North Korea issued its latest in a series of warnings to the US and its allies Monday, threatening to attack US bases throughout the Pacific as well as the state of Hawaii.

North Korea‘s military issued a statement claiming that it will direct field artillery and missile units to target US bases in the Pacific, including the state of Hawaii, Guam, and US allies South Korea and Japan.

The latest threat came only hours after South Korean President Park Geun-hye called for North Korea to cease developing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. South Korea also pushed North Korea to cease is threats and provocations. North Korea, in a sharp rebuttal of South Korea’s warning, responded with more provocations and threats.

“They should be mindful that everything will be reduced to ashes and flames the moment the first attack is unleashed,” the North Korean People’s Army Supreme Command said in a statement.

North Korea has detested the joint military exercises currently being performed by the US and South Korea. The US has flown B-52 bombers over South Korea as part of the exercises, particularly aggravating the North.

“We are firmly committed to defending the Republic of Korea and Japan,” a Pentagon spokesperson told CNN.

Tensions in the reason have intensified in recent years. In late 2010, following South Korean artillery exercises in waters off the Korean peninsula, North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, killing four and injuring 19. South Korea responded by shelling North Korean gun positions. In late 2012, North Korea tested a long-range rocket. The isolated nation performed its third nuclear test just last month, making even its most prominent ally nervous.

Kim Jong-un became the Supreme Leader of North Korea in late 2011 and is still jockeying for power and respect among leaders who scrutinize his age. Both American and East Asian analysts suspect that North Korea’s recent line of threats against the US and its allies are boisterous gestures meant to gain credibility domestically rather than abroad.

[Imaga via ShutterStock]

North Korea Threatens US Pacific Bases is a post from: The Inquisitr

Government officials in the United States have announced plans to build a more expansive missile defense system. The decision was reached in response to North Korea’s attempts to manufacture a stronger nuclear weapons program.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday said the US will deploy 14 new missile interceptors to Alaska. According to Hagel, the new system are meant to “make clear to the world that the United States stands firm against aggression”.

With the new systems in place, the United States will now operate 44 deployed missile defense stations in Alaska and California. The number of base stations will not increase for four years. It should be noted that the stations currently being used have been unreliable in military tests.

The North Korean government has launched an aggressive campaign against the United States, promising to attack the United States with nuclear weapons. It is believed that North Korean officials are simply attempting to save face after they were served new United Nations sanctions last month when they tested an underground nuclear weapon.

Earlier in the week, President Obama said North Korea cannot likely serve out its plans to attack the United States. “They probably can’t, but we don’t like margin of error,” he said.

Chuck Hagel, in the meantime, admits that North Korea’s recent ability to put a satellite into orbit poses a direct threat to countries for which it has been aggressive towards.

According to Hagel:

“The United States has missile defense systems in place to protect us from limited ICBM attacks. But North Korea in particular has recently made advances in its capabilities and is engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations. Specifically, North Korea announced last month that it conducted its third nuclear test.”

While the new systems are seen largely as a symbolic maneuver by the United States, they also signify that the United States is prepared to defend itself and fight back against an aggressive and unpredictable North Korean regime.

Hopefully, further aggression will not be witnessed. Unfortunately, the only person talking to North Korea these days appears to be former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman. Rodman recently said he believes a peace deal can be brokered with him at the helm. If Rodman is our best chance at a North Korean peace deal, I say we add another 1,000 missile defense stations as soon as humanly possible.

Do you think the United States is making the right decision in building up a stronger missile defense system?

US Missile Defense System Growing In Anticipation Of North Korean Nuclear Attack is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Dominican Republic Beat the United States 3-1 Thursday to move on to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. The Dominicans scored twice in the ninth inning off Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel to seal the victory.

Nelson Cruz doubled to start the ninth inning and advanced to third on a groundout. Erick Aybar then stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter for the Dominican Republic and delivered. Aybar singled in Cruz to take a 2-1 lead.

After taking the lead, Aybar stole second and was driven in by Jose Reyes with two outs to give the Dominicans a cushion going into the bottom half of the ninth. Fernando Rodney came in and shut down the Americans for his fourth save of the WBC. Rodney has yet to give up a hit in the tournament.

The United States has been led by David Wright’s big performances until Thursday when he was scratched with a sore back. Willie Bloomquist filled in for Wright, going 0-for-2 at the plate.

Team USA starter R.A. Dickey pitched five solid innings, giving up one run off a Hanley Ramirez solo home run in the second. The United States only run came in the first when Eric Hosmer walked with the bases loaded to bring in Brandon Phillips.

Minnesota Twins prospect Samuel Deduno got the start for the Dominicans and pitched well, giving up the one run in the first and striking out seven. Deduno was followed by Kelvin Herrerra and Octavio Dotel, who combined to pitch three hitless innings.

Pedro Strop came to the mound in the eighth inning and gave up a single to Joe Mauer, but nothing more as the Americans bats stayed quiet all night. Strop got the win for the Dominicans who move on to San Francisco for the final round.

The loss against the Dominican Republic for the United States forces them to play again Friday in another match-up with Puerto Rico. The Americans handled Puerto Rico in a 7-1 win Tuesday.

Team USA manager Joe Torre gave the Dominicans credit for beating one of the best closers in the game in Craig Kimbrel.

“They beat our closer, there’s not much you can say,” Torre explained in a press conference after the loss. ” They beat a great one. This kid (Kimbrel), he is something special now. He’s gonna only get better.”

The United States will have to beat Puerto Rico Friday if they hope to get another chance at the Dominican Republic. The Dominicans are undefeated in the WBC and have one of the most talented lineups featuring Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes.

Japan and the Netherlands were the first two teams to advance to the semifinals, and the Dominicans will now join them as they wait for the final spot to be filled. The Dominican Republic beat the United States to keep the Americans from making an early trip to San Francisco, and Team USA must win Friday if they have any plans of making the trip at all.

Dominican Republic Beats United States 3-1 is a post from: The Inquisitr

The 2013 IEBC Kenya election results have placed the United States in an uncomfortable position as Uhuru Kenyatta claims victory. Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission confirmed over the weekend that Kenyan voters have selected the candidate charged by the International Criminal Court to be its next president.

Kenya’s election results were partly a work of spite. A senior American official warned Kenya that “choices have consequences,” expressing a clear preference for Kenyans to vote for anyone other than Kenyatta. International condemnation allowed the election’s front runner to maintain an underdog appeal. As The Inquisitr monitored the election, Kenyatta maintained a steady lead. Kenyatta’s supporters were encouraged to turn out, and he received 98 percent of the vote within some areas where his Kikuyu tribe resides.

Kenya is the US’s largest ally in sub-Saharan Africa; the country hosts America’s largest embassy in the region and receives $1 billion in aid. The nation has collaborated with the US in the international fight against Al Qaeda and helped to capture Somali pirates at large just off its shores.

President Barack Obama now has to tread carefully in interacting with Kenya, the nation where his father was born and a place that the president spoke fondly of in his early memoir, Dreams from My Father. President Obama garnered high popularity in Kenya following his successful 2008 campaign, but his popularity waned somewhat after US foreign policy in many ways remained the same.

The US wants to maintain its strong alliance with Kenya without being seen as supporting a president charged of taking part in the election violence that followed Kenya’s 2007 election, funding death squads that contributed to the mass slaughter of opposition supporters. Kenyatta’s trial is scheduled for July, and the US would rather not stand President Obama up beside a man traveling back and forth from The Hague. The international community has praised Kenya’s election without acknowledging the victor.

Raila Odinga lost the election in 2007, and he lost again in 2013. His tribal group and supporters suffered in the massacre that followed the election, and there was a general feeling among some that the crimes had not been atoned for. Many feared another round of violence following this year’s election, but such bloodshed has not taken place. The US may not be pleased by Kenya’s election results, and the IEBC has fallen under some scrutiny domestically, but at least there is a silver lining.

[Image via ShutterStock]

IEBC Kenya Election Results Make The US Uncomfortable is a post from: The Inquisitr

The European Union banned the sale of new animal-tested cosmetics yesterday and hopes to set an example that will reverberate throughout the cosmetics industry all across the world. Whether this will happen remains to be seen.

The European Union decided to ban cosmetics with ingredients tested on animals a decade ago but gave cosmetics companies ten years to come up with alternative forms of tests. The ban took effect yesterday, but some companies feel the ban is kicking in before alternative tests are fully viable.

As The Inquisitrpreviously reported, L’Oreal will respect the ban but is concerned that the new policy could complicate relationships with countries such as China, which requires animal-testing on cosmetics sold to its consumers. Cosmetics Europe claims that it will be difficult to develop new products since alternative tests for risks such as genetic mutation and reproductive toxicity are not ready.

“Europe’s idea is to put more pressure on other parts of the world to end animal testing, but the science doesn’t match that political timetable,” Colin Mackay, a Cosmetics Europe spokesperson, said in The New York Times.

There is a chance that European consumers will not have access to the latest products because those ingredients cannot yet be verified as safe without access to suitable testing. In cases where companies can sell products to Europe, identical products may ship to different markets with different tests verifying their safety.

It is uncertain whether the US will enact a similar ban. The US is traditionally more hesitant to issue economic regulations, for Europe has had stricter food mandates and gun control provisions in place for years without its influence spreading overseas. Animal-tested cosmetics may not disappear unless companies decide for themselves that the practice is no longer necessary.

The European Union does have allies in the US working towards the same cause. The Humane Society of the United States has long campaigned against testing cosmetics on animals, and has coined this week the inaugural Be Cruelty-Free Week to coincide with the European Union’s ban. The organization wants to push the United States to become the next cruelty-free market and cite a recent Lake Research Partners poll suggesting that a majority of Americans oppose testing cosmetics on animals.

“As these poll results demonstrate, U.S. companies still conducting tests on animals need to move away from these practices given the public’s concern for animal suffering and human safety,” Pascaline Clerc, HSUS senior director of animal research issues, said in a press release.

