Obama's America: Soda Shop Told to Remove Candy Smokes

Dec. 28, 2012

By Todd Starnes

The owners of an old-fashioned soda shop in St. Paul, Minn. were threatened with fines and a misdemeanor citation unless they stopped selling novelty candy cigarettes.

City inspectors said Lynden’s Soda Fountain violated an ordinance barring the sale of candy cigarettes and cartoon character lighters. The ban also applies to items like Big League Chew chewing gum.

“I had no idea we were breaking the law,” owner John Lynden told Fox News. “I was shocked.”

Lynden said the white candy sticks with the red tips was a best-selling item at the store – especially among adults in their 40s and 50s.

“I never thought something candy would be contraband,” Lynden said. “We were selling them because we sell a lot of nostalgic candy and we have an old-fashioned soda fountain.”

A city spokesperson told The Star Tribune that the business was given a warning – but if they break the law – they could face a citation along with a $500 fine. The ordinance was enacted to discourage youngsters from eventually using real cigarettes.

Lynden said they’ve pulled the inventory from their shelves – including Big League Chew.

“You cannot sell Big League Chew in the city of St. Paul,” he said. “It’s legal to sell real cigarettes and real chewing tobacco, but not candy versions.”

The news has not gone over well with his customers — many voicing their outrage on Facebook.

“A lot of people are upset they can’t get their candy smokes here in St. Paul,” he told Fox News. “We have to send them over to our sister city – Minneapolis – to get their candy smokes.”

With reporting from Associated Press

Now On Twitter: Online Jihadis Disseminate Segment They Claim Was Deleted By U.S. From Latest AQAP Video; Segment Announces Rewards For Assassination Of 'The Jewish' U.S. Ambassador To Yemen, U.S. Soldiers In Yemen

Dec. 28, 2012

The following report is a complimentary offering from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For subscription information, click here.


On Twitter, jihad supporters are currently disseminating what they are calling a segment deleted by the U.S. from the most recent video released by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The segment that is being disseminated, an audio file, includes AQAP's announcement of a reward of 3,000 grams of gold to anyone who assassinates "the Jewish" U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald M. Feierstein, as well as a reward of five million Yemeni riyals (about $23,000) to anyone who kills a U.S. soldier in Yemen.

The announcement follows a statement in the video by AQAP deputy emir Saeed Al-Shihri, in which he praises a fatwa issued in January 2010 by a number of Yemeni scholars that makes jihad mandatory if Yemen is invaded by foreign forces; this fatwa was led by radical Yemeni cleric Sheikh Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani. Al-Shihri called on Muslims to implement this fatwa.

Links to the audio first appeared around 2:50 pm Eastern Time in the U.S., in a tweet by "Abdallah Bin Mohammad" who uses the handle @ABDLLH_Bn_M7mmd. The tweet reads: "Exclusive: an audio segment of Al-Qaeda's announcement which was removed by the Americans."

The link spread quickly via Twitter among jihad supporters, using the hashtag "Jai'zat Al-Qaeda," meaning "Al-Qaeda's reward."

Earlier today, Muwahhid Shamikh, who uses the handle @mwahid_ak47, which is a new Twitter account, posted snapshots of the segment from the video in a series of tweets, asking jihad supporters to disseminate it widely.

Following the announcement in the video, the voice of Osama bin Laden is heard calling on Mujahedeen not to consult anyone in killing Americans and to go ahead with Allah's blessing while remembering the rewards Allah has waiting for martyrs.

In the past couple of months, jihadis are increasingly relying on Twitter and Facebook to dissemiate messages, due to the intermittent shutdowns of major jihadi forums.

Source: MEMRI

Anti-Death Penalty Professor Proposes Death Penalty For Global Warming Deniers

Dec. 28, 2012
Jawa Report

So let me get this straight - this professor opposes the death penalty for criminals such as mass murderers, child molesters, and rapists, but he wants people who disagree with him to be killed? By default, does that mean he agrees with what mass murderers, child molesters, and rapists did?
I have always been opposed to the death penalty in all cases, and I have always supported the clear and consistent stand of Amnesty International on this issue. The death penalty is barbaric, racist, expensive, and is often applied by mistake. Apparently, it does not even act as a deterrent to would-be murderers. Hopefully, the USA and China will come to their senses soon.

Even mass murderers should not be executed, in my opinion. Consider the politically motivated murder of 77 people in Norway in 2011. Of course the murderer does not deserve to live, and there is not the slightest doubt that he is guilty. But if the Norwegian government killed him, that would just increase the number of dead to 78. It would not bring the dead back to life. In fact, it would not achieve anything positive at all. I respect the families and friends of the victims if they feel differently about that. I am simply presenting what seems to me to be a logical argument. [...]

GW [Global warming] is different. With high probability it will cause hundreds of millions of deaths. For this reason I propose that the death penalty is appropriate for influential GW deniers.


He goes on to compare a murderer to a superhero, if the victim is, again, someone who disagrees with him. In his scenario, he equates global warming deniers with an evil genius bent on destroying the world. A hero comes along and kills the genius before any potential deaths occur:
A suicidal genius develops the means to destroy most of the world’s population. A heroic woman turns up (could also be a man, if you prefer) and kills the villain just in time. Just like one of those superheroes comics. Even Amnesty International joins in congratulating the heroine.

This professor is proposing the death penalty for people who simply deny global warming. Because their beliefs and opinions differ to his. Because, in his mind, their lack of urgency could potentially cause deaths decades or even centuries later. Because, until proven wrong beyond any doubt, his theory is paramount, while the theory of those who disagree should be squelch and silenced forever, with their murderers becoming heroes among global warming alarmists.

(Hat Tip: IHateTheMedia)

The New Egyptian Morning Show: Wake Up Muslim Brotherhood

Dec. 28, 2012

Rumor has it this is on Egyptian television every weekday morning, Saturday through Thursday.

Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: NY Nana).




Source: Carl In Jerusalem

Finally: A True Feel Good Story Regarding From The GOP

Dec. 28, 2012

Now if only they follow through on it....

Senate Republicans refuse to confirm Kerry until Hillary testifies about Benghazi

(Hot Air) - Isn’t this pushing a jinx? If Senate Republicans insist on having Hillary Clinton testify before allowing John Kerry’s confirmation to proceed, aren’t they risking a torn ACL or turf toe for the outgoing Secretary of State?

