Workers’ Party and the country’s military.

Russia slams US Global Online Freedom Act as ‘Cold War scheme’
RT - The online freedom bill proposed in the US seeks to regulate the web activities of foreign countries and businesses by imposing its own unilateral standards, says Russia’s Foreign Ministry. Moscow insists the UN is the place to pass global laws. The projected Global Online Freedom Act states that the US State Department will have to review annually the list of countries “restricting Internet freedom.” The bill would ultimately block the export of American software and hardware to the counties on the blacklist. A license would be required to export products when the end-user was a government.

Over 462 trillion becquerels Fukushima strontium in Pacific Ocean, Seafood risk
Examiner - The Asahi Shimbun newspaper released calculations Monday showing at least 462 trillion becquerels of radioactive strontium have leaked into the Pacific Ocean since Fukushima's No. 1 nuclear power plant catastrophe began.... According to Greenpeace independent research, Government and retailors are not adequately protecting the public from dangerous radioactive contaminated Pacific seafood, still sold unlabeled in Japan and on the international market, including to the United States due to a secret pact between Secretary Clinton and the Japanese Prime Minister.

Alarm as Dutch lab creates highly contagious killer flu
A deadly strain of bird flu with the potential to infect and kill millions of people has been created in a laboratory by European scientists – who now want to publish full details of how they did it. The discovery has prompted fears within the US Government that the knowledge will fall into the hands of terrorists wanting to use it as a bio-weapon of mass destruction. Some scientists are questioning whether the research should ever have been undertaken in a university laboratory, instead of at a military facility.

VIDEO: Canada Leaves Kyoto Protocol For The Wrong Reasons
Activist Post- Unfortunately, one of the major reasons for Canada exiting was that the protocol didn’t cover enough countries. The exit had absolutely nothing to do with this global warming hoax being shattered.

German village generates 321 percent more renewable energy than it needs, earns millions selling it back to national power grid
(NaturalNews) BioCycle reports that the German village of Wildpoldsried, population 2,600, has had such incredible success in building its renewable energy system. Wildpoldsried generates 321 percent more renewable energy than it uses, and it now sells the excess back to the national power grid for roughly $5.7 million in additional revenue every single year.

YouTube: Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk 12/19/11: European Bailout Will Make Crisis Far Worse
Ron Paul 's weekly update.

VIDEO: Ron Paul Jay Leno Backstage & Dana Carvey Impression
NBC - Ron Paul interviewed after Jay Leno, answers question from viewers.

Major Romney Donors Help Enrich Romney Family Through Joint Financial Relationships
As Mitt Romney vies for the presidency, like almost all major candidates, he has courted a network of very wealthy donors. But what sets Romney apart is the direct financial relationship he has forged with some of his major campaign contributors. Solamere Capital, an investment company set up by Mitt’s son Tagg Romney and Romney campaign finance chair Spencer Zwick, directs investments for Mitt’s most active political donors. The firm, founded in 2008, received a $10 million seed investment from Mitt Romney himself.

Drone pilots on the edge of collapse
RT - According to new study released by the US Air Force, an overwhelming number of the pilots that command unmanned robotic drones from operation centers in America are suffering from intense stress, even if they are on the other side of the world from where their attacks are being carried out. With the US continuing drone strikes despite opposition from allies overseas such as Pakistan, the toll that the task of commanding the controversial crafts could be having on its pilots could be detrimental to the Department of Defense, who insists on pushing through with the program even with the end result including droves of dead civilians since the missions began.

Paul Passes Gingrich in New Hampshire at 21%
American Research Group - Mitt Romney continues to lead the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Preference Primary with 35%. Jumping into second place is Ron Paul with 21%. Newt Gingrich is now in third place with 16% and Jon Huntsman is in fourth place with 13%.

VIDEO: Ron Paul: Phone From Home Our Secret Weapon
Start today and start making a difference! It is very easy to do. Register and verify your phone and email address, and start making calls in minutes.

DOJ Conspiring with ACORN-Connected Project Vote?
As you may recall, Judicial Watch investigated a partnership between the DOJ and ACORN-connected Project Vote to use the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) to register more individuals on public assistance, widely considered a key voting demographic for the Obama 2012 campaign. (Remember, President Obama previously worked for Project Vote.) Well, this week we obtained some new records courtesy of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on August 19, 2011. The records detail communications between the DOJ and Estelle Rogers, a former ACORN attorney currently serving as Director of Advocacy for Project Vote.

Gingrich-Linked Propagandist Recycles Debunked “Racist” Ron Paul Smear
Paul Joseph Watson - With the establishment terrified of Ron Paul’s snowballing success as he heads to the Iowa primary leading the Republican race, an onslaught of already debunked, agenda-driven, and desperate hit pieces have re-emerged. Prime amongst them is an attempt to re-hash the ludicrous assertion that Ron Paul wrote racist newsletters in the early 1990′s when the material was clearly produced by other authors without Ron Paul knowing its content.

Gingrich PAC Took $7.6 Million From One Donor, Used Money To Fly Across The Country For Public Events
Think Progress - The Supreme Court’s decision to gut campaign finance laws in its 2009 Citizens United decision predictably opened the gates of the American electoral system to an influx of corporate money and influence, first in the 2010 midterm elections and then in numerous statewide and local campaigns. In Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states with contentious campaigns, corporations flooded the system with money — in judicial elections alone, just three corporations spent 13 times as much as the labor movement.

Pro-Adultery Website Endorses Gingrich
Think Progress - A website that promotes adultery has endorsed Newt Gingrich for president, and even erected a giant billboard in Pennsylvania to announce it. Next to a picture of Gingrich making a “shh” gesture, the billboard reads: “Faithful Republican, Unfaithful Husband.”

Now Holder plays the race card
Daily Caller - The White House hasn’t returned requests for comment on whether President Barack Obama agrees with his top law enforcement officer’s allegations of racial motivations. Holder’s accusations come as resignation calls mount from a growing list of 60 congressmen, two senators, every major Republican presidential candidate and two sitting governors, spurred on by the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. Additionally, seventy-five congressmen have signed onto a House resolution for a vote of “no confidence” in Holder as attorney general. Between the two lists, there are 86 total in the House who no longer trust Holder to head the Department of Justice.

Manning admitted to releasing collateral damage video
RT - Four days into a pre-trial hearing against Bradley Manning, the courtroom is quickly becoming just as heated as the documents that the alleged whistleblower is being accused of leaking online. On day four of the hearings on Monday, the prosecution against Private First Class Bradley Manning supplied the court with a series of email messages between the alleged WikiLeaks contributor and a contact named Eric Schmiedl. According to the correspondence, Manning took credit for releasing the controversial “collateral damage” video that displayed the US military helicopter launching cold-blooded attack on civilians.

Mexican ex-officials work for US intelligence says report
Breitbart - At least 80 former Mexican government officials are currently working as informants for US intelligence agencies, the daily La Jornada reported, citing senior Mexican officials. Most of them are gathering information for the US Drug Enforcement Agency, the prestigious daily reported. Senior officials in the attorney general's office and the interior ministry said that those informants work as spies, gather and analyze information, and follow cases on request.

Judge to rule by end-year on South Carolina immigration law
(Reuters) - A federal judge said on Monday he would decide by the end of 2011 whether to block enforcement of South Carolina's new law curbing immigration, as judges have done with several other state laws. Judge Richard Gergel heard arguments from attorneys for a coalition of civil rights groups and the U.S. Department of Justice seeking to halt the law going into effect, saying it usurps the federal government's constitutional power to regulate immigration.

Walter Reed accidentally bans Bibles
The Examiner - Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is backtracking on an order that banned family members from bringing Bibles and other religious materials to injured soldiers and a religious organization is demanding an explanation. Issued on the date of the official consolidation of the region's two military medical centers, the memo on visitor and patient policy contained a section stating "No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit." The Sept. 14 memo came from the desk of Col. Norvell Coots, the commander of the Walter Reed Healthcare system.

VIDEO: Pensacola Pastor Threatened with Arrest for Speaking at Public City Hall Meeting
Father Nathan Monk tells the City Council, “We have the right to redress our government without fear of being arrested,” and is nearly arrested. When Monk refused to leave, noting that he had not violated any rules of conduct, Hall asked Police Chief Simmons and two other uniformed police officers in attendance to remove him. He refused to budge until his allotted time was up, after which he was escorted from council chambers by the officers.

VIDEO: OWS marks 3-month anniversary in New York
RT - From the Arab Spring - to America's Autumn, now turned Winter. The Occupy Wall Street movement has marked its 3-month anniversary this weekend. Images of arrests, brutality, and mass protesting in America over the last 3 months have been gripping the world. “The cops must be smacking themselves in the forehead, because they’ve given such life to this movement,” said Truthout contributor JA Myerson.

New Dress Code? Barney Frank Wears Revealing Shirt On House Floor
Outgoing Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was on the House floor late Monday afternoon wearing a t-shirt and a sling due to a recent operation on his thumb. Frank was wearing a revealing shirt, one which you could see through that exposed what his bare chest looks like. The outgoing congressman said his recent attire was due to surgery he had on a ligament in his thumb.

YouTube: You're the Wrong One, Mr. Gingrich
The latest parody from JJ Jones, motivated by the 2012 race for President. You're the Wrong One, Mr. Gingrich! Fortunately we have a better choice.

Today in History - Monday - December 19, 2011
1732 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."
1776 - Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay.
1777 - General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, PA, to camp for the winter.
1842 - Hawaii's independence was recognized by the U.S.
1843 - Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published in England.
1871 - Corrugated paper was patented by Albert L. Jones.
1903 - The Williamsburg Bridge opened in New York City. It opened as the largest suspension bridge on Earth and remained the largest until 1924. It was also the first major suspension bridge to use steel towers to support the main cable.
1918 - Robert Ripley began his "Believe It or Not" column in "The New York Globe".
1959 - Walter Williams died in Houston, TX, at the age of 117. He was said to be the last surviving veteran of the U.S. Civil War.
1972 - Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
1973 - Johnny Carson started a fake toilet-paper scare on the "Tonight Show."
1984 - Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
1986 - The Soviet Union announced it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile, and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner.
1986 - Independent counsel Lawrence Walsh was appointed to investigate the Iran-Contra issue.
1989 - U.S. troops invaded Panama to overthrow the regime of General Noriega.
1996 - The school board of Oakland, CA, voted to recognize Black English, also known as "ebonics." The board later reversed its stance.
1997 - "Titanic" opened in American movie theaters.
1998 - U.S. President Bill Clinton was impeached on two charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the U.S. House of Representatives.
1998 - A four-day bombing of Iraq by British and American forces ended.
2000 - The U.N. Security Council voted to impose sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed all terrorist training camps and surrender U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden.
2003 - Images for the new design for the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site were released. The building slopes into a spire that reaches 1,776 feet.
2008 - U.S. President George W. Bush signed a $17.4 billion rescue package of loans for ailing auto makers General Motors and Chrysler.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, 69, has died
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader, has died of heart failure. He was 69. In a "special broadcast" Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a "great mental and physical strain" on Dec. 17 during a "high intensity field inspection." It said an autopsy was done on Dec. 18 and "fully confirmed" the diagnosis.

North Korea: Kim Jong Il dead, son is 'successor'
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - North Korea announced the death of supreme leader Kim Jong Il and urged its people to rally behind his young son and heir-apparent Monday, while the world watched for signs of instability in a nation pursuing nuclear weapons. South Korea put its military on high alert as it faces North's 1.2 million-strong armed forces, and President Barack Obama agreed by phone with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to closely monitor developments and cooperate.

Analysis: Nuke talks uncertain after Kim's death
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il could put a brake on talks ultimately aimed at getting the secretive communist state to give up its nuclear weapons.

Philippine storm toll exceeds 650; 900 missing
ILIGAN, Philippines (AP) - As a storm that killed more than 650 in the southern Philippines raged outside the store where she works, Amor Limbago worriedly called home to check on her parents, but their cellphones just kept ringing and later went dead. Limbago, 21, rushed home as soon as the flash floods receded and confirmed her worst fear: Her parents and seven other relatives were gone, swept away from their hut by the river. They had eagerly planned a small Christmas dinner in that hut just days earlier.

YouTube: US Court Claims Iranian 9/11 Link
RT Dec 16, 2011 - A US court has won a default judgement that Iranian officials, including its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, provided help to the 9/11 hijackers behind the worst terror attack on American soil. The lawsuit was filed by the families of the atrocity's victims. There was no Iranian representation in court. RT talks to Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Center for Research on Globalization.

9/11 verdict is 'US propaganda for waging war on Iran'
RT Dec 18, 2011 - Director of the Center for Research on Globalization Michel Chossudovsky has told RT that calling Iran’s officials - including the supreme leader - guilty of helping the 9/11 attackers is nothing but “a ploy.”... “There is absolutely no evidence that Iran aided the 9/11 attacks. There is ample evidence after collection that there was conspiracy and the complicity of the US government…There is absolutely no evidence that Al Qaeda or the Taliban were involved in the 9/11 attacks. In fact, if there is anyone behind Al Qaeda, it was the Central Intelligence Agency, going back to the Soviet Afghan war”, Chossudovsky said.

Iran-bound radioactive luggage seized at Moscow airport
RT Dec 16, 2011 - A man trying to smuggle radioactive sodium isotopes to Iran has been detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. The man got as far as customs control, where his case set off the radiation control alarm. When customs officers opened the suitcase, they found 18 metal objects held in steel containers. Tests at the scene confirmed it was the metal that had triggered the radioactive alarm. Radiation levels were 20 times the norm, according to field tests performed. The customs press service said the objects were man-made and could have been created only with the use of a nuclear reactor.

Debka: Whoever hacked the drone, hacked the CIA
RT - New reports investigating Iran’s interception of a top-secret drone craft belonging to the CIA allege that the hijacking of the stealth airship could have roots not just overseas but in Washington as well. Ongoing reports from RT have revealed that Iranian intelligence officer claimed in recent days that the recovery of America’s RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone on December 4 was not due to an equipment malfunction, as US authorities say happened with another craft last days later, but rather the handiwork of Iranian engineers.

Iran state TV airs "confession" of detained CIA spy
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian state television on Sunday aired what it described as the confession of an Iranian man detained for spying for the CIA. State television broadcast a taped interview with Amir Mirza Hekmati, in which he said he had received training by the U.S. intelligence services. The channel said he had been sent to Iran to provide misinformation to Iranian intelligence.

Exclusive: Secret U.S., Taliban talks reach turning point
(Reuters) - After 10 months of secret dialogue with Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents, senior U.S. officials say the talks have reached a critical juncture and they will soon know whether a breakthrough is possible, leading to peace talks whose ultimate goal is to end the Afghan war. As part of the accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy, Reuters has learned, the United States is considering the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.

Soldiers baton-charge Egyptian protesters in Tahrir Square after eight die and 300 are wounded in new clashes
Mail Online - Soldiers baton-charged demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square today just 24 hours after street clashes killed eight people and wounded more than 300. Protesters fled into side streets to escape the troops in riot gear, who grabbed people and battered them repeatedly even after they had been beaten to the ground. The violence - witnessed by a Reuters journalist - marred the first free election most Egyptians can remember and highlighted the tensions in Egypt 10 months after a popular revolt toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

VIDEO: 'NATO wants a simmering civil war in Syria – as a prelude’
RT Dec 16, 2011 - Washington is ready to discuss Russia’s UN Security Council draft resolution on Syria, describing some provisions as however “unacceptable” and still not acknowledging that the anti-regime protesters are well-armed. What exactly the US and NATO countries consider to be “unacceptable” is the real question, believes Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar.

Eurozone to pursue crisis action, Fitch doubts outcome
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The euro zone will tackle its debt crisis this week by offering more cash to the IMF and long-term liquidity to banks, while moving toward tighter fiscal rules, after ratings agency Fitch cast doubt on its capacity to respond decisively.

Why is the Department of Homeland Security assisting in the murder of innocent Jamaicans?
Activist Post - In May of last year, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) helped the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) carry out a drug raid which resulted in the slaughter of 73 innocent Jamaicans, and they are now attempting to cover up the incident by not releasing the footage.

Public Policy Polling: Paul 23% Romney 20% Gingrich 14%!
December 18, 2011 - Newt Gingrich's campaign is rapidly imploding, and Ron Paul has now taken the lead in Iowa. He's at 23% to 20% for Mitt Romney, 14% for Gingrich, 10% each for Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry, 4% for Jon Huntsman, and 2% for Gary Johnson.

GOP will take off the gloves if Ron Paul wins Iowa
The Examiner - But in a crowded GOP field currently led by a collapsing Newt Gingrich and an uninspiring Mitt Romney, Paul could carry the Iowa caucuses, where supporter enthusiasm has so much value.... If Paul wins, how will the media and the GOP react? Much of the media will ignore him (expect headlines like "Romney Beats out Gingrich for Second Place in Iowa"). Some in the Republican establishment and the conservative media will panic. Others will calmly move to crush him, with the full cooperation of the liberal mainstream media.

Congress overturns incandescent light bulb ban
Washington Times - Congressional negotiators struck a deal Thursday that overturns the new rules that were to have banned sales of traditional incandescent light bulbs beginning next year. That agreement is tucked inside the massive 1,200-page spending bill that funds the government through the rest of this fiscal year, and which both houses of Congress will vote on Friday.... The spending bill doesn’t actually amend the 2007 law, but does prohibit the administration from spending any money to carry out the light bulb standards — which amounts to at least a temporary reprieve.

House passes $1T budget bill, avoids shutdown
The House has passed a $1 trillion-plus catchall budget bill paying for day-to-day operations of 10 Cabinet departments and averting a government shutdown, while Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits reached a critical phase.

YouTube: New TV Ad: Rand Paul on Ron Paul's principled leadership

YouTube; The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: The Complete Ron Paul And Joe Rogan Interview
The second guest was Joe Rogan, who had a few words to add. Related video here.

Examiner: Ron Paul's Tonight Show appearance may become a turning point in the 2012 campaign
"The appearance came at a time when Congressman Paul is under serious coordinated attack from Conservative Establishment talking heads on talk radio and other mediums because of his non-interventionist foreign policy beliefs." "Ron Paul's Tonight Show appearance may become a turning point in the 2012 campaign. No other candidate in the Republican field is generating anywhere near the populist energy and excitement that Congressman Paul is getting. The passion for Paul is reminiscent of the excitement then candidate Barack Obama was able to generate in 2008. These next several weeks are going to be very interesting."

VIDEO: Paul's serious challenge in Iowa could rock the GOP race
CNN - What if Ron Paul rocked the political establishment, silenced the naysayers and spoiled the party for Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney by winning the Iowa caucuses? "I think I have a good chance," the Republican presidential candidate told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" on Wednesday.

Drudge Report Links To Daily Paul! "Money Pours In For Paul"
Daily Paul Dec 17, 2011 - Front page of Drudge right now, right under photo of Ron Paul pulling the trigger.

Ron Paul Supporters Slay More Than 1,000 Dragons With Game Dungeoneers for Super Brochure
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Dec 15, 2011 (MARKETWIRE) -- Alex Beltramo, an independent game developer and co-founder of pioneering online website for casual games www.pogo.com, has found a creative way to promote his upcoming fantasy role-playing game, Dungeoneers, while also supporting Congressman Ron Paul's bid to win the Republican nomination. For each player that completes the game's first quest -- slaying a White Dragon -- Beltramo contributes $5 in support of Ron Paul. He has set aside $25,000 for the cause.

Gingrich Fading Quickly
The Gallup daily tracking poll shows Newt Gingrich's lead in the GOP presidential primary is shrinking fast. Gingrich leads Mitt Romney, 28% to 24%, followed by Ron Paul at 10%, Michele Bachmann at 8%, Rick Perry at 6%, Rick Santorum at 4% and Jon Huntsman at 2%. Meanwhile, Public Policy Polling previews surveys currently in the field: "Newt this weekend: national lead fading, nowhere close in NH, quite possibly down to 3rd in Iowa."

Gingrich: Send U.S. Marshals to arrest uncooperative judges
Washington Post - Former House speaker Newt Gingrich showed no sign Sunday of letting up on his assault on “activist” federal judges. During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Gingrich suggested the president could send federal law enforcement authorities to arrest judges who make controversial rulings in order to compel them to justify their decisions before congressional hearings.

National Organization for Marriage takes aim at Ron Paul
Raw Story - The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), a group dedicated to fighting same sex marriage and preventing same sex couples from adopting children, has put Texas Rep. Ron Paul in its crosshairs.

YouTube: Federal Government Takes Final Step to Suspend Constitution
In what can only be considered a tragic irony, the U.S. Senate passed out of the final conference committee the controversial National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, coinciding with the 220th Anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Section 1031 of the National Defense Authorization Act otherwise known as the NDAA, provides broad authority for the federal government to use the military in domestic operations in order to detain Americans indefinitely and without trial.

Anonymous attacking creators of indefinite detention bill
RT - Upon discussion of routes to take to show their opposition to the overwhelming number of politicians who voted in favor of NDAA, Anonymous members agreed to begin with Senator Robert J Portman, a Republican lawmaker from the state of Ohio. By Thursday morning, an Anonymous operative released personal information pertaining to the lawmaker, and revealed that not only was Sen. Portman among the politicians to vote “aye” on the legislation, but it has also been revealed that the senator had good reason to do so. According to a OpenCongress.org, Sen. Portman received $272,853 from special interest groups that have shown support for NDAA.

No Fear: Memory Adjustment Pills Get Pentagon Push
Wired - The Pentagon this week announced an $11 million grant doled out to three research institutions, all of them long-time hubs for the military’s ongoing PTSD investigations. Experts at Emory University, the University of Southern California and New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center will study the effectiveness of D-Cycloserine (DCS). DCS is a pharmaceutical thought to help extinguish fearful memories. It’s usually taken right before exposure therapy, a process that involves recalling traumatic experiences in an effort to nullify the menacing associations that accompany them.

Efforts to reverse 'corporate personhood' gain momentum as groups seek to curb campaign contributions
(NaturalNews) The latest effort to reverse this sort of Corporate Personhood comes from Los Angeles, where city council members voted unanimously on a resolution that calls for a constitutional amendment asserting that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights, and that corporate donations do not amount to practicing freedom of speech.

Court Rules Israeli-Pennsylvania Snoop Group Violated First Amendment
Courthouse News Service - HARRISBURG, Pa. (CN) - The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition sufficiently pleaded First Amendment violations in its lawsuit against an American-Israeli anti-terror think tank that contracted with Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security to keep tabs on environmentalists' protests against natural gas drillers, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge William Caldwell denied qualified immunity to defendant James Powers Jr., the former director of Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security, who allegedly approved the contract.

Witnesses testify in Bradley Manning Wikileaks case
FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Bradley Manning, the suspected source of the largest leak of classified U.S. documents in history, spent his 24th birthday in military court on Saturday listening to investigators detail how they pieced together the case against him.

Experimental Navy Drone Travels Through Arkansas Town
NewsCow.net - It was an experimental military aircraft being toted from coast to coast, according to undersheriff Bill Mueller. Law enforcement in Winfield, Ark City and the sheriffs department, helped escort the craft from the Kay County line to the Butler line this morning.... Northrop Grumman, a defense systems contractor, is the company moving the aircraft across the country. Video report here.

Justice Dept.: Seattle police used excessive force
SEATTLE (AP) — Inadequate supervision and training have led Seattle police officers to grab weapons such as batons and flashlights too quickly and to escalate confrontations even when arresting people for minor offenses, the U.S. Justice Department said Friday.... Federal investigators determined Seattle police have engaged in excessive force that violated federal law and the Constitution. They did not find discriminatory policing, but the report acknowledged that many community members believe the department does show bias.

CT mayor wants illegals to vote
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is reacting coolly to New Haven Mayor John DeStefano's plan to ask the state legislature to allow illegal immigrants who live in the city to vote in municipal elections. Malloy said Wednesday that "it's not an idea that I'm particularly comfortable with." The Democratic governor said he believes there are obligations and privileges that come with legal citizenship.... DeStefano said illegal immigrants pay taxes indirectly through rent and send their kids to New Haven schools and should be able to vote.

Florida airport could be first in US to ban naked body scanners
(NaturalNews) Air travelers flying out of Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood International Airport (FTL) in Florida may soon no longer have to worry about being forced through the US Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) naked body scanners. CBS 4 in Miami reports that the commission of Broward County, where the airport is located, is considering a measure that would ban the cancer-causing devices from the popular travel hub.

Congressman on hunger strike to show solidarity with Occupy
Washington Examiner - Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., embarked on a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with four Occupy DC protesters who have gone without food since Dec. 8 to advocate for D.C. voting rights. Ellison, the first Muslim to serve in the House, met with the hunger strikers Thursday and pledged to read their declaration – which calls for full voting rights for District residents as well as legislative and budget autonomy – on the floor of the House of Representatives to enter it into the congressional record.

NYPD involved in online scandal again
RT - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has defended the NYPD for their actions on Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, even if they did beat peaceful protesters and arrest accredited journalists. Now it looks as if New York’s Finest bragged about the battery before it even began.

