100 Items to Disappear First

 

World News

Raw milk vending machines growing in popularity across Europe
(NaturalNews) While American health authorities continue to peddle unfounded superstition about the so-called dangers of raw milk, which has spawned authoritarian policies that prevent millions of Americans from freely accessing it, unpasteurized dairy is all the rage throughout Europe. And one Polish manufacturer of raw milk vending machines explained to The Bovine in a recent interview that the installation of such machines is rapidly spreading both in Poland and across Europe.

Iran is ready to return to nuclear talks
(AP) - Iran is ready to revive talks with the U.S. and other world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, but suggested that Tehran's foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate. Iran's insistence that it will never give up uranium enrichment — the process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons — scuttled negotiations a year ago and still looms as a potential deal breaker even as tougher Western sanctions target Iran's critical oil exports.

EU signs ACTA, global internet censorship treaty
Activist Post - Today, the European Union and 22 member states signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. They have now joined the US and seven other nations that signed the treaty last October.Digital ‘right to be forgotten’ will be made EU law Telegraph - The move will mean that social networks such as Facebook or Twitter will have to comply with users' requests to delete everything they have ever published about themselves online. It will also mean that consumers will be able to force
companies that hold data about them, such as for Tesco's Clubcard, to remove it.

Polish Web Sites To Go Dark To Protest ACTA
Sci-Tech Today - Poland's support for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, has sparked days of Internet protests by groups who fear it could lead to online censorship. Now several sites plan to go dark in protest. ACTA shares some
similarities with the hotly debated Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S., which was shelved by lawmakers last week.

Egypt bans travel for US official's son, 9 others
(AP) - Egypt banned at least 10 Americans and Europeans from leaving the country, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, hiking tensions with Washington over a campaign by Egypt's military against groups promoting democracy and human rights. The United States warned Thursday that the campaign raised concerns about Egypt's transition to democracy and could jeopardize American aid that Egypt's battered economy needs badly after a year of unrest.

YouTube: Why Switzerland Has The Lowest Crime Rate In The World
The key to freedom is to be able to have the ability to defend yourself &, if you dont have the tools to do that, then you're going to be at the mercy of whomever wants to put you away. Guns are deeply rooted within Swiss culture - but the gun crime
rate is so low that statistics are not even kept. The country has a population of six million, but there are estimated to be at least two million publicly-owned firearms, including about 600,000 automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols. This is in a very large part due to Switzerland's unique system of national defence, developed over the centuries.

Mexico ups swine flu screening as cases increase
(AP) - Three years after swine flu closed Mexico City and caused an international scare, the Mexican government and local media are at odds over the severity of this season's flu virus. Newspapers are warning of an alarming increase in cases while
the government insists there is no cause for alarm. Federal and state health officials agree there is an increase, but they say the number of cases is within the range of a normal flu season. The Mexican health ministry, however, has listed confusing numbers on its website and it hasn't specified the rise in cases despite repeated requests from The Associated Press.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

'Cash-Mob' Rallies Behind Popular Small Town Hardware Store
The story of how one Ohio community rallied behind a favorite family-run hardware store in an act of solidarity, and profits, has captured the nation's attention, and left the family in awe.

US has arrested Iranian scientist
Fox News - The United States has arrested and charged an Iranian semiconductor scientist with violating U.S. export laws by buying high-tech U.S. lab equipment, a development likely to further worsen Iranian-U.S. tensions. Prison records show the U.S. has been holding Seyed Mojtaba Atarodi, 54, a microchip expert and assistant professor at Tehran's prestigious Sharif University of Technology, in a federal facility in Dublin, Calif., outside San Francisco. The Iranian interest section in the Pakistani embassy in Washington said it was aware of the arrest.

New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who’s accountable?
The Navy’s new drone being tested near Chesapeake Bay stretches the boundaries of technology: It’s designed to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, one of aviation’s most difficult maneuvers. What’s even more remarkable is that it will do that not only without a pilot in the cockpit, but without a pilot at all. The X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone’s ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently.

Security video shows police lied about Rand Paul’s behavior
After being briefly detained by police officers on Monday, Paul appears to be getting some vindication in the form of a security camera’s video. Although police described him as “being irate” in an incident report, footage published Thursday shows Paul sitting calmly inside an airport checkpoint, and occasionally picking up his phone.

Hawaii police state? Government may track all website visits by residents
(NaturalNews) It is becoming increasingly obvious, and highly embarrassing, that many members of the US Congress have absolutely no idea what the Constitution says, or how the justice system works. Rep. John Mizuno (D-Hawaii) recently introduced a bill that intends to keep a log of every website visited by every person using the internet in Hawaii in order to target internet harassment, in direct defiance of the Fourth Amendment.

Georgia Hearing: Judge Wanted To Immediately Enter Default Judgment Against Obama
UPDATE: From Plaintiff, in one of the Georgia challenges, Carl Swensson: To all my friends in battle, The Judge pulled the lawyers for the three cases into chambers before it all began and advised them that he would be issuing a default judgment in
our favor, since the Defense council failed to show, and wanted to end it there.... Now we’re merely awaiting the publishing of this Judge’s ruling which, as previously stated, will be a Default Judgment. - Carl

Obama Eligibility Court Case...Blow By Blow
Given the testimony from today’s court case in Georgia, Obama has a lot of explaining to do. His attorney, Jablonski, was a NO SHOW as of course, was Obama. The following is a nutshell account of the proceedings. Related WND article here.

An “Empty Chair” Defense in Atlanta
Obama’s attorney is pulling out all the stops to disrupt justice in America, to stop the removal from the ballot of an Unconstitutional presidential candidate. First, he tried to dismiss the case. Then he tried to stop legal subpoenas. Then he advised his client to skip the hearings. Now, he’s trying behind the scenes to take the case out of its proper jurisdiction. They are playing hardball. They are desperate. If everything is legitimate, why not just show up in court, produce the evidence and make the legal arguments? I think we know the answer.

Sen. Paul 2012 March for Life Remarks
Jan 24, 2012 - On Monday, Sen. Rand Paul was scheduled to speak at the 2012 March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., but was improperly detained by the TSA and forced to miss the event. However, after the rally, Sen. Paul
hosted a reception welcoming marchers from Kentucky and those across the country. Below are the remarks Sen. Paul would have delivered at the 2012 March for Life. "The question remains, can a nation long endure or can a civilization long endure that does not respect Life? Our Liberty comes from our Creator and our freedoms depend upon a respect for Life...."

U.S. Army chief admits he's 'comfortable' with fewer troops as Pentagon readies cuts
Mail Online - As the Pentagon prepares its major budget announcement today, the U.S. Army boss says he's comfortable with plans to shrink the size of his force and shift the military's focus to Asia, saying troops there will remain relevant and
capable. Gen Raymond Odierno declined to disclose figures the Pentagon is due to unveil that envision a smaller Army and the withdrawal of two brigade combat teams from Europe. Those fixed brigades will be replaced by rotational units.

Maryland man pleads guilty in U.S. military bomb plot
(Reuters) - A Baltimore man angry about American policy toward Muslims pleaded guilty on Thursday as part of a plot to bomb a U.S. military recruitment center in Maryland and faces a 25-year prison sentence, the Justice Department said. It said
Antonio Martinez, also known as Muhammad Hussain, pleaded guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, a car bomb, in what had been an FBI sting operation.

VIDEO: Military Helicopters Conduct Covert Exercises Over U.S. Bank Building
Steve Watson - Video was captured last night of five military helicopters buzzing over downtown LA, conducting what the LAPD has described as a special ops urban warfare drill. The footage, captured by CBS Los Angeles, shows a huge Black Hawk
helicopter hovering over the US bank building along with four other OH-6 choppers, known as “Little Birds”.

City Denies Request For Ticker-Tape Parade Honoring 9/11 First Responders
CBSNewYork Gilmartin said he filed all the correct paperwork and received approval from the community board but he believes the decision came down to the cost of the event. “I did everything they asked of me, and I assume, but I can’t say for sure,
that it’s all about the money,” Gilmartin said. He believes the first responders deserve a parade for the sacrifices they made on and after Sept. 11, 2001.

CHICAGOLAND: Gun purchases in city soar after ban lifted
CBS News - Significantly more Chicagoans are arming themselves with guns. As WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, over the past two years, the city has seen a 16 percent spike in the number of people holding state Firearm Owner’s
Identification Cards. About 122,000 people possessed FOID cards at the beginning of this year compared to 105,000 at the beginning of 2010, said Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police. Illinois residents must possess a FOID card to buy guns in the state.

DNA sample to be taken from students before SAT college entrance exams
Jonathan Benson - Standardized testing is a common method by which colleges and universities evaluate the competency of applying high school students. But an increasing amount of students are cheating on such tests, which has caused lawmakers in New York to consider actually harvesting “digital DNA” from students and applying it to special ID cards that students would be required to furnish both before and after taking the SAT or ACT exams to prove their identities.

2012 Election News

Ron Paul is sweeping the GOP youth vote
Across the country, the youth vote is down. Registration is low. Voter enthusiasm for Republican candidates has been lackluster. Unless that candidate’s name is Ron Paul. The 76-year-old U.S. representative from Texas has energized — and
gained —young voters at a time many people under 30 are turned off to politics.

Ron Paul Resonates with Hispanic Voters in Florida
US News - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's strategists say they have discovered a surprising source of support for their candidate—Latinos in Florida. Paul hasn't made any overt appeals for the Hispanic vote, his advisers say... But a
Paul spokesman cites a new poll indicating that the Texas congressman has the support of 41.5 percent of likely Hispanic Republican voters in Florida, with former House Speaker New Gingrich second at 25.3 percent, former Gov. Mitt Romney of
Massachusetts at 9.2 percent, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at 4.1 percent.

VIDEO: O'Reilly Tries to Tie Child Molestation to Ron Paul, Doyle Fires Back 'I Have the Dirt on O'Reilly'
The Showdown begins to heat up between Doyle and O'Reilly as Doyle shows that O'Reilly tries to connect Ron Paul to child molestation in American. Jerry Doyle exposes threats made to him after his endorsement of Ron Paul by Fox News in behalf of Bill O'Reilly. Doyle respond 'I have the dirt on Bill O'Reilly'.

We must construct a serious, sustained boycott of the mainstream media advertisers
We must begin to construct a serious, sustained boycott of the mainstream media advertisers (their lifeblood) with the goal of either fundamentally changing the msm’s behavior or ending their existence. Yes, the media distorts Ron Paul, but that’s only part of the problem. The truth is the mainstream media does a terrible job of keeping us informed about everything! We’re never going to fix America, have honest and real debates about real and relevant issues, unless we change the way the mainstream media operates.