Clinton has pledged to remain in the job until Kerry is confirmed, which Obama said he was confident would happen “quickly.” The Senate is expected to take up Kerry’s nomination in early January, but multiple Republican senators have already said they won’t agree to a vote on Kerry’s nomination until Clinton testifies about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. Illness and a concussion has prevented Clinton from appearing thus far.

Clinton promised to appear before Congress at one point, but the State Department backpedaled from that position quickly after it became public. State then said that Clinton couldn’t testify until after Congress received the report from the Accountability Review Board’s investigation into Benghazi, which they hinted Congress might not see for another 90 days — or possibly never see in its entirety. They got the ARB report last week, at which point State announced the resignations of four officials who never actually resigned at all. Accountability!

So yes, there are plenty of questions to ask Hillary Clinton about the “systemic failures” and “leadership and management deficiencies” that arose under her command at State, now that Congress has seen the report. There are plenty of questions to ask Hillary Clinton about the surreal resignation dodge of the past week. Asking those questions requires her presence, however, and it’s becoming clear that Hillary has no intention of submitting herself to those lines of inquiry in public. She and State are trying to run out the clock and leave John Kerry in position to deal with the aftermath.

The question is whether Senate Republicans can actually block Kerry’s nomination. Stalwarts like Mike Lee and Tim Scott will certainly give it a go, and Marco Rubio suggested that he might put a hold on it. John McCain and Lindsey Graham may not go along with obstruction for very long, for collegial reasons concerning Kerry and Hillary as well as for “comity,” but they may come along for a little while. Harry Reid can move the question with 60 votes, which means that he only needs 5 Republicans to agree to a floor vote to break the impasse. I’d be surprised if he can’t find them, after a short period of time in which the Senate Republicans can make their objection known.

Setting the Record Straight: Adam Lanza Did use the Bushmaster AR-15

Dec. 28, 2012
Erick Erickson

(Red State) - The media did a horrible job getting its facts and figures straight during and after the tragedy in Connecticut. Gun control advocates have seized on a lot of information and ignored a lot of information in an effort to push their agenda.

But I’m seeing gun rights supporters do the same. Most troubling, over the past week on radio filling in for Neal Boortz I’ve heard from dozens of callers, tweeters, Facebook friends, and email correspondents assuring me that Adam Lanza never used the AR-15 in his possession. Most people linked to a video purportedly showing the police retrieving the AR-15 from Adam Lanza’s car after the incident.

I don’t blame these people for getting the facts wrong. The media caused a lot of the misinformation in their rush to cover the story. But as the nation begins to set policy (or not) based on this random act of violence, we should all have our facts straight.

The fact is, Adam Lanza used a handgun to take his own life, but he relied on the Bushmaster AR-15 to kill most of the victims. He did use that gun. You don’t have to believe me. Believe Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance:

The primary weapon used in the attack was a “Bushmaster AR-15 assault-type weapon,” said Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance.

Let’s keep to the facts, not the grainy videos on YouTube purporting to show what is not true.

FORWARD: Feinstein releases more information on proposed gun ban bill

Dec. 28, 2012

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been working furiously on new gun ban legislation ever since 2004 when the previous Clinton weapons ban expired.

Some information has slowly surfaced about her proposed gun ban bill, and now, the Senator’s office has released a summary including some information that many gun owners should find alarming:

Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
120 specifically-named firearms;

Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics; and

Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.
Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.

Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test;
Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test; and

Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans.

Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:

Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment;

Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes; and

Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons.

Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:

Background check of owner and any transferee;

Type and serial number of the firearm;

Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;

Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and

Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration.


The last paragraph is last for a reason. The Senator knows that registering currently legal firearms could only be desired for one reason: confiscation. A large segment of the American population would never want the government learning what guns they do or don’t have. Look at the outrage in New York when a liberal newspaper released the names and addresses of all gun permit holders in some counties.

Privacy, individual rights, basic human rights – call it what you will. The government has no right to know what we do in our homes unless a crime is committed.

The ATF is not currently informed of the type and serial number of a firearm bought by citizens. The identifying characteristics of the gun are NOT read to the FBI when a background check is performed by a licensed gun dealer. The purpose of the background check is only to insure that the purchaser is legally able to own a firearm – not inform the government of the particular firearm they purchased.

The transfer of the firearm is kept by the individual federal firearms licensee (FFL). Those records are not given to the government unless necessary in an investigation. Requiring that these purchases are registered with the government is unthinkable and eerily equivalent to an invasion of privacy or search without warrant. If I have not committed a crime, there is no probable cause allowing anyone to know what firearms I may or may not have.

Pure and simple, this is unconstitutional – on so many levels.

Source: CDN

Gallup Poll: NRA Way More Popular Than the Media

Dec. 28, 2012

(JWF) - No wonder the media hates the NRA so much. They’re jealous of their popularity.

Fifty-four percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the National Rifle Association, while 38% have an unfavorable opinion. The public’s ratings of the NRA have fluctuated since first measured by Gallup in 1993 — from a low of 42% favorable in 1995 to a high of 60% in 2005.

The NRA’s positions on guns and gun control legislation have received significant attention from media and politicians during the last week after the association’s top lobbyist, Wayne LaPierre, held a press conference in the wake of the Newtown school shooting. LaPierre denounced the idea of additional gun control legislation and instead called for armed guards in the nation’s schools. The press conference came midway through the field period of this Dec. 19-22 USA Today/Gallup poll.
Let’s contrast that with a Gallup poll of how detested the media is.

Americans’ distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Distrust is up from the past few years, when Americans were already more negative about the media than they had been in years prior to 2004.

The record distrust in the media, based on a survey conducted Sept. 6-9, 2012, also means that negativity toward the media is at an all-time high for a presidential election year. This reflects the continuation of a pattern in which negativity increases every election year compared with the year prior. The current gap between negative and positive views — 20 percentage points — is by far the highest Gallup has recorded since it began regularly asking the question in the 1990s. Trust in the media was much higher, and more positive than negative, in the years prior to 2004 — as high as 72% when Gallup asked this question three times in the 1970s.
Let’s see if the media schmucks who’ve been attacking the NRA even mention this. Gun-grabbing pols should be forewarned.

Giving Misleading Titles to News Articles, a Method Used to Sway Your Opinion

Dec. 27, 2012

Example #1: Israel arrests 900 Palestinian children in 2012

An Israeli soldier stands guard next to three Palestinian boys who were arrested for throwing stones during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron. (AFP)

By Naif Zaydani
Al Arabiya Haifa
The Palestinian Authority is currently looking into the possibility of filing a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel for arresting 900 Palestinian children in 2012.