VIDEO: Gentle Cat Helps Soothe Fussy Baby
All the pet-lovers out there will love this video. We spend so much time lavishing love and affection on our pets, that sometimes it can be a surprise to see them do the same for us! In this tender moment caught on film, Stewie the cat helps put new baby Connar to sleep… the cutest bit is right at the end so be sure to wait for it!

Today in History - Friday - December 16, 2011
1773 - Nearly 350 chests of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor off of British ships by Colonial patriots. The patriots were disguised as Indians. The act was to protest taxation without representation and the monopoly the government granted to the East India Company.
1835 - In New York, 530 buildings were destroyed by fire.
1901 - "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," by Beatrix Potter, was printed for the first time.
1903 - Women ushers were employed for the first time at the Majestic Theatre in New York City.
1905 - Sime Silverman published the first issue of "Variety".
1944 - During World War II, the Battle of the Bulge began in Belgium. It was the final major German counteroffensive in the war.
1950 - U.S. President Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight "Communist imperialism."
1951 - NBC-TV debuted "Dragnet" in a special preview on "Chesterfield Sound Off Time". The show began officially on January 3, 1952.
1960 - A United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over New York City, killing 134 people.
1981 - The U.S. Congress restored the $122 minimum monthly social security benefit for current recipients.
1995 - Many U.S. government functions were again closed as a temporary finance provision expired and the budget dispute between President Clinton and Republicans in Congress continued.
1995 - NATO launched a military operation in support of the Bosnia peace agreement.
1998 - The U.S. and Britain fired hundreds of missiles on Iraq in response to Saddam Hussein's refusal to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors.
1999 - Torrential rains and mudslides in Venezuela left thousands of people dead and forced at least 120,000 to leave their homes.
2000 - U.S. President George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to be the first African-American secretary of state. Powell was sworn in January 20, 2001.
2001 - In Tora Bora, Afghanistan, tribal fighters announced that they had taken the last al-Quaida positions. More than 200 fighters were killed and 25 captured. They also announced that they had found no sign of Osama bin Laden.
2001 - Cuba received the first commercial food shipment from the United States in nearly 40 years. The shipment was sent to help Cuba after Hurricane Michelle hit Cuba on November 4, 2001.
2001 - A British newspaper, The Observer, reported that a notebook had been found at an al-Quaida training camp in southern Afghanistan. The notebook contained a "blue print" for an bomb attack on London's financial district.
2009 - Astronomers discovered GJ1214b. It was the first-known exoplanet on which water could exist.

VIDEO: Russia puts new draft resolution on Syria to UNSC
RT - Russia, surprisingly to Western powers, has put forward a UNSC resolution on Syria, calling on the Syrian parties to end violence and start talks. Meanwhile, Syria's vice-president is visiting Moscow to discuss peaceful solutions for the crisis. ­The Kremlin's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin, who holds the council presidency for the month in December, did not disclose the exact contents of the text, saying it will be discussed by the 15 council members in the coming days.

ICC prosecutor: Gadhafi death may be war crime
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Thursday there are "serious suspicions" that the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was a war crime. Luis Moreno Ocampo told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council that he sent a letter to the head of the National Transitional Council asking what the government's plans are to investigate alleged war crimes by all parties, including the rebels.

Secret papers shed light on killings as troops pull out
Sydney Morning Herald - BAGHDAD: One by one, the marines sat down, swore to tell the truth and began to give secret interviews discussing one of the most horrific episodes of America's time in Iraq: the 2005 massacre by marines of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha.... The 400 pages of interrogations, once closely guarded as secrets of war, were supposed to have been destroyed as the last US troops prepared to leave Iraq. Instead, they were discovered with reams of other classified documents, including military maps showing helicopter routes and radar capabilities, by a reporter for The New York Times at a junkyard outside Baghdad.

YouTube: US Troops Surround Syrian Border?
RT Dec 15, 2011 - This year Time Magazine chose The Protester as the person of the year. Protests have emerged all over the world and some say the Arab Spring was the catalyst to this global movement for change. In Syria according to some reports 5,000 people have died while protesting against the government. Now there are some reports that President Obama has moved US troops to the Syrian border. James Corbett, host of The Corbett Report, helps us inspect what's going on around Syria.

US clears Iraqi airspace for Israeli strike on Iran
Washington Times - The U.S. military’s fast-approaching Dec. 31 exit from Iraq, which has no way to defend its airspace, puts Israel in a better place strategically to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iraq has yet to assemble a force of jet fighters, and since the shortest route for Israeli strike fighters to Iran is through Iraqi airspace, observers conclude that the U.S. exit makes the Jewish state’s mission planning a lot easier.

Australian Banks Given One Week To Prepare For European “Meltdown”
Zero Hedge - According to the Australian Finance Review (link - subscription required), banks down under "have been given 1 week by regulators to stress test how they would handle a spike in joblessness, plunge in home prices spurred by EU debt crisis." Aka a European "Meltdown."

China trims holdings of US Treasury debt
WASHINGTON (AP) -- China bought less U.S. Treasury debt in October and total foreign holdings dipped for the first time since July. Total foreign holdings of Treasury debt edged down 0.1 percent to $4.66 trillion, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

Putin lashes out at McCain, says US drones, commandos killed Gaddafi
RT - Vladimir Putin has lashed out at John McCain over his threats that the PM may face same fate as the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The Russian premier speculated that the US senator has been traumatized by his POW experience. Putin presented his version of how Gaddafi was killed, and it allocates a dubious place for NATO in the scenario.

‘Europe puts nose in Russia’s internal business’
RT - Russia’s parliamentary parties have severely criticized the European Parliament’s resolution calling for new State Duma election, labeling it interference in the country’s domestic affairs. They have also demanded that it stop such “escapades”.

Third Nuke Test May Allow North Korea to Miniaturize Bombs: Expert
A third nuclear test is likely to give North Korea the capacity to build nuclear warheads compact enough to be fitted to a missile, the Yonhap News Agency quoted a U.S. expert as saying on Wednesday (see GSN, Dec. 13). "If North Korea conducts a third nuclear test, that will be very risky. If another of the North's nuclear tests is successful, I believe that North Korea will succeed in the necessary miniaturization within a few years," said Siegfried Hecker, who last year was given a tour of the Stalinist state's new uranium enrichment plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.

VIDEO:4,500 troops poorer: US lowers flag on Iraq campaign
RT - The US wraps up its official military campaign in Iraq on Thursday. An official ceremony to lower the American flag in Baghdad was attended by top US and Iraqi officers.

VIDEO: 3,500 Troops To Occupy London During Olympics
BBC - Up to 13,500 military personnel will help to provide security at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Ministry of Defense has announced.... In addition to the 13,500 figure, there will be a 1,000-strong unarmed contingency force ready for deployment in the event of an "Olympics-related civil emergency". The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it now estimated 23,700 security staff would be required at Olympic and Paralympic venues next summer, more than double the original estimate of 10,000.,,, And as part of the military's Olympic security role, the Royal Navy's HMS Ocean and HMS Bulwark will also be based at Greenwich, in London, and Weymouth Bay, in Dorset, respectively.

Ron Paul on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Congressman Ron Paul will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Friday, December 16th at 11:35 p.m. Eastern.

VIDEO: Ron Paul Highlights in Final GOP Debate before Iowa
December 15, 2011 9:00 p.m. Sioux City Convention Center, Sioux City, IA

VIDEO: Ron Paul on Hannity Post Debate Interview
Ron Paul interviewed by Sean Hannity following the debate (12/15/11).

POLLS: Who Won the 12/15/11 Fox News Iowa GOP Debate?
 * Fox News: Ron Paul 62%
 * Fox News Radio: Ron Paul 94%
 * The Swash: Ron Paul 93%
 * We Polls: Ron Paul 90%
 * World: Ron Paul 66%
 * Your Political News Group: Ron Paul 95%
 * National Review: Ron Paul 62%

Ron Paul: Strike against Iran would risk a repeat of 'useless' Iraq war
La Times - Ron Paul did it again. The libertarian-minded Republican separated himself from the pack of candidates at tonight's debate by urging restraint in response to a possible Iranian nuclear threat, saying the U.S. can ill afford a repeat of its now-concluded war in Iraq. Paul said there was "no U.N. evidence" that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program, calling claims to the contrary "war propaganda."

Bargainers reach deal to head off gov't shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional negotiators reached agreement Thursday on a compromise spending bill to avert a weekend federal shutdown. They also worked toward a deal renewing the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits for another year but prepared a shorter version as a fallback.

Feds issue scathing report against Ariz. sheriff
PHOENIX (AP) -- A scathing U.S. Justice Department report released Thursday found that Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office carried out a blatant pattern of discrimination against Latinos and held a "systematic disregard" for the Constitution amid a series of immigration crackdowns that have turned the lawman into a prominent national political figure. Arpaio struck a defiant tone in response to the report, calling it a politically motivated attack by the Obama administration that will make Arizona unsafe by keeping illegal immigrants on the street.

Friday! Ron Paul Tea Party Moneybomb - December 16, 2011
Short Message from Ron Paul: On December 16th 2007 Ron Paul supporters launched the modern day Tea Party with a record setting 6.4 million dollar money bomb. Dr. Paul challenges supporters to replicate those results in order to win the Republican Primary in 2012. Spread the message!

VIDEO: CNN Admits Ron Paul Could Win Iowa
Paul Joseph Watson - The CNN report highlights how Ron Paul’s campaign office in Des Moines was a “hub of activity” while Mitt Romney’s campaign office was “still closed at mid -morning”. If Paul can secure a strong third place finish in Iowa or beat one of the two establishment candidates, his position as a presidential frontrunner will be firmly locked in for the rest of the 2012 race. A separate American Research Group poll [Poll still active showing Paul at 78%] has Paul tied in second with Romney with Gingrich ahead in Iowa.

YouTube: Ron Paul Interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News 12-15-11
Ron Paul 'Americans Are Coming Around To Liberty'

YouTube: Maddow “Ron Paul Is The Only Presidential Candidate That Doesn’t Want To Start Another War!”
December 13, 2011 MSNBC

VIDEO: Chris Wallace: Iowa ‘won’t count’ if Ron Paul wins
Fox News host Chris Wallace doesn’t want Republicans to go wasting their votes on Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s campaign. Wallace, who is moderating a Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto on Wednesday that a Paul win would “discredit” the Iowa caucuses.

YouTube: Ron Paul Packs The House At New Hampshire Town Hall!
MSNBC - Covers Ron Paul speaking about ending the regulation on raw milk.

House Vote on Conference Report: H.R. 1540: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Dec 14, 2011 - Congress just passed the National Defense Authorization Act in a 283-to-136 vote. Here is the list of who voted for and against the bill.

Big Sis Orders ICE To Prepare For Mass Influx of Immigrants
Paul Joseph Watson - Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano has directed ICE to prepare for a mass influx of immigrants into the United States, calling for the plan to deal with the “shelter” and “processing” of large numbers of people. “The Department of Homeland Security wants a plan to deal with sudden mass migrations of immigrants to the U.S.,” reports Government Security News.

YouTube: DHS advising suspicion of people who don't use credit cards
Taken from a new Department of Homeland Security propaganda video.

Chemical Weapons Countermeasures Deployed Around U.S.
The U.S. government has deployed roughly 2,000 containers filled with nerve-agent countermeasures around the country, the Independence, Mo., Examiner reported on Saturday.....Thirty-eight containers have been distributed across Missouri, including 11 around Kansas City. "A chemical incident could occur. It could occur anywhere, and it could occur anytime," said Mark Pethan, Strategic National Stockpile planner at the state's Health and Senior Services Department (Jeff Fox, Examiner, Dec. 10).

VIDEO: Wayne Madsen: Holder’s Fast & Furious was Designed to Destablize Mexican Government
Infowars Nightly News - Wayne Madsen has learned from his contacts within the Beltway intelligence community that Jared Lee Loughner is an “MK-ULTRA” programmed assassin and that US District Judge John Roll and Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords were targeted for assassination. The reason for the decision to target Judge Roll and Congresswoman Giffords has to do with their knowledge of the malicious and purposeful arming of Mexican drug gangs along the US-Mexico border by US intelligence agency assets in an effort designed to destablize the Mexican government.

US Marines mail Christmas gifts to the dead
RT - The US Marines were extra thoughtful this holiday season and sent around 9,000 Christmas ornaments to servicemen and women last week. Among those on their list this season, however, were over 1,000 deceased veterans.... By Wednesday afternoon, ABC News reports that at least 35 families have contracted the Marines with shock and disbelief over the multi-billion dollar budget for the Department of Defense somehow couldn’t afford a few red pens to cross a handful of names off.

Rise Of The Beast System: 11 Ways That Amerika Is Becoming More Like North Korea
American Dream - Should we just get it over with and change the spelling of America to "Amerika"? Every single day, the United States of America is becoming more like North Korea. In North Korea, the citizens are told that everything that they do needs to be monitored, tracked, recorded and very tightly controlled so that everyone can be kept safe. No dissent is allowed at all.

Today in History - Thursday - December 15, 2011
1791 - In the U.S., the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, went into effect following ratification by the state of Virginia.
1840 - Napoleon Bonapart's remains were interred in Les Invalides in Paris, having been brought from St. Helena, where he died in exile.
1854 - In Philadelphia, the first street cleaning machine was put into use.
1877 - Thomas Edison patented the phonograph.
1890 - American Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, SD, during an incident with Indian police working for the U.S. government.
1925 - The third Madison Square Gardens opened.
1938 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt presided over the ground-breaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC.
1939 - "Gone With the Wind," produced by David O. Selznick based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell, premiered at Loew's Grand Theater in Atlanta. The movie starred Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.
1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into practice Bill of Rights Day.
1944 - A single-engine plane carrying U.S. Army Major Glenn Miller disappeared in thick fog over the English Channel while en route to Paris.
1944 - American forces invaded Mindoro Island in the Philippines.
1944 - Dr. R. Townley Paton and a small group of doctors laid the groundwork for the Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration.
1961 - Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem by an Israeli court. He had been tried on charges for organizing the deportation of Jews to concentration camps.
1970 - The Soviet probe Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to land softly on the surface of Venus.
1973 - J. Paul Getty III was found in southern Italy after being held captive for five months, during which his right ear was cut off and sent to a newspaper in Rome.
1978 - U.S. President Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China on New Year's Day and sever official relations with Taiwan.
1979 - The former shah of Iran, Muhammad Riza Pahlavi, left the U.S. for Panama. He had gone to the U.S. for medical treatment on Oct. 22,1979.
1979 - In a preliminary ruling, the International Court of Justice ordered Iran to release all hostages that had been taken at the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979.
1983 - The last 80 U.S. combat soldiers in Grenada withdrew. It was just over seven weeks after the U.S.-led invasion of the Caribbean island.
1989 - An uprising in Romania began as demonstrators gathered to prevent the arrest of the Reverend Laszlo Tokes, a dissident clergyman.
1992 - IBM announced it would eliminate 25-thousand employees in the coming year.
1995 - The U.N. Security Council authorized NATO to take over the peacekeeping operations in Bosnia.
1996 - Boeing Co. announced plans to pay $13.3 billion to acquire rival aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas Corp.
2000 - The Chernobyl atomic power plant in Kiev, Ukraine, was shut down.
2000 - New York Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton agreed to accept an $8 million book deal with Simon & Schuster. The book was to be about her eight years in the White House. The advance was the highest ever to be paid to a member of the U.S. Congress.

VIDEO: US says Syrian regime is doomed
RT - A US official has said the Assad regime is doomed and has urged Syria’s opposition to prepare to take control. Meanwhile the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has called on the international community to take action to stop the violence. The US State Department official, Frederic Hof, compared the regime of President Bashar Assad to a “dead man walking,” and said it was difficult to determine how much time Assad has left in power but stressed “I do not see this regime surviving.”

Cheney Urges Attack on Iran to Destroy Lost Drone
Speaking today on CNN, former Vice President Dick Cheney lashed President Barack Obama over the loss of a surveillance drone in Iran, saying that he should’ve doubled down on being caught spying with an overt attack on Iran.

U.S. military marks end of its war in Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military officially ended its war in Iraq on Thursday, packing up a military flag at a ceremony with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. The last 4,000 American troops will withdraw by the end of the year, leaving Iraq still tackling a weakened but stubborn insurgency, sectarian tensions and political uncertainty. "After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real," Panetta said at the ceremony.

Panetta formally shuts down US war in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) - After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and more than $800 billion, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq - a conflict that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the price in blood and money, as it set Iraq on a path to democracy. Panetta stepped off his military plane in Baghdad Thursday as the leader of America's war in Iraq, but will leave as one of many top U.S. and global officials who hope to work with the struggling nation as it tries to find its new place in the Middle East and the broader world.

Panetta Says Drone Campaign Over Iran Will Continue
Fox News - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in an exclusive interview with Fox News, said that the stealth drone campaign along the Iran-Afghanistan border will "absolutely" continue despite the loss of a valuable and sophisticated drone to Iran.

German General: NATO to Leave 15,000 Troops in Afghanistan After ‘Withdrawal’
Speaking today at a NATO conference in Mons, Belgium, top German General Manfred Lange said he is “extraordinarily confident” that NATO will complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. But just because the dictionary definition of “withdrawal” would indicate that NATO wouldn’t be occupying the nation after that point doesn’t mean they’re not going to keep a major military footprint there going forward, as Gen. Lange says that NATO will keep “around 15,000? troops there from 2015 on.

Inside Wukan: the Chinese village that fought back
Telegraph - For the first time on record, the Chinese Communist party has lost all control, with the population of 20,000 in this southern fishing village now in open revolt. The last of Wukan’s dozen party officials fled on Monday after thousands of people blocked armed police from retaking the village, standing firm against tear gas and water cannons.

YouTube: lobal warming phantom menace, Kyoto costs & hurts a lot'
RT - France, Japan and China have lashed out at Canada for pulling out of the 1997 Kyoto climate change agreement. The move, which was legal and expected, came as the country said the accord hampered its development. Peter Lilley, a Conservative MP in Britain is sympathetic, saying these commitments are enormously expensive investments in a very uncertain future.

Rare photos of CIA drone 'Bugsplat' bodies in secret blackhole battle released
The Examiner - Prominent human rights defender Clive Stafford Smith, head of legal action charity Reprieve, has helped release rare photographs Monday of tribal childrens' and other innocent civilians' bodies after attacked by President Barack Obama's weapon of choice, drones, used by U.S. military and CIA in the president's undeclared secret war on Pakistan. Stafford Smith has threatened to suit the U.S. embassy in Pakistan for its complicity in civilian deaths by drones, part of the program officially called by U.S. authorites, "Bugsplat."

Syrian activists say more than 25 killed
BEIRUT (AP) - Violence across Syria killed at least 25 people Wednesday, including eight soldiers who were gunned down by army defectors in a retaliatory ambush after government troops destroyed a civilian car, activists said. It was the second day in a row in which an attack by President Bashar Assad's forces on civilians appears to have brought a quick and deadly act of revenge by anti-regime fighters. The ambush was the latest sign that the once-peaceful protest movement is growing into an insurgency.

Panetta: US at turning point in Afghanistan war
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday the U.S. will continue to conduct intelligence operations from Afghanistan like the recent mission that led to the loss of a drone over Iran, and he gave an upbeat assessment of the unpopular war. Standing with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Panetta provided a cryptic response to questions about the lost drone, which has exposed details of the little-known U.S. intelligence and surveillance efforts aimed at Iran.

China slaps anti-dumping duties on US-made cars
SHANGHAI (AP) -- China has imposed duties on imports of some U.S.-made vehicles, claiming damage from foreign automakers due to dumping and subsidies in the latest round of trade friction between the two countries.... The duties range from 2 percent to 21.5 percent. The ministry's notice named General Motors Co., Chrysler Group Ltd., Mercedes - Benz U.S. International Inc., BMW's factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Honda of America Manufacturing Co. as among the companies affected.

EU gives $5.3 million to help preserve Auschwitz
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Authorities at the Auschwitz memorial say that the European Commission has donated euro4 million ($5.3 million) to help preserve the site of the World War II Nazi death camp.

Hundreds in Fallujah burn U.S. flag to celebrate troops pulling out of Iraq
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Hundreds of Iraqis set alight U.S. and Israeli flags on Wednesday as they celebrated the impending pullout of American forces from the country in the former insurgent bastion of Fallujah. Shouting slogans in support of the “resistance,” the demonstrators held up banners and placards inscribed with phrases like, “Now we are free” and “Fallujah is the flame of the resistance.”

Some major U.S. hotels moving into Iraq
Some major U.S. hotel chains are planning to go into Iraq just as the last of U.S. troops are pulling out. Best Western recently broke ground on two hotels in Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan in the northern part of the country. Hilton Worldwide is set to open DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Erbil at the end of 2013. And Marriott International will open two properties there in 2014. Hotel executives say they see an opportunity in northern Iraq, which is attracting so much foreign investment because of its oil and gas reserves that a new airport opened there last year.

Australia Vaccine Scheme Extorts Families Through Tax Credits
Activist Post - In a new plan announced by the Australian Government, parents who do not subject their children to toxic vaccinations will be stripped of their family tax benefits, a scheme which could end up costing parents up to $2,100 per child, according to a report by ABC News. In order for families to receive the Family Tax Benefit (FTB), and end of the year tax supplement, they will have to show proof of their child’s vaccination at yearly “immunization” checks. These checks will be conducted starting at the first year of life for every child.

Brazilian bandits steal 55 tons of corn from moving train
(NaturalNews) It is no secret that the cost of food is rising, and this is due to inflation of fiat currencies around the world and a growing shortage of staple food crops. As predicted, thieves are increasingly targeting food rather than inedible goods and money because of its increasing value, as was the case in Brazil recently when criminals stole 55 tons of corn from a moving train.

To the Military: The Bill of Rights is Still The Highest Law of the Land
While we see the arrogance of the Politicians in Washington DC out in plain sight. Many Police and Military personal will be asked to arrest citizens for reasons they may not know about. It maybe for their speech or political affiliation is why they are arrested. They have not committed any acts of violence and not even attacked the system in anyway to cause physical harm to their opposition or innocent people.

YouTube: A message from John Tate about the Ron Paul Tea Party Money Bomb
We've assembled a 1st class campaign plan and we need your help to execute it on December 16th.

Google UnEarths Image of Secret US Drone Base in Nevada
Intel Hub - Google Earth has published images of a secret US airfield in Nevada. The images indicate that the base is used to test and maintain unmanned drones. And now, the publication is fueling a debate about whether Google is compromising US security.

Rahm looks for more power, ability to deputize during G8
CHICAGO (WLS) - Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants big new powers to help stage the NATO and G8 summits here in Chicago next May. WLS Radio’s Bill Cameron reports from City Hall that the mayor is asking the aldermen to give him temporary authority to close all of the city’s parks, playgrounds and beaches at 11 p.m. during the NATO and G8 summits. He also wants to add more security cameras, deputize more people to be police officers and dramatically raise fines on protesters who don’t obey the police. Also requested has the ability to give him more freedom to execute contracts for goods and services connected to the NATO and G8 summits.

Get me re-write: Gingrich site mentions '3 wives'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rick Perry isn't the only one to have an "oops" moment in the Republican presidential contest. An article on Newt Gingrich's official website is headlined "A Tale of Three Wives: Life on the Campaign Trail." It's a short, feel-good piece about Gingrich's wife, Callista, and the wives of Perry and Jon Huntsman. It might, however, remind viewers that Callista is Gingrich's third wife. His divorces from the first two - he has acknowledged marital infidelity in both marriages - are a subject of campaign conversation and perhaps some difficulty with religiously conservative voters.

‘Indefinite Detention’ Bill Heads To Obama’s Desk As White House Drops Veto Threat
Paul Joseph Watson - UPDATE: Obama has dropped his threat to veto the bill and is now expected to sign it into law. Remember – it was Obama’s White House that demanded the law apply to U.S. citizens in the first place. “The House on Wednesday afternoon approved the rule for the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), setting up an hour of debate and a vote in the House later this afternoon,” reports the Hill.

Ron Paul gains ground, further stirring Republicans
(Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul declared on Wednesday his campaign was "peaking at the right time" as polls show him closing in on the two perceived front-runners.

Final GOP Debate before Iowa Caucuses - Sioux City Thursday December 15, 2011
On December 15, 2011 9:00 pm at the Sioux City Convention Center, Sioux City, IA Congressman Ron Paul will attend the Republican Presidential Debate. Also in attendance will be Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and Mitt Romney. According to Patch.com The debate will be moderated by Bret Baier of FOX News and will be televised on the FOX News channel and live-streamed on YouTube, in addition to FOX News Radio, FOX News Mobile and FOXNews.com.

YouTube: Ron Paul on CNN w/ Wolf Blitzer
Ron Paul on CNN w/ Wolf Blitzer 12-14-11.

YouTube: Ron Paul on Your World With Neil Cavuto
Ron Paul on Fox News with Neil Cavuto 12/14/11. (The Hannity Radio Show canceled Ron Paul's Interview scheduled for 12/14/11.)

Andrew Sullivan Endorses Ron Paul
Andrew Sullivan has one of the largest readerships in the world and is one if the preeminent conservative voices in modern politics!