Absent strong economic backlash or heavy political pressure, companies in the US are not likely to voluntary drop animal-tested cosmetics. If they ship a product that is ultimately deemed unsafe, the fallout would be worse than any pressure they currently receive. Nevertheless, a shift may come in the future as the science matures and companies adjust to the European market.

Animal-Tested Cosmetics Banned In Europe, But What About The US? is a post from: The Inquisitr

While Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai might blame the United States for the instablility ravaging his country, he might want to look at the latest incident with the Afghani police force as a hint that his own forces shoulder plenty of blame.

The latest event could be considered the most heinous act yet in what has been a string of killings by Afghan police and security forces by members of those agencies.

Reuters reports that an Afghan police officer drugged all 17 of his colleagues, then called in the Taliban and helped the religious extremists shoot and kill those police officers.

This is just the latest and deadliest report of incidents like this involving the Afghan Local Police (ALP). The ALP program is the brainchild of the United States army.

The goal of the ALP program is to get local Afghan citizens to police and secure their individual areas.Since the program started, the ALP has been beset with Taliban moles who have wreaked havoc and taken lives from the inside.

The Malaysian Insider indicates that this attack, in the province of Ghazni included the killing of seven officers who were still in training and were not full active police officers.

The Taliban later claimed responsibility by sending a text message to various news outlets. It is issues like this that has led Afghan President Karzai to try and push the United States out of his country bit by bit.

Karzai recently told the US special forces they must withdraw from the Maidan Wardack province. While this particular incident can’t be traced back directly to US forces, the fact that the ALP is their creation is bound to raise a few eyebrows in a region that doesn’t have a lot of love for the United States.

Afghan Police Officer Drugs, Kills 17 is a post from: The Inquisitr

When US leader Barack Obama visits Israel in March of this year, he will receive the prestigious Israeli Presidential Medal Of Distinction. The award was announced Monday by Israeli President Shimon Peres in recognition of President Obama’s “unique and significant contribution to strengthening the State of Israel and the security of its citizens.” The Israeli medal is similar to France’s “Legion of Honor” or the “Order of Canada.”

Although Mr. Obama toured Israel as a United States Senator, he has not visited the Jewish State since he was elected President. Critics of Obama have made much of the fact that the President didn’t stop in Israel to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Netanyahu when he was only a short plane flight away delivering his Cairo Address to the Muslim World on June 4, 2009.

The relationship between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama has been contentious and adversarial, with Obama making demands that angered the Israeli leader. President Obama stunned Netanyahu when the Prime Minister visited America in 2011, insisting Israel accept the borders that existed before the 1967 war as a starting point for negotiations with the Palestinians.

Not only did the Prime Minister of Israel declare that 1967 borders were “indefensible,” but he had the chutzpah to lecture the President on Israel’s defense needs, talking down to Obama like the American President was a schoolboy.

While many Israelis spoke with pride about Netanyahu’s powerful defense of his nation, Obama was outraged. The President stormed out of the meeting for a private dinner with his family and refused to pose for a photo-op with the Prime Minister. The next day, the Israel leader addressed the United States Congress, where he received more standing ovations than they gave Obama during his State of the Union address.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also managed to put aside his anger over the events of November, 2011, when French President Sarkozy was overheard on a hot mic calling Mr. Netanyahu a “liar.” Obama, who was chatting privately with Sarkozy, replied, “You’re sick of him — but I have to deal with him every day!”

Recently, both Netanyahu and Obama were re-elected and they seem to have repaired their personal relationship; at least in public. Perhaps it is not a co-incidence that the medal was awarded by a committee appointed by President Peres, who is on good terms with the American leader. Peres is known to be a member of the Israel peace movement and he strongly supports the Obama plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr. Peres was awarded America’s Presidential Medal of Freedom by Obama on June 13, 2012 and the meeting between the two men was quite cordial. Shimon Peres will reciprocate the honor and present Israel’s Presidential Medal Of Distinction to his American counterpart during a State dinner at the President’s residence in Jerusalem in March of 2013.

The Israeli President spoke highly of Mr. Obama when he announced the award:

“Barack Obama is a true friend of the State of Israel, and has been since the beginning of his public life. As president of the United States of America, he has stood with Israel in times of crisis. During his time as president he has made a unique contribution to the security of the State of Israel, both through further strengthening the strategic cooperation between the countries and through the joint development of technology to defend against rockets and terrorism. [President Obama] is a symbol of democratic values who exemplifies the spirit of equality of opportunity in American society.”

Obama To Receive Israel’s Presidential Medal Of Distinction is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you’ve banked in the U.S. For the last few months, then it’s highly likely that your bank has been compromised, repeatedly. Since September, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, PNC, Capital One, BB&T, HSBC and Fifth Third Bank were among the targets of recent cyber attacks, reports the New York Times.

But the perpetrators did not actually steal anything. These attacks are what you would call DDoS or distributed denial of service attacks. The nature, coordination and sophistication of the attacks lead officials to suspect the government of Iran is to blame.

James A. Lewis, a former official with the Commerce and State Department, and current computer security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies requires no further convincing of Tehran’s involvement. “There is no doubt within the U.S. Government that Iran is behind these attacks,” he recently told the New York Times.

Here’s is quick rundown of what American intelligence knows: a group of hackers entered into data centers and used “clouds” run by Amazon and Google to overwhelm the banks’ online systems. International outlets report that this newest wave of cyber warfare has hit the top twenty banks in the country.

In order to keep their customers safe while executing online transactions, banks encrypt the information, this works well but requires a healthy bit of system resources to do. What the attackers did was to give these sites a ridiculous amount of encryption requests until they were crippled and vulnerable.

The group taking credit for the attacks is called the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters. They claim it as retaliation for the anti-Islam video that made it to YouTube a few months ago. Officials aren’t buying it.

Iran Has Likely Hacked Your Bank is a post from: The Inquisitr

Commentary | After glancing at a recent New York Times opinion page, readers might be seriously tempted to wonder ifthe editors have taken leave of their senses? The year end op-ed by Georgetown University Professor of Constitutional Law, Louis Michael Seidman, titled “Let’s Give Up on the Constitution” has many political commentators openly accusing The Times and Seidman of advocating for tyranny and a dictatorship.

The NY Times may be motivated by their unending frustration over the simple reality that despite the desires of the Old Gray Lady’s notoriously liberal editors and reporters, President Obama is not going to get his way every time he makes a demand. However by giving this drivel a place of prominence on the opinion page, the paper is treading on dangerous ground by sanctioning this nonsense.

The author of the Op-Ed trotted out the usual boring litany of attacks on the Republican Party and the founding fathers as a basis for his arguments. Seidman begins by bashing the Republican Representatives who refused to bow down to the wishes of the President on the debt ceiling. Instead of having the good sense to realize that 16 trillion dollars of debt is destroying our nation, he blames the opposition for all that ails the economy:

“Why should a lame-duck House, 27 members of which were defeated for re-election, have a stranglehold on our economy?”

It seems our all knowing legal wizard would rather the Republican members of the House ignore their sacred constitutional oath to represent the will of the voters and simply obey the President. Perhaps Mr. Seidman thinks doing what your are told is the foundation of a free society but most of use would call it fascism. Someone should tell the professor that blaming the Republicans for everything is getting as tiresome as blaming Bush.

Then its on the those awful, evil old white men who had the nerve to give us the best and most noble nation on this planet, along with a Constitution that puts all other forms of government to shame. He contemptuously refers to the founders as follows:

“A group of white propertied men who have been dead for two centuries, knew nothing of our present situation, acted illegally under existing law and thought it was fine to own slaves…”

Instead, we are advised to ignore the lessons of history, abandon our founding principals and take it on trust:

“This is not to say that we should disobey all constitutional commands. Freedom of speech and religion, equal protection of the laws and protections against governmental deprivation of life, liberty or property are important, whether or not they are in the Constitution. We should continue to follow those requirements out of respect, not obligation.

We might ask the good Professor what sort of respect Richard Nixon would have shown to the nation were it not for our Constitution? Without a Constitution, how would we have forced an out of control, deeply paranoid and law breaking President to resign?

Seidman’s madness only becomes more astounding as he continues, frantically chewing up one Constitutional concept after another. He wants us to believe we can count on our lawmakers to adhere to the principals of a free society without a Constitution to keep them in check:

“Nor should we have a debate about, for instance, how long the president’s term should last or whether Congress should consist of two houses. Some matters are better left settled, even if not in exactly the way we favor. Nor, finally, should we have an all-powerful president free to do whatever he wants. Even without constitutional fealty, the president would still be checked by Congress and by the states. There is even something to be said for an elite body like the Supreme Court with the power to impose its views of political morality on the country.”

The professor claims to have faith in the Supreme Court, but I seriously wonder if he would ask the nine justices to “impose their views of political morality on the country” if they had ruled Obamacare to be unconstitutional. Is his love for the court based on anything more than the likelihood there will be a 5 to 4 liberal tilt before the end of the Obama Presidency?

Americans have witnessed more than enough of the myriad ways that power will corrupt even the best of us to put our nation at risk in the mindlessly irresponsible manner that Professor Seidman is suggesting. Matters are settled because they are written down in plain black and white in our founding legal document, not because we have an endless procession of leaders who believe in freedom. How many more freedom crushing Executive Orders would be written were it not for the existence of our Constitution?

No, Professor, I won’t abandon my nations founding document and trust the President to only serve two terms or act responsibly when he or she is unable to have their way with Congress. No, I won’t trust the Executive Branch to restrain itself from trespassing the reasonable restraints on its power. No, I won’t trust the Legislative Branch to respect the decisions of the Supreme Court without a Constitution in place to clearly define the responsibilities of each branch of government.