In taking such an action, Palestine will be using its newly-acquired rights as an observer state at the United Nations, said Eissa Karakea, Palestinian Minister of Detainees’ Affairs.

“We need to use the newly gained state status to take measures against Israel for its crimes especially the arrest, detention, and abuse of Palestinian children, let alone trying them before military courts,” he told Al Arabiya.

Karakea added that after being granted observer status, Palestine has the right to join international human rights organizations and through them can file complaints against Israel.

“Israel is violating the Child Protection Act and all international laws by subjecting children to such traumatic experiences. The Israeli minister of security had actually said earlier that Palestinian children have no immunity.”

According to Karakea, the International Community is already aware of the crimes committed against Palestinian children.

“Several human rights organizations are launching campaigns and organizing conferences in solidarity with Palestinian children and are spreading testimonials by the victims, but this is not enough. We need to take further steps.”

The minister’s statement followed a report issued by the Ministry of Detainees Affairs, which revealed that the number of Palestinian children arrested by Israeli authorities has jumped from 700 in 2011 to 900 in the present year.

According to the report, those children are usually mistreated and brutally beaten during detention in order to admit to crimes they have not committed and to tell on their friends and acquaintances who allegedly also committed crimes that threaten Israel’s security.

The report added that those children are interrogated for long hours while their hands and feet are tied and sometimes they are blindfolded. In some interrogation centers, the report noted, children are left for hours under the rain. In most cases, the children are subjected to various forms of collective punishment.

The detainees are deprived of basic rights like seeing their families and they are also not allowed to sit with psychiatrists. They are often detained with adult prisoners and subjected to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse by fellow inmates.

Obamanomics: "Legal Guns" Traded for Food After Shooting. Certainly they were destroyed, right?

Dec. 27, 2012

Over 1,000 weapons, including Uzis and semi-automatic handguns, were handed as police promised there would be no questions asked.

Some of the weapons handed in at the LA event

Los Angeles gun owners have traded in their weapons for food vouchers worth up to $200 (£123) in a drive-thru style event brought forward after the Connecticut school shooting.

Long queues formed as people, predominantly men, handed over weapons including assault rifles and Uzis directly from their cars, in exchange for grocery store gift cards.

Police promised there would be no questions asked and by the end of the day 1,016 weapons, among them TEC-9 semi-automatic handguns, WW2 rifles and vintage shotguns, one dating from 1895, had been handed in.

There were events at two locations including one at Van Nuys, north of LA, and demand was so high that officers even ran out of grocery cards at one point.

Gun owners were given up to a $100 gift card in exchange for handguns, rifles and shotguns, or up to a $200 card for automatic weapons.

Police promised no questions would be asked

A couple of pro-gun activists turned out to protest against the Gun Buyback Programme, trying to dissuade owners from giving in weapons to be destroyed.

LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brought forward the date of the event from next May.

It followed the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, on December 14, in which gunman Adam Lanza killed 26 people including 20 young children.

Sergeant Rudy Lopez of the LA Police Department said the buyback event was going well compared to previous years.

He said: "It's looking very positive. A lot of people are waiting an hour and a half (in line). People want to do something to do their part to get more guns off the streets."

Sgt Lopez also said police would check the weapons handed in, to make sure they are not reported as stolen or lost, and hand them back to their rightful owners if they are.


All other weapons were due to be melted.

The success of the scheme in traditionally liberal LA is in contrast to a claim by the world's largest seller of gun supplies that it cannot keep up with demand as orders for assault weapon and high-capacity magazines skyrocket in the wake of the Newtown school shooting.

Pete Brownell, president of Brownells, said that in a three-day period the company has sold an "unprecedented" three-and-a-half years' worth of inventory of magazines.

Under the buyback scheme in LA, the fact that police were asking no questions was a key incentive. "See that? That's a silencer," said Sgt Lopez, pointing to an assault weapon. "That's illegal. We didn't say anything."

Critics of such schemes have questioned their effectiveness, arguing the weapons surrendered tend to be the least likely to be used in criminal activities, such as guns which are old or malfunctioning.

In the line of cars, a 51-year-old unnamed man said he was turning in four rifles that belonged to his late father.

"The guns have been sitting around, and there's a money incentive, so why not?" he said.

Sandra Lefall, 38, said the Connecticut shooting did spur her to turn in a gun.

"I'm bringing in a 9mm handgun because I want to get it out of the house, because I have teenage children. I would hate for them to do what that guy in Connecticut did," she told the LA Times.

Source: Sky news

Radicals in local Government UPDATE: Los Angeles may ban circus elephants

Dec. 27, 2012

Elephants walk in a Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus Pachyderm Parade. (File/UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch) License photo

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Los Angeles could become the first major U.S. city to ban elephant acts in circuses if it passes a measure backers say will eventually be adopted "universally."

The city council is expected to vote early in the new year on an ordinance that could force the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus either to drop its annual stop in the country's second-largest city or pull one of its most popular acts, , The New York Times reported.

Paul Koretz, the councilman who sponsored the ordinance banning elephants, predicted other big cities will follow suit if Los Angeles acts.

"At some point, this will be universally banned throughout the country," he said. "The treatment of elephants in traveling circuses is one of the crueler practices, and it's time for us to stand up for them."

Elephants have been used for centuries as work animals, for military purposes and for human entertainment. The Carthaginian general Hannibal used war elephants to cross the Pyrenees and Alps and invade Italy in 218 B.C.

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, which owns the Ringling Bros. circus, said its animals are well-treated, with regular inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said giving people a chance to see elephants is likely to make them more concerned about conservation.

Obama's College Buddy and Fellow Radical Refuses to Block Contraceptives Mandate...

Dec. 27, 2012

...likely because He/She/It has not a drop of religion in He/She/It's soul. Just sayin'....


(Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has refused to block enforcement starting next week of a requirement in President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare overhaul that some companies provide insurance coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices.

In an order issued on Wednesday, Sotomayor said two for-profit companies controlled by Oklahoma City billionaire David Green and his family did not qualify for an injunction while they challenge the requirement in court.

Hobby Lobby Stores Inc, an arts and crafts chain with more than 500 stores, and Mardel Inc, a chain of 35 Christian-themed bookstores, said it violated their religious beliefs to require that their group health plans cover treatments that could induce abortions.

They said they face possible fines of $1.3 million a day if they disobey the mandate, which takes effect on January 1.

Sotomayor, who hears emergency appeals from the 10th Circuit, said it was not "indisputably clear" that Hobby Lobby and Mardel deserved an injunction, noting that lower courts have been divided in similar cases on whether temporary relief is proper.