NPR On Point: An In-Depth Look At Ron Paul. Ron Paul, 2012 Contender? Spoiler? Hero?
Texas congressman and libertarian-minded Republican Ron Paul has been in politics for a long time now. Twelve terms in the House. More than one swing – typically quixotic – at the presidency. But never has Ron Paul’s sway been as apparent and his presidential ambitions as on fire as they are right now. The country is worried, and Ron Paul is a refreshingly candid “true believer” with an answer. Slash government to the bone. Bring the troops home from everywhere. Scrap the Fed. Defend personal liberty. And go free market. This hour, On Point: the banner year of Ron Paul.

YouTube: Ron Paul Wins Pasco County FL GOP Straw Poll!
Florida Pasco County Straw Poll 12-13-2011.

YouTube: U.S. military veterans and active duty soldiers overwhelmingly support Ron Paul - Find out why
This video is the deal changer! You like Ron Paul, except on foreign policy?

House passes $662 billion defense bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House passed a massive $662 billion defense bill Wednesday night after last-minute changes placated the White House and ensured President Barack Obama's ability to prosecute terrorist suspects in the civilian justice system. The vote was 283-136 and reflected the strong support for annual legislation that authorizes money for the men and women of the military as well as weapons systems and the millions of jobs they generate in lawmakers' districts.

40 Members of Congress Protest ‘Indefinite Detention’ Bill
Paul Joseph Watson - 40 members of Congress have sent an urgent letter to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders protesting provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act that would legalize indefinite detention of American citizens without trial, as the revised version of the bill heads for a final vote on Thursday.

Penn State figures accused of lying head to court
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) -- Jerry Sandusky's decision Tuesday to waive his preliminary hearing shifts the focus in the child sex-abuse scandal to two Penn State administrators accused of failing to properly report suspected abuse and lying to the grand jury investigating Sandusky.

Time names 'The Protester' as 'Person of Year'
NEW YORK (AP) -- "The Protester" has been named Time's "Person of the Year" for 2011. The selection was announced Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show. The magazine cited dissent across the Middle East that has spread to Europe and the United States, and says these protesters are reshaping global politics.... Time said it is recognizing protesters because they are "redefining people power" around the world.

YouTube: Reality Check: Has the Patriot Act thwarted 42 terror attacks?
How do the presidential candidates feel about the Patriot Act? Ben has the reality check that you wont see anywhere else. You can find the article on 30 Terrorist Plots Foiled: How the System Worked here.

Want to end Mexican drug gang violence? Legalize drugs and the cartels will collapse
(NaturalNews) Rather than curb their prolific use and propagation around the world, the global "war on drugs" has actually made the drug problem worse. According to the latest statistics, drug use around the world is on the rise in almost every category, despite the numerous anti-drug policies in place to supposedly curb their use. Heightened government crackdowns on drug trafficking in many countries have actually led to more, not less, drug-related gang violence.

Defend the Bill of Rights for All of Us
OWS - On Bill of Rights Day, Thursday, Dec 15 there will be a Press Conference on Federal Court Steps, 40 Centre St., Manhattan, 11am. A coffin of the Bill of Rights will be brought to Federal Court Foley Square, NY, NY.

Today in History - Wednesday - December 14, 2011
1799 - The first president of the United States, George Washington, died at the age 67.
1819 - Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.
1900 - Professor Max Planck of Berlin University revealed his revolutionary Quantum Theory.
1903 - Orville Wright made the first attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled during take-off and the plane was damaged in the attempt. Three days later, after repairs were made, the modern aviation age was born when the plane stayed aloft for 12 seconds and flew 102 feet.
1911 - Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole.
1918 - For the first time in Britain women (over 30) voted in a General Election.
1939 - The Soviet Union was dropped from the League of Nations.
1945 - Josef Kramer,and 10 others were executed in Hamelin for the crimes they committed at the Belsen and Auschwitz Nazi concentration camps.
1946 - The U.N. General Assembly voted to establish the United Nation's headquarters in New York City.
1983 - The U.S. battleship New Jersey fired on Syrian positions in Lebanon for the first time after American F-14 reconnaissance flights were fired on.
1984 - Howard Cosell retired from the NFL's Monday Night Football.
1993 - A judge in Colorado struck down the state's voter-approved Amendment Two prohibiting gay rights laws, calling it unconstitutional.
1995 - The presidents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia signed the Dayton Accords to end fighting in Bosnia.
1995 - AIDS patient Jeff Getty received the first-ever bone-marrow transplant from a baboon.
1997 - Cuban President Fidel Castro declared Christmas 1997 an official holiday to ensure the success of Pope John Paul II's upcoming visit to Cuba.
1998 - Hundreds of Palestinian leaders renounced a call for the destruction of Israel.
1999 - U.S. and German negotiators agreed to establish a $5.2 billion fund for Nazi-era slave and forced laborers.
1999 - Charles M. Schulz announced he was retiring the "Peanuts" comic strip. The last original "Peanuts" comic strip was published on February 13, 2000.
2000 - It was announced that American businessman Edmond Pope would be released from a Russian prison for humanitarian reasons. Pope had been sentenced to 20 years in prison after his conviction on espionage charges.
2001 - European Union leaders agreed to dispatch 3,000-4,000 troops to join an international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
2001 - The first commercial export, since 1963, of U.S. food to Cuba began. The 24,000 metric tons for corn were being sent to replenish what was lost when Hurricane Michelle struck on November 4.

US halts $700 million in aid to Pakistan, demands action on Taliban bombs
MSNBC - A senior Pakistani official told NBC News the United States' decision to cut aid to Pakistan would only contribute to the growing sense of anti-Americanism within the population. He said the cut would deepen the perception within Pakistan that U.S. interests extend so far as its own foreign policy goals and would "strengthen our resolve to formalize and renegotiate our terms of engagement with USA."

Oil Prices Go Nuts After Rumors That Iran Closed The Strait Of Hormuz
Business Insider - ZeroHedge reported real-time analyst Ransquawk confirmed the straight was closed and it was enough to send traders scrambling. Seeking Alpha reported, "Crude oil spikes $2 in minutes to $100.45/barrel on a report Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz "until further notice," for a military exercise." By 10:40 a.m. EDT oil had jumped from $98.590 before the rumor, to $101.25 at its peak, and has settled to $100.30 — still sitting almost $2 higher than before the supposition began.

Israel: Iran must chose between a bomb or survival
Breitbart - "We believe that in order to stop the Iranian military nuclear project, the regime in Tehran should face a dilemma -- whether to have a bomb or to survive," Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon told reporters in Jerusalem. Yaalon said however it was for the international community, rather than Israel, to apply what he called an "achievable" policy. "We prefer that the international community led by the United States will bring about this dilemma in order to convince the regime to give up its military nuclear programme," he said, stressing the need for political isolation and economic sanctions aimed at the banking and oil sectors.

Iran Indicts 15 in Alleged US-Israeli Spy Ring
ABC News - The accused in the case were individuals who committed acts of espionage against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said Tuesday, according to several Iranian news reports. Dolatabadi did not name the alleged spies, who are suspected of having ties to the American CIA and Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. Iran's intelligence minister, Heidar Moleshi, announced in May the alleged discovery of a CIA-directed spy network in Iran of more than 30 people, according to Iran's Fars News Agency. In November, Moleshi said another 12 spies had been uncovered.

US LOSES ANOTHER DRONE, THIS TIME IN SEYCHELLES
Washington Post - One of the Air Force’s premier drones crashed Tuesday morning in the Seychelles, the Indian Ocean archipelago that serves as a base for anti-piracy operations, as well as U.S. surveillance missions over Somalia. The crash of the MQ-9 Reaper comes roughly two weeks after a U.S. drone went down in Iran. The Seychelles, where U.S. officials have worked closely with local officials to establish the drone base, is hardly enemy territory, and the drone that crashed Tuesday was operated by the Air Force, not the CIA, which operated the stealth RQ-170 that crashed in Iran.

Hu urges navy to prepare for combat
Yahoo News - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urged the navy to prepare for military combat, amid growing regional tensions over maritime disputes and a US campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power. The navy should "accelerate its transformation and modernisation in a sturdy way, and make extended preparations for military combat in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security," he said.

EU PLOTS REVENGE ON BRITAIN
European economics commissioner Olli Rehn insisted that the EU could override the Prime Minister’s veto to slap more regulation on the City of London. And he vowed that Brussels would ignore Mr Cameron’s bid to protect British finance and British jobs. Finnish-born Mr Rehn said: “If this move was intended to prevent bankers and financial corporations in the City from being regulated, that is not going to happen. We must all draw lessons from the financial crisis and that goes for the financial sector as well.”

U.S. probing alleged cyberattack plot by Venezuela, Iran
Washington Times - U.S. officials are investigating reports that Iranian and Venezuelan diplomats in Mexico were involved in planned cyberattacks against U.S. targets, including nuclear power plants. Allegations about the cyberplot were aired last week in a documentary on the Spanish-language TV network Univision, which included secretly recorded footage of Iranian and Venezuelan diplomats being briefed on the planned attacks and promising to pass information to their governments.

Syrian defectors hit back as death toll tops 5,000
Army defectors ambushed a Syrian security patrol Tuesday, killing seven in revenge for a raid that cost 11 civilian lives, activists said, as the UN estimated more than 5,000 have died in the crackdown. State media said Syrian border guards shot dead two "terrorists" from Turkey in other violence after a UN Security Council meeting at which Western nations stepped up pressure to condemn the deadly campaign against dissent.

US troops surround Syria on the eve of invasion?
RT - A former official from within the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is reporting that US and NATO forces have landed outside of Syria and are training militants to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, formerly a translator with the FBI, wrote over the weekend that American soldiers are among the NATO troops that have mysteriously and suddenly landed on the Jordanian and Syrian border. According to her, several sources internationally have confirmed the news, although the US media has been instructed to temporarily censor itself from reporting the news.

Attack in Belgian city leaves 5 dead, 122 wounded
Summoned for questioning by Belgian police, a man with a history of weapons and drug offenses left home armed with hand grenades, a revolver and an assault rifle. Stopping at a central square filled with holiday shoppers.

EU bans export of execution drug to US
RT - Sorry, Rick Perry. Your world-famous Texas executions might have to be put on hold for a little bit. One of the only exporters left of the death drugs used to kill American inmates is pulling the plug on sending shipments abroad. The entire European Union is looking to put a halt on the export of certain barbituric acids starting at the end of this week, and among those impacted by the ban is sodium thiopental, the anesthetic used in the execution cocktail favored by many of the American states that still impose the death penalty.

YouTube: Dangerous Weather Alert UK as Winds Hit 230 mph
One of the stormiest periods the UK has seen for several years is set to continue this week with heavy rain, strong winds and snow for parts of the country.

Declaration Of Orders We Will Not Obey
List of Declaration of Orders Oath Keepers Will NOT Obey because "we will consider them unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral violations of the natural rights of the people. Such orders would be acts of war against the American people by their own government, and thus acts of treason. We will not make war against our own people. We will not commit treason. We will defend the Republic."

10 Ridiculous Things That Make You a Terror Suspect
Activist Post - You thought you weren't doing anything wrong, so why should you care about who they call a terrorist? Well, you may not believe it, but you're likely a terror suspect in America's new paradigm of the Land of the Fear.

Admiral: Indefinite Military Detention Of U.S. Citizens Is A Big Win For Terrorists: “The Enemy Is Just Laughing Over This"
To Ret. Adm. John Hutson, who was Judge Advocate General of the Navy from 1997 to 2000 and is dean emeritus of the University of New Hampshire School of Law, the idea that the United States is chipping away at one of its fundamental principles of civilian law enforcement is a win for terrorists. He thinks Obama should be very concerned about the detainee provisions, and explained why passage of them would be a victory for terrorists, who he argued cannot beat the United States on the battlefield. Instead, he said terrorists have to focus their attacks and violence on getting the United States to beat itself. And infringing on its own liberties is a step in that direction, he said.

Should you leave the USA before the collapse? Words of wisdom from someone who tried
(NaturalNews) One of the most common questions I'm asked today from people who are aware of what's really going on is, "Should I leave the USA to get away from the coming police state?" Three years ago, I would have said YES, but today, after having experienced such an effort myself and now having a clear understanding of the ramifications of such an effort, I must urge people to reconsider. As you'll read here, you may ultimately be far safer and more successful living right where you are, in your "home country," even if that home country becomes a police state.

Lawmakers seek consumer advocates to protect travelers from TSA abuses
Activist Post - United States Senator Charles Schumer and New York state Senator Michael Gianaris of Queens have proposed that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) create a consumer advocate to quickly act on passenger complaints over security screenings.

Public Policy Polling - Iowa: Gingrich 22%, Paul 21%, Romney 16%
There has been some major movement in the Republican Presidential race in Iowa over the last week, with what was a 9 point lead for Newt Gingrich now all the way down to a single point. Gingrich is at 22% to 21% for Paul with Mitt Romney at 16%... Gingrich has dropped 5 points in the last week and he's also seen a significant decline in his favorability numbers.

YouTube: Michael Savage: I would sleep better at night with Ron Paul as president
Radio Commentary Aired Live on December 12, 2011.

In Case You Missed It: ‘The Daily Iowan’ Endorses Ron Paul for President
The Daily Iowan Editorial Board endorses Texas Rep. Ron Paul for the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses. The reasons for endorsing Paul over the other Republican contenders are numerous and warranted. The differences between their beliefs on governing primarily motivate our decision. Paul is a candidate who appeals to voters across the political spectrum. He has also been exceptionally consistent in his time in Congress. He doesn't play political games — even with his opponents — and remains truthful to his word. This alone is a redeeming quality in a candidate in today's political sphere.

VIDEO: Ron Paul: Fast & Furious a Criminal False Flag
Kurt Nimmo - Ron Paul said AG Eric Holder should be fired immediately and investigated by Congress. Appearing on the Alex Jones Show today, Texas Rep. and presidential candidate Ron Paul said Attorney General Eric Holder should be fired immediately and Congress should investigate his role in the Fast and Furious operation run by the ATF and the Justice Department.

Trump debate appearance canceled
Politico - Donald Trump has bowed out of moderating the Newsmax debate in Iowa later, announcing his decision in a statement saying he will not give up the option of running for president as an independent.

Sheriff’s Department Sponsors Secret Meeting On Small Government ‘Terrorists’
Paul Joseph Watson - The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department has teamed up with the Anti-Defamation League to sponsor a quasi-secret meeting in Camarillo, California that characterizes small government activists as violent terrorists. Entitled The Sovereign Citizen Movement: Exploring Their Ideology & Indicators, the conference is set to take place on January 5th, 2012 and is only open to “Public Safety Personnel”. The precise location of the meeting is only made known to “reviewed and cleared” attendees, a measure of secrecy crafted to imply that members of the Sovereign Citizen movement are a potential violent threat.

Ron Paul furious over indefinite detention act
RT - Outside of the independent media, opposition to NDAA has remained almost nonexistent, with the mainstream neglecting to discuss the colossal implications the bill would have if it is signed into law. Speaking to radio host Alex Jones on Tuesday, however, Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul finally became one of the first main figures to attack the act. “This is a giant step – this should be the biggest news going right now – literally legalizing martial law,” said Paul. The congressman from Texas also appeared flabbergasted that the bill managed to escape discussion in any of the recent GOP debates, despite its provisions being detrimental to the US Constitution and the freedom of every man, woman and child in America.

Obama to slash National Guard force on border
Washington Times - Citing budget cuts, the Obama administration early next year will cut the number of National Guard troops patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border by at least half, according to a congressman who was briefed on the plan. The National Guard said an announcement will be made by the White House “in the near future,” but Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who has learned of the plans, said slashing the deployment in half is the minimum number, and he said it will mean reshuffling the remaining troops along the nearly 2,000-mile border.

Sandusky waives hearing on sex abuse charges
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky stunned a packed courtroom and backed out of a preliminary hearing at the last minute Tuesday, avoiding a face-to-face confrontation with accusers who his lawyer said were just trying to cash in by making up stories of child sex abuse. Sandusky pleaded not guilty and vowed afterward to "stay the course, to fight for four quarters." Related video here.

T&A: Officials Propose Ban On Full-Body Scanners At Ft Lauderdale Airport Over Radiation
CBS News - The ban would be in place until the scanners have scientifically been proven safe for passengers. The Commission is expected to take up the issue Tuesday and the TSA will have a spokesperson there to argue for the government’s position.

Cops use Predator drone to arrest ND farm family -- for 'stealing six cows'
Mail Online - Meet the Brossarts, a North Dakota family deemed so dangerous that the local sheriff needed unleashed an unmanned Predator drone to help bring them in. The Brossart's alleged crime? They wouldn't give back three cows and their calves that wandered onto their 3,000-acre farm this summer.

VIDEO: 'Keep Christ In Christmas’ Sign Stirs Controversy In South Jersey Town
PITMAN, N.J. (CBS) – Some residents of a South Jersey town are calling a Knights of Columbus banner that hangs over Broadway in Pitman, a sign of the season. It reads “Keep Christ in Christmas.” “I think it’s wonderful, Christ is Christmas,” said Maria Marandino of Vineland. Some unnamed residents who live in Pitman and who believe the sign that hangs across Main Street violates the Constitution, contacted the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Wisconsin that promotes separation of church and state. The group’s consultant told Eyewitness News by phone that they’ve asked the town to remove the sign.

DC Resident Fined Thousands -- For Not Recycling Cat Litter!
WASHINGTON - It's the law in D.C. - recycle or face a fine from the Department of Public Works. But is enforcement of the law going too far? Dupont Circle resident Patricia White says she has been fined eight times for throwing homemade cat litter in her trash. The fines total $2,000. White says she shreds old newspaper and junk mail to use as cat litter. She believes she is helping the environment by reusing the paper and avoiding cat litter you will find in stores.

OWS to open second camp in NYC
RT - Demonstrations with the Occupy Wall Street movement are only days away from their next staged protest and hope to reestablish a presence in Manhattan with an even slated for this weekend. To commemorate four months to the day since Occupy Wall Street began in New York City’s Zuccotti Park, protesters will march one mile north from the since-shut-down hub of the campaign in an attempt to claim a nearby greenery to further their movement.

Highlights of the #D12 West Coast Port Shutdown
OWS Dec. 12, 2011.

YouTube: Occupy Protesters Set Up Barricade To Shutdown Port Of Seattle
December 12, 2011 KOMO 4 News.

Today in History - Tuesday - December 13, 2011
1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.
1769 - Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, received its charter.
1809 - The first abdominal surgical procedure was performed in Danville, KY, on Jane Todd Crawford. The operation was performed without an anesthetic.
1862 - In America, an estimated 11,000 Northern soldiers were killed or wounded when Union forces were defeated by Confederates under General Robert E. Lee, at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
1884 - Percy Everitt received a patent for the first coin-operated weighing machine.
1913 - The Federal Reserve System was established.
1918 - U.S. President Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first chief executive to visit a European country while holding office.
1921 - Britain, France, Japan and the United States signed the Pacific Treaty.
1944 - During World War II, the U.S. cruiser Nashville was badly damaged in a Japanese kamikaze suicide attack. 138 people were killed in the attack.
1961 - Anna Mary Robertson Moses, "Grandma Moses," passed away at the age of 101.
1964 - In El Paso, TX, President Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion that diverted the Rio Grande River, reshaping the U.S.-Mexican border. This ended a century-old border dispute.
1978 - The Philadelphia Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony U.S. dollar. The coin began circulation the following July.
1981 - Authorities in Poland imposed martial law in an attempt to crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement. Martial law ended formally in 1983.
1988 - PLO chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the U.N. General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the United States had refused to grant Arafat a visa to visit New York.
1991 - North Korea and South Korea signed a historic non-aggression agreement.
1993 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people must receive a hearing before property linked to illegal drug sales can be seized.
1998 - Puerto Rican voters rejected U.S. statehood in a non-binding referendum.
2000 - U.S. Vice President Al Gore conceded the 2000 Presidential election to Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The Florida electoral votes were won by only 537 votes, which decided the election. The election had been contested up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which said that the Florida recount (supported by the Florida Supreme Court) was unconstitutional.
2000 - Seven convicts, the "Texas 7," escaped from Connally Unit in Kenedy, TX, southeast of San Antonio, by overpowering civilian workers and prison employees. They fled with stolen clothing, pickup truck and 16 guns and ammunition.
2001 - The U.S. government released a video tape that showed Osama bin Laden and others discussing their knowledge of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
2001 - U.S. President George W. Bush served formal notice to Russia that the United States was withdrawing from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
2001 - NBC-TV announced that it would begin running hard liquor commercials.

Iran shrugs off US request to return spy drone
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's defense minister on Tuesday shrugged off a U.S. request for the return of an American spy drone captured by Iranian armed forces and instead demanded an apology from Washington.

Israel's president 'ashamed' of contentious bills
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's president says he is "ashamed" that lawmakers are trying to pass a string of bills he regards as undemocratic.... In an interview with the Yediot Ahronot daily published Tuesday, Peres singled out bills that would slash funding to dovish groups, silence Muslim calls to prayer and tighten a defamation law in a way that could hobble investigative reports.

Overblown drone: UK media mystified by Moscow UFO
RT - A UFO spying on Muscovites protesting against parliamentary election fraud? Apparently so – at least that was the best explanation some British news outlets could give to the latest technical solutions in use among Russian bloggers. “An 'unidentified flying object'…spotted above Moscow during an anti-government protest.” “Hundreds of pro-democracy protesters…witnessed the 'UFO' hover above them on Saturday.” “Confused onlookers among the 25,000-strong crowd filmed the strange object on their phones.”

Iran says it's almost done decoding US drone
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian experts are in the final stages of recovering data from the U.S. surveillance drone captured by the country's armed forces, state TV reported Monday.... U.S. officials are concerned others may be able to reverse-engineer the chemical composition of the drone's radar-deflecting paint or the aircraft's sophisticated optics technology that allows operators to positively identify terror suspects from tens of thousands of feet in the air. They are also worried adversaries may be able to hack into the drone's database, although it is not clear whether any data could be recovered.

Report: Iran To Practice Closing Strait Of Hormuz
Paul Joseph Watson - Closure of key choke point would send oil prices skyrocketing to $300-$500 a barrel. The Iranian Army has refused to comment after a member of the country’s National Security Committee said today that Iran was to practice closing the Strait of Hormuz, the most important choke point for oil shipments in the world. “The legislator, Parviz Sarvari, told the student news agency ISNA: “Soon we will hold a military manoeuvre on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure,” reports Reuters.

Obama, al-Maliki to chart next steps for US, Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) - With the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq in its final days, President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will meet at the White House Monday to discuss the next phase of the relationship between their countries.... Monday's meeting between Obama and al-Maliki is expected to focus heavily on how the U.S. and Iraq will continue to cooperate on security issues without the presence of American troops. Iraqi leaders have said they want U.S. military training help for their security forces but have been unable to agree on what type of help they'd like or what protections they would be willing to give American trainers.

Israel OKs new homes at West Bank settlement
JERUSALEM (AP) — The mayor of a West Bank settlement south of Jerusalem says Israel's Defense Ministry has approved 40 new houses at a site near his town.... Settlement construction is criticized internationally for cementing Israel's hold on land the Palestinians say they want for a future state.

NATO-backed Afghan militia scheme seen expanded
KABUL (Reuters) - The scheme, launched in 2010, was originally expected to last no more than five years, after which units would be demobilized or absorbed into the regular police. But commanders from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) consider them a key part of their success in loosening the Taliban's grip on areas like the southern Arghandab valley, once an insurgent stronghold. And the coalition is now seriously considering making the groups a more lasting part of Afghanistan's security landscape.

US-Funded "Activist" Becomes President of Tunisia
Activist Post - The BBC hails Tunisia's assembly and their election of a new president in their article, "Tunisian activist, Moncef Marzouki, named president." What the BBC predictably fails to mention is that Marzouki's organization, the Tunisian League for Human Rights, was a US National Endowment for Democracy and George Soros Open Society-funded International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) member organization.

Latvia's largest bank fights off depositor run after rumours of imminent collapse
RIGA, Latvia - Latvia's largest bank scrambled Monday to head off a run among depositors who were gripped by rumours of the bank's imminent ruin. Weekend rumours that Swedbank was facing legal and liquidity problems in Estonia and Sweden sent thousands of Latvians to bank machines on Sunday, with some lines reaching as many as 50 people.

Butter shortage in Norway pushes price per pound to nearly $500
An acute butter shortage in Norway, one of the world's richest countries, has left people worrying how to bake their Christmas goodies with store shelves emptied and prices through the roof. The shortfall, expected to last into January, amounts to between 500 and 1,000 tonnes, said Tine, Norway's main dairy company, while online sellers have offered 500-gramme packs for up to 350 euros ($465).... The shortfall has been blamed on a rainy summer that cut into feed production and therefore dairy output, but also the ballooning popularity of a low-carbohydrate, fat-rich diet that has sent demand for butter soaring.

Army helicopters crash on Washington base, 4 dead
RAINIER, Wash. (AP) -- Two Army helicopters crashed Monday night at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in an accident that killed four soldiers, a military spokesman said late Monday.