Nor will I trust the Federal Government to respect my right to Free Speech or legal consul or any of the freedoms afforded to every American citizen under our Constitution. I know the evil that men and women are capable of doing when they are unrestrained and asking us to abandon the Constitution and have faith in human nature is asking the American people to play Russian Roulette with six live rounds in six chambers of a revolver.

I prefer the Constitution and the process of amendment to bring the original document up to date. I refuse to blame the failures of our government on the founding fathers or the Constitution. Let’s place the blame squarely where it belongs. On the partisan politics of elected officials who chose to deliberately shirk their responsibility to represent the will of their constituents and ignore their oath of office.

Our nation has stopped functioning because many elected officials are more concerned about staying in power than improving the lives of each and every citizen. Washington is littered with individuals who make a conscious choice to become the political elite; a new class of modern American nobility who dine regularly with lobbyists and leave government as wealthy men and women. How many more legal exemptions from the insider trading laws will it take before we realize that our so-called leaders are using their office as a personal piggy bank with total disregard for the founding principals of our nation?

The recent debacle over the so called Fiscal Cliff had nothing to do with the Constitution, my dear Professor Seidman. America and the world watched the Republicans and the Democrats exploit a manufactured crisis in a deliberate attempt to make the other side look bad in the eyes of the voters. We witnessed months of the Legislative and Executive branch acting like playground bullies to enhance their own position when every single one of them knows we need to stop spending money we don’t have and reduce the deficit.

Isn’t it strange the United States manged to survive, struggle and become the most powerful and free nation on earth because we have a Constitution that establishes sensible limits on the role of government in our lives. It was only when government began to expand without restraint, spend more than it took in and impose itself on every aspect of our existence in a manner contrary to the Constitution that our system began to break down.

Frankly, the last thing I would ever do is abandon the Constitution and trust the greedy vultures in Washington with my future and my liberty. I’d sooner play on a freeway in rush hour traffic with a blindfold or listen to another cranky progressive professor who wants to get rid of the Constitution because he is annoyed that the opposition won’t rubber stamp everything the President demands.

Professor Seidman concludes his tirade with this gem, equating the Constitution with slavery:

“But before abandoning our heritage of self-government, we ought to try extricating ourselves from constitutional bondage so that we can give real freedom a chance.”

Well sir, I must inform you, America is a Constitutional Republic and that suits me fine. As far as giving real freedom a chance, that will come when our leaders stop invading other independent nations without Congressional approval (Libya anyone), allowing a private bank to print our money or granting the President the unrestrained power to kill or imprison Americans without trial or legal representation under the NDAA. I shudder to think what may happen to this great nation, as more “freedom lovers” like the professor try to take a sledge hammer to the Constitution.

‘Constitution Should Be Abandoned’ Says Georgetown University Law Professor is a post from: The Inquisitr

Only the United Nations would have the nerve to appoint Alfred de Zayas to be the Human Rights Council’s “Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.” The HRC, famous for passing hundreds of resolutions denouncing Israel while ignoring genocide elsewhere, includes Bangladesh, China, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Turkey, all notorious human rights violators.

Dr. Alfred de Zayas built his career on a combination of slandering the Bible, trivializing the Jewish people, denouncing the Allies in World War II for war crimes against the Germans, and demanding Israel be expelled from the United Nations. He accused Churchill and Roosevelt of genocide against the Germans and constantly refers to world leaders he dislikes as “Pharisees,” a Biblical tern often used by those who accuse the Jewish people of killing Christ.

The Human Rights Council has a history of members who engage in antisemitic activities. In 2011, US academic Richard Falk, a UN Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council, published a cartoon of a dog wearing a Kippah (the head covering worn by Jewish Men) adorned with a Star of David. The dog is depicted urinating on a blindfolded woman holding the scales of justice while feasting on human remains.

Falk, who is Jewish, is also a 9/11 truther, and he has been reprimanded by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on several occasions for his antisemitic comments and for accusing the US of responsibility for blowing up the World Trade Center.

Yet, it is business as usual on the UNHRC. Falk still has his job, Alfred de Zayas is being appointed, and the endless resolutions against Israel continue. Boko Haram in Nigeria is ignored along with the oppression of 10 million Copts in Egypt and the Islamist genocide in Africa. Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers continue to arm rebels, seize private property, close down the free press, imprison opponents, and destabilize Latin America and South America without a word from the Human Rights Council.

The UN Human Rights commission is a tool in the hands of tyrants, used as a hammer to pound the United States and Israel while largely ignoring the horrors that plague our planet. Recently, Saudi Arabia, a member of the Human Rights commission, decapitated a woman in a public square with a sword for witchcraft.

Here is a small sample of the pronouncements of Alfred de Zayas:

“Moses had such a rough time bringing the Jewish people across the Red Sea because half of them were busy picking up pretty shells.” (Source)

“Churchill and Roosevelt connived at ‘a form of genocide’ against the Germans.”

“The World War II Allies who fought Nazi Germany should have been prosecuted for ‘barbarous’ and ‘gruesome’ crimes; the Nuremberg Court that judged Nazi war criminals had ‘hardly any legitimacy.’ ”

“Nuremberg was an exercise in hypocrisy. A continuation of hate and war … a corruption of legal norms and procedures, a pollution of philosophy, a truly Pharisee tribunal.” (Source)

“Israel emerged out of terrorism against the indigenous population and its representatives should be denied U.N. accreditation.” (Source)

” America bears “responsibility for the destabilization of … countries in the Middle East.”

“George W. Bush and Tony Blair too are Pharisees.” (Source)

“The Old Testament is characterized by ‘cruelty’ and ‘profound unreligiousity,’ its patriarchs ‘equipped with divine legitimacy and justification to take our promised Lebensraum by force.’ ” (Source)

UN Watch — a respected Geneva-based, United Nations-accredited NGO –is leading the opposition to Dr. de Zayas. UN Watch is highly critical of the conduct the Human Rights Council, and they are demanding the General Assembly withdraw the appointment of Alfred de Zayas. They urge the United States to take all possible steps to block yet another extremist from holding a position of power in the United Nations and put an end to the fraud of the HRC.

“To undo this wrong, tomorrow U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice should lead the world’s democracies in calling for a vote on the omnibus resolution—which includes the appointment of Zayas—and vote No.”

UN General Assembly To Appoint Hero Of Holocaust Deniers, Alfred de Zayas, To Human Rights Commission is a post from: The Inquisitr

Psy of “Gangnam Style” fame allegedly just bought a $1.25 million condo in Los Angeles. The YouTube sensation is now the proud owner of a 2,700-square foot home in the famous Blair House, according to TMZ. Long before Psy became popular with thousands of high school and college students in the United States, the South Korean dancer appeared in a video which uttered lyrics about killing Americans.

The “Gangnam Style” performer allegedly paid for his lush digs on the 29th floor entirely in cash. The massive money transfer from South Korea likely did not put too much of a dent in Psy’s bank roll if reports of his $7.9 million net worth are accurate.

Psy supposedly wanted to keep his Blair House condo purchase on the hush hush, but, as with all celebrity real estate purchases, the alleged details ultimately leaked. The dancer was reportedly flanked by security at all times during the Los Angeles condo purchase. The two-bedroom home supposedly boasts luxurious décor, but the “Gangnam Style” entertainer allegedly plans on redecorating his new home anyway.

Considering that Psy is not a legal resident of the United States, it is unclear how much time he will actually be spending at his new Blair House home. President Barack Obama and Psy shook hands during a recent Christmas concert in Washington after the controversy about the performer rapped violent lyrics about America, ABC News notes.

During the 2004 video, Psy had this to say about United States soldiers fighting the war in Iraq:

“Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives, kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law, and fathers. Kill them all slowly and painfully.”

The South Korean rapper apologized about the remarks he made before raking in a remarkable amount of money from the American youth who watched his “Gangnam Style” video on YouTube. His new views about American military members allegedly includes an understanding of the sacrifices they make to protect democracy and freedom.

‘Gangnam Style’ Rapper Psy Allegedly Bought A Condo In Los Angeles is a post from: The Inquisitr

Russia is threatening to ban adoptions to the US in retaliation against the Magnitsky Act.

ABC News reports that members of the ruling United Russia party had promised a harsh response to human rights sanctions signed into law by President Obama. This week found lawmakers in the lower house of parliament threatening to introduce a bill amendment that would apply a ban on the adoption of all Russian children to United States citizens.

Russian officials had previously indicated that their response to the Magnitsky Act would be to issue corresponding sanctions on US officials. The threat escalated last week when they suggested widening the list to add American parents accused of abusing adopted Russian children and judges who insufficiently punish them.

Monday saw the implied inclusion of the country’s adoption ban and the possible closing of political non-government organizations that receive funding from the United States.

An article by Bloomberg writes that Russia’s proposed sanctions would also feature planned travel and investment bans on Americans who “commit crimes against Russian citizens or violate their human rights.” Parliament is scheduled to discuss the bill this week.

According to PressTV, the bill has been unofficially named the “Dima Yakovlev Bill” after a Russian toddler. In 2008, Yakovlev died of heat stroke after allegedly being left in a hot car by his American adoptive father. A court later cleared the father of involuntary manslaughter charges.

The Magnitsky Act is named for lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Arrested after coming forward with evidence of widespread government fraud, Magnitsky showed signs of abuse at the time 2009 death in prison.

What do you think of Russia’s threat to ban US adoptions?

Russia May Ban US Adoptions is a post from: The Inquisitr

Russia has announced it will not accept meat shipments from the United States any longer, says Pravda.ru.

The banning originated from the presence of ractopamine drug in said shipments, a food additive known for reducing fat content in beef and pork. The drug is said to turn fat into muscle in livestock.