"Even without an injunction pending appeal, the applicants may continue their challenge to the regulations in the lower courts," and following a final judgment ask the Supreme Court at that time to consider their appeal, she said.

Sotomayor did not rule on the merits of the companies' religious-based claims.

Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents the chains, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. At least 42 lawsuits have been filed over the issue, the fund has said.

Hobby Lobby and Mardel claimed that the contraceptives provision violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.

But on November 19, Oklahoma federal judge Joe Heaton refused to issue a preliminary injunction, saying the chains did not have the same religious rights as Green family members. Then on Thursday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver refused to issue a injunction during the chains' appeal.

Forbes magazine in September called David Green, 71, the 79th richest American, with a net worth of $4.5 billion.

The case is Hobby Lobby Stores Inc et al v. Sebelius et al, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12A644.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Union Thug UPDATE:

Dec. 27, 2012

Imminent threat of labor Communist unrest averted at Northwest ports

(Reuters) - The threat of imminent labor unrest at four U.S. Pacific Northwest ports was averted on Wednesday as the dockworkers union said its members would stay on the job despite "substandard" contract terms being imposed unilaterally by grain shippers.

Both sides in the stalemate left open the door to further negotiations. A spokesman for the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service told Reuters the agency was in contact on Wednesday with the parties.

The shipping companies declared a formal impasse in stalled contract talks with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) days after nearly 3,000 rank-and-file union members voted overwhelmingly to reject management's "last, best and final" offer.

The contracts at issue cover workers at six of the nine grain terminals operating in Puget Sound and along the Columbia River that handle more than a quarter of all U.S. grain exports and nearly half of U.S. wheat exports.

In calling an impasse after a last, brief round of talks on Wednesday, the shipping companies also said they planned to implement terms of their latest proposal, effective at 6 a.m. local time on Thursday.

The Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association, which represents the shipping companies and grain terminals they own, stressed the move was not the "lockout" that was widely expected after management's proposal failed to win union agreement.

Under a lockout, employers typically bar union members from returning to work, and seek to keep operations running with non-union replacement workers, until a settlement is reached.

Speculation that grain shippers might take such action was fueled by union reports that the companies had hired a Delaware-based company that specializes in providing security and replacement workers in labor disputes.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in recent days it was prepared to establish "buffer zones" to keep union-related protests from interfering with navigation around two of the ports seen as most likely to be caught up in labor tensions.

"This is not a lockout," association spokesman Pat McCormick said in a statement. "The companies informed the union that ILWU members are welcome to come to work under the new terms and conditions of employment."

STAYING ON THE JOB UNDER 'SUBSTANDARD' TERMS

The companies said that under an impasse, the union essentially had three choices - to acquiesce and accept management's terms, to call a strike, or to have their members continue to report to work under the imposed work rules "but seek further bargaining."

In a brief statement released shortly after the impasse was declared the union said it was following the third course, at least for now.

The Northwest Grain Handlers left open the possibility of imposing a "defensive" lockout should the union begin to engage in "intermittent strike activity," a "partial strike," work slowdowns or sabotage.

Negotiations have stalemated over numerous work-rule changes sought by the companies to improve efficiency and lower costs but have been opposed by the ILWU as onerous give-backs ultimately designed to break the union.

Meanwhile, some 15 container cargo ports on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts are bracing for a strike threatened on December 30 by nearly 15,000 union dockworkers unless shippers extend their contract.

So far, the ILWU has not asked its members to authorize a strike, nor has it set a strike deadline or made mention of a walkout.

(Additional reporting by Teresa Carson in Portland; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer and Eric Meijer)

Los Angeles police offer gift cards to take guns off streets

Dec. 27, 2012

Better Idea #1: Instead of stupid gift cards, trade crack for the guns

LOS ANGELES - Police traded gift cards for guns in Los Angeles on Wednesday, in a buyback program Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced as a crime-fighting response to the deadly shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut.

(Reuters) - Police traded gift cards for guns in Los Angeles on Wednesday, in a buyback program Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced as a crime-fighting response to the deadly shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut.

Police officers handed out $200 grocery store gift cards to people who turned in an automatic weapon, and $100 gift cards to those who provided a handgun, rifle or shotgun.

Los Angeles has held an annual gun buyback since 2009, and similar events have been organized in years past in several other cities, including Detroit and Boston. Police in San Diego had a buyback earlier this month.

Some experts say the buybacks have little effect in reducing gun violence, but Villaraigosa touted the buyback program as one step that can be taken in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14 that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult staff members.

The shooter, Adam Lanza, killed himself and also shot to death his mother at the home he shared with her, police said.

Los Angeles normally has its gun buyback in May, but Villaraigosa announced last week that the city would have this special buyback in response to the Newtown tragedy.

"There are a number of things we can do. This is just one of them," Villaraigosa said on CNN. "We've got to also address the culture of violence that we've got in this country."

At last count, the Los Angeles gun buyback had collected 1,366 firearms, including 477 handguns and 49 assault weapons, said Vicki Curry, a spokeswoman for the mayor.

The buyback ended at 4 p.m. local time, but a final tally of guns collected was not expected to be released before Thursday. In May, the city's annual gun buyback program collected 1,673 firearms at six locations, compared to two locations used for the program on Wednesday, Curry said.

At each of the locations where the buyback was held, a line of cars stretched around the block, Curry said. People dropping off their guns were asked to leave them in the trunks of their cars, where officers retrieved the weapons. Those surrendering their guns were allowed to remain anonymous.

While officials in Los Angeles and elsewhere have said the gun buybacks help keep streets safe, a 2004 report by the National Research Council of the National Academies questioned that conclusion.

Among the report's findings were that guns surrendered in buybacks tend to be old or inherited from previous owners, and not likely to be used in crime. Also, gun owners find it easy to replace their firearms, according to the report, which was titled "Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review."

(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Todd Eastham)

China seizes TVs, satellite equipment in Tibetan area

Dec. 27, 2012

(Reuters) - Chinese authorities have confiscated televisions from 300 monasteries in a heavily Tibetan part of the west of the country and dismantled satellite equipment that broadcast "anti-China" programs, prompted by Tibetan self-immolations in the region.

Some 94 Tibetans, including 81 this year, have set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule. Five self-immolations occurred in Tibetan-dominated Huangnan prefecture in Qinghai province, the state-run Qinghai news agency said on Thursday.