Romney’s Bain Capital ‘earned’ $342 million by bankrupting company, firing 850 staff
Daily Kos - One of corporate vampire Bain Capital’s victims was Dade International, Bain stripped them and cashed in. Via McKay Coppins, you can add The Miami Herald to the list of people and organizations who Mitt Romney says are attacking free enterprise. That's because today's edition takes a look at how Bain Capital "earned" $342 million from investing $30 million in the acquisition of medical technology firm named Dade International. Despite profiting by hundreds of millions of dollars from the deal, Romney's company led Dade to bankruptcy, laying off thousands of workers throughout the country—including 850 in Miami alone.

Romney Failed to Disclose Swiss Bank Account Income
ABC News - Mitt Romney's campaign is amending the financial disclosure forms he filed in 2007 and 2011 to acknowledge that a Romney trust held a Swiss bank account, a detail that had been missing from both reports. "An amendment is being filed to address this minor discrepancy," a campaign official told ABC News in an email Thursday in response to questions about the apparent omission.

VIDEO: Petition: Pelosi must tell America her Gingrich Secret
Nancy Pelosi is withholding information that the public should know now. This is our electoral process and Nancy Pelosi is playing games with it. If she garnerd information about a current presidential candidate during her time as a public
official she is obligated to tell us what she knows.

Occupy Wall Street

U.S falls to 47th in press freedom rankings after Occupy crackdown
Mail Online - Sweeping protests around the world made it an extremely difficult year for the media, and tested journalists as never before, the annual report into press freedom reveals. The annual report by Reporters Without Borders has been released, showing the United States fell 27 points on the list due to the many arrests of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street protests. The slide in the United States places it just behind Comoros and Taiwan in a group with Argentina and Romania.

Veteran News

YouTube: Adam Kokesh Veterans March for Ron Paul Announcements
Adam Kokesh talks about the speakers, the rally at noon, vehicle arrangements for veterans unable to march, and a video contest where the first place winner will receive $1000.00. Also, there will be a Ron Paul "Money Grenade on 2/1/12 to help
raise money to help cover the basic expenses of the event and to provide transportation for veterans who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it.

Vets oppose speech by general who demonized Islamists
(Reuters) - A veterans' advocacy group urged the U.S. Military Academy on Thursday to withdraw a speech invitation to a retired general who portrayed the U.S. fight against Muslims radicals as a battle with Satan. VoteVets, which describes
itself as the biggest U.S. progressive veterans' organization, said West Point's invitation to retired three-star general William Boykin to speak at a February 8 prayer breakfast endangered U.S. troops.

World News

Hackers launch fresh attacks on Israeli websites
Breitbart Jan 25 - Arab hackers claimed responsibility Wednesday for a series of attacks on prominent Israeli websites, including that of daily newspaper Haaretz.... In a Twitter message, the Palestinian wing of the global hacker collective Anonymous claimed responsibility for taking down Haaretz's Hebrew-language site, which was still out of commission by late Wednesday. The paper's English section was also targeted but was up again by the afternoon.

Iran oil ban will up oil prices by 30%: IMF
Press TV - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says sanctions imposed by the US and European Union on Iran's oil and financial sectors will cause the global oil price to rise by 20-30 percent.... The IMF further stated that financial sanctions against Tehran may be "tantamount to an oil embargo" and would imply supply declines of about 1.5 million barrels per day from the world's fifth-largest oil producer.

Hurt Iran, and don’t stop hurting Russia’
RT - Blasting Iran with new sanctions won’t stop the west from working with Iranian energy companies if the stakes are high enough, it seems. UK lobbyists have ensured that BP and others can continue a multibillion dollar gas project vying with Russia. A political balancing act was needed to protect investment into Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz natural gas field, where BP works with Iran. The second stage of this project operated by British Petroleum worth $20 billion is meant to decrease Europeans’ dependence on Russian fuel, reports the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. to grant three-year extension of loan guarantees to Israel
The U.S. government has informed Israel that it will recommend that Congress approve a three-year extension of loan guarantees to Israel, worth $3.8 billion. The announcement came after several months of worry in Israel that the loan guarantees would not be extended, despite Israel's request.

VIDEO: Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians cram into Tahrir Square on the one year anniversary of the January 25th uprising
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians cram into the iconic Tahrir Square on the one year anniversary of the January 25th uprising that sent shockwaves throughout the globe. The crowds chanted "Today is not a festival, it's another revolution!"

Companies Face Fines as Much as 2% of Sales Under EU Privacy Law
Bloomberg - The 27 EU data-protection agencies would be able to sanction companies that don’t comply with tougher rules on handling personal information, proposed by the European Commission today. Online-advertising and social networking sites will also be covered by the policy, updating the EU’s 17-year- old data-protection policies. The EU overhaul would also clamp down on data lapses such as Sony Corp.’s six-day delay in warning customers about a cyber attack that exposed more than 100 million customer accounts, the second-largest online
data breach in U.S. history.

Mexico drug war violence blamed on failed U.S. drug policies and false flag gun-running ops
(NaturalNews) The 2011 Global Commission on Drug Policies in Geneva, Switzerland was motivated, according to its website, by successful Latin American conferences convened with national leaders concerned about the impact on democracy in Latin America from drug use, trafficking, and gang or cartel violence. One wonders how the Global Commission managed to consider that conference a success, considering what is actually going on in Mexico now. The current Mexican drug gang related death toll of 47,515 contradicts any sense of progress coming from that Latin American drug conference.

Mexico offers $2.6 billion to aid victims of record drought
Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday announced a 2.6-billion-dollar program to help victims of a record drought, including food and water handouts, as rural victims protested in the capital. The "unprecedented sum would attend to a catastrophic situation in Mexico," Calderon said during a public act. The aim "is that no family is without water or food due to this drought." Immediate measures included the delivery of 4,000 water trucks to affected areas, mainly in the north of the country, and the distribution of corn.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

VIDEO: Obama’s new fairytale: Peace and prosperity for war-bent US
RT - As the US presidential race picks up pace ahead of November's vote, Barack Obama is trying to ratchet up support for re-election. In his third State of the Union speech, he pledged another program for change. As the US presidential race picks up pace ahead of November's vote, Barack Obama is trying to ratchet up support for re-election. In his third State of the Union speech, he pledged another program for change. The president started his address praising those who fought in Iraq, “generation of heroes” who “have made the United States safer and more respected around the world.”

Obama doubles down on Anti-Liberty Insanity: Students should be FORCED to stay in school
In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Obama stressed the importance of teachers and offered to give them the resources they need while calling on every state to require students to stay in high school until graduation or they turn eighteen.

Exclusive: Senate investigating HSBC for money laundering
(Reuters)- HSBC Holdings PLC is under investigation by a U.S. Senate panel in a money-laundering inquiry, the latest step in a long-running U.S. effort to halt shadowy money flows through global banks, according to people familiar with the situation and a company securities filing.

Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization's collapse
(Reuters) - When Patty Tegeler looks out the window of her home overlooking the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia, she sees trouble on the horizon. "In an instant, anything can happen," she told Reuters. "And I firmly believe that you have to be prepared." Tegeler is among a growing subculture of Americans who refer to themselves informally as "preppers." Some are driven by a fear of imminent societal collapse, others are worried about terrorism, and many have a vague concern that an escalating series of natural disasters is leading to some type of environmental cataclysm.

2012 Election News

"The Ron Paul Song" - 3 minutes
If this doesn't do it for you, nothing will.

Florida GOP / CNN Debate - Jan 26 - 8pm ET
Dr. Ron Paul will participate in the Florida Debate sponsored by the Republican Party of Florida and CNN, held at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday, January 26th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Live stream at CNN.com.

Fight for Your Civil Rights
Freedom Watch January 25, 2012 - Ron Paul senior advisor Doug Wead joins the Judge to talk about the significance of Ron Paul’s presidential campaign from a civil rights perspective.

Obama's Attorney Jaberwoki Slapped Down By Georgia Secretary of State
1/25/2012 - Letter to Obama's Attorney from the Secretary of State. Obama's eligibility hearing is still on for Thursday, January 26th.

Obama's Attorney Refusing To Show Up At Obama's Georgia Ballot Challenge Hearings
1/25/2012 - Letter to the Secretary of State from the Attorney for President Barack Obama.

YouTube: John Stossel on Ron Paul’s Non-Interventionist Views
John Stossel contrasts the differences between a non-interventionist ideology and an
isolationist perspective.

YouTube: O++peration CNN Debate Blackout #OpDebateBlackout - Ron Paul
We will do this by making a mass number of requests to the CNN servers starting at 8PM on Thursday, January 26 until the conclusion of the debate. We will cease making requests during those periods of time when Ron Paul is speaking. To succeed, you will need the following free tool to enable you to make many requests automatically:

US Presidential Candidates’ Positions on Israel/Palestine, War, and Civil Liberties
CNI summarizes the policy positions of President Obama and the top Republican nominees.

Jay Leno & NBC Sued Over Mitt Romney Joke
Jay Leno thought he was poking gentle fun at the lifestyles of rich and famous Republican presidential candidates — Mitt Romney in particular. But last Thursday when Leno’s slide show came to a location cited as Mitt Romney’s summer home — in reality an image of the Sikh holy shrine Golden Temple in Amritsar, India — it sparked a diplomatic incident. And now, a lawsuit charging Leno and NBC with libel.

Castro calls the GOP race a "competition of idiocy"
RT - At Monday’s Republican debate, both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich came to an agreement on something: they each wish Fidel Castro would just die already. Days later, the former Cuban president fired back and offered some words of his own for the GOP. According to Castro, the race on the right is full of idiots.

Veteran News

White House to field veterans’ questions this Thursday
The White House is planning a series of online follow-ups and forums after Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, including a veterans-focused session Thursday morning featuring Matt Flavin, the administration’s point person on veterans issues and wounded warrior policy. He’ll take to Twitter around 10 a.m. on Thursday, answering messages posted with the #WHChat hashtag. White House officials said they’ll have a full transcript posted at
WhiteHouse.gov later in the day and an interactive recap at their Storify site as well.

Humor & Satire

VIDEO: Mitt Romney DESTROYED by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show
Daily Show Tuesday January 24, 2012 - Indecision 2012 - I Know What You Did Last Quarter. Mitt Romney justifies making more in one day than the median American family makes in a year, while paying the same tax rate as the guy who scans his shoes at the airport.

Happy wake up
Happy is Maltese & Daschund mix.
 

World News

Iraqi authorities hang 34 people in a single day
More than 30 people were executed by Iraqi authorities on Thursday following their conviction for various crimes, the United Nations reported on Tuesday. It is the largest number of confirmed executions within a single day in years.