YouTube: New Ron Paul 2012 Campaign Ad: Newt Gingrich: Selling Access

VIDEO: Ron Paul ABC This Week Sunday Show Post Debate Mentions
Ron Paul 2012 December 11, 2011 - Amazing Pro Ron Paul Piece From Mainstream Media.

Video: Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel agrees with Ron Paul
Ron Paul 2012 December 11, 2011.

Poll: Ron Paul sits in top-tier in South Carolina, Florida
Ron Paul (R-TX), a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, sits in the top-tier in the latest NBC News/Marist polls of South Carolina and Florida GOP voters. Mr. Paul pulled in 9 percent of the votes in the latest NBC News/Marist poll of South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary voters for a third place finish. Mr. Paul garnered 8 percent of the votes in the latest NBC News/Marist poll of Florida Republican Presidential Primary voters.

YouTube: The Plain Truth About Ron Paul
Andrew Napolitano on Freedom Watch.

Ron Paul Supporters to Collect 10,000lbs of Food for Charity
Activist Post - Thanks to Ron Paul supporters across the country, Americans in need will be less hungry this holiday season. That’s because Paul’s supporters have come together in a nationwide grassroots effort to collect 10,000 pounds of food this holiday season to help those in need during these times of economic distress while calling attention to Ron Paul's philosophy of voluntary charity being better than government intervention.

Facebook page removed after uploading video exposing obviously skewed Barbara Walters interview with Assad
Activist Post - In a clear act of censorship, after a video was uploaded to the official Facebook page for the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) which exposed the highly manipulated ABC interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the page was removed by Facebook. The video was of a press conference held by the spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ministry, Jihad Makdessi, showing how the ABC interview was deceitfully edited.

Anger Builds Over Tower Design Resembling 9/11 Explosion
ABC NEWS - A new building design created by Dutch architectural firm MVRDV is angering people who say the structure evokes the World Trade Center attack during 9/11. The new luxury building, slated for completion in 2015 in Seoul, South Korea, will featured a “cloud” connecting two towers at the 27th floor.

Ariz. congressman files ‘no confidence’ resolution against Atty. Gen. Eric Holder
Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar has filed a resolution in the House of Representatives pushing for vote of “no confidence” in Attorney General Eric Holder. The resolution, introduced Monday afternoon, is a formal way to exhibit congressional disdain for Holder as the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious proceeds. It would also be an initial step toward some House Republicans’ plan to formally remove him from office if he won’t resign.

Protest AG Holder’s Appearance at LBJ Library in Austin
Kurt Nimmo - Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, who claims to have a faulty memory about Operation Fast and Furious, the effort to arm murderous Mexican drug cartels, will be in Austin, Texas, tomorrow, December 13. Holder will “deliver remarks” at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library & Museum. He will discuss “the importance of ensuring equal access to the ballot box and strengthening America’s long tradition of expanding the franchise,” according to a press release.

Supreme Court will hear Arizona immigration case
Washington Times - The Supreme Court announced Monday it will take the case of Arizona’s tough immigration crackdown law, adding yet another contentious clash between the Obama administration and the states to its docket. The case, which has attracted national attention, pits Arizona against the Obama administration, which sued and won court orders blocking implementation of most of the law at both the district and appeals court levels.

U.S. Proposes Unmanned Border Entry With Mexico
The crossing, which would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico, has sparked opposition from some who see it as counterintuitive in these days of heightened border security. Supporters say the crossing would give the isolated Mexican town long-awaited access to U.S. commerce, improve conservation efforts and be an unlikely target for criminal operations. A public comment period runs through Dec. 27 on the estimated $2.3 million project, which has support at the highest levels of government from both countries. But U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican member of the House Homeland Security committee, questioned the wisdom of using resources to make it easier to cross the border.

The Pretext for a North American Homeland Security Perimeter
On December 7, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the Beyond the Border Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness Action Plan. The new deal focuses on addressing security threats early, facilitating trade, economic growth and jobs, integrating cross-border law enforcement, as well as improving infrastructure and cyber-security. It will act as a roadmap with different parts being phased in over the next several years.

In a World of Violence and Oppression, Peace and Freedom are Extremist Views
Activist Post - What do people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and John Lennon all have in common? Well, they were all extremists, extremists who wouldn’t hurt a fly. In a world where violence and oppression is the norm, those of us who dare to seek peace and freedom are automatically labeled as dangerous extremists.

Another name change for former Blackwater firm
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The security firm once known as Blackwater is changing its name for a second time as its owners continue to reshape the company they bought from its founder a year ago. The new name is Academi, which the company said Monday is based on the ancient Greek philosopher Plato's institution for developing thinkers and warriors.

Rep. Burgess on light bulbs: When choices are limited ‘people are going to start paying attention’
Daily Caller - Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess has been fighting against implementation of the new efficiency standards laid out in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which will gradually mandate tougher standards and phase out the older bulbs. “It’s a tough deal, I have to stock up on light bulbs, I have to stock up on my CFC-containing asthma inhaler. Is my government at war with me or what?” Burgess said in an interview with The Daily Caller.... Over the summer Burgess sponsored an amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill to prevent the enforcement of the 2007 mandated phase out. The amendment passed but the Democratically-controlled Senate could present a problem for his legislation’s ultimate passage.

Google Execs To NASA: We'll Fix Your Hangar, You House Our Jets
Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt -- the CEO, co-founder and executive chairman of the Web search giant, respectively -- have, through a company they control, proposed paying the full $33 million cost of revamping the iconic hangar. But there's a catch: They want to use up to two-thirds of the floor space of the hangar to house their fleet of eight private jets.

YouTube: HOUSTON: Police Place Tent Over Restrained Protesters and Gas Them
Unbelievable! At the end of the video the Houston Police along with the Houston Fire Department Rescue deflated the gas from the tent and then carried it away with the 6 protesters (knocked out) still in it.

VIDEO: 20 Occupy Houston protesters arrested for blocking East Loop entrance ramp
HOUSTON – Twenty Occupy Houston protesters were arrested near the Ship Channel Monday for blocking an East Loop/610 entrance ramp near Clinton. As Air 11 flew over the area, six protesters were lying in the middle of the road linked by plastic pipes around their arms. Others stood in the road. They were blocking traffic at the Port of Houston’s main entrance.

Occupy shuts down US West Coast ports
RT - Up and down West Coast, protesters have begun a massive blockade on the Pacific Ocean ports as part of a day of action under the umbrella of the Occupy Wall Street movement.... Before noon on Monday, ports were successfully shut down by protesters in the cities of Portland, Longview and Oakland, with demonstrators waging similar strikes in other cities on the Pacific Coast. In Canada, the port of Vancouver, British Columbia, was also closed and operations at Long Beach, California were slowed due to protester action.

Police remove Occupy Baltimore protesters
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Authorities in full riot gear removed Occupy Baltimore protesters early Tuesday from a downtown plaza where they had been camped out for months.

YouTube: HOUSTON: Police Place Tent Over Restrained Protesters and Gas Them
Unbelievable! At the end of the video the Houston Police along with the Houston Fire Department Rescue deflated the gas from the tent and then carried it away with the 6 protesters (knocked out) still in it.

Undercover cops spied on Occupy LA in search of ‘domestic terrorists’
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Undercover police officers infiltrated Occupy LA’s tent city last month to spy on people they suspected of stockpiling human waste and crude weapons for resisting an eventual eviction, police and city government sources said. Authorities also used security cameras mounted outside City Hall, where the camp was located, and monitored publicly available Internet chatter and video on social-networking sites such as Twitter, sources said.

US protests boost sales and fears of sonic blaster
More US police and emergency-response agencies are using the so-called Long-Range Acoustic Devices instead of megaphones or conventional loudspeakers for crowd control, according to news reports and leading manufacturer LRAD Corp. of San Diego. But the products, which the makers developed as nonlethal options for military use, are prompting outcries from people on the receiving end, who call them "sound cannons." The city of Pittsburgh is fighting an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit claiming the piercing tone from a police blaster during the 2009 G-20 summit permanently damaged a woman's hearing.

Occupy protesters seek to shut West Coast ports
Kari Koch, organizer with Shut Down the Ports Working Group of Occupy Portland, said by shutting down the port, Wall Street will be unable to create profit. "We will not stand for corporate profits at the expense of working people, we will not stand for attacks on workers, and we will not allow our schools to be closed, social services slashed, and families to be impoverished by your greed!" Koch said Monday in statement. Organizers hope to draw thousands to stand in solidarity with longshoremen and port truckers they say are being exploited.

Today in History - Monday - December 12, 2011
1787 - Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1792 - In Vienna, 22-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven received one of his first lessons in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn.
1800 - Washington, DC, was established as the capital of the United States.
1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first black lawmaker to be sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives.
1900 - Charles M. Schwab formed the United States Steel Corporation.
1901 - The first radio signal to cross the Atlantic was picked up near St. John's Newfoundland, by inventor Guglielmo Marconi.
1912 - The Mother's Day International Association was incorporated with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother's Day.
1915 - The first all-metal aircraft, the German Junkers J1, made its first flight.
1917 - Father Edward Flanagan opened Boys Town in Nebraska. The farm village was for wayward boys. In 1979 it was opened to girls.
1925 - The "Motel Inn," the first motel in the world, opened in San Luis Obispo, CA.
1937 - Japanese aircraft sank the U.S. gunboat "Panay" on China's Yangtze River. Japan apologized for the attack, and paid $2.2 million in reparations.
1947 - The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor.
1951 - The U.S. Navy Department announced that the world's first nuclear powered submarine would become the sixth ship to bear the name Nautilus.
1955 - It was announced that the Ford Foundation gave $500,000,000 to private hospitals, colleges and medical schools.
1975 - Sara Jane Moore pled guilty to a charge of trying to kill U.S. President Ford in San Francisco the previous September.
1983 - Car bombs were set off in front of the French and U.S. embassies in Kuwait City. Shiite extremists were responsible for the five deaths and 86 wounded. Total of five bombs went off in different locations.
1985 - 248 American soldiers and eight crewmembers were killed when an Arrow Air charter crashed in Gander, Newfoundland after takeoff.
1989 - Britain forcibly removed 51 Vietnamese from Hong Kong and returned them to their homeland.
1997 - The U.S. Justice Department ordered Microsoft to sell its Internet browser separately from its Windows operating system to prevent it from building a monopoly of Web access programs.
2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court found that the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court in the 2000 U.S. Presidential election was unconstitutional. U.S. Vice President Al Gore conceded the election to Texas Gov. George W. Bush the next day.
2000 - Timothy McVeigh, over the objections of his lawyers, abandoned his final round of appeals and asked that his execution be set within 120 days. McVeigh was convicted of the April 1995 truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Fedal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, that killed 168 and injured 500.
2001 - Gerardo Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison for being the leader of a Cuban spy ring. His conviction was based on his role in the infiltration of U.S. military bases and in the deaths of four Cuban-Americans whose planes were shot down five years before.
2002 - North Korea announced that it would reactivate a nuclear power plant that U.S. officials believed was being used to develop weapons.

YouTube: Jaywalking: Jay Leno finds out what Americans know about the Supreme Court
Would you say funny or pathetic?

Today in History - Friday - December 9, 2011
1803 - The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress.
1879 - Thomas Edison organized the Edison Ore Milling Company.
1884 - Levant M. Richardson received a patent for the ball-bearing roller skate.
1907 - Christmas Seals went on sale for the first time, in the Wilmington, DE, post office.
1926 - The United States Golf Association legalized the use of steel-shafted golf clubs.
1940 - During World War II, British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa.
1940 - The Longines Watch Company signed for the first FM radio advertising contract with experimental station W2XOR in New York City.
1941 - China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.
1965 - Nikolai V. Podgorny replaced Anastas I. Mikoyan as president of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
1975 - U.S. President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default.
1978 - The first game of the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL) was played between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does.
1983 - NATO foreign ministers called on the Soviet Union to join in a "comprehensive political dialogue" to ease tensions in the world.
1984 - Iranian security men seized control of the plane ending a five-day hijacking of a Kuwaiti jetliner, which was parked at the Tehran airport.
1990 - Lech Walesa won Poland's first direct presidential election in the country's history.
1990 - Slobodan Milosovic was elected president in Serbia's first free elections in 50 years.
1990 - The first American hostages to be released by Iraq began arriving in the U.S.
1992 - Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation.
1992 - Clair George, former CIA spy chief, was convicted of lying to the U.S. Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. U.S. President George H.W. Bush later pardoned George.
1992 - U.S. troops arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia, to oversee delivery of international food aid, in operation 'Restore Hope'.
1993 - The U.S. Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos that were marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.
1994 - Representatives of the Irish Republican Army and the British government opened peace talks in Northern Ireland.
1994 - U.S. President Clinton fired Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders after learning that she had told a conference that masturbation should be discussed in school as a part of human sexuality.
1996 - UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali approved a deal allowing Iraq to resume its exports of oil and easing the UN trade embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990.
1999 - The U.S. announced that it was expelling a Russian diplomat that had been caught gathering information with an eavesdropping device at the U.S. State Department.
2002 - United Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after losing $4 billion in the previous two years. It was the sixth largest bankruptcy filing.

YouTube: Flying Lawnmower
I presume for really TALL grass!

Today in History - Thursday - December 8, 2011
1776 - George Washington's retreating army in the American Revolution crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.
1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The theory holds that Mary, mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment she was conceived.
1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan for the Reconstruction of the South.
1886 - At a convention of union leaders in Columbus, OH, the American Federation of Labor was founded.
1941 - The United States entered World War II when it declared war against Japan. The act came one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Britain and Canada also declared war on Japan.
1949 - The Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa due to Communists pressure.
1953 - Los Angeles became the third largest city in the United States.
1962 - Workers of the International Typographical Union began striking and closed nine New York City newspapers. The strike lasted 114 days and ended April 1, 1963.
1984 - In Roanoke, Virginia, a jury found Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt innocent of libeling Reverend Jerry Falwell with a parody advertisement. However Falwell was awarded $200,000 for emotional distress.
1987 - U.S. President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty agreeing to destroy their nations' arsenals of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
1992 - Americans got to see live television coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches of Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. (Due to the time difference, it was December 9 in Somalia.)
1993 - U.S. President Clinton signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement.
1994 - Bosnian Serbs released dozens of hostage peacekeepers, but continued to detain about 300 others.
1994 - In Los Angeles, 12 alternate jurors were chosen for the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
1997 - The second largest bank was created with the announcement that Union Bank Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation would merge.
1997 - Jenny Shipley was sworn in as the first female prime minister of New Zealand.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police could not search a person or their cars after ticketing for a routine traffic violation.
1998 - The FBI opened its files on Frank Sinatra to the public. The file contained over 1,300 pages.
1999 - In Memphis, TN, a jury found that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been the victim of a vast murder conspiracy, not a lone assassin.
1999 - Russia and Belarus agreed in principle to form an economic and political confederation.

VIDEO: FOX, lies & the wrong videotape: What’s NOT happening in Moscow
RT - With so much going on in the world today, one can see how easy it would be to get confused. Are those pictures of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan? Poverty in Somalia or Congo? And what’s a news program to do if there aren’t any good pictures? So producers all over the world search, and talk to their own crews or news agencies who provide feeds for everyone, and find the best shots to grace their air time. Or – in some cases – ANY shots that look more or less similar to the covered topic. Case in point: protests in Russia and the ever-blundering FOX News.

Iran is quick to shut U.S. ‘virtual embassy’
Washington Post - Less than 12 hours after opening, the Obama administration’s “virtual embassy” (video) in Iran was blocked by Tehran’s digital gatekeepers on Wednesday. Instead of seeing a welcome message from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iranians trying to reach the site were directed to an Iranian government Web page. It warned that visiting the American site was “against the law.” White House spokesman Jay Carney condemned the blockage in a statement Wednesday evening, saying the Iranian government had “again demonstrated its commitment to build an electronic curtain of surveillance and censorship around its people.”

VIDEO: Nuclear experts reject IAEA Iran report
Press TV Tue Dec 6, 2011 - Several nuclear experts have repudiated the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran's nuclear program, saying it is misinformed, misleading and merely a hype created by the media, Press TV reports.... Robert Kelley, former IAEA director and nuclear engineer, says he was “quite surprised” by the lack of new information in the report, further stressing that the report is “highly misleading.”

Afghan bombs kill 78 in two days
KABUL (Reuters) - A roadside mine killed 19 civilians and injured another five when it exploded in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday, the provincial government said. The blast came a day after rare sectarian attacks in three Afghan cities killed 59 people, and refocused attention on the fragile Afghan security situation.

Afghan president says attack came from Pakistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai confronted Pakistan on Wednesday, saying a militant group based there was behind a suicide bombing at a Shiite shrine in Kabul that killed 56 people during commemorations of a holy day.

VIDEO: U.S.'s Afghan Headache: $400-a-Gallon Gasoline
Parachuting a barrel of fuel to a remote Afghan base takes sharp flying skills, steady nerves and flawless timing. It also costs a lot of money—up to $400 a gallon, by military estimates. But the Pentagon is stuck with the expense for the foreseeable future, especially given the recent deterioration in U.S.-Pakistani relations.

Reports: Russia to deploy S-400s in Kaliningrad
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian military official says the country is preparing to deploy S-400 surface-to-air missiles in Kaliningrad, the western exclave that borders Poland and Lithuania, according to news reports. The announcement comes amid rising tension between the U.S. and Russia over Washington's plans for a missile-shield system in Europe.

Bill Gates Talking With China To Develop Nuclear Reactor
BEIJING (AP) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed Wednesday he is in discussions with China to jointly develop a new and safer kind of nuclear reactor.

Business Insider: Ron Paul's Loyal Supporters Are Getting Ready To Shock The World In Iowa
In Iowa he polls behind only Newt Gingrich, the latest flavor of the week. But Gingrich commands little in the way of organization, money, or loyalty with voters. This is no longer a political novelty act. It's not a seminar on the Constitution disguised as a campaign. This is the emergence of a populist-libertarian force that is growing into an organized movement in American politics. And if Paul shocks the establishment in Iowa, January 3rd 2012 will be recorded in history as this movement's coming out party.

YouTube: Ron Paul on Freedom Watch
Ron Paul on Freedom Watch. Aired December 7, 2011.

YouTube: Ron Paul on CNN w/ Brooke Baldwin
Ron Paul on CNN w/ Brooke Baldwin 12/7/11.

FORBES: Ron Paul Should Be The Next President Of The United States
6/17/2011 - This man [Ron Paul] has been fighting with absolute integrity and honesty for the values that this country was founded on for the last 30 years – sound money, balanced budgets, free markets, non-interventionist foreign policy and civil liberties. Most every other GOP Presidential candidate is an Establishment panderer who is beholden to entrenched special interests. Why should we trust another Establishment politician after being subjected to the lies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, not to mention nearly every other politician in Washington D.C.?

FBI's new definition of rape ensnares TSA agents as serial rapists
(NaturalNews) The definition of "rape" was expanded this week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Criminal Justice Advisory Policy Board, following a barrage of emails from feminist activists who demanded change. The old definition was too narrow, many women argued, and needed to be updated. For one thing, it didn't cover rape by women against women, or men against men, and we've all seen just how much of that goes on these days thanks to organizations like Penn State and the Catholic Church.

Ron Paul campaign needs "massive influx of funds!" ASAP
Daily Paul - Over the past 24 hours Ron Paul has sent out three emails urgently requesting funds. The campaign needs a million dollars "IMMEDIATELY" to buy TV spots this week for ads like BIG DOG and SERIAL HYPOCRISY. Without new donations, the early primary efforts for Iowa and New Hampshire will be hindered. Please donate now at: http://www.ronpaul2012.com

Ron Paul patriot fights for liberty with his candidate, meet Tom Dybowski
Most supporters for GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul live in America. Not this guy, he's such a difference maker for the champion of the Constitution, it begs you to want more information.

YouTube: "I Love Ron Paul!" - Jack Cafferty
Jack Cafferty reads users' answers to the question: "How important is Donald Trump's endorsement?" I honestly don't know how he kept a straight face reading the answers to his question.

VIDEO: GOP Debate: Newt Gingrich's Comparison of Muslims and Nazis Sparks Outrage
ABC News June 14, 2011 - Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's comments comparing Muslims to Nazis at the GOP debate Monday night have sparked a firestorm in the blogosphere, where liberals, and even some conservatives, have pounced on the former House speaker for what they view as excessive fear mongering.

VIDEO: Gingrich Advocates Trashing Fourth Amendment and Bill of Rights
Kurt Nimmo - During a question and answer session at a C-Span “Book Revue” in Huntington, New York, Gingrich said he would allow the FBI to violate the Fourth Amendment and permit it to aggressively trash the civil liberties of Americans the government designates as terrorists.

Gingrich struggles with state deadlines for filing
Washington Times - Newt Gingrich is surging in the presidential polls, but his campaign organization has not caught up — making it possible he’ll miss Wednesday’s deadline to file enough signatures to even appear on Ohio’s primary ballot. Mr. Gingrich, the former House speaker whose once-moribund presidential campaign has been resurrected in the polls in recent weeks, already missed the deadline for Missouri’s ballot. With several other state deadlines looming this month, his campaign is showing growing pains as it strives to meet them.

No More Corporate Personhood In LA, Unanimous
Standing room only, unanimous vote against 'corporate personhood': Money is not free speech. Thanks to ground work by the U.S. Green Party, the wave of Occupy Wall Street empowerment and Human Rights Alert, today, Los Angeles became the first major U.S. city to vote against corporate personhood and call for a Constitutional Amendment asserting corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights and that money is not free speech. The vote was unanimous.

NBC News Content To Be Provided By Billionaire Obama, MoveOn Donors
Infowars - NBC has reached an agreement to broadcast news content provided by a media organisation run by a team that has ploughed millions of dollars into campaigning for Barack Obama and donated large cash amounts to organisations such as the George Soros affiliated MoveOn.org and the now defunct ACORN.

NYPD Puts Local Banks on Alert After Parcel Bomb Found in Germany
Fox News - All New York-area banks were advised to take extra precautions on Wednesday after the device was found in the mailroom of Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt. No one was injured. The letter, which was not en route to New York, was addressed to CEO Josef Ackermann, Fox News Channel reports.

Detention Camp Order Follows Preparations For Civil Unrest
Infowars - The revelation that Halliburton subsidiary KBR is seeking sub-contractors to staff and outfit “emergency environment” camps located in five regions of the United States follows preparations over the last three years to deal with riots inside the United States that have already spread throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations
Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

Soros controls all arms & ammo makers in US
The George Soros controlled private equity company Cerberus Capital Management could cut off all gun and ammunition sales in the US. Apparently, the American people are totally unaware that Cerberus has for the past decade acquired nearly every gun and ammunition maker in the United States and consolidated them into a holding company called The Freedom Group.

VIDEO: JERRY SANDUSKY HAULED AWAY IN HANDCUFFS
Jerry Sandusky was taken out of his home in handcuffs by the Centre County District Attorney's office on Wednesday afternoon to face two new criminal charges of child sex abuse. He was sent to the county jail after being unable to post the $250,000 bail. "Today's criminal charges were recommended by a statewide investigating grand jury, based on evidence and testimony that was received following the initial arrest of Sandusky on November 5th," Attorney General Kelly said in a statement."

Rod Blagojevich sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption
Disgraced Illinois governor handed stiff sentence for attempting to sell President Obama's vacant Senate seat.

120 Pearl Harbor survivors gather on 70th anniversary
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — About 120 survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor observed a moment of silence to commemorate the Japanese attack and the thousands who lost their lives that day 70 years ago Wednesday.

Police clear Occupy New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS – Scores of police officers marched into an encampment of protesters and homeless people across from City Hall before dawn Tuesday, forcing the dozens of occupants out and removing tents in a peaceful eviction that drew loud, sometimes raucous complaints but did not result in violence.

VIDEO: San Francisco Police Pull Surprise Raid - 70 arrested and around 100 tents dismantled
Police gave protesters at San Francisco’s Occupy encampment five minutes to gather belongings before taking down about 100 tents and arresting 70 people as officers dismantled the camp in an overnight raid. Related article here.

Dozens arrested in DC
Dozens of people were arrested Wednesday during a chaotic and often tense day of protests in downtown Washington as protesters from the Occupy movement blocked intersections and snarled traffic around K Street for hours. Hundreds of protesters from Occupy D.C. and around the country joined in the “Day of Action: Occupiers Unite,” targeting K Street NW — long a symbol of the nation’s lobbying industry because of the numerous lobbying firms based there.