The government in Huangnan said its approach in tackling self-immolations comprised of "guiding public opinion on the Dalai issue", increasing patrols and "blocking outside harmful information", according to the news agency, which is managed by the Qinghai government.

"At this critical moment for maintaining social stability in Huangnan prefecture ... (we must) strengthen measures and fully fight the special battle against self-immolations," the article said.

"We do not know anything about it," an official from the Huangnan prefecture government told Reuters by telephone, when asked to confirm the report, before hanging up.

Beijing considers Nobel peace laureate the Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a separatist. The Dalai Lama says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

The article said the prefecture's agricultural and pastoral areas had relied on certain satellite equipment "to watch and listen to overseas, anti-China programs".

The local government would invest 8.64 million yuan ($1.39 million) to install 50 transmitters that would broadcast 70 percent of the prefecture's television channels, the report said.

China has repeatedly denounced the Dalai Lama and exiled Tibetan groups for fomenting the self-immolations.

The United States and several other countries have called on China to end repressive policies and to negotiate with the Dalai Lama.

Beijing has defended its iron-fisted rule in Tibet, saying the remote region suffered from dire poverty, brutal exploitation of serfs and economic stagnation until 1950 when Communist troops "peacefully liberated" it.

($1 = 6.2353 yuan)

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee, Additional reporting by Huang Yan; Editing by Nick Macfie)

"Real Change": Where have we heard that before?

Dec. 27, 2012

Syria needs "real change" to end conflict: Brahimi

DAMASCUS | Thu Dec 27, 2012 5:12am EST

(Reuters) - International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi called on Thursday for real change in Syria to end 21 months of conflict and said a transitional government must be established with full powers to rule the country until new elections.

Brahimi, speaking in Damascus at the end of a five-day trip to Syria during which he met President Bashar al-Assad, did not spell out what measures were needed but said that only substantial change would meet the demands of ordinary Syrians.

"Certainly it was clear in Geneva, and it's even clearer now that the change which is needed is not cosmetic or superficial," Brahimi said, referring to an international meeting on Syria in Switzerland six months ago.

"I believe the Syrian people need, want and aspire to genuine change and everyone knows what this means," he said.

"A government must be created ... with full powers. Full powers ... means this government must have all the powers of the state," Brahimi added. "This government will hold power during the transitional period."

Brahimi is due in Moscow on Saturday and said he also expected to have a third joint meeting with U.S. and Russian officials soon following two rounds of talks earlier this month.

But he denied what he said were reports of a U.S.-Russian plan to end the conflict in which 44,000 people have been killed.

The veteran diplomat, who took over as Syria envoy in August from former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, also said he was not yet proposing a "complete plan" to resolve the crisis.

"What is preferred is that we don't present such a plan until we feel that all sides have agreed to it. That way, implementing it is easy. If that doesn't happen, the other solution could be to go to the (United Nations) Security Council to issue a binding resolution for everyone," he said.

(Reporting by Marwan Makdesi; Editing by Jon Boyle)

War On Terrorism FAIL: Obama Edition

Dec. 27, 2012

Pakistani Taliban outline ceasefire conditions, including adoption of Islamic law and a break with the US

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban have outlined conditions for a ceasefire, including the adoption of Islamic law and a break with the United States, a spokesman said Thursday, an offer a senior government official described as "preposterous".

The Taliban, in a letter sent to the Pakistan daily The News, also demanded that Pakistan stop its involvement in the war pitting Afghan insurgents against the Kabul government and refocus on a war of "revenge" against India.

The letter from Taliban spokesman Amir Muawiya comes as the focus in Afghanistan shifts from a military push by NATO troops to potential peace talks, and amid speculation of a rift between top Pakistan Taliban leaders.

Military officials told Reuters last month that Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud had lost operational command to his deputy, Wali ur-Rehman, who is considered to be more open to reconciliation with the Pakistani government. The Taliban deny Mehsud has lost command.

The Pakistani Taliban are a separate entity allied to the Afghan Taliban. Known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), they have launched devastating attacks against the Pakistani military and civilians.

"They are a bunch of criminals. This is not the Afghan Taliban. They are not open to talks," said one senior government official who called the Pakistan Taliban offer "preposterous".

"No one can take such an offer or terms seriously. The TTP is not a proper entity, certainly not one any government can negotiate with."

The ceasefire conditions, confirmed by spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan in a phone call to Reuters, said Pakistan should rewrite its laws and constitution according to Islamic law.

"We are ready to cease fire with Pakistan as long as they meet our demands, that an Islamic system should be put into place, they should fix their foreign policy and stop agreeing to American's demands," Ihsan said.

The militants accused Pakistan's army of acting as "mercenaries" for America and pledged to continue attacks on two major political parties they say serve U.S. interests.

"The big mistake (the government) made is that they fought America's war in Afghanistan and brought it into Pakistan," Ihsan said.

NATO troops are due to hand over control of most operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces next year and officials have been eager to start peace talks with the Taliban there.

But the Taliban insurgency in both Pakistan and Afghanistan is fragmented and senior commanders often disagree with each other over strategy.

(Reporting By Katharine Houreld; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Obama Fail: Stimulus Non-Participant Shows Growth While "Stimulated" Competition Failed

Dec. 27, 2012

Ford says it is to invest $773 million to expand Michigan factories, create 2,350 new jobs and save 3,240 more

Ford logo displayed at the 2012 North American International Auto Show January 10, 2012 in Detroit, Michigan. Ford said Thursday it will invest $773 million to expand factories across its home state of Michigan, generating 2,350 new jobs, part of a plan to add 12,000 jobs by 2015.

AFP - US auto giant Ford said Thursday it will invest $773 million to expand factories across its home state of Michigan, generating 2,350 new jobs, part of a plan to add 12,000 jobs by 2015.

The investment will help save an additional 3,240 jobs, it said.

"Even as we wrap up an incredibly busy year of capacity expansions and product launches, we are continuing to look to the future," Jim Tetreault, Ford vice president of North America Manufacturing, said in a statement.

"These investments, many of which are already under way, will ensure our southeast Michigan manufacturing facilities can support our aggressive growth plans."

The Dearborn-based manufacturer posted its best November since 2005, as sales rose six percent to 177,673 vehicles. The results were driven by strong demand for its small cars, which posted their best November in 12 years.

Ford employs some 172,000 people and maintains 65 plants worldwide.