US launched cyber attacks on other nations
RT - Mike McConnell, the former director of national intelligence at the National Security Agency under George W Bush, tells Reuters this week that cyber war is more than a distant possibility. According to the current vice chairman at Booz Allen Hamilton, the US has already launched attacks on the computer networks of other nations. McConnell did not add any input as to what countries have been hit with American cyber warfare in the past, but he did confirm that the US has already used the

Japan's first trade deficit since 1980 raises debt doubts
(Reuters) - Japan first annual trade deficit in more than 30 years calls into question how much longer the country can rely on exports to help finance a huge public debt without having to turn to fickle foreign investors. The aftermath of the March earthquake raised fuel import costs while slowing global growth and the yen's strength hit exports, data released on Wednesday showed, swinging the 2011 trade balance into deficit.

Japanese Delegation Wants the U.S. Out of Okinawa
A 24-member delegation from Japan is in Washington, D.C., this week opposing the presence and new construction of U.S. military bases in Okinawa. Participating are members of the Japanese House of Councilors, of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, and of city governments in Okinawa, as well as leading protest organizers and the heads of several important organizations opposed to the ongoing U.S. military occupation of Okinawa.

VIDEO: Iran Summons Danish Envoy, Renews Threat to Close Hormuz
Kurt Nimmo - Iran’s foreign minister Ali Asghar Khaji summoned the Danish ambassador in Tehran to protest the European Union’s decision to go forward with an oil embargo on the country. Denmark currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Danish ambassador summoned over Iran oil embargo
On Tuesday, The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Danish ambassador to Tehran, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, to protest about the EU’s decision to impose sanctions on Iran’s oil industry.

VIDEO: Sanctions dodge: India to pay gold for Iran oil, China may follow
RT - India has reportedly agreed to pay Tehran in gold for the oil it buys, in a move aimed at protecting Delhi from US-sanctions targeting countries who trade with Iran. China, another buyer of Iranian oil, may follow Delhi’s lead. The report, by the Israeli-based news website DEBKAfile, states that Iran and India are negotiating backup alternatives with China and Russia, should the US and EU find a way to block the gold payment mechanism.

Israel orders jail without charge for PLC speaker
An Israeli military court on Tuesday ordered the detention of Palestinian parliamentary speaker Aziz Dweik for six months without charge. Dweik, who was seized by Israeli forces at a Ramallah checkpoint on Thursday, heads the Palestinian Legislative Council. His lawyer Fadi Qawasmi said Ofer military court gave the administrative detention order early Tuesday, after a Sunday hearing was postponed. The PLC speaker's office denounced the order as an "abusive decision without any charge or legal justification," accusing Israel of trying to stop a parliamentary session scheduled for next month.

Russia to deliver combat jets to Syria: report
AP - A newspaper is reporting that Russia has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria in a show of support for President Bashar Assad’s regime.The business daily Kommersant said Monday without identifying its source that the $550 million deal envisages the delivery of 36 Yak-130 aircraft. A spokesman for Russia’s Rosoboronexport state arms trader refused to comment on the report. If confirmed, the deal would mark an open defiance of international efforts to put pressure on Assad’s regime, which has faced broad condemnation for its brutal crackdown on an uprising.

TEPCO has just announced - Radiation being emitted from Fukushima is 70 million becquerels per hour - It is increasing - Up 12 million from last month.
All the explosions (quakes) people have been feeling around Fukushima that are listed as earthquakes on the Japan sensors. The fact that they could not find the fuel rods when they looked in Reactor 2, was obvious something big is going on at Fukushima. Now TEPCO has announced 70 million becquerels per hour of radiation is being leaked into the air.

Magic mushroom therapy' to treat depression could happen in UK inside a year
Mail Online - A clinical trial of 'magic mushroom therapy' could take place in the UK within a year following two ground-breaking studies. Doctors plan to treat depressed patients who cannot be helped by modern drugs or behaviour-based psychotherapy with the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Psilocybin would slowly be infused into their bloodstreams while they receive a carefully tailored 'talking therapy'.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

VIDEO: State of the Union Address: Haven't We Heard this Before?
The Republican National Committee has compiled this video comparing lines President Obama used tonight in his State of the Union Address with lines he used in previous addresses before Congress.

Obama Speech Makes Pitch for Economic Fairness
President Obama pledged on Tuesday President Obama pledged on Tuesday night to use government power to balance the scale between America’s rich and the rest of the public, trying to present an election-year choice between continued leadership toward an economy “built to last” and what he called irresponsible policies of the past that caused an economic collapse.

Obama Makes Populist Pitch
WSJ - President Barack Obama offered Americans a populist economic vision in his State of the Union address Tuesday, seeking to draw a contrast with his eventual Republican rival and demonstrating the widening policy gulf between the two political parties. Mr. Obama's laundry-list of initiatives—steep tax increases on wealthier Americans, fresh investigations into the mortgage crisis and support for domestic manufacturing—was aimed at buttressing a re-election message that posits him as defender of Americans beset by inequality in the tax code and broader economy. "It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts and no copouts," Mr. Obama said. "An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody."

Ron Paul Responds To Obama's State Of The Union Speech
Chicago Sun-Times - "Tonight, President Obama once again showed that he does not represent the fundamental change this country needs. Instead of offering solutions to the problems our country faces, the President was intent on delivering a campaign speech, further dealing in the typical Washington political gamesmanship that has gotten us exactly nowhere close to improving the lives of the American people.

VIDEO: Shock Docs: Total Federalization of Police Under New Homeland Security Mission
Aaron Dykes - A new white paper presented to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence carves out an ‘evolving mission’ for Homeland Security that moves away from fighting terrorism and towards growing a vast domestic intelligence apparatus that would expand integration with local/state agencies and private-public partnerships already underway via regional fusion centers. Crafted by the Aspen Institute Homeland Security Group, co-chaired by former DHS chief Michael Chertoff and composed of a who’s who of national security figures, the report outlines a total mission creep, as the title “Homeland Security and Intelligence: Next Steps in Evolving the Mission” implies....

LA Military Exercises
KFI News - Joint military training exercises will be held evenings in downtown Los Angeles through Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD will be providing support for the exercises, which will also be held in other portions of the greater Los Angeles area, police said.

Is The NYPD Experimenting With Drones Over The City? Evidence Points To Yes
CBS New York - They’re used in war zones for surveillance and military strikes. But are there plans to deploy drones in the Big Apple to keep an eye on New Yorkers? More and more people believe it’s inevitable, reports CBS 2’s Don Dahler.

AUDIO: US corporations 'treating prisoners like commodities'
Press TV - Craig Hennecke, board chairman of Portland-based Central America Solidarity Committee, criticizes U.S. financial institutions and big banks for investing in and profiting from private prison industry in America. “It's unacceptable to be investing in prisoners and treating them like their commodities and profiting off of people,” Hennecke said in a phone interview with Press TV's U.S. Desk on Monday. He cited Wells Fargo, a giant financial services company, as a notable example of big financial corporations' involvement in private prison system in the United States.

Ruling could force Americans to decrypt laptops
American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today in what could become a precedent-setting case.... Blackburn, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Fifth Amendment posed no barrier to his decryption order. The Fifth Amendment says that nobody man be "compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself," which has become known as the right to avoid self-incrimination.

2012 Election News

VIDEO: Pelosi On A Gingrich Presidency: "That Will Never Happen"
CNN - Pelosi: "There is something I know. The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him that's their prerogative. I don't even think that's going to happen."

Why Democrats Think the GOP Race Might Last Until June
ABC - Why would this go on for awhile? Because a combination of an elongated schedule, new Republican National Committee rules, and some quirks of fate have diminished the importance of individual contests and reduced the ability for knock-out punches.

YouTube: The Ron Paul FIX is in
SGTreport.com - Eric Blair asks, "Could the conspiracy to keep Ron Paul out of the Oval Office be this coordinated? This pervasive?"

VIDEO: Ron Paul Campaign Releases New Ad ‘Three of a Kind’ Challenging Rivals in South Carolina
Ad condemns serial hypocrisy, counterfeit conservatism and flip-flopping of Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.

Ron Paul Announces ‘End the TSA’ Money Bomb
Steve Watson - Slams “out-of-control police state” in email to supporters. In the wake of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s run in with the TSA this week, his father, GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, has launched a new fundraising effort with the theme ‘End the TSA’. In an email to supporters Monday, Ron Paul wrote that the Senator “simply stood up for his right not to be the latest victim of the TSA’s disgusting full body pat-down.” “The elderly. The disabled. Little kids. All victims of an out-of-control police state that, while doing nothing to make us safer, is working overtime to strip away our freedoms, our rights, and our basic dignity,” Paul added.

Ron Paul Commands a Strong Plurality of Hispanic Republican Voters in Florida
KISSIMMEE, Florida – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul wins a strong plurality of Hispanic voters in the early voting state of Florida, according to a new poll. Paul earns a commanding 41.5 percent among this large voting segment, with Newt Gingrich a distant second with 25.3 percent. Mitt Romney in third place and Rick Santorum in fourth place fare quite poorly, garnering just 9.2 and 4.1 percent, respectively, in the survey of registered Republican voters who respond that they will vote in the Tuesday, January 31st primary.

VIDEO: Ground report from Ron Paul supporter outside Florida debate 1/23/2012
Daily Paul - This was the scene driving to the University of South Florida Republican primary on Jan 23rd, 2012...We stood on the street outside the actual building where we understood the debate would take place from 6 p.m. In all that time, I saw a total of only 7 small signs for Santorum, 2 lonely little signs for Gringrich that were held by two guys in dark suits (spooky), and again, just on that one street, HUNDREDS of Ron Paul signs and supporters. They had megaphones and we chanted back and forth across the street. It was all in good spirits and there was no bad behavior.

Fox Attempts to Discredit Ron Paul with “Oklahoma Inside Job” Newsletter
Kurt Nimmo - On the heels of Ron Paul’s South Carolina promise to continue forward with his quest to gain the Republican nomination and the presidency, Fox News has dredged up an yet another newsletter attributed to him in an effort to sabotage the Paul campaign. “Full of racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic statements, not to mention a variety of quack science and conspiracy theories, the newsletters have once again become an issue as Paul seeks to stay in the Republican presidential primary for the long haul,” Fox Nation reported on Monday in a repost of a BuzzFeed article.

Article II Super PAC Providing Live Internet Video Stream From Inside Obama's 3 Georgia Ballot Hearings
Article II Super PAC is providing live internet video stream coverage of Obama's 3 Georgia Ballot Hearing on January 26th in Atlanta, GA starting at 9AM ET. The live video stream will be located at this page and on the home-page of this website.