The United States claims said the Federal Agency for Agricultural Control banning is Russia’s response to the Magnitsky Act by the Senate and spouts accusations that Russia is in violation of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Codex Alimentarius of the World Health Organization, adopted by representatives of 186 countries in Rome in July 2012 allows ractopamine food additives in meat. Research states that ractopamine affects the human cardiovascular system and may potentially cause food poisoning.

Russia isn’t banning the delivery of said meat formally, but the drug itself is banned, and only a small number of countries including Canada and United States have been notified. Twenty countries where the drug is used have not been notified. However, none of the countries warned have the appropriate expertise, as none of said expertise has been needed before.

Russia is the fourth largest importer of U.S. meat and spends about $500 million a year on it. Russia consumes a small but significant percent of all beef and pork produced in the United States.

USMEF, a non-profit trade association, says more than 210 shipping containers of pork and beef from the U.S. valued at about $20 million were on their way to Russia, according to MSNBC.

This has more than just local ramifications, as Russia’s economy depends on imported meat from the United States. The United States claims this to be a political move.

Rich Nelson, chief strategist of Allendale Inc, said:

“This seems to be in retaliation to the Senate’s passage of the trade bill with Russia … there is certainly no doubt about it.”

Victor Supyan added:

“One can speculate about whether it was done in retaliation or not, but the measure was based on the content of some additives in meat that are contrary to Russian sanitary standards.”

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich responded to accusations:

“All WTO members break these rules. This is normal.”

The United States hopes the ban will be lifted in the near future, and Russia sees no violation in its actions.

Russia Banning Shipment Of United States Meat Supplies is a post from: The Inquisitr

WASHINGTON – In November, the United States’ economy added 146,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent.

This is the lowest unemployment rate since December 2008.

However, according to The Tennessean, the fall in unemployment was largely due to the fact that more Americans quit looking for work and were not counted as unemployed.

The Labor Department’s report painted a mixed picture of the economy on Friday.

Even though employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than it initially estimated, hiring did remain steady during super-storm Sandy.

In November, the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low. It fell from 7.9 percent in October to 7.7 percent.

Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said that the report “is something of a mixed bag but, on balance, it’s positive.”

The government noted that as long as employees worked at least one day during a pay period, it’s survey would have counted them as employed.

Super-storm Sandy did leave a mark on economic activity though. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work — the most for any month in nearly two years. These workers were still counted as employed.

Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That’s a modest pickup from 146,000 average in the first six months of the year.

The recent job growth implies that most employers have yet to delay hiring because of the “fiscal cliff.” The “fiscal cliff” is the combination of sharp tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect next year unless the White House and Congress reach a budget deal before then.

In November, retailers added 53,000 jobs, temporary services companies added 18,000 jobs, and education and health care also gained 18,000 jobs.

Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs; but overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000.

The U.S. grew at a 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter.

America’s Economy Added 146,000 Jobs & Decreased Unemployement In November is a post from: The Inquisitr

December 7 is perhaps the single most solemn date on each and every American citizen’s calender. As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt so eloquently stated, it is a date that will truly live in infamy. Seventy one years ago, on December 7, 1941, the nation of Japan launched a surprise attack on the American military base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and killed 2402 Americans. All eight of the US Navy’s battleships were sunk or heavily damaged, three cruisers went to the bottom, three destroyers disappeared beneath the waves, and 188 aircraft were destroyed.

As great as the impact of the attack on Pearl Harbor was on the United States Armed Forces, the impact on the American people was far greater. The nation was still in the throes of the isolationist mood that prevailed after World War One, and the long suffering citizens of our great country were still trying to recover fully from the nightmare of the Great Depression.

The last thing Americans wanted or expected was to become involved in World War Two. Before the guns were finally silenced in 1945, 16,596,639 Americans served in the military to defeat the Nazis in Europe and Hirohito’s Japanese Imperial Forces in the Pacific. 416,837 loyal Americans were killed, 683,846 Americans were maimed or wounded, and 130,000 of our brave citizens, including many civilians, became prisoners of war.

When the surrender document was signed on September 2, 1945 by humiliated Japanese foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, acting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and General Yoshijirō Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff, acting on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, two atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and our beautiful planet was changed forever.

Today, there is a new generation and sadly, many of them have no idea what happened in Pearl Harbor on that quiet December morning. Kids will be happy to tell you the name of their favorite rapper or recite the lyrics of every song by Lady Gaga, but, if you show them a picture of the Arizona Memorial, it will probably have no significance what so ever. If you tell most youngsters that 353 Japanese fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes launched from six aircraft carriers and attacked Pearl Harbor, they might even think you are talking about a new video game.

While many of the youngest generation are yet to learn of the tragedy of Pearl Harbor, many of the Greatest Generation have gone on to meet their maker, resting in lonely graves dotted across our country. The last veterans of World War Two still with us are in their 80s and 90s now. For the few who return to Pearl Harbor to commemorate this day, the spring is gone from their step. Where once they ran like the wind to avoid the falling bombs or strained mighty sinews against steel in the fight to save their ship and their mates, they walk slowly on unsteady legs or sit in a wheel chair pushed by another aging comrade from days gone by.

Yes, time is a cruel master, and soon the brave men of Pearl Harbor will all be gone. We owe it to them and to ourselves to teach our children the meaning of that terrible morning of December 7, 1941 when the cry of Tora ! Tora! Tora! rang out, wave after wave of Japanese Zeros dove from the sun, and the mighty American fleet erupted into a burning fireball of death and destruction.

To commemorate this day and help our younger readers discover the speech that became America’s Declaration of War, we share with you the full text of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s immortal address to the American people:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And, while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has therefore undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Attack On Pearl Harbor: A Date That Will Live In Infamy, History, And Our Hearts is a post from: The Inquisitr

According to NBC News, President Barack Obama recently warned Syrian President Bashar Assad that the use of chemical weapons by the regime would be “totally unacceptable.”

Obama said:

“The world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons there will be consequences and you will be held accountable.”

U.S. officials told NBC News that the Syrian regime had ordered Syria’s military chemical corp to “be prepared.”

U.S. officials stressed that the directive was not an order to use chemical weapons. They also said that it did not come from Assad directly. However, that order and a considerable increase in activity around Syria’s chemical weapons sites have raised serious concerns.

Syrian state television reported that the Syrian Foreign Ministry denied that the country had any plans to use chemical weapons, no matter the circumstances.

The U.S. officials said the fear is that Syrians are at least preparing to mix the precursor chemicals for sarin nerve gas that could be used in artillery shells. That is only a fear right now, there is no evidence of that actually happening though.

Once the precursors are mixed, the sarin produced has a relatively short shelf life. In artillery shells, the precursors are packed separately inside the shells and “mixed” immediately before or shortly after the shells are fired.

Despite Obama’s warning that if Syria uses chemical weapons, “there will be consequences,” U.S. military forces have not been put on alert or given warning orders to prepare for any possible military action against Syria.

They have not been given any orders because, according to a senior U.S. official, there are “plenty of assets in the region which could respond quickly.”

Earlier, the State Department said that the “use or proliferation of chemical weapons” in Syria is a red line for the United States and would result in the administration’s taking “necessary steps or actions.”

Spokesman Mark Toner said:

“We are concerned about any move that might signal that they are somehow ready to use those chemical weapons on their own people.”

When asked if the chemical weapon stockpiles are secure, Toner said that the United States is monitoring them, but “it is hard to say, in Syria today, that any stockpile of weapons is secure.”

A senior State Department official said that the U.S. is talking to the rebels fighting against the Assad regime about how they should secure chemical weapons that may come into their possession.

A senior U.S. defense official said Monday that the United States and allied intelligence have detected Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said that “the world is watching” Assad and said he’ll be held accountable for his actions. Carney declined to say what exactly the U.S. contingency plans involve.

Obama Warns Syria’s Assad That Use Of Chemical Weapons Would Be ‘Totally Unacceptable’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

For the U.S. drones Iran is now claiming that United States was spying on Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf off of Iran’s shores. Iran’s oil tankers on Kharg Island handle most of Iran’s crude oil exports and thus the U.S drone was targeted by US-25′s because the U.S. drone was purportedly violating Iran’s airspace. Washington is claiming otherwise, saying that the Iranian warplanes opened fire–missing–over international waters.

“The drone was flying near Kharg Island and our understanding is that … it was gathering economic information and intelligence on Kharg Island and oil tankers (in the area),” Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted as saying by CNBC. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has some red lines that the Americans should understand and respect. If this is repeated, we will definitely react.”

At the center of the dispute is Iran’s nuclear energy research program, which has earned Iran sanctions by the United States, the European Union, and other political bodies. It is widely believed by intelligence organizations that Iran is using its nuclear energy research to develop nuclear weapons.

If diplomacy talks fail, the United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran, although there is a lack of agreement on how this should take place. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was publicly snubbed by Obama back in September, with the Obama administration going so far as to claim a meeting had never been scheduled. Netanyahu went on the road saying otherwise to the US public via talk shows. He also supported Mitt Romney, who he is supposedly friends with, which further alienated the Obama administration. But now that Obama won re-election Netanyahu is reportedly trying to repair Israel’s relationship with Obama.

Mr. Netanyahu previously had this to say about the urgency of forming a solid plan:

“[Iran is] six months away from being about 90 percent of having the rich uranium for an atom bomb. I think that you have to place that red line before them now, before it’s too late.”

The U.S. drones Iran attack and allegations of spying on oil tankers only served to heighten the tensions. Let us hope our world leaders can put aside political posturing long enough to get the job done.

Iran Claims US Drones Were Spying On Oil Tankers is a post from: The Inquisitr

After being swept aside in the tumult over the campaign and the President’s victory in the election, disturbing news emerged Thursday concerning the increasing tensions between the United States and Iran. Responding to a question from a CNN reporter, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little admitted that two Iranian SU-25 fighter jets opened fire on an unarmed US Predator drone in international airspace on November 1, 2012.