79 Year Old Grandfather Shoots and Kills Man Who Was Beating His Granddaughter

Dec. 26, 2012

UPDATE: Coroner identifies man shot at South Denby Avenue home

Police: No charges filed at this time

Photo by Denny Simmons, DENNY SIMMONS // Buy this photo

DENNY SIMMONS / Courier & Press Evansville police investigate a shooting in the 500 block of South Denby Avenue that left one man dead at about 7 p.m. Sunday.

EVANSVILLE — A 79-year-old Evansville man shot and killed a 19-year-old who was attacking his granddaughter, Evansville Police said in a news release.

Davon Obryant Gee was pronounced dead at a home in the 500 block of South Denby Avenue on Sunday night, according to the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office.

The name of man who shot and killed Gee has not been released by police because the man has not been charged with a crime, according to city police officials.

Police said Gee got into an argument with a 17-year-old girl at the Denby Avenue home on Sunday evening. Gee threatened to assault the girl and to use a "stun gun" on her.

She ran from the house but Gee chased her down, catching her in the yard and beating her. The girl's 79-year-old grandfather, who was in the house, came outside to help her. He told Gee to quit beating the girl.

According to witnesses, Gee then threatened to use the stun gun on the grandfather. Reaching into his pocket, he approached the 79-year-old who told him several times to stop.

The grandfather told police he feared he could not defend himself against the bigger, younger attacker and that he feared the stun gun would kill him due to a heart condition. When the man kept approaching, witnesses said, the grandfather pulled out a handgun and fired one shot. Gee ran into a neighboring yard and collapsed.

When police arrived, they attempted life-saving measures but the man died at the scene.

The gun was recovered inside the grandfather's house. The stun gun was recovered from Gee's pocket.

Investigators will complete a case file and forward it to the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office for review.

Gee died from cardiac arrhythmia and exsanguination due to a gunshot to the chest, according to a report from the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office. An autopsy was performed Monday morning.

EARLIER:

Evansville Police Department officers were working Sunday night to figure out what led to a fatal shooting near Downtown Evansville.

Police were dispatched to a house at 505 S. Denby Ave. about 7:10 p.m. Sgt. Jason Cullum said they found a young man dead in the front yard of a nearby house.

He said several people who were believed to have been involved in the events surrounding the shooting were taken to police headquarters for questioning.

Cullum said a weapon had not yet been recovered.

"We have the house locked down and we have applied for a search warrant," he said.

Two hours after the shooting officers were still trying to verify the name of the slain man, whose body remained in the yard covered by a sheet. Police had the street and yards around the area of the shooting blocked off with tape, and crime scene investigators were on the scene working.

A baby carriage remained in the street in front of the houses during the early hours of the investigation.

Cullum said there were several people inside the house when the shooting took place, including a young child.

"We believe everybody knew each other," he said.

Source: © 2012 Evansville Courier & Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SOCIALIZED MEDICINE UPDATE #2: Preemie Baby Saved When Scissors Left on a Scale Deemed Her ‘Viable’ Now Home in Time for Christmas

Dec. 26, 2012

(The Blaze) - Maddalena Douse was born at 23 weeks — that’s about three months too early. Her parents never thought she would make it home. But now she’s home from the hospital in time for Christmas, which could be, in part, thanks to a pair of scissors that saved her life nearly six months ago.

Although most stories involving babies and scissors might not call up thoughts of saving lives. In Maddalena’s case, scissors accidentally left on a scale could have meant the difference between life and death for her, the U.K.’s The Sun reported.

Maddalena Douse was born at 23 weeks at a weight and stage of development deemed not medically viable. (Image: ITN News video screenshot)

In the U.K., preemies have to weigh at least a pound to be considered medically “viable,” or worth the measures it would take to save them in their delicate condition. Maddalena was lucky and weighed just a pound. According to The Sun, it wasn’t known that a pair of scissors on the scale helped up Maddalena’s weight until she was already hooked up to a ventilator.

Eight-inch Maddalena really weighed 382 grams (13.47 ounces) when she was born.

Maddalena now at home and a healthy weight. (Image: ITN News video screenshot)

Now, mother Kate Douse, 31, told the Sun her “miracle” baby is getting to a healthy weight.

“We never thought we’d ever bring Maddalena home,” Douse said, according to the Sun. “She now weighs 5½ [pounds] and is getting stronger by the day. She’s our little miracle and we’re so glad to have her home in time for Christmas.”

Maddalena with her mother and father. (Image: ITN News video screenshot)

There is a sad element to the otherwise miracle of a story. Maddalena did have a twin Isabella, who died a few weeks after she was born.

Watch this ITN News report with footage of Maddalena and her parents:


Hat Tip: National Right To Life News

Socialized Medicine Update: Woman dies after receiving smoker's lungs in organ transplant

Dec. 26, 2012

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!!!

A woman born with cystic fibrosis who died after being given a lung transplant from a smoker. Her father is now calling for hospitals to tell patients about a donor's health history.

Jennifer Wederell, 27, died of cancer on August 24 at her home in Hawkwell, Essex, 16 months after being given the transplant at Harefield Hospital in London.

She was not told at the time of the transplant that the middle-aged donor had been a smoker.

Now Jennifer's father, Colin Grannell, says people facing organ transplants should be told of any adverse history from the donor that might affect a successful transplant.

He says he does not think his daughter would have agreed to the transplant if she had known the full facts.

The hospital says it is sorry she was not given the choice.

Wederell, who was on oxygen for 24 hours a day by her mid-20s, had been on the waiting list for a lung transplant for 18 months when she was told there was a match in April 2011.

She received the transplant and married her long-term boyfriend, David, that same year.

But by February, less than a year after the operation, Wederell had been diagnosed with cancer, with the terrible news that it had spread.

"The shock immediately turned to anger in so far as all the risks were explained in the hour before her transplant and not once was the fact that a smoker's lungs would be used mentioned," Grannell told the Daily Mail.

"She was dying a death that was meant for someone else."

Grannell has set up a Facebook site, Jennifer's Choice, to encourage non-smokers to sign up to the organ donor register.


Source: Sky News

PRIVACY IN JEOPARDY? Outrage After Paper Names NY Gun Permit Holders

Dec. 26, 2012

(FoxNews.com) - A local New York newspaper is drawing the ire of its readers after publishing an interactive map that shows the names and addresses of thousands of residents who have handgun permits.

The online map was published by The Journal News along with an article under the headline: "The gun owner next door: What you don't know about the weapons in your neighborhood."

The newspaper obtained, and then published, the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The article, in explaining the decision to publish the information, pointed to the school massacre in nearby Newtown, Conn., and the concerns of some residents about which of their neighbors might have firearms.