Romney’s Answer on Illegal Immigration: “Self-deportation”
Miami Herald Blog - The topic of immigration, mainly what to do about illegal immigration, got plenty of reaction from the Republican candidates on Monday night - and on Twitter. Perhaps the most interesting - and the one most tweeted about - was Romney's "self-deportation" idea for helping curb the number of illegal immigrants.'... "The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here," Romney said.

Romney ‘Proud Of The Fact’ That He Pays ‘A Lot’ Of Taxes, But His Plan Would Cut His Own Taxes In Half
[Citizens for Tax Justice] calculated what Romney would pay if his own plan passed. That is, if you kept the Bush tax cuts in place, including keeping the capital gains tax at 15 percent, and scrapped the Medicare tax, as Romney wants to do. Under that system, Romney would pay a rate of a little under 15 percent — because virtually all his income is from capital gains and dividends. The group calculates that this means Romney’s plan would give him a tax cut of more than 40 percent.

How To Avoid Voting For A Globalist Puppet
Alt-Market - How can the people of this country avoid making the mistake of voting for such disingenuous candidates when they seem so adept at telling us what we want to hear until they are comfortably in office? The key is to stop listening to what they SAY, and start looking closely at what they DO. We must ignore their rhetoric, their speeches written by proxy, and their bad jokes slapped together by hired staff, and begin examining their actions and their backgrounds.

Occupy Wall Street Protest

Florida police nab 3 Occupy protesters
Press TV - Three protestors from Occupy Miami and Occupy Palm Beach were arrested in the city of Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, Florida on Monday evening for trying to block a bridge near the venue for the 2012 (Global Alternative Investment Management) GAIM conference. GAIM presents itself as one of the most important conferences of the hedge fund industry, with 'over 75 percent of attendees...at the managing director level and above' and thus belonging to the one-percent wealthiest in the US as opposed to the remaining 99 percent.

VA assigns officer to verify claims involving secret missions
Lack of records access has been seen by many spec ops veterans as a roadblock to filing claims, especially for disabilities such as post-traumatic stress, for which there may be nothing in military health or personnel records to verify any treatment while the veteran was in uniform. Now, the Veterans Affairs Department has assigned a liaison officer to the U.S. Special Operations Command with direct access to classified files.

La. lawmakers may enhance veterans’ benefits
Lawmakers are considering whether to broaden a program for permanently disabled veterans and to loosen rules on Louisiana’s free college tuition program so more veterans can be eligible, members of the House and Senate veterans affairs committees said Thursday.

VA expands list of ships with Agent Orange risk
The Veterans Affairs Department has added 47 vessels to its list of Navy and Coast Guard ships whose crews may have been exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange.

World News

BASF to Stop Selling Genetically Modified Products in Europe
For 13 years, ordinary Europeans have stood firm in challenging the right of biotech companies to dump their risky genetically engineered (GE) seeds onto their fields and have steadfastly rejected the intrusion of GE foods onto their plates. They built up an informed and powerful citizens’ movement that has made itself heard, even over the din of the monied GE lobby. Unfortunately, BASF is headed straight for a research park here in the U.S. — namely the Research Triangle in North Carolina, which has become a hub for the biotech industry. BASF will be joining over 70 agricultural technology companies there, the Winston-Salem Journal reports, including Bayer CropScience and Syngenta.

Raw milk: Good enough for Queen Elizabeth, but prohibited for ordinary Canadians
(NaturalNews) Finding access to raw milk is difficult in many parts of the US, but the situation is even worse in Canada where national law prohibits the sale of raw milk anywhere in the country. Few people realize, however, that Queen Elizabeth and her two sons drink this supposedly "dangerous" food item, as do nearly all Canadian farmers surveyed in a 2010 study published in Preventive Veterinary Medicine.

Iran 'definitely' closing Strait of Hormuz
RT - Tensions in the Gulf could reach a breaking point as a senior Iranian official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if an EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil. Mohammad Kossari, deputy head of parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee, issued the warning in respone to a decision by the European Union on Monday to impose an oil embargo on Iran over the country’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

UK, US, France send warships through Strait
The Telegraph - Britain, America and France delivered a pointed signal to Iran, sending six warships led by a 100,000 ton aircraft carrier through the highly sensitive waters of the Strait of Hormuz. This deployment defied explicit Iranian threats to close the waterway. It coincided with an escalation in the West's confrontation with Iran over the country's nuclear ambitions. European Union foreign ministers are today expected to announce an embargo on Iranian oil exports, amounting to the most significant package of sanctions yet agreed. They are also likely to impose a partial freeze on assets held by the Iranian Central Bank in the EU.

YouTube: US aircraft carriers to deliver 'direct message to Iran'
RT - Europe and the US have expressed their willingness to return to talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear program. But despite that, the EU is seemingly still set to approve an embargo on Iranian oil. France even says the time to avoid military intervention is running out. As for the U.S., this week it strengthened its presence in the region by sending a second aircraft carrier to the Arabian sea....

US to send old warship to Persian Gulf
Press TV - The USS Enterprise is the oldest active duty ship in the American naval fleet and its mission dates back to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and the Vietnam War. The decision to maintain 11 warships comes at a time when the US economy is facing a national debt of more than USD 15 trillion after a decade of costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and is preparing for 487 billion dollars in defense cuts over the next 10 years.

Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town
(Reuters) - Fighters loyal to Libya's overthrown leader Muammar Gaddafi took control of a town south-east of the capital on Monday, flying their green flags in defiance of the country's fragile new government.

VIDEO: Syria sanctions: EU extends asset freeze, travel ban
RT - EU foreign ministers have adopted fresh sanctions against Syria, targeting a new list of people and firms to be hit by a travel ban and asset freeze. This is the 11th consecutive round of sanctions to be imposed on the violence-torn country. Syria sanctions: EU extends asset freeze, travel ban
EU foreign ministers have adopted fresh sanctions against Syria, targeting a new list of people and firms to be hit by a travel ban and asset freeze. This is the 11th consecutive round of sanctions to be imposed on the violence-torn country.

France passes genocide law, faces Turkish reprisals
(Reuters) - France approved on Monday a bill making it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago was genocide, sparking angry retaliation from Turkey which threatened a "total rupture" of diplomatic ties.... The bill had been made more general so that it outlawed the denial of any genocide, partly in the hope of appeasing the Turks. But Ankara condemned the bill's approval and said it would take permanent steps against France, a NATO ally.

VIDEO: Egyptian military hands legislative power to parliament amid protests
RT - Egypt’s Cabinet says the military rulership has handed legislative powers to the country’s new lower house of parliament, which held its first session on Monday. But as the new deputies are sworn in, the capital is bracing for fresh protests. “Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, has announced in a letter to the People’s Assembly the transfer of legislative power to the assembly,” the government said on its Facebook page.

EU's Barnier eyes limits on top bankers' pay
(Reuters) - The European Commission is considering limiting top bankers' pay to a multiple of junior staff salaries as well as capping bonuses at a fixed ratio to pay, its regulatory chief said on Monday. In a move likely to alarm high earners in the City of London and elsewhere, Michel Barnier told Reuters in an interview that new curbs on bankers' earnings were needed to avoid the risk of a backlash from the public.

Shipwreck probe may widen to cruise company
(Reuters) - A criminal probe into the Costa Concordia's doomed voyage, which ended with at least 15 dead and the cruise ship lying holed off the Italian coast, may be widened, a lawyer for the captain said on Monday.... Captain Francesco Schettino is accused of causing the accident and is under investigation for multiple manslaughter and abandoning the 450 million-euro ($590 million) ship before it was evacuated.... Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise ship operator, has suspended Schettino and declared itself an injured party in the case. It has said "unfortunate human error" by Schettino caused the disaster.

Pot-based prescription drug looks for FDA OK
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents- a mouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. And it hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013. Sativex contains marijuana's two best known components - delta 9-THC and cannabidiol - and already has been approved in Canada, New Zealand and eight European countries for a different usage, relieving muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

VIDEO: Red Spotlights to Mark ‘Pre-crime’ Suspects
Activist Post - In a glowing review of the rising prevalence of high-tech big brother surveillance gadgets in police force use, the Associated Press reports that East Orange, New Jersey plans to cut crime by highlighting suspects with a red-beamed spotlight -- before any crime is committed -- a “pre-crime” deterrent to be mounted on nearby street lights or other fixtures. “Whereas London has talking cameras, we’re about to deploy light projecting cameras, better known as light-based intervention systems.” said William Robinson, Police Chief for East Orange. He added, “The message to criminals is, we’re observing you, the police are recording you, and the police are responding.”

Obama’s Lawyers Outline Supoena Defense for Court Appearance This Week
Minuteman PAC - The countdown has officially begun. Barack Hussein Obama is due in court this Thursday, January 26, 2012 to be held accountable to the American people after nearly four years of dodging our demands for his long-form birth certificate. And now, we know just how his lawyers are attempting to yet again get him out of proving his citizenship eligibility to be President of the United States… “Presidential electors and Congress, not the state of Georgia, hold the constitutional responsibility for determining the qualifications of presidential candidates,” Obama’s lawyer argued in a since rejected attempt to prevent Obama from appearing at the hearings beginning on Jan. 26.

Senate Democratic staffer arrested for disclosing identities of CIA operatives to al Qaeda Gitmo inmates
Washington Post - The Justice Department on Monday charged a former CIA officer with repeatedly leaking classified information, including the identities of agency operatives involved in the capture and interrogation of alleged terrorists. The case against John Kiriakou, who also served as a senior Senate aide, extends the Obama administration’s crackdown on disclosures of national security secrets. Kiriakou, 47, is the sixth target of a leaks-related prosecution since President Obama took office, exceeding the total number of comparable prosecutions under all previous administrations combined, legal experts said.

OBAMASCARE: Supreme Court says no to debate over Elena Kagan health care role
Politico - Freedom Watch, a group led by Larry Klayman, asked the court for permission to file a brief on Kagan's participation in the case. The court on Monday denied the request without comment, though it did note that Kagan did not participate in the discussion. Both Kagan and Justice Clarence Thomas have faced calls for their recusals from the case. Opponents of the law argue Kagan should not participate because she was solicitor general during the passage of the law.

VIDEO: Rand Paul Detained by TSA in Nashville
ABC News - Sen. Rand Paul told his communications director this morning he was being detained by TSA at the Nashville airport.... A TSA spokesman disputed that Paul was ever “detained.” But he was not granted access to the secure area of the airport when he tried to board a flight Monday morning.... The TSA version of events is that Paul triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process (pat-down) in order to resolve the issue. Paul was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement. More articles here.