“Our aircraft was never in Iranian airspace. It was always flying in international air space. The recognized limit is 12 nautical miles off the coast and we never entered the 12 nautical mile limit.”

The United States has registered a strong protest with the Iranian government over the incident. Iran remains defiant, saying her Air Force will continue to defend Iranian airspace with lethal force. Even critics of the President joined the fray, claiming Mr.Obama deliberately withheld any announcement of the attack until after the election to avoid exposing the failure of his foreign policy.

The Iranian fighters fired on the drone over the Persian Gulf and then pursued it when the Predator’s remote operator attempted to evade their attack. American military intelligence analysts have not determined if the Iranian pilots lacked the skill to damage the drone or whether they were simply bluffing in an attempt to provoke a violent response from the United States.

Iran’s aggressive behavior is causing great concern for the Obama Administration, according to senior officials who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the incident. The attack on the drone coincides with last Friday’s massive demonstrations in Iran to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the takeover of the United States Embassy. Several speakers denounced the rumors of renewed talks on Iran’s nuclear program, including General Mohammad Reza Naghdi, head of the Revolutionary Guard, who told the crowd:

“Today we commemorate the conquering of the castle of Satan! Hear me now, we condemn all sorts of secret talks!”

Only hours after Obama was re-elected, the head of the Iranian judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, delivered a blistering condemnation of US sanctions and warned the President his victory would not lead to a resumption of the stalled negotiations. Larijani trumpeted the Ayatollah’s party line and made it clear Iran remains determined to challenge the United States every step of the way:

“After all this pressure and crimes against the people of Iran, relations with America cannot be possible overnight and Americans should not think they can hold our nation to ransom by coming to the negotiating table.”

Obama pledged to do everything in his power to prevent Iran from acting on her repeated threats to blow Israel off the face of the earth or nuking one of the oil rich Arab kingdoms in an attempt to start a bloodbath between Shia and Sunni Muslims. In addition to destabilizing the entire Middle East by developing nuclear weapons, Iran might conduct a proxy war by giving an atomic device, or radioactive materials for a dirty bomb, to one of the many terrorist groups the country supports and finances.

Further compounding the situation, much of the world’s oil supply passes through the shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf and Iran has repeatedly threatened to close down the highly vulnerable Strait of Hormuz to stop the tankers from reaching their destinations. The impact on the world economy would be catastrophic; especially considering the current financial crisis facing much of the developed world.

In an attempt to back up the rhetoric and show the world how easy it would be to shut down the flow of oil, Iran conducted several well advertised naval exercises in the Gulf during the last few months. The United States responded by bringing in the USS John C. Stennis and the USS Abraham Lincoln. The two giant American aircraft carriers steamed through the Strait of Hormuz with warplanes at the ready and guns bristling. Clearly, tensions are high and both sides are committed to playing a very dangerous game of cat and mouse. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and the United States will not be drawn into another endless foreign war.

Iranian Jets Attack US Predator Drone In International Airspace [Update] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Puerto Rico could soon become the 51st state of the United States.

Puerto Ricans voted in favor of statehood last night in a non-binding referendum. The vote still needs to be approved by Congress, but President Obama has already said that he would support statehood for Puerto Rico.

According to the BBC, voters in Puerto Rico were asked two questions in relation to statehood. Nearly 54 percent of voters said that they wanted to change the island’s 114-year relationship with the United States. The second question gave voters three options to describe that relationship: statehood, sovereign free association, or independence. More than 60 percent voted for statehood, while 33 percent voted for sovereign free association and 5 percent voted for independence.

A young voter told the Nevada Appeal:

“Puerto Rico has to be a state. There is no other option … We’re doing OK, but we could do better. We would receive more benefits, a lot more financial help.”

The Washington Post notes that, if Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state, then Puerto Ricans will earn the right to vote in Presidential elections. They will also, however, have to pay federal taxes.

Any change between the United States and Puerto Rico will require the approval of congress. The BBC notes, however, that Congress has never denied a territory’s request for statehood.

Hawaii was the last state to join the United States. Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959.

Do you think Puerto Rico should become a state?

Puerto Rico Votes To Become 51st State is a post from: The Inquisitr

Jeff Clark is a financial analyst who decided to think about what would happen if the US Federal Government’s tax system worked similarly to Mickey Mouse’s current ticketing system for Disney World. After all, forty years ago the two were more comparable since Disney World used to have a “progressive” ticket structure. This meant that different rides cost different amounts based upon the “thrill” of the ride.

Jeff Clark wonders what would happen if we all paid the same price for our “admission tickets” to living in America. After all, Disney World eventually changed its system to a flat rate plan and found that to be immensely more profitable. Mr. Clark managed to interview a Disney employee in the shareholder services department that he calls “Snow White” in order to keep her anonymous:

Me: Why doesn’t Disney charge different admission prices based on the income level of the people visiting its theme parks?

Snow White: Um… because that’s a stupid idea.

Me: Are you saying the tax policy of the United States of America is stupid?

Snow White: Alright… if you’re asking this as a serious question, maybe “stupid” is too strong a word.

At Disney, we charge everyone the same admission rate because once inside the park, everyone has equal access to all the rides and attractions. We do have discount tickets for young children since they may not be permitted on some of the rides because of safety concerns. And we do offer a small discount to organizations that purchase a large number of tickets all at once. For the most part, though, everyone pays the same price to enjoy our parks.

Me: OK. Everyone pays the same because everyone has the same opportunity. But let’s say someone has an unfair advantage to the rides, would he have to pay more?

Snow White: There are no unfair advantages at Disney.

Me: Oh, sure there are. For example, my favorite ride is the Indiana Jones Adventure – which is located all the way over at the north side of the park. If I enter the park from the south side, I don’t have the same opportunity to ride the ride as someone who enters from the north. He should have to pay more.

Snow White: Well… no… You can always just enjoy the rides that are closer to where you enter the park. Or you can walk over to the north side to ride Indiana Jones Adventure.

Me: But he’s closer… And that’s an advantage.

Snow White: Walk faster.

Me: Never mind… Can you tell me how you decide what to charge for admission?

Snow White: Yes. Admission prices are set to ensure a good value for the consumer, enable us to keep the park in excellent condition, allow us to pay our employees a competitive rate, and provide a reasonable return to our shareholders.

Me: But what if I can’t afford your admission price? Can you just charge some rich guy in line in front of me for two tickets and then just give one to me?

Snow White: That’s not really a serious question, is it? Of course, we couldn’t do that.

Me: But what if I’m out of work? Or if I just spent my extra money on a new set of headphones? Or if there are just other things I need to pay for first, and I don’t have the money for a ticket to Disneyland? What am I supposed to do then?

Snow White: Well… I guess like anything else you might want out of life, you’re going to have to work hard and save for it.

Me: Thank you for your time, Snow White.

Snow White: You’re welcome… I think.

The US Government currently has a progressive tax plan, where the top 10 percent earners of the population pay 70 percent of the income tax revenues. Next year in 2013 the U.S. Federal government plans to spend a total of $3.8 trillion, with about a third of that being overspending known as the deficit. The current tax code is extremely convoluted and the IRS requires $12.8 billion to operate. Some taxes cost more to collect than they bring in.

Politicians love the complexity of the tax code. This complexity is why politicians often talk about “paying for a tax cut.” By that they really mean, “Who do we shift the tax burden toward so our overall revenue does not go down?” The original 1040 form was only three pages long in 1913 according to CBSNews.com, with one page being instructions. Why can’t it be made simpler again?

The US has a 315 million population with individual taxes representing 82 percent of the budget according to taxpolicycenter.org. Currently, 46.4 percent of households do not pay federal income taxes, with 18.1 percent not paying any income or payroll taxes. (This is where Romney derived his 47 percent comment.) So that means each person would be required to pay roughly $9,889.20 to stay here if the cost was spread completely evenly (which no politician is suggesting, as far as I’m aware). A family of four would be expected to pay in taxes an obscene amount of just over $39,500. And that’s BEFORE state taxes!

Ron Paul has been one of the biggest long-time proponents of the flat tax. More recently, Herman Cain proposed his 999 plan which combined aspects of Flat Tax, Fair Tax, and VAT tax plans. While certainly bold, the 999 plan was only good as a starting point for discussion since analysts found it suffered from serious flaws according to FreedomWorks.org. Proponents argue that such plans would bring jobs back and raise incomes, so all income groups would be better off because of the added jobs. Either way, such plans would have to be reworked and tweaked in order to ensure the poor and low income earners would not be adversely hurt by the transition period during such a large change to the Federal tax code.

Jeff Clark ends his essay by suggesting the US Federal Government try only spending as much money as it earns. A simple plan like that works for the rest of us, so why not for the government?

Mickey Mouse Tax Plan To Save America [Commentary] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Nepalese blood-drinking festival seems creepily apt for Halloween, but in reality it is a festival in which Buddhists reflect on eating meat.

In Nepal, Buddhists drink the blood of yaks for their annual festival. The shaggy-haired creatures are related to the American equivalent of cattle, but instead the Nepalese animal grazes in the Himalayas.

Blood-drinking in Nepal is particularly common because yak blood is thought to have medicinal properties and plenty of other healthful benefits, NPRreports.

Once or twice a year, villagers trek to where the yaks roam in the Himalayas. After camping for about a week, villagers find a yak, then carefully slit their necks waiting for the blood to drip, they then collect it to drink it while it is still hot.

Then, the animals are set free. Once they are let free, the yaks simply run away, most of the time.

Groups of villagers trek together to camp at incredibly high altitudes, usually around 4,000 meters above sea level. The campsite turns into a bit of a party scene, says anthropologist Mark Turin in the Yale Himalaya Initiative.

Turin has attended a number of Nepalese blood-drinking festivals in which about 70 people will attend. He has spent decades studying the land and nature of Nepal and the Nepalese culture.

Besides the celebratory aspects of the blood-drinking festivals, an unspoken motivation behind the trek is the possibility of yak meat.