But readers swiftly condemned the move. They pointed out that the interactive map could make the gun owners a target, but also make clear to would-be robbers which homes do not contain a gun.

"Do you fools realize that you also made a map for criminals to use to find homes to rob that have no guns in them to protect themselves?" one reader wrote on Facebook.

"You have just destroyed the privacy of these law abiding citizens and by releasing this list, you have equated them to that of sex offenders and murders," wrote another. "These are law abiding gun owners, they are no danger to anyone except for criminals. And with this information you have made them targets for both criminals and anti gun lobbyist who i am sure are going to treat them like monsters."

The newspaper, in a written statement, defended the decision to run the names.

"The massacre in Newtown remains top-of-mind for many of our readers," the statement said. "In the past week, conversation on our opinion pages and on our website, LoHud.com, has been keenly focused on gun control.

"Our readers are understandably interested to know about guns in their neighborhoods. We obtained the names and addresses of Westchester and Rockland residents who are licensed to own handguns through routine Freedom of Information law public-records requests."

The map showed the locations of pistol permit holders -- though did not specify whether those shown actually owned a weapon. Since rifles and shotguns can be bought without a permit, that information was not included.

The newspaper separately noted that the reporter on the story "owns a Smith & Wesson 686 .357 Magnum and has had a residence permit in New York City for that weapon since February 2011."

Nevermind Education: Condoms for free at 22 city schools

Dec. 26, 2012

The district is installing dispensers over winter break at high schools with the highest rates of STDs.

Coming over the holiday break to about a third of Philadelphia high schools: clear plastic dispensers chock-full of free condoms.

The dispensers will be placed in the 22 high schools whose students had the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases, and condoms will be available to any student - so long as their parents did not sign a form opting them out of the program.

It's a pilot designed to address "an epidemic of sexually transmitted disease in adolescents in Philadelphia," said Donald F. Schwarz, the deputy mayor for health and opportunity. Since April 2011, the city has given away about four million condoms, and now, STD rates are falling.


But, Schwarz pointed out, 25 percent of new HIV infections in Philadelphia are teens, and that's a major worry.

Some city high schools - the dozen that have "health resource centers" - already dispense free condoms. And the Health Department also provides them at city high schools when they go in to test teens for STDs, as they do every year voluntarily with a parent's consent.

The pilot is the next logical step, Schwarz said.

"I support the policy strongly," said Mayor Nutter. "This is a serious public health matter."

Peg Devine, school nurse at Lincoln High - which is not a participant in the pilot program - said she supported making condoms available to sexually active students. But she worries about the ability of already-stretched nurses to juggle one more task.

Two of the schools in the pilot - Dobbins and High School of the Future - do not have full-time nurses.

In an e-mail to nurses, Philadelphia School District officials said that the dispensers would be installed "just inside the doorway near the entrance to your office" and that nurses were not to be charged with managing access.

"Opt-out letters are to be maintained by the school office," Assistant Superintendent Dennis W. Creedon wrote. "Students are to honor the wishes of their parents. If a student disrespects their guardian's directive, that is an issue of the home."

Still, Devine said, "I just can't imagine the parents of a 14-year-old being happy with this."

Nutter, himself the parent of a Philadelphia School District high schooler, said it was a necessary move.

source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Ready to eat: the first GM fish for the dinner table

Dec. 26, 2012

US decision after 17-year battle over fast-growing salmon could pave way for same step in Britain

(UK Independent) - A GM salmon which grows twice as fast as ordinary fish could become the first genetically-modified animal in the world to be declared officially safe to eat, after America's powerful food-safety watchdog ruled it posed no major health or environmental risks.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it could not find any valid scientific reasons to ban the production of GM Atlantic salmon engineered with extra genes from two other fish species – a decision that could soon lead to its commercial production.

The verdict clears one of the last remaining hurdles for GM salmon to be lawfully sold and eaten in the US and will put pressure on salmon producers in Britain and Europe to follow suit.

Successive chief scientists to the UK Government, as well as science institutions such as the Royal Society, have endorsed the concept of GM technology as a tool for increasing food production in the 21st Century, but consumer opposition has so far blocked the approval of GM food for the dinner table.

Several government bodies including the advisory committees on the release of GM organisms and on novel foods and processes would have to review the technology before it was approved in the UK.

Supporters of the technology believe the GM salmon will make it not only easier and cheaper to produce farmed salmon, but that it could also be better for the environment because they can be grown on land-based fish farms.

Sir John Beddington, the current chief scientist, warned two years ago of a "perfect storm" of growing human numbers, climate change and food shortages, where it would be "very hard to see how it would be remotely sensible to justify not using new technologies such as GM".

GM opponents, however, argue that the introduction of the fast-growing salmon creates risks for both human health and the environment. They also argue that the salmon will be the start of concerted efforts to create other GM animals for human consumption, which could raise serious questions about animal welfare.

The FDA had already indicated the salmon was fit for human consumption. But in a draft environmental assessment written in May and published on Friday following inquiries by The Independent, it goes further by declaring that the production of the GM fish is unlikely to have any detrimental impact on the wider environment.

Opponents of the GM salmon – which some have dubbed the "Frankenfish" – have argued it could escape into the wild, interbreed with wild fish and undermine the genetics of the endangered Atlantic salmon, the "king of fishes" grown on fish farms in the UK.

However, the company behind the GM AquAdvantage salmon emphasised that the genetically engineered fish will be only be grown as sterile females and kept in secure containers on land.

In its draft assessment prepared as part of a New Animal Drug Application (NADA), the FDA agrees that the possibility of GM salmon escaping from fish farms is extremely remote and that interbreeding with wild salmon is equally unlikely.

The possibility of the GM salmon escaping into rivers and the sea from land-based fish farms is "extremely remote", the FDA said.

"[The] FDA has made the preliminary determination it is reasonable to believe that approval of the AquAdvantage salmon NADA will not have any significant impacts on the quality of the human environment of the United States (including populations of endangered Atlantic salmon) when produced and grown under the conditions of use for the proposed action," it concludes.

Anti-GM groups last night raised concerns about the report. Peter Riley, of the pressure group GM Freeze, said: "The sterility system does not guarantee that there will be no escapes into the wild and some of them will be fully fertile. It's also debatable whether anyone wants to buy GM salmon, even in the US, if it is properly labelled."