YouTube: Rand Paul on CNN with Wolf Blitzer
CNN Interviews Rand Paul on the TSA scanners after his experience.

White House sides with TSA in Rand Paul standoff
The Hill - The White House is standing by the Transportation Security Administration in its standoff with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and his father, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). The elder Paul called the TSA a "police state" Monday after Rand Paul was reportedly detained by TSA after he refused to take a pat-down from TSA officials at the Nashville International Airport. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that he didn't have any reaction to Paul's "police state" comments. But Carney sided with the TSA saying, "I think it is absolutely essential that we take necessary actions to ensure that air travel is safe."

Obama to 'hang out' in live video chat room
NEW YORK (AP) -- President Barack Obama plans to "hang out" in a video chat room to answer questions about his State of the Union address, part of a White House effort to test new social networking tools and the latest evidence of the growing intersection of social media and politics. Google announced Monday that Obama will participate in a 45-minute live video chat room known as a "Hangout," part of the online search giant's social networking site Google Plus. The chat will take place Monday afternoon, Jan. 30, capping a week of social media engagement the White House is planning around the State of the Union speech.

Obama Defends Roe v. Wade As Way for ‘Our Daughters’ to Have Same Chance As Sons to ‘Fulfill Their Dreams’
CNS News - CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama says the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is the chance to recognize the “fundamental constitutional right” to abortion and to “continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”

YouTube: Chris Hedges Sues Obama Admin Over Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens Approved in NDAA
Democracy Now -- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges has filed suit against President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes controversial provisions authorizing the military to jail anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world, without charge or trial.

GPS spying: Supreme Court says police need a warrant
RT - The Supreme Court came to a landmark decision Monday morning, voting unanimously that police agencies must obtain search warrants before they can install GPS tracking devices on the vehicles of suspects. Had the justices voted otherwise, local law enforcement agencies would have been legally protected to affix small devices on the cars of suspects, without their knowing, in order to monitor their every move on public roads.

Who Should Have Access to Student Records?
US NEWS - Privacy experts say the problem is that states collect far more information than parents expect, and it can be shared with more than just a student’s teacher or principal.“When you have a system that’s secret [from parents] and you can put whatever you want into it, you can have things going in that’ll be very damaging,” says Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “When you put something into digital form, you can’t control where that’ll end up.”

2012 Election News

YouTube: Ron Paul Highlights in Florida GOP Debate
NBC 1/23/12 - The first Florida Republican Presidential Primary debate took place in Tampa at the University of South Florida. The debate was shown on NBC and streamed live at MSNBC.com.

POLL: Who won the National Journal/NBC GOP debate in Tampa?
Drudge Report: Ron Paul 48%
O'Reilly: Newt Gingrich 39%, Ron Paul 38% (Who will win Florida Primary?)
World Today's News: Ron Paul 40%.
Your Political News Group: Ron Paul 55%
The Swash: Ron Paul 69%
We Polls: Ron Paul 82%
Naples News: Ron Paul 77% (Who has your vote in the Jan. 31 Florida GOP primary?)

YouTube: Ron Paul Ignored in Florida's NBC Republican Debate 1/23/12
Ron Paul got less than 6 minutes out of the hour long debate. They skipped him completely on 3 questions and didnt offer him one chance to speak after someone attacked him. This is getting old and fast. We need to stand up and demand fair and balanced journalism!!!

Adelson to double contribution to help Newt’s presidential bid
Las Vegas Sun - Gondolier Numero Uno Sheldon Adelson, through his wife, will give Newt Gingrich's SuperPAC another $5 million, a source close to Adelson confirmed today. That makes $10 million from the man who built the Venetian (in Vegas and Macau!) to help his old friend, the former speaker. My guess is so long as Gingrich stays competitive, Adelson, the eighth richest man in America, will be there to help through Winning Our Future. And in so doing, he will keep Gingrich, whom he has known for a decade and a half, competitive with Mitt Romney's money machine.

YouTube: RAW Footage: Romney Supporter Admits Being Paid to Support Romney
On camera, a Romney "supporter" at an early voting location says he was paid by the South Florida Romney campaign effort to wear a shirt and maintain a presence. Having a handful of Romney supporters at the site likely helped make the impression on potential voters who lack the capacity to think for themselves that they, because of Romney's large "support", they should vote for him. Makes perfect sense...

Witnesses Document Potential Vote Fraud in S.C. Primaries
Activist Post -At this time, the most serious questions are centered around the precincts in Pickens County. It was in this precinct that Chris Lawton, representing the Paul campaign who came to the Pickens County elections office to witness the vote certification, noticed a series of situations that were either in direct opposition to State voting laws, or, at the very least, highly questionable.

Gingrich Group Releases Freddie Mac Contract
National Journal - Under pressure from rival Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s consulting business released his contract with Freddie Mac on Monday on a website. Click here to view Gingrich’s contract with Freddie Mac. The contract calls him a consultant but is vague about his specific duties. It calls for a $300,000 retainer and $25,000 in fees monthly for the year 2006. It has been previously disclosed that Gingrich was paid more than $1.6 million by the mortgage giant over an eight-year period.

Ron Paul "I went" photo going viral on Internet
Ron Paul's photo showing him with one of his children [Rand] while serving during the Vietnam era is going viral on net, in contrast to Newt Gingrich who said he was married and had children at time as reason why he didn't serve.

Occupy Wall Street Protest

Soros: Occupy to turn violent
WND - In an interview with Newsweek writer John Arlidge, Soros reportedly said riots on the streets of American cities are inevitable. “‘Yes, yes, yes,’ he says, almost gleefully,” when asked about the prospect of Occupy turning violent, writes Arlidge. Soros claimed the riots will “be an excuse for cracking down and using strong-arm tactics to maintain law and order, which, carried to an extreme, could bring about a repressive political system, a society where individual liberty is much more constrained, which would be a break with the tradition of the United States.”

New Asian Union Means The Fall Of The Dollar
The chain of financial events taking place over the past decade in Asia have been correspondingly mislabeled and misunderstood. What some economists see as total collapse is actually a new and decidedly prophetic (or engineered) transition. Read More...

The Global Elite Are Hiding 18 Trillion Dollars In Offshore Banks
Economic Collapse - The truth is that the global elite are hiding an almost unbelievable amount of money in offshore banks. According to shocking research done by the IMF, the global elite are holding a total of 18 trillion dollars in offshore banks. And that figure does not even count any money being held in Switzerland. That is a staggering amount of money.

DHS to Support Executive Order to Boost International Tourism, Particularly from China and Brazil
HS Today - To support these efforts, DHS and the State Department Thursday announced a pilot to speed up visa processing in China and Brazil, partly by waiving interviews for low-risk visitors. The State Department reported tremendous growth in visitors from China and Brazil, with increases of 34 percent and 42 percent in visa applications from those nations respectively in Fiscal Year 2011. The executive order pointed out that international travel and tourism fell significantly in the past decade in part because of tough security measures enacted after 9/11.

VIDEO: US paradox: Wasting food while going hungry
RT - America's expanding waistline proves the country's love affair with food. But almost as much as is consumed is being dumped in the trash every day. And that is despite the fact that millions in the US are now struggling to put food on the table.

VIDEO: Protesters: Walmart, build somewhere else
CBS ATLANTA - People in one DeKalb County neighborhood took to the streets in the drizzling rain to protest a proposed new Walmart. Protesters say Walmart has a history of driving down property values and pushing out mom-and-pop businesses, but some small businesses actually think the superstore could help their own bottom line.... "Walmart doesn't play fair with their employees, it's bad for businesses and it's not going to be good for this community," said one protester.

Why Isn’t Illinois A Bigger Story Than Greece?
Dripping with red ink: Will anyone fix Illinois’ budget mess? The question isn’t whether Illinois’ finances are in dreadful shape, it’s how to fix the problem. Or perhaps more accurately, will legislators have the political will to fix it when they return to Springfield for their spring session? Even though the legislature and Gov. Pat Quinn last year imposed a temporary 67 percent state income tax increase, Quinn’s office expects to have a $500 million budget deficit this year.

Evicted 101-year-old Detroit woman can't go home
DETROIT (AP) - Texana Hollis was evicted Sept. 12 and her belongings placed outside after her 65-year-old son failed to pay property taxes linked to a reverse mortgage and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development foreclosed on the home. Two days later, the department said she could return. But now, HUD said it won't let Hollis move back in because of the house's condition. She had lived there about 60 years.

Housing values down steeply in 2012 battleground states
Housing Wire - As Republican presidential candidates remain mostly silent on what they would do to fix housing, a think tank notes that homes values dropped an average of 16% since the financial crisis in 15 of 16 battleground states.

More than $6.5 billion in taxpayer dollars have been wasted on Solyndra and 11 other green energy failures
(NaturalNews) Just a few months ago, FBI agents raided the headquarters of now-bankrupt solar panel company Solyndra, which received more than half-a-billion dollars in federal stimulus funds as part of the federal government's green energy stimulus initiative. But according to a new investigation by CBS News, the Solyndra scandal is just the tip of the iceberg, as at least 11 other green energy companies have either already failed, or are on the verge of failing, taking with them more than $6.5 billion in taxpayer money.

About 270,000 utility customers without power from Northwest storm that now threatens flooding
About 270,000 electric customers around Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia are without power because of a winter storm that coated much of Washington state in ice and swelled Oregon rivers, killing three people.... Forecasters say the melting snow could cause urban and small stream flooding and fill the Skokomish and Chehalis rivers above flood stage by Saturday evening. More rain is forecast early next week that could make flooding more of an issue.

Health

Canola oil used to be called RAPESEED oil but the name was changed for marketing reasons
(NaturalNews) The real problem with the name "rapeseed oil" is that the oil was so toxic that the FDA banned it for human consumption in 1956. So when Canadian growers bred a new variety of rapeseed in the 1970s with a lower content of the toxic erucic acid, they decided they needed a new name for it. The term canola was coined from "Canadian oil, low acid" to convince consumers that this oil was safe to eat. And while "canola" was originally a registered trademark, the term became so widely known that the trademark was eventually abandoned, and "canola" became the default term in many countries for any low-erucic rapeseed oil.

Repeat business? FDA approves new cancer drug to treat toxicity caused by another cancer drug
(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators gave the nod on Tuesday to a drug from British specialty drugmaker BTG Plc that helps cancer patients get rid of toxic levels of a chemotherapy treatment. The drug, called Voraxaze, helps eliminate methotrexate in patients whose kidney function has been compromised by treatment with high doses of the chemotherapy agent. Methotrexate is normally eliminated from the body by the kidneys, but prolonged high doses of the drug used to treat cancer can result in kidney failure.