Today in History - Wednesday - December 7, 2011 - Pearl Harbor Day
1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. constitution becoming the first of the United States.
1796 - John Adams was elected to be the second president of the United States.
1836 - Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.
1926 - The gas operated refrigerator was patented by The Electrolux Servel Corporation.
1941 - Pearl Harbor, located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu was attacked by nearly 200 Japanese warplanes. The attack resulted in the U.S. entering into World War II.
1971 - Libya announced the nationalization of British Petroleum's assets.
1972 - Apollo 17 was launched at Cape Canaveral. It was the last U.S. moon mission.
1972 - Imelda Marcos, wife of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, was stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant. The man was then shot and killed by her bodyguards.
1982 - Charlie Brooks Junior, a convicted murderer, became the first prisoner in the U.S. to be executed by injection, at a prison in Huntsville, TX.
1987 - Soviet leader Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time. He had come to the U.S. for a Washington summit with U.S. President Reagan.
1987 - 43 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on a fellow passenger and the two pilots aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner.
1988 - Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev announced the reduction of the number of Soviet military troops by half a million.
1989 - East Germany's Communist Party agreed to cooperate with the plan for free elections and a revised constitution.
1993 - Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary revealed that the U.S. govt. had conducted more than 200 nuclear weapons tests in secret at its Nevada test site.
1996 - The space shuttle Columbia returned from the longest-ever shuttle flight of 17 days, 15 hours and 54 minutes.
1998 - U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of President Clinton over 1996 campaign financing.
1999 - A U.S. federal grand jury indicted a former convict in the 1995 disappearance of atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
2002 - In Mymensingh, Bangladesh, 4 movie theaters were bombed within 30 minutes of each other. At least 15 people were killed and over 200 were injured.

Today in History - Tuesday - December 6, 2011
1774 - Austria became the first nation to introduce a state education system.
1790 - The U.S. Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia.
1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment abolished slavery in the U.S.
1877 - Thomas Edison demonstrated the first gramophone, with a recording of himself reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb.
1883 - "Ladies' Home Journal" was published for the first time.
1884 - The construction of the Washington Monument was completed by Army engineers. The project took 34 years.
1889 - Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America.
1907 - In Monongah, WV, 361 people were killed in America's worst mine disaster.
1917 - Finland proclaimed independence from Russia.
1923 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge became the first president to give a presidential address that was broadcast on radio.
1947 - Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by U.S. President Truman.
1957 - America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed when the satellite blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, FL.
1973 - Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the vice-president of the United States after vice-president Spiro Agnew resigned.
1985 - Congressional negotiators reached an agreement on a deficit-cutting proposal that later became the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law.
1990 - Iraq announced that it would release all its 2,000 foreign hostages.
1993 - Former priest James R. Porter was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison. Porter had admitted molesting 28 children in the 1960s.
1994 - Orange County, CA, filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion. The county is one of the richest in the U.S. and became to largest municipality to file for bankruptcy.
1998 - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour connected the first two building blocks of the international space station in the shuttle cargo bay.
2002 - Officials released the detailed plans for a $4.7 million memorial commemorating Princess Diana. The large oval fountain was planned to be constructed in London's Hyde Park.

VIDEO: U.S. Military Sources: Iran Has Missing U.S. Drone
Fox News - A U.S. super-secret spy plane believed to be in Iranian possession could be a major loss for the U.S. military -- and a major gain for Iran. According to a senior U.S. military source with intimate knowledge of the Sentinel drone, the aircraft likely "wandered" into Iranian air space after losing contact with its handlers and is presumed to be intact since it is programmed to fly level and find a place to land, rather than crashing.

Report: Obama, UN to tax US for Green Climate Fund
Washington Examiner - President Obama's team of negotiators at the United Nations Climate Change Conference may agree to a tax on foreign currency transactions, designed to pay for a "Green Climate Fund," that would fall disproportionately on American travellers and businesses, according to a group attending the conference that is skeptical of the UN position on global warming.

Brazil cuts taxes to boost economy
Brazilian government has announced a series of tax cuts in order to protect its economy against eurozone crisis and boost domestic consumption and investment in the Latin American country, Press TV reports.

16,000 Holocaust victims to get German pensions
NEW YORK (AP) -- After a year of tough negotiations, Germany has agreed to pay pensions to about 16,000 additional Holocaust victims worldwide - mostly survivors who were once starving children in Nazi ghettos, or were forced to live in hiding for fear of death.

Portugal raids pension funds to meet deficit targets
London Telegraph | Portugal has raided €5.6bn (£4.8bn) of pension fund assets. Portugal said it had informed the EU and IMF of the pensions move and assured them it would be a “one-off”.

54 killed in rare attacks on Afghan Shiites
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A suicide bomber struck a crowd of Shiite worshippers at a mosque in Kabul on Tuesday, killing at least 54 people in the deadliest of two attacks on a Shiite holy day - the first major sectarian assaults since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago.

Dozens of bodies dumped in Syria, activists say
BEIRUT (AP) -- A surge in violence in the restive Syrian city of Homs has killed up to 50 people in the past 24 hours, leaving dozens of bodies in the streets, activists said Tuesday.... The activists' reports could not be independently confirmed. Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevents the work of independent media.

Has the War with Iran Already Begun?
National Journal - The evidence of an extensive Western covert program against Tehran, and Iranian retaliation, is now too obvious to ignore. Two incidents that occurred on Sunday—Iran’s claim of a shoot-down of a U.S. drone, and an explosion outside the British embassy in Bahrain—may have been unrelated. But they appear to add to growing evidence that an escalating covert war by the West is under way against Iran, and that Tehran is retaliating with greater intensity than ever.

Police equate Occupy LSX with al-Qaeda
London Metropolitan Police has categorized Occupy London Stock Exchange anti-capitalist protestors as a domestic terror group alongside those that are termed foreign terror threats including al-Qaeda.

Everyone 'to be research patient', says David Cameron
Every NHS patient should be a "research patient" with their medical details "opened up" to private healthcare firms, says David Cameron. The PM says it will mean all those who use the NHS in England will be helping in the fight against disease. He hopes the result will be that patients get faster access to new treatments and Britain's life sciences sector will become a world leader. But critics say commercial interests are being put ahead of patient privacy.

S&P Puts 15 EU Nations on Negative Credit Watch
CNBC News - Standard & Poor's put 15 European Union nations on watch for a possible downgrade of their credit ratings as the continent's debt crisis lingers. The nations include Germany, France and 13 other European nations. Greece and Cyprus were not included on the list.

VIDEO: Pay Freeze for Queen in UK Austerity Measures
ABC News - In a sign of dire economic times across the pond, Buckingham Palace is now doing some budget busting, with the queen herself due for a pay freeze and Prince Charles set to foot the bill for some major expenses. Queen Elizabeth II will see six consecutive years of frozen pay, as new austerity measures in the U.K. have cut funding for the royal household.

YouTube: All Take No Give: UK/US post 9-11 extradition injustice
RT - British MPs are staging a debate seeking the urgent renegotiation of what they see as a biased extradition treaty with the US. Agreed in the chaotic aftermath of 9-11, it allows Washington to demand the extradition of any UK Citizen - without evidence of any crime - and Britain is bound to comply. But, as RT's Ivor Bennet reports from London, patience is running low.

Israel and Syria brace for regional war between mid-Dec. 2011 and mid-Jan 2012
DEBKAfile - The actions and words of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in the last 72 hours indicate they are poised for a regional war.

YouTube: Soft Spot: Afghan supply route reveals US frailty
RT - NATO's recent deadly air attack on Pakistan has put the US mission in Afghanistan in danger with supplies cut-off, meaning Washington will soon have to turn to other transit states to keep its military effort going. ­Russia is among the alternatives and this could mean some well-timed diplomatic leverage for Moscow.

Afghanistan to need financial support until 2024
BONN, Germany (AP) -- Afghanistan will need the financial support of other countries for at least another decade beyond the 2014 departure of foreign troops, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday at an international conference. But the conference on the future of Afghanistan in Bonn was overshadowed by a public display of bad blood between the United States and Pakistan, the two nations with the greatest stake and say in making Afghanistan safe and solvent.

Thousands protests against Putin after Russia vote
(Reuters) - Several thousand people protested in central Moscow on Monday against what they said was a fraudulent parliamentary election, shouting "Revolution!" and calling for an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule.

Biden: US 'stands in solidarity' with Greece
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Greek political leaders Monday his government is "standing with you in solidarity," at the start of a crucial week for the future of the debt-saddled eurozone.

YouTube: Cops Hide Surveillance Cameras In Trees Outside Man’s Home
CBC News - 1984 is alive and well in Canada.

France Takes Stand Against GMOs, Monsanto Despite End of Ban
Activist Post - France is the latest nation to voice opposition against genetically modified crops, with GM maize unlikely to hit French fields next year despite the end of a ban Monsanto maize. The news comes as evidence compiles that French legislatures will launch new restrictions regarding the use of Monsanto’s 810 maize on French soil.

Now that Herman Cain has dropped out of the race
The Sr. Administrator of Herman Cain Forums has endorsed Ron Paul. In a Posting on the site he stated...

Military Weapons in Gangsters' Hands
In late July, 27 AK-47s were stolen from a Fort Irwin warehouse, officials said. Those close to the case, who would speak only under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the subject, said investigators believe gang members were involved in the theft.

BREAKING: Ron Paul wins Oklahoma Straw Poll
December 5, 2011 - Ron Paul won the GOP Oklahoma Straw Poll today (Monday 12/5) voting was done online and voters were charged 5 dollars. Had to be an Oklahoma voter to participate. Ron Paul - 46%, Herman Cain - 25%, Newt Gingrich - 17%, Mitt Romney - 6%, Rick Perry - 3%...

YouTube: IMAGINE! China Invades America!
The solution: Ron Paul is the strongest candidate on national defense.

Rand Paul prevents war with Russia
Daily Caller - A few days ago, some Republican senators attempted to lay the groundwork for a shooting war with Russia. I wish I were exaggerating. Last week, while most senators were focused on the important national issues of war funding and Americans’ constitutional liberties, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) seemed more concerned with the fate of a foreign country. Behind the scenes, Rubio moved to have a unanimous consent vote that would have hastened Georgia’s entry into NATO. The unanimous consent vote never happened because Senator Rand Paul single-handedly prevented it.

BOMBSHELL: US Caught Meddling in Russian Elections!
Activist Post - What would Americans say if they found their polling stations and certain political parties entirely infiltrated by Chinese money, Chinese observers, and Chinese-backed candidates promoting China's interests in an AMERICAN election? The answer ranges from incarceration, to trials featuring charges ranging from fraud, to sedition and even treason with sentences ranging from decades to life in prison, perhaps even death, as well as possible military action for what could easily be considered an act of war.

Clinton calls Russian election unfair
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) -- Issuing new warnings to two U.S. partners Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Russia for a parliamentary election she said was rigged and said election gains by Islamist parties must not set back Egypt's push toward democracy after the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak this year.

Recent Charges of Sexual Abuse of Children in Hollywood Just Tip of Iceberg, Experts Say
Revelations of this sort come as no surprise to former child star Corey Feldman.Feldman, 40, himself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, unflinchingly warned of the world of pedophiles who are drawn to the entertainment industry last August. "I can tell you that the No. 1 problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia,” Feldman told ABC’s Nightline. “That's the biggest problem for children in this industry... It's the big secret.”

Newt leads, but Paul wins in new Iowa poll
Daily Caller - With less than a month before the Iowa caucus, GOP presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has surged into the lead, but Texas Rep. Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who could best President Obama, a new Iowa poll says.... Paul leads Obama 42 percent to 35 percent among independent voters, according to the poll, and he also attracts 15% of Iowa’s Democrats. Not to mention that 16 percent of voters were undecided.

YouTube: New Ron Paul Campaign Ad: BIG DOG
LAKE JACKSON, Texas – The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign announced today the release of its newest television ad “Big Dog,” which touts the 12-term Texas Congressman’s seriousness on federal debt and spending reductions. Beginning today the 30-second ad will air on broadcast and cable television in the key early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. The spot contrasts establishment Republican candidates unwilling to make difficult choices on spending cuts and debt reduction with the sole candidate whose bite on such matters equals his bark: Ron Paul. Read the rest of the article here.

Trump wants say in GOP race, mulls independent bid
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sure, he's out of the GOP presidential race, but The Donald isn't content to sit on the sidelines. Donald Trump wants a say in who gets the nomination, so he's hosting a presidential debate, holding out the prospect of his endorsement and threatening an independent run...."GOP candidates would be foolish to show up at Trump's clown circus/ debate. Walk away," Republican strategist Mike Murphy advised on Twitter.

AP source: Ex-VP Dan Quayle to endorse Romney
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Vice President Dan Quayle is endorsing Mitt Romney for president. Quayle served as vice president under President George H.W. Bush. He was a House member from Indiana for two terms and a U.S. senator.

YouTube: Herman Cain To Endorse Newt Gingrich
KIRO 7 News | Herman Cain, no longer in the race, will endorse the globalist candidate Newt Gingrich.

Newt Blames Affair On Working Too Hard
MSNBC News - Cenk Uygur speaks with talk show host and comedian Stephanie Miller about Newt Gingrich's absurd excuse for his cheating on his wife with a mistress in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Gingrich fires back at Pelosi over threat
The Hill - Newt Gingrich said that a threat from ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to disclose information she learned while serving on an ethics committee investigating him during his time as Speaker of the House would "totally abuse the ethics process" and violate rules of the House of Representatives.... Pelosi told Talking Points Memo that she would reveal damaging material about Gingrich "when the time is right."

Gingrich Favors Juries, But Not for Americans … Just for Illegal Aliens
New American - Newt Gingrich came out strongly for jury trials before illegal immigrants can be deported in the December 3 presidential forum sponsored by Fox News' Mike Huckabee. But the former House Speaker has refused to favor jury trials of American citizens accused of terrorism.

VIDEO; Fear Of Second Obama Term Spurs Record Gun Sales
Prison Planet - Single day firearms purchases hit all time high. As the debate raged last week over the attempt to pass a law that would allow U.S. citizens to be detained indefinitely without trial, Americans were busy preparing for their own form of ‘homeland security’, as gun sales hit an all time high for a single day on Black Friday....“There were 129,166 requests to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)–a third more than the previous record of 97,848 on Black Friday 2008, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said. On Black Friday last year, there were 87,061 requests.”

Mystery company buying up U.S. gun manufacturers
In recent years, many top-selling brands - including the 195-year-old Remington Arms, as well as Bushmaster Firearms and DPMS, leading makers of military-style semiautomatics - have quietly passed into the hands of a single private company. It is called the Freedom Group - and it is the most powerful and mysterious force in the U.S. commercial gun industry today.

The Pentagon Is Offering Free Military Hardware To Every Police Department In The US.
Business Insider - The US military has some of the most advanced killing equipment in the world that allows it to invade almost wherever it likes at will. We produce so much military equipment that inventories of military robots, M-16 assault rifles, helicopters, armored vehicles, and grenade launchers eventually start to pile up and it turns a lot of these weapons are going straight to American police forces to be used against US citizens.

SWAT Raids, Stun Guns, And Pepper Spray: Why The Government Is Ramping
Huffington Post - America's police departments have been moving toward more aggressive, force-first, militaristic tactics and their accompanying mindset for 30 years. It's just that, with the exception of protests at the occasional free trade or World Bank summit, the tactics haven't generally been used on mostly white, mostly college-educated kids armed with cellphone cameras and a media platform. Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they're fighting a "war," and the consequences are predictable.

Navy training mine washes ashore on Miami Beach
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities say they are working to remove a Navy training mine that washed ashore on Miami Beach near an area dotted by numerous condominiums... Sola says the mine, which was painted white, still appeared to be live but it wasn't as explosive as a regular mine. It was not immediately known how the mine washed ashore or where it came from.

10 Signs You Might Be a Slave
Activist Post - The definition of slavery is not nearly as clear as it used to be when we could see the physical chains and whips that shackled human laborers. Therefore, it's more vital than ever to identify the abstract ways in which humanity is confined. Here are ten signs you might be a modern-day slave.

TSA strip-searches 85-year-old woman in wheelchair while National Organization for Women (N.O.W.) remains shamelessly silent
(NaturalNews) For a federal government that has gone insane with criminality, no act of violating fundamental human rights is too outrageous anymore. In the latest chapter of the U.S. government's police state humiliation of innocent American women, an 85-year-old woman in a wheelchair, Lenore Zimmerman, was strip-searched by TSA agents who left her bleeding from a painful gash in her leg.

Ted Gunderson: A Man to Remember
Activist Post - This year those seeking freedom, justice, and truth lost an important ally, Ted Gunderson. Gunderson was the former chief of the Los Angeles division of the FBI and brought his impeccable credentials to the truth/freedom movement.

VIDEO: National Day of Action to Occupy Our Homes
This Tuesday, thousands will be standing up for their neighbors in a struggle against a system that places financial gain above the human need of shelter. Banks would rather let houses deteriorate than renegotiate loans with those who make them homes and build our communities.

Occupy SF Protesters to Open People’s Reserve Credit Union
The goal of this project is to encourage San Francisco residents, businesses, as well as nonprofit and city agencies to keep their money out of the big banks and to redistribute that money locally. Initial services will include micro-loans for the working poor and homeless, and subsidized student loans at low interest rates. The credit union is being created with the help of San Francisco’s Glide Community Church and Supervisors John Avalos and Eric Mar.

OWS park's owners cheat on taxes
RT - Businesses that operate in the Big Apple are expected to pay a percent of their income on taxes that go to funding public projects in New York City. For the one percent, however, those pennies on the dollar are apparently too hard to part with. The result of an investigation by the New York Daily News over the weekend revealed that Brookfield Properties, the business that owns Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan and has forced the City into paying preposterous overtime fees for the NYPD cops that patrol their property, owes $139,000 in back business taxes.

Protesters March Against Bill That Could Designate Them Terrorists
Prison Planet- Occupy Portland protesters marched yesterday against a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act that could lead them to be designated as terrorists and carted off to a foreign detention camp. “Protesters took issue with the $662 billion defense spending bill, singling out language in the U.S. Senate version that says U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism can be detained indefinitely,” reports The Oregonian.

VIDEO: Standoff ends between police, Occupy DC protesters
Washington (CNN) -- An hours-long standoff between police and Occupy DC protesters ended Sunday night after officers forcibly removed several people clinging to a wood structure erected earlier in the district's McPherson Square.A total of 31 people were arrested over the course of the day, according to U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser.

Food Stamps For Jumbo Crab Legs
I was strolling around the waterfront fish market in DC on Saturday, admiring the whole octopi, the squid, lobsters, jumbo crab legs and Maryland blue crabs for sale. Imagine my surprise when I spotted this sign above a pile of crabs: Food Stamp Cards Accepted Here!

Five things you can do right now to help stop the economic plundering of our world
(NaturalNews) You can help resist this economic imperialism by taking simple actions that protect your wealth and pull it out of the hands of the globalists who are actively destroying our world. Here are five of the most powerful action steps to take that can turn the tables and restore economic sovereignty at every level -- household, community, state, nation and the entire globe.

Gasoline: The New Big U.S. Export
CNN Money - The U.S. still imports more than half its oil. But thanks to declining demand for products made from crude, the country is now supplying the rest of the world with gasoline. The United States is awash in gasoline. So much so, in fact, that the country is exporting a record amount of it. The country exported 430,000 more barrels of gasoline a day than it imported in September, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is about twice the amount at the start of the year, and experts and industry insiders say the trend is here to stay.

Wis. firm reverses 1-way flow of shoes from Asia
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) -- There's a good chance the shoes you're wearing right now were made in China. Now an American shoemaker wants to put the shoe on the other foot, by persuading the Chinese to wear shoes made in the USA.

Joe Biden “Jokes” About Bringing Hundreds Of Millions Of US Taxpayer Dollars To Bailout Greece
Zero Hedge - As Reuters reports, the VP, “joked during a visit to debt-choked Athens on Monday about bringing money to help Greece out of its deepest financial crisis in decades. Introducing a member of his delegation during a meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, Biden said: “This man represents the Treasury department. He’s brought hundreds of millions of dollars.” His comments drew laughs from both the Greek and U.S. delegations.

Over 46 Million Americans On Foodstamps For The First Time Ever
Zero Hedge - While the capital markets may be cheering that in the past month 120,000 people supposedly found jobs, even if these were largely temporary or part-time just in time for the year end shopping sprees, we wonder how they will react when learning that according to the latest update from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), some 423,000 Americans found their way to minimum way subsistence, courtesy of Food Stamp handouts from Uncle Sam.

REPORT: Bill Clinton collected $50k a month from Corzine's MF GLOBAL
A former MF Global employee accused former president William J. Clinton of collecting $50,000 per month through his Teneo advisory firm in the months before the brokerage careened towards its Halloween filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Teneo was hired by MF Global’s former CEO Jon S. Corzine to improve his image and to enhance his connections with Clinton’s political family, said the employee, who asked that his name be withheld because he feared retribution.

A method to quit smoking that really works - organic tobacco
(NaturalNews) Before tobacco was polluted with somewhere between 1,000 and 4,000 chemicals, anyone could quit the habit, even cold turkey without help, but because today's premium brands have juiced up the nicotine so high, it seems to take a small miracle to cure someone of smoking.

FDA revisits safety of newer birth control drugs
WASHINGTON (AP) - Research suggesting that newer birth control formulations are more likely to cause blood clots than older drugs has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to consider new safety measures in meetings later this week. The increased risk is slight but significant because blood clots can cause heart attacks, strokes and blockages in lungs or blood vessels, which can be fatal.

Health Basics: What is Aspartame?
(NaturalNews) Over a billion people consume aspartame in their foods and beverages across the world, believing it to be a safe ingredient, but what they probably don't know is that aspartame currently accounts for over 75% of all side effects complaints.

Feds to allow use of Medicare data to rate doctors
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government announced Monday that Medicare will finally allow its extensive claims database to be used by employers, insurance companies and consumer groups to produce report cards on local doctors and hospitals.

Try the best natural sweeteners
(NaturalNews) Sweet foods were a rare delicacy for our ancient ancestors. Today, we have an unlimited supply of sugary foods and beverages at our disposal. Natural sweeteners can be used effectively in moderation to provide the sweetness that most people crave. Here are the best natural sweeteners ranked in order based on low glycemic index and additional health benefits.

PG&E’s Smart Meter Opt-Out: The Ins and Outs
CPUC has filed a landmark proposal for letting PG&E customers opt out of having smart meters. Read the breakdown.

Pesticides are one of top three 'worst toxic pollution problems' on planet, say non-profit groups
(NaturalNews) The Blacksmith Institute (BI), an international non-profit environmental health organization devoted to solving pollution problems around the world, in conjunction with Green Cross Switzerland (GCS), a group that helps clean up pollution, recently co-released a comprehensive report entitled The World's Worst Toxic Pollution Problems. In it, researchers explain how agricultural pesticides represent the number three worst pollution problem on the planet.

Magnesium - Learn about the master mineral supplement you must have
(NaturalNews) Many call it the master mineral, yet eighty percent or more of modern society is deficient. It is a basic element of over 300 cellular metabolic processes. It's magnesium. As important as it is, it is vastly underrated and underused by health practitioners and physicians.

Beware of artificial food coloring chemicals in pickles - it's what makes them appear more yellow
(NaturalNews)Pickles make great snacks, satisfying food cravings without throwing off your daily intake of calories, fats, sugars or carbohydrates. Like most fermented foods, natural pickles provide probiotic benefits. Unfortunately, most commercially sold pickle brands contain high fructose corn syrup and/or food dye.

New research finds possible reason for obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics in kids: lack of vitamin D
(NaturalNews) If there's one nutrient that has received an amazing amount of attention and research over the past year, it's vitamin D. As NaturalNews has reported extensively, a lack of the vitamin has been linked to everything from dementia and arthritis to heart disease and breast cancer.

Breast cancer prevention alternatives - know your options before leaping
(NaturalNews) Fear, pain, poison, and "pre-emptive" surgery characterize mainstream medicine's philosophy of breast cancer awareness. The cancer industry's attitude toward breast health is rooted in harrowing more than healing, its motives based in profit rather than prevention.

GSK pays US government record $3 billion for illegally marketing drugs (but CEO and executives not held criminally responsible)
(NaturalNews) The latest dog and pony show involves the US government addressing GSK's illegal activity over the years in peddling its deadly chemical cocktails. After being exposed for illegally marketing drugs, paying off doctors to promote dangerous drugs, and manipulating scientific data to get dangerous drugs approved, GSK has essentially been pardoned by the US government in exchange for $3 billion.

Payola fuels Big Pharma and the medical monopoly
(NaturalNews) Payola means bribery, direct and indirect. It has been discovered to permeate the music industry and politics, but allopathic devotees don't know that it affects their medicine.... Fortunately, the Texas State Attorney is concerned now. The state attorney's office is preparing for a January 20012 trial against Jansen Pharmaceuticals and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson. Jansen is accused of contributing kickbacks and offering trips to state officials.

Working on his vacation in Russia, contractor touches off false report of cyberattack
Infowars - Mystery solved. A reported cyberattack on a water district in central Illinois turned out to be a false alarm set off when an American contractor logged onto the system remotely while vacationing in Russia. Jim Mimlitz of suburban St. Louis says he hopes he’ll be able to laugh about it someday. For now, the contractor is puzzled. Why didn’t terrorism investigators pick up the phone and call him? He says he could have straightened out the matter quickly.

Scientists find monster black holes, biggest yet
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Scientists have found the biggest black holes known to exist - each one 10 billion times the size of our sun. A team led by astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered the two gigantic black holes in clusters of elliptical galaxies more than 300 million light years away. That's relatively close on the galactic scale.