In Nepal, the diet of the typical Nepalese consists primarily of rice, vegetables, and lentils. Even where the festivals prevail, meat is a rarity in rural areas, Turin said. Buddhists are not allowed to kill for meat, but if perchance an animal dies by accident, they can eat the meat.

Sometimes over-bleeding is a common occurrence in Nepal’s blood-drinking festivals.

Nepalese Blood-Drinking Festivals is a post from: The Inquisitr

Colombia’s notorious drug lord, Henry de Jesus Lopez, was arrested in a suburb of Buenos Aires, after a months-long chase led by Colombian police through South America.

The Colombian drug lord known as Mi Sangre, or My Blood, is thought to be the leader of the Urabenos gang, which dictates much of the drug trade in northern Colombia, BBCreports.

Lopez posed as a Venezuelan businessman and carried fake passports from five different countries. He is thought to have shipped tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States, via Central America, the Associated Pressreports.

The Colombian drug lord went through the ranks of right-wing paramilitary group which was also involved in highly organized drug trafficking organizations, General Jose Roberto Leon, the national police director in Bogota said.

Lopez is thought to be responsible for hundreds of deaths and is considered extremely dangerous.

Colombian authorities and DEA agents have joined forces and are systematically capturing a number of the country’s drug lords abroad, going down the chain of command through organized crime rings.

According to US law enforcement, Lopez was the last of the drug lords from the top tier to capture.

About a year ago, Lopez arrived in Argentina with his wife and child. They settled into a house in the wealthy community Nordelta.

But the family did not stay there long and instead moved from house to house, under different names with at least eight bodyguards accompanying them at all times.

A group of Colombian judicial police who were staying in Argentina, aided by US Drug Enforcement Administration, and a small group of Argentine officials finally caught up with Lopez. A Colombian informant was key to Lopez’s arrest and received a $660,000 reward and is being protected.

Investigations continue because it is believed that while Lopez was in Argentina, he was smuggling drugs into and out of the country.

If Lopez is expelled from Argentina to Colombia, he would then be extradited to the United States, where scores of Colombian drug lords are housed.

Colombia Drug Lord Captured In Argentina is a post from: The Inquisitr

President Obama, accompanied with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie surveyed Storm Sandy’s wreckage in Atlantic City, on Wednesday.

President Obama surveyed a city which was hit particularly hard by the storm, leaving millions of residents without power and their homes flooded. Governor Christie anticipates the destruction’s toll will be billions of dollars, The Wall Street Journalreports.

Days before the election, the president has put his campaign on hold in order to direct his attention and federal response to the storm’s devastation. More than six million businesses and homes are without power in the northeast of the United States and at least 50 people have died from the storm, BBCreports.

President Obama has not traveled to New York to survey the damages because the White House thought it wasn’t suitable for him to go because of the damages. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed.

However, Mitt Romney has made no plans whatsoever to travel to the devastated regions in order to survey the damages. He spoke at a rally in Tampa Bay, Florida, which he called a “storm relief event”:

“I will bring real change and real reform and a presidency that brings us together. Now, I don’t just talk about change; I actually have a plan to execute change and to make it happen.”

Republican Governor Chris Christie has been a longtime supporter of Romney and an outspoken critic of Obama, but in regards to Obama’s response to the storm, Christie has praised President Obama for his leadership during the storm:

“The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit … I’ve got a job to do here in New Jersey that’s much bigger than presidential politics, and I could care less about any of that stuff. I have a job to do. I’ve got 2.4 million people out of power. I’ve got devastation on the Shore. I’ve got floods in the northern part of my state. If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me.”

Mitt Romney was questioned yesterday by numerous reporters concerning statements he made last year during a GOP presidential debate in which he said Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding should be cut.

Romney responded to a question about disaster relief spending and said it too should be cut and that it was jeopardizing the future, during last year’s debate. Yesterday, he did not answer any reporters when asked what he would do during a natural disaster if he were president and did not have FEMA to help.

But yesterday, even before President Obama went to New Jersey to survey the damage, Governor Christie said the cooperation between FEMA, the president, and the state of New Jersey had been excellent:

“I was on the phone for the third time yesterday, last night, with the president of the United States. He called me at midnight last night as he was seeing reports. The cooperation has been great with FEMA here on the ground and the cooperation from the president of the United States has been outstanding. He deserves great credit.”

Before surveying the damages, President Obama signed “major disaster” declarations for New Jersey and New York which will appropriate money from federal resources to help rebuild after the storm.

President Obama Surveys Storm Sandy Devestation In Atlantic City is a post from: The Inquisitr

Tom Sermanni was hired as coach of the US women’s soccer team on Tuesday, replacing Pia Sundhage.

Sermanni has coached Australia’s team for the last eight years before taking the position as coach with the US women’s team, The Washington Timesreported.

In 2008, The United States Soccer Federation had interviewed Sermanni but decided to hire Sundhage to coach the national team, The New York Timesreports.

Tom Sermanni is a native of Scotland and will begin coaching the team on Januray, 1. Sermanni is known as having a calm demeanor and for being a player’s coach.

Part of Sermanni’s duties include developing women’s soccer in the United States and bringing it to the forefront of American culture.

Currently, there is no international tournament set for the US women’s team until the 2015 World Cup in Canada. There is not a women’s professional league in the United States, though in 2013 one is planned to start.

Sunil Gulati, U.S.Soccer Federation president said that Sermanni has the experience to lead the US women’s team to victory in a World Cup tournament:

“After an extensive search and interview process, we believe Tom Sermanni is the right person at the right time to lead our women’s national team. He has the knowledge, experience and vision to take on the challenge of keeping our team at the top of the world. He has a tremendous passion for the game, knows the American players, understands our system and knows the process of preparing a team for a World Cup tournament.”

Sermanni said in a statement that he is thrilled to be working with the US women’s team:

“I’m honored to have this opportunity to work with tremendous players and in a program that has had such a tradition of success. U.S. Soccer has always been at the forefront of supporting the women’s game, and it’s exciting to coach the team in this next chapter of its history. After coaching against many of these players for years, I am looking forward to working with an accomplished group of veterans while integrating the numerous talented young players who are itching for a chance to prove themselves.”

Tom Sermanni Hired As New US Women’s Coach is a post from: The Inquisitr

French lawmakers voted on Friday to completely pay for all abortions and to have contraceptives be free for minors, The Associated Press reports.

Currently, abortions are completely paid for minors and low-income women, while others are reimbursed for up to 80 percent of the cost. The national medical insurance, which is highly-privatized, pays for the cost, The Atlanticreports.

Abortions in France can cost as much as €450 ($580). Contraception is partially reimbursed under the law now.

The National Assembly passed the bill to make all abortions free and also to pay for contraception for those aged between 15 and 18:

“Women who want to stop an unwanted pregnancy have the right to be covered: The enactment of the right to choose to halt a pregnancy is an obligatory state service.”

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it will likely be passed.

Some groups argue the only hindrance to abortion access is the price. Also, the same groups say not enough doctors offer the procedure and little information is provided. Reimbursement for abortions would not exceed €450, although some health providers charge more for the procedure.

Some members of French society openly disagree with abortions, although very infrequently do such issues receive media attention.

Very few countries in Europe allow for minors to have abortions without parental consent, France being one of them. In 1988, France was the first country to introduce RU-486, which detaches an embryo from the uterine wall to terminate pregnancies.

RU-486 is different than the “morning-after pill” in the United States, which works by inhibiting ovulation or fertilization. According to medical terms, once a fertilized egg fastens to the wall of the uterus, pregnancy begins.

French Lawmakers Pass Bill To Pay For Abortions is a post from: The Inquisitr

Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy, was sentenced to a four-year prison term for tax fraud, by a court in Milan.

Berlusconi is currently on trail for charges of paying for sex with an underage prostitute as well, which he denies, The New York Timesreports.

The sentence has been lessened to a one-year prison term due to a 2006 amnesty law, designed to reduce prison overcrowding. Berlusconi says the sentence is an “intolerable judicial harassment” and he intends to appeal the ruling, in which time he will remain free.

This sentence marks the first time Berlusconi has been convicted of any business-related crimes, BBCreports. In the past, he has either been cleared of crimes or the judicial limit to prosecute has run out.

In this case, Berlusconi and others were accused of purchasing film rights from the United States at inflated prices, using two offshore companies he controlled.

Judges say that Berlusconi along with other executives from his company, Mediaset-the largest private broadcaster in Italy-had inflated program prices by using his offshore companies and then channeled the extra funds into an illegal slush fund.

In addition to Mediaset, Berlusconi has major holdings in publishing, advertising, real estate, and insurance. Over the years, he has been involved in a number of legal cases.

Berlusconi was charged with tax fraud and corruption by the lower courts in 1997 and 1998.

During a case known as the All Iberian, Berlusconi and his associates were said to have used offshore accounts in order to illegally finance the former socialist party leader, Bettino Craxi, who was known to be a political patron of Berlusconi.

Berlusconi was forced to resign from his former position as prime minister in November.

Silvio Berlusconi sentenced for tax fraud is a post from: The Inquisitr

Jacques Barzun, the celebrated historian, who worked to constitute the modern discipline of cultural history, died in San Antonio on Thursday night.

Barzun was known for his curiosity which was without limits. He was born outside of Paris and cultivated there over a century ago where he then became an avant-garde salon. Although he was fascinated with the cultural and intellectual achievements of Europe, he was compelled to explore the facets and origins of American cultural life, The New York Timesreports.

A number of books were written by his pen during a span of decades. Notably, “From Dawn to Decadence,” made him a best-selling author while he was in his 90′s, The Associated Pressreports.

“From Dawn to Decadence” surveyed 500 years of history, ending in the 20th century. Barzun wrote the work while fueled by insomnia, he said. In the book, he argues Western civilization is on the decline.