Health insurance company preys upon the poor with junk food reward program for vaccinating your baby
(NaturalNews) "Will vaccinate my baby for food!" That seems to be the goal of a program launched last year by the UnitedHealthcare health insurance company of Michigan. It has resorted to enticing parents with junk food to convince them to inject their infants with potentially deadly vaccines containing brain-damaging chemicals. This has been revealed in a letter acquired by NaturalNews and signed by Stephanie Esters, a vaccine-pushing RN who works for UnitedHealthcare. The letter declares "Get a FREE $20 McDonalds, Rite Aid, Target or Meijer Gift Card when your child gets recommended shots before their second birthday." It even goes on to offer a "FREE ride to the doctor" for those who are so poor that they don't own cars.

Health plans ordered to cover birth control without co-pays
The Hill - Most healthcare plans will be required to cover birth control without charging co-pays or deductibles starting Aug. 1, the Obama administration announced Friday. The final regulation retains the approach federal health officials proposed last summer, despite the deluge of complaints from religious groups and congressional Republicans that has poured in since then. Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are exempt from the requirement, but religious-affiliated hospitals and universities only get a one-year delay and must comply by Aug. 1, 2013.

CDC researchers say mothers should stop breastfeeding to boost 'efficacy' of vaccines
(NaturalNews) Remember when it was considered crazy talk to suggest that mainstream medicine viewed humanity as being born lacking in pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines, as if these synthetic inputs are necessary miracle nutrients for proper human development.

Hospital bills man $44 million for treating his pneumonia
(NaturalNews) The hospital had treated Rodriguez for pneumonia... upon which he received a bill for $44,776,587. The obvious error was apparently the result of invoice discrepancies made by PHY Services, the billing firm that services Bronx - Lebanon Hospital. Instead of putting the actual amount due in the total box, a PHY employee allegedly put in the lengthy invoice number instead, which caused a lot of panic among patients that received the faulty bills.

Mental health breakthrough: Study links sleep problems to schizophrenia for the first time
(NaturalNews) Getting quality sleep could be a vitally important piece for solving the puzzle of mental health. Previous studies have linked poor sleep to depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADHD. Now for the first time, research also shows a strong link between schizophrenia and sleep disturbances.

Intermittent fasting and high intensity fitness boost HGH
(NaturalNews) The human body was designed very efficiently for times of scarcity and stress. Food scarcity was a common reality and the body has developed specific pathways to be very efficient in times of fasting. In times of stress, for survival purposes we adapted a fight or flight mode that forces us to work our bodies at a very high-intensity for a relatively short period of time. The combination of intermittent fasting and high intensity exercise promotes hormones that improve tissue healing and metabolic processes.

Diet and specific nutrients prevent brain shrinkage and lower Alzheimer's disease risk
(NaturalNews) Shrinking brain volume is very closely associated with the development of many forms of dementia including the most devastating affliction, Alzheimer's disease. In addition to following weight management practices including calorie restriction with optimal nutrition (CRON), middle and advanced aging adults will want to ensure they consume a diet packed with marine derived Omega-3 fats and vitamins B, C, D and E to dramatically lower the risk of reduced brain volume, memory loss and risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Red beets and beet juice top the list of healing antioxidants due to polyphenol and betalain concentration
(NaturalNews) Beets are a very good source of dietary fiber, potassium, manganese, and folate. Beets are also a good source of Vitamin C, zinc, copper, and iron. Beets contain polyphenols and betalains, which are getting quite a bit of medical attention as important natural antioxidants. Beets have been clinically proven to support liver function in rats. Recent clinical research suggests that beets and beet juice are useful in healing a variety of degenerative conditions.

Change the way you think about your health
(NaturalNews) People who use Western medicine have for a long time viewed their health as something they can manage rather than something that is affected by everything they do.... According to the Centers for Disease Control, 48% of Americans during any given month take a prescription drug, a percentage that has increased over the last decade. In fact, Americans spent more than $234 billion on prescription drugs in 2008. It is apparent that Americans think pills are the solution to all that ails them.

Video: Can You Die of a Broken Heart?
Natural News TV - The risk of a heart attack increases by 21 times during the first 24 hours after losing a loved one.... The bereavement and grief associated leads to depression, anxiety, and anger and they are associated with a fast heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased coagulation, elevated stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, and nor-epinephrine. This scenario is a shock to the heart and may lead to a cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure and death. It is a good idea to have support from family, friends, and psychological counseling.

Science & Technology

VIDEO: Sun shoots a fastball at Earth
Washington Post - A huge sunspot unleashed a blob of charged plasma Thursday that space weather watchers predict will blast past the Earth on Sunday. Satellite operators and power companies are keeping a close eye on the incoming cloud, which could distort the Earth’s magnetic field and disrupt radio communications, especially at higher latitudes. “Our simulations show potential to pack a good punch to Earth’s near-space environment,” said Antti Pulkkinen of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

U.S. lawyer for Megaupload.com withdraws
(Reuters) - Content-sharing Internet service Megaupload.com has lost the help of one of the best-known U.S. defense lawyers as it begins to fight charges of copyright infringement, a person familiar with the matter said. Robert Bennett was required to withdraw from the case because of a conflict involving at least one other client of his law firm, Hogan Lovells, this person told Reuters. The other client or clients were not identified.

Ohio's largest sustainable food and farm conference to take place February 18-19, 2012
(NaturalNews) On February 18 - 19, 2012, the Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA) will hold its 33rd annual conference in Granville, entitled Sowing the Seeds of Our Food Sovereignty. The conference, which is devoted to promoting "slow", localized food systems that are organically based and ecologically sound, will feature prominent speakers, educational workshops, film screenings, and even a contra dance.

Pet News

Safely destroy fleas on pets - Finally, a non-toxic, natural way to kill fleas, mites, chiggers and other parasitic insects on pets and in the house
(NaturalNews) Using diatomaceous earth is not a new idea when it comes to treating animals for fleas. DE is a naturally occurring rock, similar to pumice, and is comprised of the fossilized skeletons of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. The shells are abrasive, and when crushed into a powder, create a deadly insecticide for fleas, ticks, mites, bedbugs, chiggers and other insects.

YouTube: Dog Teaches Baby to Play Ball
Little Katie learns how to throw a ball by practicing with the dog!

Miscellaneous

Your Awww for the day...
Adorable baby animal pics.

The Greatest Speech Ever Made
One of the most inspirational speeches in recorded history was given by a silent comedian by the name of Charlie Chaplin.

Stupid News

New school can’t be Cougars because middle-aged women might be offended
The reason why the future student body gravitated toward Cougars is pretty clear: Area collegiate power BYU uses the Cougar as its mascot and enjoys an enormous fan base of area residents and those who follow the Mormon faith (BYU is a Mormon institution). Still, the Canyons School Board refused to accept the Cougar as a mascot out of fear that it might offend older women. In the current edition of the Webster Dictionary, the second definition for cougar sights a slang terminology that refers to "a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man."

Americans Still Have the Power to Save America
Activist Post - While mainstream economic reports continue their attempt to rally spirits with selective statistics about the decrease in unemployment, major companies are still laying off huge numbers, have frozen hiring altogether, or are now simply bankrupt and out of business.... Faced with this reality, even ABC News showed how a typical American family could in fact meet all of their needs with only American-made products. So, how many American-made companies are there?... To simplify your USA-made pursuit, here is a site that showcases only American-made products: How Americans Can Buy American. This company provides an aggregate of tons of American manufacturers, saving lots of time in research.

Money Insider: US Will See Violent Civil Unrest In 2012
Paul Joseph Watson - Money insider Charles Ortel has warned that a worsening economic picture across the globe will see civil unrest hit the streets of America, not on behalf of leftist OWS types, but by an armed, “irascible and vocal Majority”. Ortel, a managing partner with Newport Value Partners, LLC in New York City, predicts that a failure of the so-called financial recovery will precipitate “A painful re-calibration of economic strength and geo-political standing during 2012 in the midst of widespread civil insurrection and cross-border war.”

Photography pioneer Kodak files for bankruptcy
(Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co, the photography icon that invented the hand-held camera, has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to shrink significantly, capping a prolonged plunge for one of America's best-known companies. The bankruptcy may give Kodak, which traces its roots to 1880, the ability to find buyers for some of its 1,100 digital patents, a major portion of its value. Kodak now employs 17,000 people worldwide, down from 63,900 just nine years ago.

After raising income taxes 67%, Ill. still $8.5b in debt
CBS News - Illinois State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka says when one factors in other bills, the figure is closer to around $8.5 billion. Those other outstanding bills include tax refunds, employee health insurance, and bills that have not yet reached her desk. Topinka says this is extremely disappointing, since a year ago, the state sharply increased income taxes (by 67 percent) and corporate taxes.

Dozens of Donkeys Killed at TX State Park Over Ecosystem Threat
CBS News - With 75 of the expected 300 wild donkeys roaming Big Bend State Park already having been terminated for being declared threats to the park’s ecosystem, donkey advocates have urged the state to halt the killings. More than 100,000 signatures have been collected in an effort on the part of donkey enthusiasts to cease any more indiscriminate killings of wild donkeys at Big Bend State Park, originally based on what Texas Parks and Wildlife officials labeled as a significant threat to the park’s ecosystem as they try to introduce new animals to the environment.

Health

Paula Deen exposed as Big Pharma selling for profiting from the diabetes disease her recipes promote
(NaturalNews) Do you wish you could have a share of the billions in profits raked in by pharmaceutical companies peddling dubious drugs? If you are unencumbered by integrity, you may want to follow the lead of celebrity chef Paula Deen to gain a chunk of the plentiful prescription drug dollars.

ALERT: Vaccine warfare! Texas air-drops rabies vaccines over 7,000 sq. miles area
(NaturalNews) Using a battery of small planes based out of Del Rio, Texas recently dropped 1.8 million edible vaccine packets over 7,700 square miles of rural Texas. The packets contain edible rabies vaccines dipped in fish oil and coated with fish meal.... Once consumed, the animal is "vaccinated" against rabies, researchers claim. Of course, what these researchers don't yet understand in their scientific ignorance (and arrogance) is that they are also engaged in a rabies DNA / RNA bombardment of Texas. As even the Institute of Medicine has admitted, MMR vaccines for use in humans actually cause measles because many of the vaccines contain live viral strains. Related article and video. Protect your pet, your child, and yourself from coming in contact with these vaccine packets!