Today in History - Monday - December 5, 2011
1792 - The trial of France's King Louis XVI began.
1797 - Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Paris to command forces for the invasion of England.
1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte left his army as they were retreating from Russia.
1848 - U.S. President Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming the fact that gold had been discovered in California.
1904 - The Russian fleet was destroyed by the Japanese at Port Arthur, during the Russo-Japanese War.
1908 - At the University of Pittsburgh, numerals were first used on football uniforms worn by college football players.
1913 - Britain outlawed the sending of arms to Ireland.
1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa making it possible for him to travel to the U.S.
1933 - Prohibition came to an end when Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1934 - The Soviet Union executed 66 people charged with plotting against Joseph Stalin's government.
1936 - The Soviet Union adopted a new Constitution under a Supreme Council.
1944 - During World War II, Allied troops took Ravenna, Italy.
1945 - The so-called "Lost Squadron" disappeared. The five U.S. Navy Avenger bombers carrying 14 Navy flyers began a training mission at the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station. They were never heard from again.
1951 - The first push button-controlled garage opened in Washington, DC.
1961 - United Nations forces launched an attack in Katanga, the Congo, near Elizabethville.
1962 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to cooperate in the peaceful uses of outer space.
1977 - Egypt broke diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen due to peaceful relations with Israel.
1983 - In west Beirut, Lebanon, more than a dozen people were killed when a car bomb shattered a nine-story apartment building.
1985 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 1,500 for the first time.
1988 - Jim Bakker and former aide Richard Dortch were indicted by a federal grand jury in North Carolina on fraud and conspiracy charges.
1989 - East Germany's former leaders were placed under house arrest.
1992 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin kept the power to appoint Cabinet ministers, defeating a constitutional amendment that would have put his team of reformers under the control of Russia's Congress.
1998 - James P. Hoffa became the head of the Teamsters union, 23 years after his father was the head. His father disappeared and was presumed dead.
2001 - In Germany, Afghan leaders signed a pact to create a temporary administration for post-Taliban Afghanistan. Two women were included in the cabinet structure. Hamid Karzai and his Cabinet were planned to take over power in Afghanistan on December 22.

All patients to be barcoded by 2013
The Telegraph UK - The barcodes, which will be read by handheld scanners, are to be issued to patients from October neaxt year under the orders of the Information Standards Board (ISB) for Health and Social Care.

Legless man denied wheelchair
A man from Nyköping in eastern Sweden has been denied a power wheelchair despite having had both of his legs amputated as the local health authority remained "uncertain if the impairment was permanent".

Websites downed by Russian poll hack
WEBSITES which revealed violations in Russia's elections were inaccessible yesterday after a massive hacking attack their operators said was aimed at preventing the exposure of mass election fraud.

Peru declares state of emergency
LIMA, Peru (AP) -- Peru's president has declared a 60-day state of emergency in a northern region torn by more than a week of protests against a highlands gold mine that is the country's largest investment.

Egypt's ElBaradei: Liberals 'decimated' in vote
CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's top reformist leader said Sunday the liberal youth behind the country's uprising have been "decimated" in parliamentary elections dominated by Islamists and expressed concern about the rise of hard-line religious elements advocating extremist ideas such as banning women from driving.

VIDEO: Iran TV Says US Spy Drone Shot Down By Military
December 4, 2011 - A report on English-language Press TV said the drone was "downed with minimum damage" and seized by Iranian officials close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.... The semi-official Fars news agency, which is believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard military force, said Iran would respond to the violation of its airspace with actions beyond its own borders. There was no immediate comment on the claims from the US military, which rarely officially confirms operations carried out using such aircraft.

Iran says oil would go over $250 if exports banned
(Reuters) - Iran warned the West on Sunday any move to block its oil exports would more than double crude prices with devastating consequences on a fragile global economy.

VIDEO: America’s great game could spark World War Three’
RT - Report: Following the latest report that the Iranian military has shot down a US drone in eastern Iran, radio host Stephen Lendman told RT such US reconnaissance missions point towards greater ambitions for domination, which might lead to all-out war.

Clinton criticism sparks Israeli anger
Israeli ministers reacted angrily on Sunday after local media quoted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying she feared for the future of Israel’s democracy and the rights of women in the Jewish state.

Italian government approves new measures
ROME (AP) -- Premier Mario Monti said Sunday that his government of technocrats has approved a package of austerity and growth measures to "reawaken" the Italian economy and help save the euro common currency from collapse. The measures include immediate cuts to the costs of maintaining Italy's bulky political class as well as significant measures to fight tax evasion, Monti told a news conference following a three-hour Cabinet meeting.

Putin suffers blow in Russian parliament election
(Reuters) - Vladimir Putin's ruling party suffered a big drop in support in a parliamentary election on Sunday and was not certain even of holding on to a majority of seats, an exit poll showed.

U.N. discusses plans to reflect the sun to cool the Earth
Daily Mail - A group of scientists, philosophers and legal scholars are looking into radical geoengineering plans to artificially cool the Earth in a bid to reverse global warning. A U.N. climate conference in South Africa on Friday said that - in theory - reflecting a small amount of sunlight back into space before it strikes the Earth's surface would have an immediate and dramatic effect.... But no one knows what the side effects would be.

REPORT: Canada considers quitting global climate treaty
Bloomberg - Canada, the country furthest from meeting its commitment to cut carbon emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, may save as much as $6.7 billion by exiting the global climate change agreement and not paying for offset credits.

U.S.-Canadian Border Deal to Streamline GMO Approval: Confirmed
Aaron Dykes - Our report sounding the alarm that Obama and Harper’s secretive border deal, due to be signed next week, would be used to fast track GMO acceptance has been confirmed. The details have been kept under wraps, but recent reports revealed that the ‘Beyond Borders’ security and law enforcement deal would also seek to ‘harmonize’ U.S. and Canadian regulatory standards for food, auto and other trade sectors.

Argentinian report identifies major medical problems associated with Roundup Ready soy
The report points once again to a big rise in birth defects, up in parallel with expansion of GM Roundup Ready (RR) soy. It also contains a lot of detail about DNA damage, confirming laboratory research on glyphosate and its breakdown product AMPA - and neurological development problems.

Psychiatrist calls for lithium to be added to Ireland’s water
Irish Times - At a mental health forum on “Depression in Rural Ireland” in Ennistymon, Co Clare, Dr Moosajee Bhamjee said that “there is growing scientific evidence that adding trace amounts of the drug lithium to a water supply can lower rates of suicide and depression”.... Dr Bhamjee said: “A recent article in the British Journal of Psychiatry found the beneficial uses of lithium when it was added to the water supply in parts of Texas.” He said the Government should consider a pilot project for a town in Ireland where lithium salts could be added to the water in very small doses and examine the results.”

Arrests of illegal aliens under Obama plummet
The Border Patrol apprehended 327,577 illegal crossers along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2011, which ended Sept. 30, numbers not seen since Richard Nixon was president, and a precipitous drop from the peak in 2000, when 1.6 million unauthorized migrants were caught. More than 90 percent of the migrants apprehended on the southwest border are Mexican.

5-year-old cuffed, charged with battery on cop
(NaturalNews) There is no question that police officers in the United States have one of the toughest, most dangerous jobs around. But it's hard to imagine an instance - any instance - where a cop feels so threatened by a child barely past the toddler age that he or she needs to forcibly restrain them.

The US Is Sending 4 Of These State Of The Art Destroyers To Join The Contested European Missile Shield
Business Insider | At over 500 feet in length, and costing almost $2 billion apiece, the Arleigh Burke class are among the largest destroyers in the American fleet.

US Air Force faces litigation for ‘illegal termination’ of 157 officers
Daily Caller - On November 30 the officers, none more than six years from retirement, were terminated without benefits despite Department of Defense guidelines stating that service members within six years of retirement normally are retained and allowed to retire on time unless their files contain disciplinary problems or other “derogatory” information.

White House repeats threat to veto US defense bill
AFP December 3, 2011 -The White House on Friday reaffirmed its threat to veto the Pentagon budget after the Senate passed a funding bill that requires military detention for terrorism suspects and indefinite detention without trial in some cases. White House spokesman Jay Carney accused the Senate of engaging in “political micromanagement” by including provisions that he said would restrict US flexibility in the fight against Al-Qaeda. “Any bill that challenges or constrains the president’s critical authority to collect intelligence, incapacitate dangerous terrorists and protect the nation will prompt his senior advisors to recommend a veto,” Carney said.

D.E.A. Launders Mexican Profits of Drug Cartels
NY Times - Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington’s expanding role in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials.

YouTube: Fox News Saturday GOP Presidential Forum Ron Paul Highlights
Ron Paul Highlights in 12/3/2011 Presidential Forum.

Des Moines Register latest poll ... Paul 2nd at 18%
Selzer & Co. of Des Moines conducted the poll of 401 likely Republican caucusgoers Nov. 27-30. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The race remains elastic. Eleven percent of likely caucusgoers are uncommitted to a first choice, and 60percent are still willing to change their mind. A single day’s news can seesaw opinions. Another interesting finding: Paul, often dismissed by the political establishment, has climbed 6 points since the Register’s October poll. “The big surprise potential now is with Ron Paul,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Herman Cain drops out of presidential race
LA Times - Herman Cain, the insurgent populist whose candidacy has been ensnared by allegations of sexual impropriety, said Saturday that he is leaving the race for the Republican presidential nomination, saying that the allegations have cast a "cloud of doubt over me and this campaign."

Newt Gingrich: Poor Kids Don't Work Unless It's Illegal
After saying recently that child labor laws are "truly stupid," Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Thursday told an Iowa audience that children in poor neighborhoods have "no habits of working" nor getting paid for their endeavors "unless it's illegal."

Donald Trump says yes, he'll moderate Republican debate in Iowa
LA Times - Trump confirmed to MSNBC’s Tamron Hall a New York Times report that he'd helm a GOP debate on Dec. 27. “I was asked to do it by a number of people, including some of my friends that are Republicans, strong Republicans,” Trump told MSNBC. He has signed on to be a moderator at the debate, which will be held in Iowa and is hosted by Newsmax, a conservative website and magazine. It will be broadcast on Ion Television, a cable network.

Ron Paul camp: Donald Trump debate 'beneath the office of the Presidency'
Politico - Ron Paul's campaign announced Saturday that Paul won't participate in the planned NewsMax debate moderated by Donald Trump, and campaign chairman Jesse Benton pulled no punches in explaining the decision: “The selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is beneath the office of the Presidency and flies in the face of that office’s history and dignity.... To be sure, Mr. Trump’s participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere...."

Trump blasts Paul for smacking him in forum-skip
Donald Trump apparently didn't take kindly to Ron Paul's decision to skip the NewsMax-hosted forum.... "As I said in the past and will reiterate again, Ron Paul has a zero chance of winning either the nomination or the presidency," Trump said in a statement in response to Paul, adding, "my poll numbers were substantially higher than any of his poll numbers, at any time."

Fox news video: Trump v. Paul - good comments!
Daily Paul - Sun, 12/04/2011.

UPDATE: What's the deal with Ron Paul and the RJC?
Paul was not invited to attend the RJC's candidates forum because the organization - as it has stated numerous times in the past - "rejects his misguided and extreme views," said Brooks. "He's just so far outside of the mainstream of the Republican party and this organization," Brooks said. Inviting Paul to attend would be "like inviting Barack Obama to speak." Mystery solved.

Why Ron was not invited to the Jewish Coalition debate.* And what his campaign can do about it
Daily Paul - I have a feeling that this is actually an attempt to pull some anger out of Paul supporters so that the media can try to use it against him.

YouTube: Ron Paul Interview On Cnn With Wolf Blitzer
Airing Date Dec.02, 2011. Wolf Blitzer discusses Ron Paul's latest campaign ad on Newt Gingrich.

Article on Ron Paul: This is exactly why Iowa is crucial! We can win this thing despite the media blackout!
Daily Paul - I read this article today. It is awesome and says exactly what to do to win this thing.... Snip: Paul excels in during the debates, defending records or the status quo in a way that would put most of those candidates to the left of the congressman. This puts him in the driver's seat to frame the debate, because like it or not, no one could ever label Paul a hypocrite. Full article here.

Obama Fundraiser and Ambassador Blames Israel for Anti-Semitism
The U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, recently told a conference hosted by the European Jewish Union that Israel is to blame for growing anti-Semitism harbored by people of Muslim faith.

POLL: Jewish approval of Obama on rise -- in Israel
Politico - A majority, or 54 percent, now say they have a favorable view of the U.S. president — a year ago, just 41 percent of those polled viewed Obama in a positive light.

VIDEO: In support of a Ron Paul foreign policy
Dec 1, 2011 - Ron Paul 2012, called names during a TV debate this week.

YouTube: Paul Craig Roberts: Congress is Repealing the Constitution
RT Dec 2, 2011 - There is a bill in the Senate that is attempting to keep torture alive as an interrogation technique. The National Defense Authorization Act is being debated in Congress and if passed, American citizens could be detained without a court hearing anywhere in the world. President Obama stated he will veto the bill if it should pass. Is Senate Bill 1867 threatening the US constitution? Paul Craig Roberts, former Reagan administration official and columnist, gives us his take on the proposed bill.

The Constitution Is Dead: The Gradual Transition towards an Orwellian Police State
Global Research - The destruction of the Constitution began soon after 9/11 when the Patriot Act was pushed through Congress. In the heat of the moment it seemed as if the legislation was meant to protect us from terrorism, however it was later revealed that certain provisions blatantly violated the First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendments

California considers state-level amnesty for illegals
SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants could live and work openly in California with little or no fear of deportation under an initiative unveiled Friday by a state legislator and others. Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, a Democrat, is helping spearhead the measure, called the California Opportunity and Prosperity Act. Regardless whether Californians would support such a measure, implementation would depend upon the federal government agreeing not to prosecute participants.

Wow! New Hampshire wakes up to Obama's alleged Social Security fraud
World net Daily November 16, 2011 - A hearing, with the apparent support of two state lawmakers, is scheduled before the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission to hear a complaint filed by Orly Taitz that alleges Barack Obama has used fraudulent documents and a fraudulent Social Security number.... "Obama does not have an valid identification papers, which are necessary to be a candidate on the ballot, running for the U.S. presidency, based upon New Hampshire elections law 655-17 and on Article 1, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution," Taitz wrote. Updates here and here.

Wisconsin Governor Wants To Introduce Fee To Protest
Steve Watson - Exercising First Amendment right will cost $50 per hour per Capitol Police officer. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker is making it the official policy in the state to encourage demonstrators to pay a fee in advance of any protest event, as well as applying for a permit.

85-year-old woman may sue TSA after being strip searched at JFK Airport
'I really look like a terrorist,' 110-pound Long Island grandmother says. Lenore Zimmerman, who lives in Long Beach, says she was on her way to a 1 p.m. flight to Fort Lauderdale when security whisked her to a private room and took off her clothes.... “I walk with a walker — I really look like a terrorist,” she said sarcastically. “I’m tiny. I weigh 110 pounds, 107 without clothes, and I was strip-searched.”

VIDEO: TSA stopped teen at airport for design on purse
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A teenage girl's sense of style got her in trouble at the airport. Vanessa Gibbs, 17, claims the Transportation Security Administration stopped her at the security gate because of the design of a gun on her handbag. Gibbs said she had no problem going through security at Jacksonville International Airport, but rather, when she headed home from Virginia. "It's my style, it's camouflage, it has an old western gun on it," Gibbs said.

VIDEO: Sandusky: 'I'm Not the Monster Everyone Made Me Out to Be'
Sandusky's Statements Outrage Victims. Sandusky, who also ran a charity for disadvantaged youth called Second Mile, has been charged with molesting eight boys over the course of 15 years. He is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 13. "Once again, Jerry Sandusky has chosen to provide the national media with an entirely unconvincing denial and a series of bizarre explanations," said Andrew Shubin, a lawyer for one of the alleged victims in the case.

Occupy Seattle Joins Wave of Building Occupations
Dec. 3, 2011 - Last night, undeterred by the city's destruction of their original encampment, hundreds of Occupy Seattle supporters occupied a vacant warehouse slated for demolition and condo development. After entering, Occupiers erected barricades, held a General Assembly, and began plans to fix up the space for community use.

Occupiers Launch Hunger Strike to Liberate Outdoor Space
On Saturday, December 3, in Liberty Plaza, we—THE OWS HUNGER STRIKERS—began a hunger strike. We are striking to demand outdoor space for a new occupation. We are holding our strike at Duarte Square on Sixth Avenue and Canal Street in Manhattan as part of a continued effort seeking sanctuary on Trinity Church’s unused land.

VIDEO: Building New Structures on K Street
Dec. 4, 2011 - Last night, Occupy K Street-DC erected a new structure, "a people's pavilion," at their main encampment in McPherson Square. According to Occupiers, the structure will be used for General Assemblies, teach-ins, and other community building purposes. They have also said that the structure represents the needs of the 99% who are being left houseless by economic inequality. They are claiming it does not violate city ordinances because it is not permanent and it is not exclusive.

Barack Obama Is Taking A 17 Day Vacation Even As America Falls Apart All Around Him
Economic Collapse - What in the world is Barack Obama thinking? The United States of America is falling apart all around him, and yet he decides to take a 17 day Hawaiian vacation. Does he even understand that he is the leader of the free world? Does he even understand that this country is mired in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression? Last year, a similar Hawaiian vacation by the Obamas ending up costing more than 1 million dollars.

No, America's unemployment rate is not 8.6 percent
RT - As the Department of Labor tells America that the percentage of the country without jobs is at a two year low, many Americans celebrate what hopes to be a recovery from a long-lasting recession that has spawned dire unemployment figures for over two years. On the contrary, the statistics for November are represented as good as the government makes it up to be because just that — it makes them up.

Ally Financial’s Location Tracking: Banks Move To Profit From Personal Information
A major U.S. bank is now tracking customer locations, raising concerns about online privacy. Ally Financial now requests to track the locations of customers when they go to Ally’s “Find ATM” page. While other big banks, such as Bank of America, Chase, and Citibank, do not ask to track people’s locations on their ATM search pages, the move is raising eyebrows, with some wondering whether this will mark the beginning of banks profiting off the personal information of its customers.

NYC Commercial Office Cleaners Authorize Strike
Thousands of commercial building cleaners who are members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union voted today to authorize their bargaining committee to call a strike over wages and benefits.

Postal cuts to slow delivery of first-class mail
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Facing bankruptcy, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with unprecedented cuts to first-class mail next spring that will slow delivery and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.

Anti-foreclosure activists target Michigan proposal
At least one group is speaking out against a proposed Michigan bill that would shorten the redemption period for certain mortgages after a foreclosure sale. Neeta Delaney, co-director of the Michigan Foreclosure Task Force, said Michigan House Bill 5176 "arbitrarily" singles out portfolio mortgages for a change in the buyback period to 90 days from the typical 6-month period.

California real estate execs arrested in alleged foreclosure scam
Authorities arrested three top officers at Stockton, Calif., real estate company who allegedly took in steep fees without performing loan modifications. Magdalena Salas, owner of Legacy Home Loans and Real Estate, along with Angelina Mireles and Julissa Garcia, were arrested Thursday on 13 felony and two misdemeanor counts that include conspiracy, grand theft and false advertising. The three allegedly took up to $5,000 in upfront loan modification fees from dozens and never performed services.

VIDEO: Draconian EPA Regulations To Cause Rolling Blackouts
Infowars - Critics attacked by White House for making connection proven accurate.The cost of complying with draconian new EPA rules on carbon emissions will force coal plants in Texas to close and increase the likelihood of rolling blackouts, as the Obama administration’s vow to “bankrupt” the coal industry takes full effect.

US: Bluefin tuna 'probably' OK after BP oil spill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Last year's BP oil spill probably won't push the troubled bluefin tuna population in the Gulf of Mexico over the edge as some scientists had worried, a federal analysis shows.Of all the potential damage from the 172-million-gallon (651-million-liter) spill in April 2010, scientists had been most concerned about how the oil spill would harm an already overfished species of large tuna. That's because about one-fifth of the spawning habitat where the Gulf's baby tuna were living was coated with oil, according to satellite records. Tuna less than a year old are most vulnerable to pollution.

VIDEO: 140-mph gusts cause damage, outages, delays in California
(CNN) -- Powerful winds continued to batter Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other southwestern U.S. locales Thursday -- downing trees, delaying flights and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.

VIDEO: In meltdown, Japan dodged even bigger disaster
CBS News December 2, 2011 - Recently, reporters got their first look at the devastation left in the wake of the accident, with heavily reinforced buildings torn to shreds after a series of meltdowns and explosions, But as CBS News found out this week, the damage was even worse: Rector 1 almost had a full meltdown. A new report revealed that molten nuclear fuel burned through the 8-foot concrete walls of the first protective casing surrounding the reactor's core, and then ate 3/4 of the way through the second casing. The meltdown stopped within a foot of the container's steel bottom, 25 feet above the earth's surface.

Unvaccinated hospital employees required to wear face masks during flu season
(NaturalNews) Memorial Hermann (MH), a major hospital system in Houston, Tex., that employs 20,000 workers at 11 area hospitals, is currently pushing a campaign that aims to vaccinate 100 percent of its workers with the flu shot by Nov. 18. And one of the ways this medical group is not-so-subtly attempting to force full compliance is by threatening those who have not gotten their shots with having to wear face masks at work throughout the entire flu season.

Scientists deliberately remove natural compounds from grapefruits to accommodate pharmaceuticals that cause negative interactions
(NaturalNews) Grapefruits, lemons, celery, and certain other fruits and vegetables contain compounds known as furanocoumarins that can cause a negative reaction when consumed along with certain medications. But rather than examine the medications to see whether or not they themselves are safe, scientists have instead focused on developing genetically hybridized grapefruit that contains little or no furanocoumarins as the solution.

Fast food nutrition facts - mystery ingredients are industrial chemicals
(NaturalNews) Many people think occasional junk food indulgence can be balanced out by skipping meals later in the week or by putting in some extra time on the treadmill. The truth is that the consequences of this type of eating can turn up in unexpected ways, often years later as toxins accumulate in your body and cause serious illnesses like cancer or diabetes.

Amazing food fact: The main ingredient in tapioca pudding is a tropical tuber that provides a huge portion of the world's dietary carbohydrates
(NaturalNews) After rice and wheat, the most important human carbohydrate source is not what you might guess. It's not the starchy potato, or any of the major sweetener-producing crops (sugar cane, sugar beet or corn). It's a tropical tuber known by the names cassava, manioc and yucca (in Spanish), and it's the main ingredient in tapioca pudding.

Prevent cancer with green tea - know how much is needed
(NaturalNews) If you take green tea to reduce your risk of cancer, are you really getting enough? Up until recently, population studies have had mixed results, making it difficult to give clear-cut guidelines on green tea intake. But now, several new meta-studies have begun to shed light on how much green tea is required to provide meaningful reductions in risk for several major cancers.

70% of World's Raw Chocolate Soon To Be Genetically Modified; Funded by USDA, Mars, IBM
Prevent Disease - With the intention of flooding 70% of the global cocoa supply with genetically modified (GMO) cocoa tree hybrids, a collaboration involving Mars, USDA and IBM is accelerating this process.... The United States, Germany and France make up more than half of the world's cocoa consumption with the United States by far the largest consumer. Consequently, should the effects of genetically modified cocoa result in unintended health effects or consequences to consumers, the US population will be the first to exhibit those effects on a mass scale.

Defense and Aerospace Industry Pollutant Now Found in Virtually All Humans Tested
Activist Post - Perchlorate is an environmental pollutant primarily associated with releases by defense contractors, military operations and aerospace programs, as it is a key ingredient in rocket fuel. It is now found in virtually all humans tested, and it is continually making its way up the food chain through ground and drinking water, into feed and edible plants, animals products, milk and breast milk -- contaminating conventional and organically grown food, alike.

Exposed: Food manufacturers, not the FDA, have self-approved thousands of food chemicals in widespread use today
(NaturalNews) There are currently more than 10,000 chemical food additives permitted for use in foods today. But at least 3,000 of these have never undergone proper US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety reviews, and have instead essentially been "approved" for use by the chemical companies and food manufacturers that make and use them.

Federal appeals court reinstates corporate ownership over human genes for breast cancer
(NaturalNews) There are currently more than 10,000 chemical food additives permitted for use in foods today. But at least 3,000 of these have never undergone proper US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety reviews, and have instead essentially been "approved" for use by the chemical companies and food manufacturers that make and use them.

How to Make Coconut Milk Kefir
Use it in almost any recipe calling for yogurt, kefir or buttermilk (will add a coconut flavor though), or just eat with a spoon like yogurt.

Study Proves Fluoride Brain Damage
Kurt Nimmo - A study conducted by scientists in India demonstrates that consumption of sodium fluoride results in brain and neurological damage. It was published by K. Pratap Reddy of the University College of Sciences at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, on January 10, 2011.

Rash of 'Twilight'-induced seizures prompts warning
Maryland-based Epilepsy Foundation advises parents of seizure-prone children to skip film.