Nearly five decades of the historian’s life were spent at Columbia University as an educator, where he served as provost, university professor, and dean of faculty.

Barzun was considered to be a cultural conservative. He argued that although the people of the West had a way of life and institutions which had never existed prior, the freedom to rebel had lead to the prevalence of decadence and the unraveling of cultural fabric which was unique to the West.

After years of being surrounded by large edifices, Barzun decided more space was ideal for the later years of his life and moved to San Antonio, where he lived until his death:

“After being boxed in by man and his constructions in Europe and the East, the release into space is exhilarating…The horizon is a huge remote circle, and no hills intervene.”

Barzun is survived by his three children, ten grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Jacques Barzun, Cultural Historian Dies At 104 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Evidence of Big Foot’s existence is worth a hefty finder’s fee; Spike TV trumped Donald Trump’s offer of $5 million for President Obama’s passport and college records, and likely Spike’s request will offer a far more comical outcome.

Spike TV is pairing up with Lloyd’s of London for an untried one-hour reality television show entitled 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty. The show pretty much speaks for itself through the title: Groups of explorers will venture on a grand expedition in search of evidence for Big Foot-the elusive, bewhiskered creature who is known to wander through the forests of the Pacific Northwest-to see if the creature actually does exist.

If one of the teams does in fact find any evidence and indeed accomplishes their mission, a $10 million reward-cut by the distinguished insurers Lloyd’s of London-will be waiting, The Wrapreports.

The large cash price would mark the largest cash prize ever to be awarded in history though the likelihood of finding any evidence is not very high.

The competitors include zoologists, scientists, trackers and, well, actual big foot hunters. Casting is currently underway for the series. Any evidence that is collected will be presented to a panel of Big Foot “experts” in order to win the prize, said the Hollywood Reporter.

There will be ten episodes during the series, which will examine which methods each team takes during the search. The Big Foot series will be filmed in different mountainous areas in the United States.

The Big Foot series seems like it will be a goldmine for Spike TV as publicity it will be an easy sell. Viewers will watch competitors search for evidence, which likely won’t to be found, and a prize which, even less likely, will be attained.

Big Foot Proof Wanted, Spike TV Offers $10 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

The European Union requested the World Trade Center allow it permission to set trade sanctions worth up to $12 billion annually in retribution because the United States has not ended subsidies to aerospace company, Boeing Co., which WTO said violated international trade rules, last year.

The motion marked another section in the trade saga between the US and the EU over subsidiaries which the governments allot to their respective aircraft makers, Boeing and Airbus, The Wall Street Journalreports.

According to the WTO, both companies made gains from illegal government subsidies which gave them research grants, tax breaks and low-interest loans.

The altercation dates back to 2004, when the United States filed a case which challenged Europe’s support for Airbus, Chicago Tribunereports.

Since the initial case was filed, challenges have gone back and forth and both sides have won victories from the WTO, although both sides continue to argue about the meaning of the decisions.

In the process, the US case is ahead of the EU’s. The United States has said it could seek up to $10 billion in sanctions on the EU if it does not cut illegal government support for Airbus, owned by European aerospace group EADS .

According to a statement released by the EU on Thursday, their actions are preceded by US actions:

“Assessment that the United States had not lived up to its obligation to remove its illegal subsidies in the aircraft sector, as required by the WTO rulings that clearly condemned U.S. subsidies to Boeing.”

The $12 billion figure was “based on estimates of the damage suffered by the EU due to unfair and biased competition from the U.S. industry.”

A senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, Gary Hufbauer said it is unlikely the WTO will authorize the requested amount for either side.

EU Seeks Trade Sanctions On US For Boeing is a post from: The Inquisitr

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will try in his speech today at the United Nations to set a clear red line for Iran as the oil-rich nation continues its pursuit of nuclear technology.

Reuters points out that Israel and the US are not opposed as it pertains to Iran, with both Netanyahu and president Barrack Obama making clear that Iran should never possess a nuclear weapon. But Netanyahu and Obama have butted heads over the best way to make sure that doesn’t happen.

In his address to the UN Thursday, Netanyahu is expected to layout a plan for stopping the Iran regime from developing nuclear technology. The US, Israel and several nations are concerned Iran intendeds to use the technology to build a nuclear bomb. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims his nation only wants to develop nuclear power.

Should Iran develop the nuclear bomb, Israel would be at risk as Ahmadinejad — who sometimes claims Iran would never launch a first strike — has said in the past that the Israeli state will be eliminated.

While differences between Obama and Netanyahu exist, theJerusalem Post reports that the sides are continuing to dialogue on the issue, with the gaps between their positions narrowing.

“Netanyahu is convinced that the US and Israel can work together to reach the joint objective,” a source in Netanyahu’s entourage said.

Netanyahu has consistently pushed for Obama to set a red line, or litmus test of sorts, for when military action to stop Iran would be acceptable, but Obama hasn’t budged from suggesting further attempts at diplomacy.

Ahmadinejad said in interviews this week that Iran is not worried about an Israeli strike, but said it is prepared to defend itself if Netanyahu and Israel strikes first.

Netanyahu To Set ‘Clear Red Line’ For Iran In UN Speech is a post from: The Inquisitr

The fog of uncertainty that looms over the European and global economies are likely to slow the speed of the global recovery, managing director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde said.

Although she praised actions made by the European Central Bank, growth will still come at a very slow, incremental pace; Lagarde said:

“At the center of them we clearly see uncertainty — uncertainty about what policymakers can and will deliver on their promises.”

In July, the IMF predicted world growth just below four percent for 2013. A new forecast will be issued in a few weeks from the group’s economist. A few tenths of a percentage points are expected to be cut from the global growth prediction, NPRreports.

While speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., Lagarde applauded Central bankers, who have played a crucial role, she said. The Central banks of the United States, Japan, and the European Union have in recent weeks announced new programs which will add hundreds of billions of dollars to their weakened economies.

Lagarde believes policy signals are being sent in the right direction:

“They point the way forward and they create an opportunity to build on what has already been done, an opportunity to make a decisive turn in the crisis.”

In particular, Lagarde focused on the Eurpoean Central Bank’s boundless bond buying program, which was announced earlier this month and projected to be a changing point in the euro crisis.

Borrowing costs are designed to be lower for countries like Italy and Spain. The announcement greatly helped to calm financial markets and greatly brought down borrowing costs.

A great source of anxiety is from the fiscal cliff where policy makers in the US have left questions about massive tax and spending on January 1 unanswered. Lagarde hopes clarity will come soon; otherwise, the consequences could be drastic and felt around the world.

IMF’s Lagarde Says Pace Of Economic Recovery Remains Uncertain is a post from: The Inquisitr

CIA drone attacks have traumatized Pakistani citizens and have only minimally reduced militant activity, an academic report from New York University Law School and Stanford University indicates.

Rescuers working to treat casualties are also being wounded and killed by follow-up strikes, BBCreports.

The probes from the universities revealed that although some prominent al Qaeda and Taliban members have died from the drone strikes, so have plenty of innocent civilians in the northwest region of Pakistan, Waziristan.

Drone attacks have also killed hundreds in Afghanistan and Yemen in addition to Pakistan- resulting in foreign frustration with the US military.

The report calls to evaluate the results from the drone attacks:

“Real threats to U.S. security and to Pakistani civilians exist in the Pakistani border areas now targeted by drones. It is crucial that the U.S. be able to protect itself from terrorist threats and that the great harm caused by terrorists to Pakistani civilians be addressed. However, in light of significant evidence of harmful impacts to Pakistani civilians and to U.S. interests, current policies to address terrorism through targeted killings and drone strikes must be carefully reevaluated.”

The US government does not comment on the drone attacks, International Business Timesreports.

Rosa Brooks, a fellow at the New America Foundation, spoke with “The World”:

“As we have seen in recent weeks over the riots in Libya and elsewhere, perception can matter as much as reality. Particularly when we’re talking about a program that remains largely covert and unacknowledged, the perceptions of the program not just in Pakistan but globally, including in allied nations, can hurt us quite badly.”

Pakistani Civilians Traumatized By Drones, US Report Finds is a post from: The Inquisitr

A group of protesters gathered outside Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California at noon on September 24 to hand over a petition that demands the company leave the US Chamber of Commerce. The petition was signed by 270,00 people.

To draw interest to their campaign, the group used Google+ to poll users at the website GoogleQuitTheChamber.org. On the website, users are asked to choose the reason they believe Google should not be included in the Chamber of Commerce. After making a selection, users are asked to share their reason with friends circles.

The organization SomeOfUs feels that the US Chamber of Commerce is not serving the public interest and that big name internet company’s could hurt net neutrality, which is the right to keep the internet free for anyone to browse and publish content freely on.

The group also wants Google out of the organization because the Chamber supports the Protect IP Act (PIPA), which would allow government bodies to block websites for copyright violations without a hearing.

While Google has publicly spoken out against PIPA and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), its association with the government bodies has still drawn jeers from protesters who want the company to severe ties completely with the US agency.

A plane also flew over Google headquarters with a banner that read: “Google: Quit the Chamber.”

Google has not commented on the protest, which was peaceful and well organized.

Do you think American companies should be forced to “unwed” themselves from government bodies who ultimately determine the direction of the country?

Protesters Gather Outside Google Headquarters, Want Search Giant Out Of Chamber Of Commerce is a post from: The Inquisitr

A prominent human rights lawyer who represented agrarian peasant groups in altercations with large land owners in Honduras was killed on Sunday in the country’s capital Tegucigalpa, BBCreported.

Antonio Trejo Cabrera, 41, stepped outside a church where he was attending a wedding, on Sunday when he was fatally shot by an unknown gunman.

Practicing in the Bajo Aguan region of Honduras, a fertile farming area where brutal competition between agrarian organizations and wealthy landowners occur frequently, Trejo represented three peasant cooperatives.