Cancer Cells Feed on Sugar AND Sugar Free Products Alike
Natural Society - In a study conducted by UCLA, pancreatic cancer cells were found to multiply and grow more rapidly when fueled by fructose, as opposed to glucose or sucrose. More recently however, it has been found that even staying sugar free can have similar implications. In a collaborative study, it was found that in the absence of a usable sugar source, cancer cells will instead use glutamine — an amino acid — to survive and spread.... When it comes to cancer, prevention is key. Key substances like vitamin D and turmeric are vital for halting cancer in its tracks.

What Big Pharma doesn't want you to know about bromelain
(NaturalNews) Bromelain is an inexpensive enzyme supplement with many uses and health benefits. Enzymes don't get much respect, yet they are considered more important functionally than vitamins and minerals. Without enzymes, food cannot be broken down into its constituent nutrients, and enzymes are needed for most cellular metabolic actions.

Exposed: Deadly Cancer Drugs Make Cancer Worse and Kill Patients More Quickly
Activist Post - Cancer drugs, pushed by many drug companies as the only ‘scientific’ method of combating cancer alongside chemotherapy, have been found to actually make cancer worse and kill patients more quickly. The findings come after research was conducted on the cancer drugs at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Sold at a premium price to cancer sufferers, it turns out these drugs are not only ineffective but highly dangerous.

Mold, rot, and filth: Why your child's school could be making him or her sick
(NaturalNews) It is a factor that many parents may not consider, but one that is turning out to play a significant role in aggravating, and potentially even causing, asthma symptoms, respiratory illness, and other chronic illness conditions that often afflict children. Mold, rotting building materials, and general filth at many of the nation's deteriorating public schools appear to be taking a toll on students' health -- and unless parents and school authorities speak up and do something about it now, the problem will only get worse.

Got neck pain? New study says chiropractic care and simple home exercises work better than painkillers
(NaturalNews) Painkilling drugs are associated with dangerous side effects, addiction and overdose. And it turns out they are also much less effective than harmless natural treatments. A new study shows that simple remedies like chiropractic treatments and home exercises relieve sub-acute neck pain better than pharmaceutical drugs - and without all the negative side effects.

Is Your Sleep Schedule Preventing You from Reaching Optimum Health?
Natural Society - The negative health effects that go along with lack of sleep are many, including increased fat gain. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that not only do you eat more when deprived of sleep, but you also are more likely to cave to junk food desires as a result of a potential hormonal dysfunction. “If you’re trying to control your weight, it would be helpful not to be sleep-deprived,” said Marie-Pierre St-Onge of the New York Obesity Research Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, who led the study.

Study says refrigeration of packaged fresh spinach reduces toxic bacteria
(NaturalNews) Spinach has long been used as a natural healing aid. Spinach is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It boosts the immune system, builds red blood cells, provides energy, and is a good source of protein. Spinach has received a lot of negative press in the past due to an E. coli outbreak which was traced to a commercial grower. A recent clinical study indicates that spinach samples have been contaminated with over a thousand different kinds of bacteria. The 2011 study proved that proper refrigeration decreases the bacteria present on fresh spinach by over 50%.

Learn to love fevers, not fear them
(NaturalNews) Through misunderstanding, many parents fear fevers, when they should love and respect them. A fever is one of the most extraordinary and intricate healing processes in the body. It plays out like a symphony, orchestrated only when needed to stimulate an immune response, destroy invading organisms and promote the restoration of health. The American Academy of Pediatrics voiced concerns in a 2011 study, concluding that parents need to understand the fever itself is not endangering to a healthy child. In contrast, it's actually beneficial and the primary goal of treatment should be to improve comfort, rather than lowering body temperature alone.

Wild edible plants and natural solutions for diabetes
(NaturalNews) Why should you care about wild edibles? Because many health experts agree that wild edibles are the highest quality, best foods available to eat. The NaturalNews Talk Hour presents "Wild Edibles - The Miracle of Greens" with our guest Sergei Boutenko, raw food expert..

Thyroid cancer, fracking and nuclear power
Activist Post - hyroid cancer cases have more than doubled since 1997 in the United States, while deadly industrial practices that contaminate groundwater with radiation and other carcinogens are also rising.

Yams with Ginger and Cinnamon
If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ... The health-promoting carotenoids found in yams not only give them their beautiful color but provide a great source of pro-vitamin A to your Healthiest Way of Eating., which is important for enhancing your immune function. And the yam's rich fiber content helps fill you up without filling out your hips and waistline. In-Depth Nutritional Profile here.

Science & Technology

Anonymous Shuts Down Corporate and Government Websites Worldwide … The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse
Washington Blog - Given yesterday’s success in forcing so many congress members to back off of SOPA and PIPA, the timing could not be worse. As free speech champion Michael Rivero argued after Anonymous took down DOJ’s website today: In aligning with the pirates and attacking the DOJ, anonymous has handed the US government more justification for draconian controls on the internet. I would not be quite so upset if this had occurred after Congress passed a draconian web censorship bill such as SOPA. But the fact that this is happening only 24 hours after the web’s successful protest concerns me greatly.

Hollywood threatens Obama over SOPA
RT -After US President Barack Obama demanded revamped provisions in the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, Los Angeles film executives are rescinding their support of the commander-in-chief.

Rand Paul Vows To Block Internet Censorship Bills
Steve Watson - Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul has promised to do everything within his power to ensure the draconian Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are not brought to a vote. Paul says he will filibuster PIPA in the Senate owing to the fact that the bill is a direct threat to the First Amendment.

Web blackout ends: SOPA bleeding, but not dead
Massive opposition to the controversial legislation resulted in Congressmen and Senators swinging against the bills. Up to 18 Senators, of which seven were former co-sponsors, voiced their opposition to PIPA on Wednesday. On the SOPA side, at least two sponsors have dropped out, while Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer blacked out his website in support of the protest.... The conflict, however, is far from being resolved. “SOPA and PIPA are not dead: they are waiting in the shadows,” Wikipedia warns. PIPA is scheduled be put to a vote in the Senate on January 24, while SOPA sponsors plan to push the bill forward in February.

DOMINATE: GOOGLE Already Using SOPA-Like Censorship
Paul Joseph Watson - Despite Google’s much-heralded support for the anti-SOPA movement, the web giant is already enforcing SOPA-like policies of its own, blacklisting legitimate websites from its news aggregator and following government orders to remove material from its search results and You Tube.

Feds shut down file-sharing site Megaupload
The Hill - The Justice Department seized Megaupload.com, one of the world's most popular file-sharing sites, and several of its related sites on Thursday. Prosecutors charged seven employees of Megaupload with criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering and other charges. Each faces up to 55 years in prison.... The crackdown comes just one day after a massive Web protest against legislation to expand the power of law enforcement and copyright holders to go after infringing websites.

Anonymous says it attacks DOJ site after feds shut down piracy hub Megaupload
Hours later, Megaupload's fans turned the table on the feds. "Hacktivist" collective Anonymous said it set its sights on the U.S. Department of Justice and apparently knocked the agency's website offline. "We are having website problems, but we're not sure what it's from," a DOJ spokeswoman told CNNMoney. The DOJ website glitches came soon after various Twitter accounts associated with Anonymous took aim at the agency.

January 24: Join the OCA Protest at Monsanto's Annual Shareholders Meeting
What if Monsanto had to pay for its corporate crimes? If the Biotech Bully of St. Louis were to be held liable for its 100-year legacy of corporate criminality - carcinogenic chemical food sweeteners, Agent Orange, dioxin, Bovine Growth Hormone, poisonous herbicides, seed monopolization, and genetically engineered crops, the company's shareholders would no doubt see the value of their Monsanto stocks plummet to zero. Following up on two protests at Monsanto's headquarters in 2011, OCA returns to St. Louis for the 2012 Monsanto shareholders' meeting on January 24!

Action Alert: Urge your Representative to Protect Raw Milk
HR 1830, a bill that would allow the interstate shipment of raw milk and raw milk products for human consumption, has been introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and co-sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Tim Walberg (R-MI), and Tom McClintock (R-CA). Passage of HR 1830 into law would enable everyone to exercise their right to consume raw milk, whether they live in a state where the sale of raw milk is illegal or in a state where the sale is legal but sources are limited.

Pet News

Fun facts: What you didn’t know about your pet
Fun facts you might not know about your furry, scaly, or feathery family member.
 

House approves debt ceiling hike
The Hill - The House on Wednesday evening approved a resolution disapproving of President Obama's request to increase the debt ceiling by another $1.2 trillion, sending it to a Senate that is expected to reject it. The House approved the resolution in a 239-176 vote in which just one Republican voted against it, and six Democrats voted for it. But the vote fell far short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed for passage if Obama were to veto the resolution.

One Million Homeowners May Get Mortgage Writedowns
CNBC _ About one million American homeowners could get write-downs in the size of their mortgages under a proposed deal with banks over shady foreclosure practices, said U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. The deal, which could be struck within weeks, would mark the largest cut in the mortgage load since the start of the credit crisis. "We're very close to a settlement that would both fix the servicing problems, but also help over a million families around the country stay in their homes and get help," Donovan said at a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington.

Mortgage fraud complaints quadruple in Massachusetts
Mortgage- and foreclosure-related complaints at the Massachusetts attorney general's office quadrupled over the past two years, becoming the No. 1 reason consumers contacted the office for assistance in 2011. They took the top position from auto dealer complaints by 164.
Regional offices across the Commonwealth combined to handle 983 complaints about mortgages, foreclosures and loan modifications during the year, representing a 431% leap since 2009.

BP seen agreeing $20-25 billion oil spill settlement
(Reuters) - BP is likely to agree to pay the U.S. Department of Justice $20-$25 billion to settle all charges around the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a leading analyst, a prediction that is at least twice what the company has set aside. Martijn Rats, head of European oil research at Morgan Stanley, said he saw a 70-80 percent chance that the two sides would agree a deal on civil and criminal charges surrounding the 2010 disaster sometime between BP's full year results on February 7, and the scheduled start of legal hearings in New Orleans on February 27.

Obama kills Keystone pipeline; Blames Republicans
National Journal - In a decision that quickly re-ignited a fierce energy debate, the Obama administration on Wednesday rejected the controversial Keystone XL pipeline because the 60-day deadline imposed by Republicans did not allow adequate time to review an alternate route through an ecologically sensitive area in Nebraska.

Busted! Why nuclear electricity costs 10x more
The nuclear fuel rods do not need to be removed after the first use, which only takes out 5% of their radioactive potential. They could be reused 20 more times with the right reactor. Afterwards the fuel is dead and no longer hazardous because all of it's radiological potential has been used up. The process was implemented, proven - and then banned by President Carter. Without banning it, electricity would be so cheap today, it would be the only sensible energy choice. With a reduction in the price of electricity by at least 10X, electric cars would have been a no brainer.