Online fraudster who helped probe Google gets 70 months prison
(Reuters) - A man who admitted online fraud and helped federal agents investigate search engine giant Google was sentenced in Rhode Island on Friday to more than five years in jail and ordered to pay $10 million.

VIDEO: Raw Milk Freedom Riders: Wisconsin to Chicago 12/8/11
The caravan of Freedom Riders will include embedded reporters to broadcast what the Riders are doing and why - to shed light on the FDA's violent and failing policies. Riders are informing the FDA of their intentions and inviting the FDA to the party as they caravan over 100 gallons of raw milk from Wisconsin and then distribute in Chicago at Independence Park. It is time to challenge the FDA on the law that turns honest parents, farmers and other individuals into criminals for transporting raw milk across state lines.

Major Organic Seed Company Owned By Pro-GMO Group!
PPJ Gazette - I recently found out something shocking. This revelation happened as I was meandering through the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) website and ran across the “about” page. It just so happens that Joel Reiten is one of the Board of Directors – “Currently seed production manager for Seeds of Change, a division of Mars, one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of 100% organic seed.”

Monsanto Corn May Be Failing to Kill Bugs, EPA Says
Bloomberg - Rootworms in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska are suspected of developing tolerance to the plants’ insecticide, based on documented cases of severe crop damage and reports from entomologists, the EPA said in a memo dated Nov. 22 and posted Nov. 30 on a government website. Monsanto’s program for monitoring suspected cases of resistance is “inadequate,” the EPA said.

Homegrown Cutting Board
With resources from Mother Nature, you can make natural and beautiful homegrown holiday gifts. You'll love this beautiful cutting board idea.

HUMAN DRUGS GIVEN TO DOGS!? Military dogs taking Xanax for canine PTSD
Yahoo - Even the most hardened soldier can escape grievous wounds on the battlefield only to suffer deeply painful psychological traumas after returning home. And unfortunately, the same pattern of psychic trauma seems to apply for the dogs that help provide essential services for military men and women.

VIDEO: Touching Video of Laboratory Beagles Released for First Time
(Warning you may need tissues) Activist Post - Millions of dogs each year are used as test subjects in order to study the effects of harmful pharmaceuticals, toxic household cleaners, and chemical-laden cosmetic products. A group known as Animal Rescue Media Education is dedicated to not only attempt to rescue science-lab dogs, but they also try and find them a home. In one of their largest rescue missions, the organization successfully rescued 72 beagles. 

List of Companies That DO Test on Animals
Many manufacturers of personal care and household items still test their products on animals, despite the growing number of alternative methods for evaluating product safety. The following list contains all such companies known and their associated brand names.

2 beagles howling at a bumble bee
Baylee and Lilly are gonna get the big scary bumble bee!

Today in History - Friday - December 2, 2011
1804 - Napoleon was crowned emperor of France at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
1816 - The first savings bank in the U.S., the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, opened for business.
1901 - Gillette patented the KC Gillette Razor. It was first razor to feature a permanent handle and disposable double-edge razor blades.
1927 - The Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model A automobile. It was the successor to the Model T.
1939 - New York's La Guardia Airport began operations as an airliner from Chicago landed at 12:01 a.m.
1942 - A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated by Dr. Enrico Fermi and his staff at the University of Chicago.
1961 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared in a nationally broadcast speech that he was a Marxist-Leninist and that he was going to lead Cuba to communism.
1969 - The Boeing 747 jumbo jet got its first public preview as 191 people flew from Seattle, WA, to New York City, NY. Most of the passengers were reporters and photographers.
1970 - The Environmental Protection Agency began operating under its first director, William Ruckelshaus.
1982 - Doctors at the University of Utah implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Barney Clark. He lived 112 days with the device.
1988 - Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan.
1989 - V.P. Singh was sworn in as prime minister of India.
1990 - Chancellor Hekmut Kohl's coalition won the first free all-German elections since 1932.
1990 - The Midwest section of the U.S. prepared for a massive earthquake predicted by Iben Browning. Nothing happened.
1991 - American hostage Joseph Cicippio was released by his kidnappers. He had been held captive in Lebanon for over five years.
1992 - Germany's lower house of parliament voted in favor of the Maastricht Treaty on European unity.
1993 - Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot to death by security forces in Medellin.
1993 - The space shuttle Endeavor blasted off on a mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope.
1994 - "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss was convicted in Los Angeles of three counts of pandering.
1994 - In Pensacola, FL, Paul Hill was given two life sentences for murdering a doctor and security guard outside an abortion clinic in July 1994.
1995 - NASA launched a U.S.-European observatory on a $1 billion dollar mission intended to study the sun.
1997 - U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of telephone fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Gore. It was concluded that they had not violated election laws.
1998 - Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates donated $100 million to help immunize children in developing countries.
1999 - The British government transferred political power over the province of Northern Ireland to a the Northern Ireland Executive.
2001 - Enron Corp. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. The filing came five days after Dynegy walked away from a $8.4 billion buyout. It was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
2010 - NASA announced the discovery of a new arsenic-based life form.

Biden urges Turkey to impose new sanctions on Iran
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Vice President Joe Biden has called on Turkey to impose new sanctions against Iran, while praising Ankara for its role in pressuring Syria to stop its bloody crackdown on protesters.

Pentagon 'Preps' Afghans for Trillion $$$ Rare Earth Treasure Hunt
Wired - A year ago, the New York Times gushingly pronounced that Afghanistan, with at least $1 trillion in untapped minerals, was poised to become “the Saudi Arabia of lithium.” Now, the Pentagon has announced plans to train Afghans in “airborne geophysical exploration.” The project will harness the latest in geophysical mapping technology, which uses aerial sensors to detect the specific quantity of minerals in precise locations, and how readily accessible they are.

White House refuses apology over Pakistan strike
Activist Post - WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House on Thursday dismissed the notion of offering an apology to Pakistan over the NATO air strikes that killed 24 soldiers, insisting an inquiry was still ongoing as to how the men died. "I, speaking for the White House and the president, offered condolences on behalf of him, the administration, the American people, for the tragic loss of life," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. "It was a tragedy." But he and other US officials have stopped short of offering any apology.

Furious at Latest U.S. Attack, Pakistan Shuts Down Resupply Routes to Afghanistan "Permanently"
NATO recently literally shot itself in the foot, imperiling the resupply of International Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan by shooting up two Pakistani border posts in a “hot pursuit’ raid. Given that roughly 100 fuel tanker trucks along with 200 other trucks loaded with NATO supplies cross into Afghanistan each day from Pakistan, Pakistan’s closure of the border has ominous long-term consequences for the logistical resupply of ISAF forces, even as Pentagon officials downplay the issue and scramble for alternative resupply routes.

Report: Russia delivers anti-ship missiles to Syria
MOSCOW - Russia has delivered anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, the Interfax news agency cited an unnamed military source as saying on Thursday, days after a United Nations commission of inquiry called for an arms embargo on Damascus.

Russia, U.S. Under Microscope at Chemical Weapons Pact Meeting
WASHINGTON -- Member nations of the Chemical Weapons Convention this week are considering a plan for addressing the Russian and U.S. inability to eliminate stockpiles of lethal materials by the 2012 deadline set under the international accord (see GSN, Nov. 29).

Russian vote watchdog under pressure before elections
MOSCOW, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russia launched an investigation on Thursday into the country's chief independent election watchdog, in what the group described as the culmination of a state-sponsored campaign to silence the monitor just three days before parliamentary polls.

Putin, Medvedev pledge public sector cash before vote
MOSCOW, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russia's ruling tandem of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin campaigned together on Thursday, pledging pay rises three days before an election that will most likely see the ruling party lose its majority in parliament.

US lawmaker blocking Obama's pick for Russia envoy
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Republican senator is blocking President Barack Obama's nominee to become ambassador to Russia over suspicions the U.S. might provide Moscow with sensitive missile defense information.

Israeli ads implore Jews to not marry Americans
RT - Thinking about tying the knot with your Jewish-American boyfriend or girlfriend? Don’t let Netanyahu in on it. The Israel government is sponsoring ads in the US warning young Jews here against marrying Americans and begging them to bid the States adieu. The Israel government has given the go-ahead to an ad campaign in the United States that, through a series of billboards and online video clips, is urging Jews to come back to Israel and cut ties with Americans, lest they want to be stripped of their identity and insult their religion. Videos of the ads here.

VIDEO: Chinese General Threatens “Third World War” To Protect Iran
Prison Planet - A military General from the Chinese National Defense University says that China should not hesitate to protect Iran, even if it means launching world war three, as more US warships are dispatched to the region amidst heightening tensions. According to NDTV, a Chinese news station based outside the country, in regard to recent speculation that Iran would be the target of a US-Israeli military assault, Major General Zhang Zhaozhong commented that, “China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third world war,” remarks described as “puzzling to some”.

Chinese Government Official: ‘US Threat To Pakistan Is Threat To China’
Paul Joseph Watson & Yi Han - The Chinese military has staged a massive wargame exercise near Pakistan in response to a build-up of U.S. troops in the region as a top Chinese government official warned that any threat to Pakistan would be taken as a direct threat to China.

Clinton in Myanmar: All about China?
RT - The US Secretary of State is on the first official visit to Myanmar in 50 years, seen as an effort to push for democratic reforms. But experts believe the true aim of the trip is to pressure China and weaken its influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

China’s Nuke Arsenal May Be Bigger Than We Thought
Defence.org - So, a team of Georgetown University undergrads has just published research claiming to show that China’s nuclear arsenal may be far bigger than we think it is! The best part? The arsenal is hidden inside thousands of miles of tunnels all over the massive country.... Western estimates have pegged China’s nuke arsenal at 80 to 400 warheads. Based on the number of tunnels the Second Artillery is digging and its increasing deployment of missiles, he argues, China’s nuclear warheads could number as many as 3,000.

Border deal fuels concerns in Canada
OTTAWA—Armed U.S. police officers will for the first time be allowed to operate in Canada along with the RCMP as part of far-reaching changes in Canadian-American border operations to be unveiled next week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama. The joint action plan to be announced at the White House will also break new ground by introducing exit-entry records that will track the movements of everyone who leaves the United States or Canada, with the information available to authorities in both countries.

YouTube: Americans too stupid to vote for Ron Paul

YouTube: ANONYMOUS for RON PAUL (The Plan) 2012 Today

U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote S. 1867 National Defense Authorization Act
Vote Counts: YEA - 88, NAY - 12. See how your Senator voted here.

NEWT: I'm going to be the nominee
WEST DES MOINES, IOWA — A very confident New Gingrich asserted to ABC News Thursday afternoon that he will be the Republican presidential nominee. “I’m going to be the nominee,” the former Speaker told ABC News. “It’s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I’m going to be the nominee.”

Ron Paul on the Laura Ingraham Show
12/01/2011

‘Indefinite Detention’ Bill Passes Senate 93-7
Prison Planet - The Senate last night codified into law the power of the U.S. military to indefinitely detain an American citizen with no charge, no trial and no oversight whatsoever with the passage of S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act.

Congress, White House at odds over defense bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress and the White House are headed for a showdown over a massive, $662 billion defense bill that would require the military to hold suspected terrorists linked to al-Qaida or its affiliates, even those captured on U.S. soil, and detain some indefinitely without trial.

NEVER AGAIN
Nearly 70 years ago, Executive Order 9066 authorized the U.S. military to remove any person from designated "military zones" without charge, trial or any kind of due process. This Order led to the forced evacuation and internment over over 120,000 Japanese Americans, two thirds of whom, including myself, my siblings, and my mother, were U.S. citizens. I spent over four years in two of America's internment camps, in Rohwer, Arkansas and Tule Lake, California, simply because I and my family happen to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor.

CAIN: Gave Money To Accuser Ginger White Without Wife’s Knowledge
MANCHESTER - Herman Cain acknowledged Thursday that he repeatedly gave Ginger White money to help her with "month-to-month bills and expenses" without telling his wife of more than 40 years.

Fox News Saturday GOP Presidential Forum Info - 8-10pm ET, Moderated by Mike Huckabee
The candidates will appear singularly on stage and are not allowed to discuss or attack other candidates, but must stick to questions which will focus on the federal/state relations of immigration, education, jobs, Obamacare, etc. It will be a very unique format and substantive---no "gotcha" stuff. I encourage you to tune in and please let your friends and family know about the debate as well.

UPDATED: Second Chance to Prevent Indefinite Detention of Americans
Campaign for Liberty 12/1/11 - A vote occurred today on two amendments introduced to prevent the indefinite detention of American citizens as currently written into the National Defense Authorization Act, S. 1867. Senate Amendment (SA) 1126 would "clarify" Section 1031 to explicitly state within the section that the authority of the military to detain persons without trial until the end of hostilities does not apply to American citizens. SA 1125 would limit the mandatory detention provision in Section 1032 to persons captured abroad, not in America. Both amendments were voted down.

OBAMA LAWYERS: Americans legitimate targets in war on terror
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. citizens are legitimate military targets when they take up arms with al-Qaida, top national security lawyers in the Obama administration said Thursday. The government lawyers, CIA counsel Stephen Preston and Pentagon counsel Jeh Johnson, did not directly address the al-Awlaki case. But they said U.S. citizens do not have immunity when they are at war with the United States. Johnson said only the executive branch, not the courts, is equipped to make military battlefield targeting decisions about who qualifies as an enemy.

VIDEO: Having More Than 7 Days Of Food Makes You A Suspected Terrorist
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the U.S. Senate, Sen. Rand Paul took to the Senate floor as well as recorded a video message against the indefinite detention of United States citizens in defense of constitutional liberties.

New Gun Company Advertisement Compares Obama to Hitler, Stalin
CBS Washington - A gun company advertisement that warns of impending gun control compares President Obama to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. The USAAmmo ad shows side-by-side pictures of Obama with Hitler, Stalin and other dictators who committed atrocities across the world. The ad, which is also accompanied by a video, warns that gun control is imminent and foreshadows that the U.S. could face millions in casualties if they are not allowed to defend themselves.

Did your Senator vote for the National Defense Authorization Act S. 1876?
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 112th Congress - 1st Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate.

How Much More Tyranny Can Americans Take from Their Government?
Activist Post - Justin Raimondo at Antiwar.com points out a probable reason for the U.S. Senate’s voting to give the military the power to seize Americans from their homes and detain them indefinitely, without any suspicion or charges brought against them, and based solely on the judgment and whim of U.S. soldiers and other armed agents of government. I addressed this just recently, in my article on martial law and my article on inalienable rights.

VP Biden says Iraq ready to survive on its own
WASHINGTON (AP) -Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday "we're not claiming victory" in Iraq, but he believes the emerging government in Baghdad is capable of defending itself. Interviewed on NBC's "Today" show from Iraq, Biden was asked about the impact of the U.S. combat troop withdrawal, likely to be complete within weeks. He replied, "This is no
rush."

US panel affirms limits on campaign spending
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Election Commission has ruled unanimously that Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah could not raise unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. UPDATE: The commission deadlocked along party lines Thursday after a lengthy and heated debate over how much coordination between elected officials and super political action committees would be against the rules.

For Herman Cain, the campaign all but over
ATLANTA (AP) -- Herman Cain is still campaigning for president. But by most measures, his White House bid is all but over. His standing in polls is cratering. Supporters are wavering if not fleeing. Fundraising is suffering.

US Embassy in Iran? Michele Bachmann’s ‘Oops’ Moment
ABC News - In light of the British Foreign Ministry pulling all U.K. nationals out of the British embassy in Tehran after students stormed the building in protest, GOP presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann told a crowd in Waverly, Iowa, today that she would close the U.S. embassy in Iran. One small, tiny note: The U.S. hasn’t had an embassy in Tehran since 1980. Following the Iranian Hostage Crisis, where 52 Americans were held for 444 days, the United States cut all diplomatic ties.

Agents Uncover 'Most Sophisticated' Drug Tunnel in Years
ABC News - A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to give details on the tunnel which ran from Tijuana to San Diego but said, "When we talk about a sophisticated tunnel, we're talking about tunnels that have some type of reinforcement in them and a lot of work has been put into them to help them smuggle the drugs in an easier way.

Honored ex-Colo. sheriff faces meth for sex charge
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) -- A former Colorado lawman with a record so distinguished he was once honored as the nation's sheriff of the year now finds himself in a jail that was named for him, accused of offering methamphetamine in exchange for sex from a male acquaintance. Patrick Sullivan, 68 - handcuffed, dressed in an orange jail uniform and walking with a cane - watched Wednesday as a judge raised his bail amount to a half-million dollars and [ironically] sent him to the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility.

Kentucky church bans interracial marriage
RT - Stella Harville, 24, has been attending the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church in eastern Kentucky her entire life. A vote within the congregation last week, however, will keep her from entering its doors ever again.

VIDEO: Labor unions march for economic justice in NYC
RT - Thousands of labor union members are marching for jobs and economic fairness in the streets of New York City, the heart of the Occupy movement. RT’s Marina Portnaya is reporting from the scene. The Thursday march was organized by the New York City Central Labor Council, which called on everyone “who is frustrated and worried about the growing economic disparity in this country” to take to the streets.RT’s Marina Portnaya reports that there some 20,000 people taking part in the march demanding accountability from their elected officials.

YouTube: make history... not arrests...."US cops defect to Occupy Wall Street"
RT - Police in Los Angeles have cleared one of the last and longest-standing 'Occupy' camps in the U.S, making 300 arrests in the process. These latest arrests bring the total across the whole 'Occupy' movement to almost 5,000, but now police are starting to defect to the other side. Our correspondent Marina Portnaya has been finding out why some people have been choosing to make history instead of making arrests.

US Debt/GDP Hits Post WW2 High 99.5% Following $55 Billion Overnight Debt Increase: Total Debt Now Over $15.1 Trillion
Zero Hedge - It seems like it was only yesterday that we celebrated 15,OOO,OOO,OOO,OOOBAMA day. Two weeks later, we are now well over 100 billion in debt over this historic landmark, or $15.11 trillion to be precise, following the predicted $55 billion increase in debt with the settlement of all auctions from last week.And aside from the mind-staggering rate of new debt increase why else is this number notable? Because as we learned 10 days ago, total Q3 GDP in current dollars is $15.18 trillion. In other words, US debt/GDP is now 99.5%, the highest it has been in the post WW2 period, and rapidly rising.

Have You Heard About The 16 Trillion Dollar Bailout The Federal Reserve Handed To The Too Big To Fail Banks?
Economic Collapse - According to the limited GAO audit of the Federal Reserve that was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the grand total of all the secret bailouts conducted by the Federal Reserve during the last financial crisis comes to a whopping $16.1 trillion.... secret loans were made by the Federal Reserve between December 1, 2007 and July 21, 2010. The following list of firms and the amount of money that they received was taken directly from page 131 of the GAO audit report.

BAILOUT: Gov't Motors offers to buy back Chevy Volts
NEW YORK (AP) -- General Motors will buy Chevrolet Volts back from any owner who is afraid the electric cars will catch fire, the company's CEO said Thursday.

The Weight of Walmart (Infographic)
In the heat of the holiday shopping season, I’m taking a moment to consider where I spend my hard earned money. You might be familiar with the status: Walmart’s the largest grocery store in the U.S., the largest retailer in the world, the leader in global corporate revenue and the largest employer in existence. Still, these facts don’t do much to demonstrate the reach of this superpower. Check out our graphic demonstrating the Weight of Walmart, and if you find the statistics as shocking as we do, please share it with everyone you know.

Residents in Alaska city could get $9 gallon of gas
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The coastal city of more than 3,500 residents that is known for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is iced-in, and a massive winter storm this month prevented a barge that usually carries fuel from getting to shore. The most likely plan is to fly it in, but it would be costly and could be a logistical nightmare.... A gallon of gas was selling for $5.98 and jet fuel $6.77 a gallon on Wednesday. The next barge delivery wouldn't be until next June. In the meantime, flying fuel to the city could increase the cost per gallon by $3 to $4, officials said.

LAST HOPE: Facing bankruptcy, Detroit considers gambling on lottery
DETROIT (WWJ) - Would a city-run lottery in Detroit solve the city’s financial problems? One state lawmaker thinks so. WWJ’s Vickie Thomas reports that state Rep. Dr. Jimmy Womack, D-Detroit, is drafting legislation to start a “Detroit only” lottery. He plans to meet with the state lottery commission next week.

Stocks waver, a day after biggest rally in 2 years
NEW YORK (AP) -- A rally that drove major stock indexes up 7 percent this week stalled Thursday. Stock indexes ended slightly lower, a day after the market posted its biggest gain in two and a half years.

Factories stall worldwide, U.S. jobless claims rise
(Reuters) - Manufacturing activity is contracting across Europe and most of Asia, data showed on Thursday, and a Chinese official declared that the world economy faces a worse situation than in 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed.

AP Sources: House GOP bill renews jobless benefit
WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans are drafting legislation to renew an expiring unemployment benefits program, officials said Thursday, and intend to add it to a planned extension of a Social Security payroll tax cut due to run out on Dec. 31. The measure is expected on the House floor as early as next week, and marks the second sign in as many days that lawmakers in both parties are eager to close out the year with a compromise on key elements of President Barack Obama's jobs program.

VIDEO: How to End the Federal Reserve and the Bailout Madness
Activist Post - As the Super Committee failed to agree on a measly $1 trillion in budget cuts, Bloomberg recently reported yet another secret bank bailout totaling $7.7 trillion courtesy of the private Federal Reserve bank. This disclosure is in addition to the first-ever Congressional audit of the Fed that revealed a startling $16 trillion in secret bailouts. This brings the grand total of previously unknown theft to $23.7 trillion which, interestingly enough, is the exact figure Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, estimated in July 2009.

A Three-Step Plan to Save the Euro with Gold
Activist Post - History shows us that all fiat money (just paper, or base-metal coins; no precious metal ‘backing’) always fails by losing its purchasing power, usually due to excess creation of new money; this is called ‘monetary inflation’ (which leads to ‘price inflation’ because the currency becomes worth less).

Mass. AG hits big banks with foreclosure lawsuit
(Reuters) Thu Dec 1, 2011 - The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against five large U.S. banks accusing them of deceptive foreclosure practices, a signal of ebbing confidence that a multi-state agreement can be worked out. Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Thursday she filed the lawsuit partly because it has been taking too long to hammer out a nationwide settlement.

Strong Santa Ana Winds Topple Trees, Power Lines
ABC News - Some of the most powerful Santa Ana winds in years ripped through Southern California, causing diverted and delayed flights, toppling trees and power lines, and knocking out power to thousands. The strongest winds were expected early Thursday into Friday with damaging wind gusts of 80 mph or greater through mountain passes and 60 mph or greater in coastal and valley locations, the National Weather Service said.

TEPCO Again Underplays Severity of Situation at Fukushima
Kurt Nimmo December 1, 2011 - Says reactor “may have” eroded containment vessel after engineer claimed reactor fuel now meters below earth’s surface. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is once again trying to mislead the public on the severity of the situation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance - Does time heal all wounds?
(NaturalNews) As the saying goes, "time heals all wounds." But what if you have been suffering with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity (GS) for decades and just want to feel better today? Besides a gluten-free diet, is there anything else you can do to enhance the healing process?... I frequently encourage newly diagnosed clients to start a course of nutritional supplements for six months to a year depending on the severity of their condition. Not only do the nutritional supplements listed below promote intestinal health and healing, they can actually accelerate your recovery.

Veggie burgers often contain hidden MSG
(NaturalNews) Whether you're a strict vegetarian or simply an omnivore seeking to lower your intake of animal protein, you may find vegetarian convenience foods, such as veggie burgers, a tempting addition to your grocery cart. Beware, however, as many of the most readily available brands of veggie burgers betray the healthy impulse that makes you reach for them in the freezer section. The recipes for most commercial veggie burgers rely on industrial ingredients that may put your health at risk.

High fiber diet significantly lowers colorectal cancer risk (Opinion)
(NaturalNews) Researchers from Britain and The Netherlands provide conclusive evidence that a high fiber diet can have a dramatic effect on colon cancer incidence. Reporting in the British Medical Journal, scientists performing a meta-analysis of twenty five prospective studies, including more than two million participants, found that eating a high fiber diet, particularly cereal and whole grains, is linked to a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

Federal appeals court reinstates corporate ownership over human genes for breast cancer
(NaturalNews) Reversing a previous decision by a US District Court that declared gene patenting to be invalid, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) recently ruled in opposition, declaring that certain gene variants are supposedly unnatural and can thus be legally patented by biotechnology companies.

Don't be fooled by GMO-laden 'natural' cereals that pose as organic
(NaturalNews) The term "natural" has virtually no standardized definition when used on food labels in the US, but manufacturers are increasingly interchanging it with "organic" in order to save money and fool customers. And it turns out that many health-conscious consumers actually prefer the term "natural" over "organic," which is why many food manufacturers are making the switch without incident.

Improve your diet with nutritious homemade ketchup
(NaturalNews) Most commercial varieties of ketchup contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup and vague, chemical-disguising ingredients such as "spices" and "natural flavor." Often the organic brands also contain these health-depleting ingredients, so making your own homemade ketchup is usually the most nutritious option. Try the quick and simple recipe included here. It's made with healthful ingredients like raw honey and unfiltered apple cider vinegar!