The FDA also states the two other US Government agencies responsible for overseeing laws on endangered species – the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service – have agreed with the FDA's assessment that there will be "no effect" on wild Atlantic salmon or its habitat.

In its report, the FDA warns that if final approval is not given by the US Government, other countries may still develop GM Atlantic salmon.

The research into the GM salmon goes back to the late 1980s and it has gone through 17 years of bureaucratic wrangling over whether it should be approved for human consumption. The FDA indicated in 2010 that it would declare the GM salmon safe to eat but the issue was then kicked into the Washington long grass, which some have put down to nervousness on the part of the White House in the run-up to this year's Presidential election.

AquaBounty Technologies, the Massachusetts biotechnology company that developed the GM salmon, has become increasingly irritated by the delays to its application, which have caused severe strains on its finances.

Last September, the company's chief executive, Ron Stotish, expressed his anger with the FDA, which promised in May this year that it would soon publish its environmental assessment, on which the approval of the application rests.

"We are frustrated and disappointed in the delay, and we feel the FDA and US administration have a responsibility to inform us why they have not yet released the environmental assessment and moved forward our application," Mr Stotish said.

A spokeswoman for the FDA said: "The draft environmental assessment is an interim step in the overall evaluation of the application and is not a decision on the application itself."


Animal farm: a technological revolution

1972: Scientists use special enzymes to snip fragments of DNA – genes – from one microbe and insert or "recombine" them into another microbe. The revolution in recombinant DNA begins with the creation of the first GM organism.

1980: Laboratory mice with genes inserted from other individuals become the first genetically modified "transgenic" animals. Dozens of other experimental species, from pigs and chickens to frogs and fish, follow over the next two decades.

1989: The AquAdvantage founder salmon is created by micro-injecting a fragment of DNA from an ocean pout fish and a Chinook Pacific salmon into a fertilised Atlantic salmon egg.

1995: AquaBounty Technologies begins the lengthy process of applying for official US Government approval to develop the AquAdvantage salmon commercially.

2002: The first commercially viable GM animal is created from two species by Nexia Biotechnologies in rural Quebec. The "spider-goat" has a single gene from a golden orb-weaving spider which means its milk contains spiders silk, five times the strength of steel, which is used for making bullet proof vests.

2009: The US Food and Drug Administration issues its final guidance to the GM industry on rules governing the regulation of genetically engineered animals, which clarifies its status as the chief statutory and regulatory body for GM animals.

2011: British scientists create chickens which don't spread bird flu by inserting an artificial gene that introduces a small part of the flu virus into the bird. This gives them the virus, but prevents them from spreading it.

2012: A genetically modified cow in New Zealand is the first to produce milk with no Beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), the protein that is thought to be responsible for allergic reactions. Meanwhile, Chinese scientists create a GM cow whose milk includes omega-3 fats, normally found in fish.

May 2012: The US Food and Drug Administration completes its environmental assessment of the GM salmon but delays publication of the draft report until 21 December 2012.

More Special Than Yours: School Obama's Daughters Attend Has 11 Armed Guards

Dec. 26, 2012

by AWR Hawkins

(Big Government) - Some interesting news has broken in the wake of the latest push for gun control by President Obama and Senate Democrats: Obama sends his kids to a school where armed guards are used as a matter of fact.

The school, Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, has 11 security officers and is seeking to hire a new police officer as we speak.

If you dismiss this by saying, "Of course they have armed guards -- they get Secret Service protection," then you've missed the larger point.

The larger point is that this is standard operating procedure for the school, period. And this is the reason people like NBC's David Gregory send their kids to Sidwell, they know their kids will be protected from the carnage that befell kids at a school where armed guards weren't used (and weren't even allowed).

Shame on President Obama for seeking more gun control and for trying to prevent the parents of other school children from doing what he has clearly done for his own. His children sit under the protection guns afford, while the children of regular Americans are sacrificed.

"Revenge" Turns Vehicle Into Weapon.. Anti-Automotive Crowd Silent

Dec. 26, 2012

Chinese man drives car into students, injuring 13

BEIJING (AP) — A man angered by a court ruling in the murder of his daughter rammed a car loaded with a gas tank and firecrackers into a group of middle schoolers, injuring 13 in the country's latest attack on students.

The man ran down 23 students at Fengning No. 1 Middle School in northern China's Hebei province on Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday, citing local police.

Xinhua said the man, identified as 48-year-old Yin Tiejun, later lit a bottle of diesel in an attempt to set his car on fire.

Police put out the fire and found the gas tank and firecrackers in the trunk of the car, but Xinhua said Yin told police in an interrogation later that the materials were not meant for an attack.

Yin has been detained on charges of endangering public safety, Xinhua said.

Xinhua described Yin as having been upset for years that a court did not sentence to death all four assailants involved in the murder of his daughter three years ago. The report did not give further details of the murder but said the children hurt in Monday's car crash were not tied to the case.

Xinhua said the man did not act under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Students were hospitalized with injuries that included skull fractures and crushed feet, Xinhua said.

The local Fengning county government confirmed the incident in a written statement and said Yin was driving a Geely sedan.

Citing eyewitnesses, the Beijing-based state-run Jinghua Times said the accident occurred when students were leaving school for noon break and that the car accelerated and knocked down students, many of whom were on bikes.

MERRY 'CLIFF'MAS

Hat tip: Drudge

Drama Queen Saga: Minnesota Teacher Forces School Lockdown After Bringing Loaded Gun To School

Dec. 26, 2012

(Mediaite) - A school in Minneapolis, Minnesota was forced to go into lockdown after one of the teachers allegedly brought a loaded gun onto the premises. After being tipped off by a staff member, the resource office at Seward Montessori School confiscated a .357 Magnum handgun that was stashed in a locker belonging to a teacher.

With the nation still reeling from the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, parents were shocked to find out that a teacher at Seward had a gun on the premises. The teacher, who has not been publicly identified yet, allegedly told another faculty member she decided to bring a gun to the school after what happened at Sandy Hook.

Needless to say, having the gun at the school only caused problems for the teacher.

Officers found the fully-loaded .357 Magnum revolver in the staff member’s purse, which was stored in a locker in the teachers’ lounge.

The staff member has a permit to carry, but that doesn’t apply to schools… No staff members or students were harmed or threatened by this incident and there was no evidence the employee intended to use the weapon. Bringing a gun to school is against Minnesota law and violates Minneapolis Public Schools policy.

The teacher has not been fired, but has instead been placed on administrative leave in the wake of this incident.

Watch a report on the incident below, courtesy of KMSP:


KMSP-TV