Region comes to a halt as twin snowstorms blanket Pacific Northwest in 16 inches of snow and bring howling 100mph winds
Mail Online - A winter storm blasted the Pacific Northwest Wednesday, dumping near-record snow in some areas, hammering parts of Oregon with winds as high as 110 mph and bringing much of the region to a standstill. From the Washington state capital in Olympia to the Oregon coast, schools were closed, roads were clogged with snow and hundreds of accidents and dozens of flights were cancelled.

NCDC data shows that the contiguous USA has not warmed in the past decade, summers are cooler, winters are getting colder
There’s been a lot of buzz and conflicting reports over what the BEST data actually says, especially about the last decade where we have dueling opinions on a “slowing down”, “leveling off”, “standstill”, or “slight rise” (depending on whose pronouncements you read) of global warming.

Health

Sec 105 of SOPA threatens freedom of health speech, aligns with FDA Trilateral Cooperation Charter to potentially eliminate access to dietary supplements
(NaturalNews) Identifying threats to health freedom and freedom of health speech often requires connecting the dots between seemingly unrelated verbiage in one piece of legislation and a trade agreement, for instance, or reading between the lines to identify.... Section 105 of SOPA, entitled Immunity for Taking Voluntary Action Against Sites that Endanger Public Health, provisions that service providers, network providers, advertising services, search engines, domain name registry services, and other parties that handle internet content will be immune from prosecution should they decide to arbitrarily pull sites that "endanger the public health."

AMA Journal: Make Participation In Vaccine Trials Mandatory
Paul Joseph Watson - An article published by the American Medical Association’s Virtual Mentor journal advocates making participation in vaccine trials mandatory, arguing that people should be forced to take experimental shots in a similar vein to how jury service is compulsory. The article, written by Oxford University’s Susanne Sheehy and Joel Meyer, is entitled Should Participation in Vaccine Clinical Trials be Mandated?.

Pediatrician calls state trooper, child protective services on mother for refusing to vaccinate child
(NaturalNews) What would you do if your pediatrician called the cops and child protective services on you for refusing to get your child vaccinated? That is exactly what happened recently to Rachel Garmon of Pennsylvania when she told her new pediatrician that her healthy and vibrant two-and-a-half year old son had never been -- and never would be -- vaccinated.

Breaking news: cancer drugs make tumors more aggressive and deadly
(NaturalNews) When natural health advocates warn against mainstream medicine's arsenal of weapons used to fight cancer, including chemotherapy and radiation, their concerns often revolve around how these therapies can weaken and damage a person's body in numerous ways. But scientists are finding other reasons to question some of these therapies. It turns out that while chemotherapies may kill or shrink tumors in the short term, they may actually be causing malignancies to grow more deadly in the long term.

Coffee promotes cortisol production and weight gain
(NaturalNews) Conventional wisdom about weight loss suggests coffee may be a good addition to a diet plan since it has minimal calories and no fat. While this seems logical, a more holistic view evaluates coffee from the perspective of its influence on the body's ability to metabolize the other food we eat. Recent studies suggest that despite its low calorie count, coffee may actually promote weight gain as well as type 2 diabetes by stimulating cortisol production and insulin resistance.

Some foods and chemical additives cause arthritis inflammation, gout and fibromyalgia pain
(NaturalNews) Certain foods and chemical additives disguised as food can aggravate or cause muscle and joint pain associated with arthritis, gout and fibromyalgia. Avoiding these foods can pave the way for reduced inflammation, stiffness and pain - setting the stage for ongoing relief, with increased mobility and a better mental attitude. Although it may be a challenge to avoid well-loved foods, keep in mind that many of those foods are causing widespread systemic problems that result in debilitating pain, so they are not your friends.

Treating multiple sclerosis
(NaturalNews) An estimated 350,000 people in the United States are living with multiple sclerosis (MS), a painful, debilitating, and sometimes fatal disorder of the central nervous system, and the United States government could care less and would doom this population to more suffering than can be imagined. A long list of ugly words comes to mind when one thinks of any person, organization or institution that would keep helpful and safe medicines away from MS sufferers.

Polio Vaccines Now The #1 Cause of Polio Paralysis
Activist Post - The problem of vaccine-induced polio paralysis was so severe that the The United States moved to the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) in 2000, after the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended altogether eliminating the live-virus oral polio vaccine (OPV), which is still used throughout the third world, despite the known risks.

Tamiflu effects 'still uncertain'
The effects of antiviral drug Tamiflu - which was stockpiled by the Government at the height of the swine flu pandemic - are still uncertain, researchers said as they accused pharmaceutical giant Roche of withholding data. A 2009 study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found the drug may cut the length of time people have symptoms but found no clear evidence that it prevented complications like pneumonia.

Understand the calcium myth; here's what really makes healthy bones
(NaturalNews) Calcium is the cornerstone mineral in bones. However, calcium consumption does not build bones. Countries with the highest dietary calcium consumption (US, Canada, & Scandinavian countries) have the highest rates of osteoporosis. A recent meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal showed that calcium supplementation actually increased the risk of heart attacks. This study and others have looked at individuals taking calcium supplements in isolation without other key nutrients that play a role in calcium homeostasis.

Study: Nearly all women with breast cancer have parabens in their breast tissue
(NaturalNews) They are added to everything from shampoos and deodorants to processed foods and pharmaceutical drugs in order to inexpensively extend shelf life and improve product stability. But a new study out of the University of Reading (UR) in the UK has found that, based on tests conducted, nearly every single woman with breast cancer has one or more paraben chemicals in her breast tissue, suggesting a possible link between the chemical and the disease.

Researchers detail lifestyle changes that lower cancer risk by forty percent
(NaturalNews) It may come as no surprise to many natural health disciplinarians that cancer is largely an avoidable disease that develops and advances due to poor lifestyle habits adopted over the course of a lifetime. Researchers from Britain have found that more than 100,000 cancer cases, nearly one in four cancers diagnosed, could have been prevented by following simple lifestyle changes. Lead study author Dr. Max Parkin, a cancer epidemiologist based at Queen Mary, University of London, publishing in the journal Nature remarked, "Looking at all the evidence, it's clear that around 40 percent of all cancers are caused by things we mostly have the power to change."

Science & Technology

At least 7,000 websites black out their homepages in protest of SOPA and PIPA internet censorship bills
(NaturalNews) On January 18, 2012, thousands of websites from around the world came out in protest of two pieces of legislation that threaten to censor the internet as we know it. Google, WordPress, Wired.com, Wikipedia, Tumblr, The Daily Paul, reddit, NaturalNews, and thousands of other websites censored portions or all of their homepages and content in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (HR 3261), and the Protect IP Act (S 968), which would essentially give large media conglomerates and the federal government unbridled power to censor the internet.

VIDEO: Protect IP, SOPA protests knock Senate Web sites offline
CNET - January 18, 2012 - Around 11 a.m. PT today, the rush of visitors looking for ways to contact their members of Congress overwhelmed several Web pages of individual senators. As CNET reported this morning, some sponsors of the Protect IP and the Stop Online Piracy Act have switched sides as a result of the protest. The amount of traffic "temporarily shut down our Web site," Sen. Ron Wyden, the leading opponent of the Protect IP Act, wrote on Twitter. By noon PT, the Senate's Web sites were loading again, but slowly or with difficulty. The Web site of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who's a sponsor of Protect IP, was generating a 500 server error.

PHOTOS: Emergency NY Tech Meetup
NYC and SF geeks had protests that packed city blocks!

SOPA: Don't Just Protest -- Get Even
The entire reason why SOPA's authors and supporters have the money, influence, and power to put forward draconian bills like this in the first place is because of our daily patronizing of their corporations and the goods and services they provide.... If Americans withdrew their support from these corporations -- if theaters were left empty, if Pepsi and Coke were left collecting dust on the shelves of an empty Wal-Mart -- bills like SOPA would not exist... Boycott, put out of business, and replace these corporations with local alternatives...

VIDEO: The Secret Behind SOPA
Paul Joseph Watson - Lieberman characterized fears that the US government would use such powers to censor political content as “total misinformation,” yet goes on to admit that the purpose behind the agenda is to mimic China’s ability to “disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war,” adding, “we need that here too”. Of course, Communist China’s “war” is not against foreign terrorists or hackers, it’s targeted against people who dare to use the Internet to express dissent against government atrocities or corruption. China’s system of Internet policing is about crushing freedom of speech and has nothing to do with legitimate security concerns as Lieberman well knows.

Wikipedia to RT: SOPA sledgehammer could smash any site on web
RT - Wikipedia is deliberately blacking out its English-language website. It's joined a 24-hour protest against anti-piracy bills making their way through U.S. Congress. For more insight, RT talks to John Davies, the Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK, which is the umbrella foundation in charge of Wikipedia.

Freedom of Speech, Internet Censorship and SOPA
Activist Post - First of all, it is a given that freedom of speech is the right of citizens of the United States. This means that our government cannot and should not be making an attempt to restrict or penalize speech because of its content or viewpoint. So, when there is talk of restricting Internet content, my eyebrows go up quizzically, wondering just what limits would be placed on those restrictions. Moreover, as electronic media becomes the norm rather than the exception, how does reading something on the Internet differ from reading a book, a magazine, or a printed newspaper?

YouTube: Singing A Song To Express Yourself Could Get You 5 Years Prison.. Self Expression
When you sing a copyright song to express your feelings ..you could end up behind bars..

Edible Microchips, Biometric Identity Systems And Mind Reading Computers
American Dream - The world of tomorrow is not going to be anything like the world of today, and most people have no idea how dramatically the world is changing. For instance, many people have never even heard of "edible microchips". Unfortunately, they are not some wild idea that some wacky scientists are hoping to develop in the future. They are already here, and they are about to be marketed to the public in the UK. The idea is that these edible microchips will help doctors monitor your health conditions and the medicines that you are taking. The following comes from a recent article in the Daily Mail.

Tell USDA To Do Its Job And Reject 2,4-D Resistant GE Corn
USDA approval of Dow’s GE corn will trigger a big increase in 2,4-D use – and our exposure to this toxic herbicide. Yet USDA has not assessed how much, nor analyzed the resulting impacts on public health, the environment or neighboring farmers (2,4-D is prone to drift and cause damage to nearby crops). Instead, USDA has once again bowed to the pesticide industry, by giving preliminary approval to still another pesticide-promoting crop that will likely harm people and their children, including farmers, and the environment. USDA claims to be adhering to a scientific process, yet the Agency is blatantly ignoring the science on 2,4-D.