Food Served In Children's Hospitals Rated Largely Unhealthy
Before It's News - Given the obesity epidemic among the nation's young, one would hope that children's hospitals would serve as a role model for healthy eating. But hospitals in California fall short, with only 7 percent of entrees classified as "healthy" according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics.

REPORT: MEDICAID OVER-PRESCRIBES MIND-ALTERING DRUGS TO FOSTER CHILDREN
ABC News - The federal government has not done enough to oversee the treatment of America's foster children with powerful mind-altering drugs, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to be released Thursday. ABC News was given exclusive access to the GAO report, which capped off a nationwide yearlong investigation by ABC News on the overuse of the most powerful mind-altering drugs on many of the country's nearly 425,000 foster children.

Inspector highlights psych drug use among elderly
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government inspectors told lawmakers Wednesday that Medicare officials need to do more to stop doctors from prescribing powerful psychiatric drugs to nursing home patients with dementia, an unapproved practice that has flourished despite repeated government warnings.

On World AIDS day, Obama offers -- $50 million
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is renewing the U.S. commitment to ending HIV and AIDS on Thursday, setting goals for getting more people access to life-saving AIDS drugs and boosting spending on treatment of the virus in the U.S. by $50 million dollars.

The Worst Drug Fraud in History? Do You Still Trust Them with Your Life?
By Dr. Mercola - Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has preliminarily agreed to a $3 billion settlement over the sales and marketing practices of several of its drugs, including the diabetes drug Avandia. This represents the largest federal drug-company settlement to date, surpassing the $2.3 billion paid by Pfizer in 2009 for illegally promoting off-label uses of four of its drugs. The sum, though extraordinarily large by most people's standards, represents only a slap on the wrist to the drug giant, which assured investors the payments would be funded by "existing cash resources."

The science of vitamin C - The evidence of its beneficial effects on health is undeniable
(NaturalNews) The November 24, 2011 Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine newsletter discussed a study referenced in PubMed that linked high blood levels of vitamin C with lower incidence of heart failure, while lower serum levels of vitamin C were connected to higher death rates.

B12 GETS IT'S DUE: It Could Be Old Age, or It Could Be Low B12
New York Times - Ilsa Katz was 85 when her daughter, Vivian Atkins, first noticed that her mother was becoming increasingly confused. “She couldn’t remember names, where she’d been or what she’d done that day,” Ms. Atkins recalled in an interview.... A workup at a memory clinic resulted in a diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s disease, and Ms. Katz was prescribed Aricept, which Ms. Atkins said seemed to make matters worse. But the clinic also tested Ms. Katz’s blood level of vitamin B12. It was well below normal, and her doctor thought that could be contributing to her symptoms.

Can you treat cancer with nutrition? Here's what doctors are doing right now
(NaturalNews) While the majority of the cancer establishment continues to seek a magic bullet pharmaceutical cure for cancer, another group of physicians has been taking a fresh look at the concept of a nutritional cure. It turns out that preventing, or even reversing, some forms of cancer may involve not the development of expensive drugs, but something as natural as sunshine.

Assange: Using iPhone, gmail, Blackberry? You're screwed!
RT - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says that governments worldwide have been using electronic devices, such as smart-phones and computers, to monitor what people are saying, where they are going and what they are writing.

Web usage-based billing on its way
The days of watching movies on the cheap via the Web may soon be over. Time Warner Cable and U.S. pay-TV companies, weighing how to profit from surging Internet demand spurred by Netflix and Hulu, are on the verge of instituting new fees on Web-access customers who use the most data.

VIDEO: Fight Internet Censorship (SOPA)
Please help us stop SOPA also known as H.R.3261 from passing December 15, 2011. This is a direct threat to our Constitutional rights and threatens free speech and the very existence of Alternative media.

Home and garden - Do not throw away questionable bentonite clay
(NaturalNews) Frequently asked questions are: "I have some old Bentonite clay that has been sitting in the garage and now it smells like gasoline. Can I still use it?" "I ordered clay hastily and got the cheap clay that turned out to be gritty and non-effective. What can I do with it now?" Don't throw that clay away! There are many other good uses available to salvage your investment and have Bentonite clay work for you other than as a wellness product. Be creative; think home and garden clay uses.

Farming with the Wild - Working with nature, not against it
Mother Earth News - At first glance, the phrase “farming with the wild” may seem contradictory. Agriculture has been and remains the relentless process of selec­tion and minimization, one that now blankets billions of the Earth’s acres with a mere handful of crops. Farming and ranching activities are consistently identified as the pri­mary cause of wildlife habitat loss, the archenemy of the biodiversity crisis.

Pedal powered farms and factories: the forgotten future of the stationary bicycle
One way to solve the large energy losses of pedal power generators is not to produce electricity at all but power devices mechanically, whenever possible. Another way - the only way for devices that cannot be powered via a direct mechanical connection because they do not rely on rotary motion - is to make the generation of electricity more efficient. This can be done by building a pedal powered generator from scratch instead of using a road bicycle, or by ditching one or several electronic components in the power transmission chain.

Today in History - Thursday - December 1, 2011
1835 - Hans Christian Andersen published his first book of fairy tales.
1909 - The Pennsylvania Trust Company, of Carlisle, PA, became the first bank in the in the U.S. to offer a Christmas Club account.
1913 - Ford Motor Co. began using a new movable assembly line that ushered in the era of mass production.
1913 - The first drive-in automobile service station opened, in Pittsburgh, PA.
1925 - The Locarno Pact finalized the treaties between World War I protagonists.
1934 - Sergei M. Kirov, a collaborator of Joseph Stalin, was assassinated at the Leningrad party headquarters.
1941 - In the U.S., the Civil Air Patrol was created. In April 1943 the Civil Air Patrol was placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Forces.
1942 - In the U.S., nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect.
1952 - In Denmark, it was announced that the first successful sex-change operation had been performed.
1955 - Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. Mrs. Parks was arrested marking a milestone in the civil rights movement in the U.S.
1965 - An airlift of refugees from Cuba to the United States began.
1969 - The U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II.
1981 - 180 people were killed when a chartered Yugoslav DC9 jetliner crashed into a mountain while approaching Ajaccio Airport in Corsica.
1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan said he would welcome an investigation of the Iran-Contra affair if it were recommended by the Justice Department.
1987 - NASA announced four companies had been given contracts to help build a space station. The companies were Boeing Aerospace, G. E.'s Astro-Space Division, McDonnell Douglas Aeronautics, and Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International.
1989 - Dissidents in the Philippine military launched an unsuccessful coup against Corazon Aquino's government.
1989 - East Germany's Parliament abolished the Communist Party's constitutional guarantee of supremacy.
1990 - Iraq accepted a U.S. offer to talk about resolving the Persian Gulf crisis.
1991 - Ukrainians voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union.
1992 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin survived an impeachment attempt by hard-liners at the opening of the Russian Congress.
1992 - Amy Fisher was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco.
1994 - The U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval to the 124-nation General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
1997 - Michael Carneal, 14 years old, fired upon a morning prayer group at Heath High School in West Paducah, KY. Three students were killed and five were wounded. Carneal pled guilty but insane and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years.
1998 - Exxon announced that it was buying Mobil for $73.7 billion creating the largest company in the world to date.

Asian markets soar on central bank action
BANGKOK (AP) -- Asian stocks soared Thursday after six major central banks acted to lower borrowing costs in hopes of preventing a global credit crisis, but European markets opened mostly lower as the euphoria wore off.

Oil rises to near $101 amid global stocks rally
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices edged higher to near $101 a barrel Thursday in Asia amid a surge in global stock markets after major central banks pledged to lower borrowing costs.

VIDEO: Bailout Bombers: Italy's billion-euro F35 'suicide mission'
RT - Italy is heading deeper into the crisis quagmire, with its debt already nearing the 2-trillion-euro mark. But while average Italians are ready to save, the government has another plan on the table, which critics consider “economic suicide”. The government’s plan is called The Joint Strike Fighter program or JSF – a defense project based on international effort, with the US, UK and Italy just some of the participants.

As US-Myanmar ties warm, China stands conflicted
BEIJING (AP) -- China is a conflicted observer to Hillary Rodham Clinton's trip to Myanmar, caught between worries about U.S. encirclement in Asia and a desire to see its isolated, at times teetering neighbor become more stable.

Iran releases students who stormed British Embassy
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran has released 11 hardline protesters detained for storming the British Embassy and diplomatic compounds in Tehran this week, the semi-official Fars news agency said Thursday.

EU expected to increase sanctions on Iran, Syria
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Britain's foreign minister accused Iran's government Thursday of supporting repression in Syria, as he and European Union counterparts discussed imposing more sanctions on both countries....

Heathrow has never been more efficient! Passengers' glee as border agency strike SPEEDS UP passport control
Daily Mail - Passengers who had been warned of lengthy delays at Heathrow due to striking workers today said border controls were 'better than usual'. As Border Agency bosses were forced to take on regular airport workers to man passport control, delighted passengers said queues had been shorter than normal.

VIDEO: Russian arms in US backyard: Back in Cuba
RT - Russia has launched a military partnership project with its Cold War ally Cuba, amid rising tensions over US plans to deploy an anti-missile system in Europe.

YouTube: Friendship on Fire: Pakistan done with US?
RT - A furious Pakistan is making its anger abundantly clear, over the recent NATO air strike which killed 24 of its soldiers. It's now pulled completely out of a key security conference on Afghanistan's future next week. It also promised to permanently close the alliance's key military supply route through its territory. Marina Portnaya reports.

Britain to expel all Iranian diplomats
Al Jazeera - Britain has ordered the immediate closure of Iran's embassy in London and closed its own embassy in Tehran after it was stormed by protesters. "The Iranian charge [d'affaires] in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours," British Foreign Minister William Hague told parliament on Wednesday.

VIDEO: Strike 1: UK civil servants cripple country over pensions
RT - More than 2 million participants put the public sector on hold in the UK, as unions stage a massive public sector strike. It is the largest of its kind in 30 years. A public services strike called for by the United Kingdom’s Trades Union Congress (TUC), has taken effect on Wednesday, the largest work stoppage of its kind in more than 30 years. The strike targets public schools, the health sector, UK court systems and transportation systems as well. More than 2 million workers are expected to participate, in rallies and picket lines all across the country.

Iceland recognizes Palestinian state
Icelandic parliament passes resolution making country the first in western Europe to accept Palestine as an independent state.

Coca-Cola product suspected in China death
AFP - AFP - A man died and his mother fell into a coma after consuming a product made by US giant Coca-Cola, prompting a city in northeast China to recall the drink, government and state media said Wednesday. Food scandals occur regularly in China, with recent cases involving recycled cooking oil, contaminated eggs and carcinogenic mushrooms.

RJC Holds GOP Candidate Panel — Minus Ron Paul
Kurt Nimmo - It looks like the Republican Jewish Coalition’s GOP 2012 panel to be held on December 7 will not include candidate Ron Paul. Other GOP candidates have actively courted the RJC. “As Mike Allen previewed in Playbook, the event will allow the seven candidates taking part — Ron Paul is not attending — 35 minutes each to speak,” writes Maggie Haberman for Politico.

YouTube: Ron Paul Interview On Piers Morgan
CNN 11/30/11.

Evangelical leader urges him to explain 'turbulent marital history'
A leading religious conservative warned Newt Gingrich Wednesday that he risks losing the support of evangelical women voters if the Republican presidential hopeful refuses to publicly address his "turbulent marital history."

Meeting with wife may be key to future of Cain bid
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - He's plotting an aggressive campaign schedule across several states, but Herman Cain has begun to outline a possible exit strategy from the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The former business executive, facing a woman's allegation of a 13-year extramarital affair, says a heavy emotional toll on his family - particularly his wife, Gloria, who he has not seen since the charge surfaced - could force him to call it quits.

‘Indefinite Detention’ Bill Set For Final Vote Thursday
Infowars - After the failure yesterday of an amendment that would have weakened Section 1031 of the NDAA bill, which would turn the entire “homeland” into a battlefield and allow the military to arrest individuals accused of being terrorists and detain them indefinitely without trial, the Senate voted 88-12 today to limit debate on the legislation, clearing it for passage tomorrow.

Amnesty International urges US to end child life sentences
Press TV - According to the new report, “This is where I'm going to be when I die,” published on Wednesday, United States is the only country in the world that imposes life sentence on children as young as 11 years old without possibility of release. The international rights group also urged authorities in the US to review the cases of more than 2500 inmates currently serving in country's prisons for crimes committed as a child, which under current rules they will never be freed.

Ohio Exec Resentenced, Gets (Only) 4 Years in $1.9B Fraud
ABC News - The sentence of a former health care financing executive has been reduced from five to four years in a $1.9 billion corporate fraud case in Ohio that federal prosecutors likened to the Enron or WorldCom scandals.

YouTube: RON PAUL SLASHES NEWT
Ron Paul's new campaign ad, Newt Gingrich: Serial Hypocrisy.

YouTube: Ron Paul Interview With CNBC On Today's World Wide Quantitative Easing
Airing Date Nov.30, 2011

Ron Paul has a book, and it's not about politics
RT - Can’t afford to give out gold for your family this holiday season? The next best thing for your libertarian-leaning loved ones this year comes courtesy of Congressman Ron Paul, and it’s sure to help you put a little Fed-ending lovin’ in the oven. The website for the GOP presidential hopeful revealed on Tuesday that the Ron Paul Family Cookbook is now available for only $8 plus shipping, and campaign headquarters for the Republican frontrunner insures shoppers that the item is guaranteed to “warm your kitchen and your heart.”

Congress on the move to legalize torture
RT - Yearning for the George W Bush administration of yesteryear and the inhuman torture and interrogations that was commonplace in American-run prisons? Needn’t you worry! Congress hears your cries. Kelly Ayotte, a freshman Republican senator from New Hampshire, has proposed legislation that would repeal current laws that make harsh torture techniques illegal, a move that the American Civil Liberties Union says would "dangerously roll back" restrictions that Congress approved in 2005’s McCain Anti-Torture Amendment.

Bloomberg: 'I have my own army'
RT - Addressing suggestions that he should vie for the White House and leaving the Big Apple behind in favor of joining the race for the presidency, Bloomberg told an audience at MIT on Tuesday that he doesn’t need to tackle Washington; according to the mayor, his reign over New York trumps anything that a throne in the oval office could offer. "I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world,” said Bloomberg, reports The New York Observer. "I have my own State Department, much to Foggy Bottom's annoyance. We have the United Nations in New York, and so we have an entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have."

Obama Admin Seals Records of Murdered Border Patrol Agent Implicated in Fast and Furious
And to think that Attorney General Eric Holder is getting testy about congressional calls for his resignation. After all, the Justice Department has nothing to hide, right?: The Obama Administration has abruptly sealed court records containing alarming details of how Mexican drug smugglers murdered a U.S. Border patrol agent with a gun connected to a failed federal experiment that allowed firearms to be smuggled into Mexico.

VIDEO: Holder lashes out at The Daily Caller while refusing to address growing calls for his resignation
Embattled Attorney General Eric Holder today demanded The Daily Caller stop publishing articles about the growing calls in Congress for his resignation because of the failed Operation Fast and Furious gun-walking program. As Holder’s aide was escorting the attorney general offstage following his remarks Tuesday afternoon at the White House, a Daily Caller reporter introduced himself and shook Holder’s hand. The reporter asked him for a response to the growing chorus of federal legislators demanding his resignation.

Robin Hood op: Anonymous, Poison target the 1%
RT - Two hacker groups, the hactivists Anonymous and Team Poison, which made headlines by cracking a UN server, have joined forces to steal from the banks and give to the charities. “Operation Robin Hood is going to return the money to those who have been cheated by our system and most importantly to those hurt by our banks. Operation Robin Hood will take credit cards and donate to the 99 per cent, as well as various charities around the globe,” the duo said in a YouTube video statement.

Occupy Protesters Mobilize for Obama’s Visit
More than 100 Occupy Wall Street protesters marched to a Midtown hotel on Wednesday night to protest a fund-raising event for President Obama. Escorted by police vehicles as they helped snarl traffic across the Times Square area, beginning at Bryant Park, the group settled in front of barricades on the southwest corner of 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue, in view of the Sheraton hotel at which Mr. Obama was expected to appear by 9 p.m.

After raids, Wall Street protesters shift tactics
NEW YORK — The overnight police raids in Philadelphia and Los Angeles that dismantled two of the nation's biggest Occupy Wall Street encampments leave just a few major "occupations" still going on around the U.S. But activists are already changing tactics and warning of a winter of discontent, with rallies and marches every week.

Breaking: Occupy Philly Cleared By 100s of Police. Occupy LA Cleared by 1200 Police
Update: 200 arrested at Occupy LA, 40-50 arrested in Philly. No serious injuries or violence was reported in either city. In Philly the arrests occurred off the Occupy Philly site, when protesters marched to another location and refused to move when ordered by police.... An occupy Philly man on the live feed said that the evictions are being coordinate by Homeland Security. Related article and photos here.

VIDEO: Police brutality and harsh tactics at OWS
RT - After several months of protests at Occupy Wall Street camps all over the US and hundreds of arrests, RT takes a look at some of the increasingly militarized tactics the police have been using against American citizens.

VIDEO: Bob Chapman- Federal Reserve Preparing to Roll Out NEW DOLLAR
Bob Chapman of the International Forecaster states that sources are indicating that the Fed is preparing to roll out a new dollar (NOT the Amero) as The Fed expects the US Dollar will no longer be the reserve currency in another 18 months.

YouTube: America – The Problem, The Plan & The Solution – Ron Paul 2012
Ron Paul "Plan to Restore America" article here.

Stocks Surge As Bernanke, ECB Throw More Dollars At Europe's Crisis
Forbes - Wall Street enjoyed a big jump Wednesday morning, after a coordinated action by central banks around the world to provide more liquidity to the global financial system.

$200 Million Found in Britain May Belong to MF Global
New York Times - About $200 million in customer money that vanished from MF Global is believed to have surfaced at JPMorgan Chase in Britain, according to people briefed on the matter. The discovery could be the most significant breakthrough in a monthlong hunt for the missing funds.

VIDEO: Long Lines For Free Holiday Food Vouchers
CBS4 - Hundreds of South Floridians lined up before dawn in Little Havana for a chance to feed their families this holiday. As part of the Latin Chamber of Commerce’s annual holiday basket giveaway, representatives from the organization handed out food vouchers on Flagler Street between 14th and 15th Avenues in Little Havana.

Tracy Lawrence, Notary Public Who Blew The Whistle On Massive Foreclosure Fraud, Found Dead
Huffington Post - Tracy Lawrence, the notary public who blew the whistle on a massive foreclosure fraud scheme, was found dead in her Las Vegas home on Nov. 28, MSNBC reported. Cause of death has not yet been determined, but Officer Jacinto Rivera, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman, said the case was not being investigated as homicide. She was 43.

VIDEO: Movers, sheriff's deputies refuse to evict 103-year-old woman
"Fulton County sheriff's deputies and movers showed up at Lee's home Tuesday after Deutch Bank planned to kick the two women out. The moving company and the deputies took one look at Lee and decided that would not happen."

Banks Targeting Military Families for Illegal Foreclosures
Figures lie, some groups are counted, some are not. But the lowest figures available have one in three families, this includes active duty serving overseas, reservists and National Guard and veterans losing their homes since 2008. Two thirds of those are now “split up” with at least one member listed as “homeless.” Almost all are, according to official figures, “living in poverty.”

David Attenborough is accused of climate change sensationalism by Lord Lawson
Daily Mail - The former Tory chancellor, who is a climate change sceptic, said the broadcaster’s claims about global warming were sheer speculation. In the final episode of his natural history series Frozen Planet, which is broadcast next Wednesday, Sir David is expected to suggest the Arctic could be free of ice by 2020.

Beat Parkinson's disease naturally
(NaturalNews) The key to preventing and reversing Parkinson's disease is to begin with an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. This includes lots of clean water and phytonutrient rich raw and lightly cooked vegetables. Good fats such as avocados, olive oil, nuts/seeds and coconut products should be strongly encouraged. Healthy animal products such as grass-fed beef, bison, lamb, antelope, deer and free-range chicken, turkey and eggs are also good sources.... Anti-inflammatory herbs such as turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, and rosemary among others should be used at every possible chance.

Study finds connection between prenatal exposure to BPA and aggression during toddler years
(NaturalNews) Researchers from the Harvard University School of Public Health have made a disturbing new discovery about the plastics chemical bisphenol-A (BPA). It turns out that prenatal BPA exposure can spur aggressive and undesirable behaviors in girls after they are born and reach their toddler years.

Pharmaceutical Industry Payouts Prompt Conflict of Interest Concerns
Activist Post - It seems that a large number of healthcare professionals and researchers — many of whom are state employed — are supplementing their salary with a nice sum of money paid out by the pharmaceutical industry. More than 25,000 physicians and researchers in Texas received a combined amount of at least $57 million in cash from the pharmaceutical industry in research money, free meals, travel, and more, from 2009 to early 2011.

Childhood Vaccine Exemption Rates Increasing Nationwide
Activist Post - It seems as though the “necessity” of childhood vaccinations, widely voiced by many mainstream health officials and government figureheads, is simply not being accepted by parents around the country. While the rates of children receiving vaccines remains high, we are seeing an increase in childhood vaccine exemption rates. In eight different states, more than 1 in 20 public kindergartners are not receiving all the vaccines that the government requires’ for school attendance.

New University-Based Study Recommends All-Natural Emu Oil To Reduce The Appearance Of Scars From Surgery
After centuries of use by Australian aborigines for treating wounds, bites, burns and damage caused by the sun, emu oil has been recently discovered and proven by scientists to be one of the most effective natural healing treatments for skin. The oil's rare concentration of Omega 3 Omega 6, and Omega 9 essential fatty acids are a proven natural healing agent for skin. Because the oil's composition so closely mimics our skin's natural chemistry, it is easily absorbed and its nutrients are immediately placed into circulation.

Study: Drinking green tea can help to lower 'bad' cholesterol levels
(NaturalNews) The benefits of drinking green tea are numerous, as various studies have shown that compounds in green tea help to mitigate conditions like obesity, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and cancer. And a recent study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association adds to this body of evidence, as it reveals that consuming green tea or green tea supplements regularly can help naturally lower LDL, or "bad," cholesterol levels.

Toxic Levels of Arsenic Found in Popular Juice Brands
The Food and Drug Administration, trying to reassure consumers about the safety of apple juice, claimed that most arsenic in juices and other foods is of the organic type that is “essentially harmless.” But an investigation by Consumer Reports shows otherwise. Our study, including tests of apple and grape juice, a scientific analysis of federal health data, a consumer poll, and interviews with doctors and other experts, finds the following...

Health basics: What is MSG?
(NaturalNews) Monosodium Glutamate, better known as MSG, is a form of concentrated salt added to foods to enhance the flavor. This salt version of glutamic acid is an amino acid the body can produce on its own, but the MSG we find on store shelves is processed and comes from fermented sugar beets. Because this kind of MSG is processed, it can cause many adverse reactions, including skin rashes, itching, hives, nausea, vomiting, migraine headaches, asthma, heart irregularities, depression and even seizures.

More than 20 percent of American adults now on psychiatric drugs for behavioral problems
(NaturalNews) Prescription drug addiction is a very serious problem in the US, and is typified in part by the more than 20 percent of American adults that are now hooked on pharmaceuticals for conditions like anxiety and depression. A new study conducted by Medco Health Solutions Inc., a pharmacy benefits management company, has found that one in five adults -- and one in four women -- now regularly takes at least one drug for psychiatric or behavioral disorders.

Earth's Twin Discovered?
Fox News - Scientists uncover promising sign of life in space.

VIDEO: BUSTED! Secret app on millions of phones logs key taps
An Android app developer has published what he says is conclusive proof that millions of smartphones are secretly monitoring the key presses, geographic locations, and received messages of its users.

Cheap, Easy-to-Build Wood Storage Shelves
Mother Earth News - If you have an unfinished basement, a garage or a storage shed, you can store much more in it if you have shelves. Built-in shelves are great, but if you’re renting or want the flexibility to rearrange the shelving units, you could make some free-standing shelves. Here’s a simple method for building some inexpensive wood storage shelves — and you can build them without power tools.

Country Lore: Make Gourd Jewelry
Mother Earth News - There are so many things that can be done with dried gourds! It’s an art category all its own. Wearable art  —  pins, combs, pendants and bracelets — all can be easily made from hard-shelled gourds. Gourds can be decorated using dyes, paints, polishes, waxes, pyrography, carving and permanent markers.

Beware the barrenness of a busy life. –Socrates
EDITORS’ NOTE: They say truth is stranger than fiction, and in most cases it’s also more interesting… The Violinist is a true story about a man in a metro station in Washington DC who played six Bach pieces on his violin for about 45 minutes. The story illuminates the warning of Socrates to “Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.”

When a male can't stand it anymore! Priceless shot!
A photographer will die of old age waiting to get another shot like this one.
 

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