The Dinant Corporation, which billionaire Miguel Facusse owns, controlled much of the area. About 12,000 acres of plantation were seized from the Dinant Corporation by thousands of workers who were once-landless, The Associated Press reports.

Trejo had publicly stated that if he were killed, it would be by Faccuse’s will.

Many times Trejo had reported to the government that he had received death threats and had requested protection from the government, Trejo’s family told The Associated Press.

“Nobody cared,” his brother, Rigoberto Trejo, 35 said.

A law enforcement adviser from the US embassy who was already involved in a special investigation unit concentrating on the practices of the Honduran police will be investigating Trejo’s murder.

The official was not able to disclose details and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Honduras, thought to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world, is riddled with assassinations of lawyers, journalist and other public officials and often most are not prosecuted. Thus far, no arrests have been made in connection with Trejo’s murder.

According to activist, police and Facusse’s company, during the last three years, more than 60 people have been killed in the Bajo Aguan Valley, The Associated Press reports.

Motions were partially prepared by Trejo which declared a proposal between the Honduran government and the US company, MGK Group in which three privately owned cities would be built as unconstitutional.

The director at the Americas director Human Rights Watch, Jose Miguel Vivanco called for quick action from the Honduran government:

“Authorities need to act swiftly to bring to justice those responsible for Trejo’s murder, and send a clear message that attacks on human rights defenders will be dealt with firmly.”

Human Rights Lawyer Killed At Honduran Wedding- US Helps With Investigation is a post from: The Inquisitr

For much time in the United States, children were expected to outlive their parents-but new studies reveal that may change as life expectancy in the US has significantly decreased in the last two decades, specifically for the least-educated whites in the country.

Studies in recent years have identified meager decreases in the US life expectancy, which conflicts with the notion that the nation’s population was gaining years in its’ lifetime expectancy, The New York Timesreports.

A new study released last month by Health Affairs revealed a sharp decline in the life expectancy for Americans without a high school diploma, especially whites.

Why such a sharp decline remains unanswered, though researchers propose factors like the increase in prescription drug overdose, obesity and the lack of health care for the least educated.

Most significant was the decline in lifetime expectancy for white women without a high school diploma, which from 1990 until 2008, lost five years of their life expectancy. White men with the same educational level lost three years, S. Jay Olshansky, lead investigator of the study and a public health professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago told The New York Times.

Such a sharp decline contends with the post-Soviet decline of seven-years in life expectancy for Russian men.

Head of the Population and Social Processes Branch of the National Institute on Aging, John G. Haaga spoke with The New York Times:

“We’re used to looking at groups and complaining that their mortality rates haven’t improved fast enough, but to actually go backward is deeply troubling.”

White women without a high school diploma can expect to live 73.5 years, compared to 83.9 years for women with at least a college degree. The least- educated white men have a life expectancy of 67.5 years, where men with a college degree or more can expect to live 80.4 years.

In international life expectancy ratings, white women fell to 41st in 2010, from 14th in 1985, in the United Nations ranking.

Life Expectancy Decreases For Least-Educated Whites is a post from: The Inquisitr

The US, partnered with Mexico, is not planning a secret invasion and hostile takeover of our northern neighbors in Canada, a State Department spokeswoman clarified during a daily press briefing.

The clarification sparked laughter among the press corps in attendance, reports NBC News. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland’s remarks were meant to address a question regarding a secretive meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mexico Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa on Tuesday. Specifically, the press was curious as to what was talked about, potentially signed, and why a ceremony involving Espinosa wasn’t open to the press.

“I think it’s an update on Merida, but I will get that for you,” Nuland said, speaking to the Merida Initiative to combat organized crime.

“This isn’t some secret thing … to invade Canada or something like that?” asked one journalist.

“No, no, no. It’s not anything classified,” Nuland responded amid laughter.

A potential invasion of Canada by the US frequently pops up as a satirical trope in pop culture in films like John Candy’s black comedy Canadian Bacon and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (which featured a song called “Blame Canada”), but the idea does have some factual basis. There was a secret plan to invade Canada crafted by the US in 1935, codenamed “War Plan Red,” which was accidentally published in part by the New York Times.

There’s even a satirical website called www.invadecanada.us which calls for a complete takeover of the True North, for reasons like “they’re just a little too proud,” and “they stole our basketball teams.”

Do you think that the US should invade or annex Canada?

US Says It’s Not Secretly Mounting Canada Invasion is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a study recently released by Musicmetric, Americans steal more music than anyone else on the planet. According to Music Week, people in the United States downloaded approximately 96.6 million illegal files over the first six months of 2012. If the bandwidth keeps flowing at this rate, Americans will have snatched nearly 200 million files in the span of one year.

Music lovers in the United Kingdom currently hold the second place position, downloading an estimated 43.2 million illegal files during the first quarter of the year. Specifically, pirates in the UK managed to snag 33 million albums and roughly 10 million singles.

Musicmetric CEO Gregory Mead explained that the study proves that blocking access to torrent sites has done nothing to curb the flow of illegal material. “For the first time, we have evidence that blocking Pirate Bay had little effect on BitTorrent downloading,” he explained. “It is also clear however, that availability of streaming services like Spotify does reduce this activity as people have greater access to music they want via legitimate means.”

Mead also believes it’s up to record labels to find a way to make money in the new digital age. “The challenge for copyright holders is to find ways to monetise music files torrented online,” he added. “The potential for converting revenue lost through file trading is not entirely a fairy tale, however it will differ with different genres and life stages of artist.”

Neil Young, who was once very angry at YouTube for not paying him royalties for the songs posted on the website, has declared music piracy to be the modern-day version of the radio.

“It doesn’t affect me because I look at the internet as the new radio,” Young explained during a recent news conference. “I look at the radio as gone. Piracy is the new radio. That’s how music gets around. That’s the radio. If you really want to hear it, let’s make it available, let them hear it, let them hear the 95 percent of it.”

Do you download music illegally through torrent sites? Do you feel that it’s up to the music industry to provide a suitable alternative?

Music Piracy: United States Tops List Of Illegal Downloaders is a post from: The Inquisitr

Egypt’s 10 million Coptic Christians have been threatened with mass extermination by Islamists in retaliation for the rumored involvement of a Copt in the making of the anti-Islamic film, “Innocence of Muslims.” The film touched off rioting throughout the Muslim world, due to claims that it insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, leading to attacks on several American Embassies, and the murder of the American Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens.

After the American flag was torn to shreds at the Cairo Embassy by the enraged mob, the crowds began to focus their anger on the Christian community. Islamist leaders and clerics have fueled their rage by telling the faithful at Friday prayers that the film was made by Copts living in America as part of a deliberate attack on the faith of Muslims. Calls have gone out for the collective punishment of all of Egypt’s Christians.

A senior military official warned that “the Coptic Christian community in Egypt now is under threat of mass slaughter from Islamists under the pretense of revenge for a movie that depicts the Quranic figure Muhammad in a negative light.”

The new ruling party in Egypt, The Muslim Brotherhood, is trying to play both ends against the middle. The Brotherhood was swept to power based on their Islamist roots and calls for the full implementation of Sharia, but they are still dependent on the United States for military assistance and a regular infusion of cash.

While President Morsi, a former leader of the Islamist organization, tries to appease angry American officials, his Brotherhood allies in the Egyptian Parliament have called for the imposition of the Jizya (tax on non-Muslims) on all of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, while demeaning them as “cursed infidels.”

The Brotherhood’s duplicity may be starting to catch up with them. In a telling incident that occured earlier today, the United States Embassy in Cairo and the Muslim Brotherhood engaged in a digital war of words. The Brotherhood posted a message on its English language twitter account saying “relieved none of @USembassycairo staff was hurt,” while expressing hope the relationship between the US and the Brotherhood survives the “turbulence of events.”

Despite the recent security failings, the US embassy is still adept at playing the game, and they fired back a searing tweet, saying, “Thanks. By the way, have you checked out your own Arabic feeds? I hope you know we read those too.” The embassy was referring to the Arabic Muslim Brotherhood Twitter post that read “Egyptians revolt for the Prophet’s victory in front of U.S. embassy.”

Increasing the fear of the Copts are the calls by Muslim Brotherhood leaders for a nationwide protest in Cairo on Friday against the film. All the pieces are in place for an ugly explosion of violence. It is frightening to imagine what might transpire if Muslims pour into the streets across the nation of Egypt to express their anger against the film and their leaders start to openly blame the Copts. Many thousands of lives may be snuffed out in a river of Christian blood.

The Christians of Egypt were the largest group of Christians in the world, 300 years before the birth of Mohammad. They were the overwhelming majority of the population of Egypt, and they helped to inspire a cultural and religious revival for the Egyptian people.

Today, they are considered “infidels” and relegated to menial jobs. Under Egypt’s Sharia based Constitution, a non-Muslim is not permitted to hold authority over a Muslim and as a result Copts are forced to work as street sweepers and laundry workers, while being banned from Civil Service and most government careers.

In July of 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced “both the Egyptian government’s failure to curb rising violence against Coptic Christians and its involvement in violent attacks.” Clinton, who visited Egypt in July, said she had had “a very emotional, very personal conversation with Christians who are deeply anxious about what the future holds for them and their country.” Her talks did little to calm Coptic fears. Since the start of the Arab Spring, 200,000 Copts have fled Egypt and thousands more left after Clinton’s visit.

What little influence the United States and President Obama may have with the government of Egypt, must be used to make it clear to President Morsi that any violence directed at the Coptic community will lead to an immediate termination of all material support for Egypt and a call for harsh international sanctions. If the United States has any moral character left, we must protect the lives of Egypt’s Christian Minority.

Islamists Threaten To Exterminate Egypt’s 10 Million Coptic Christians Over Film is a post from: The Inquisitr

The U.S. wealth gap in what is being called the “lost decade” for middle-class Americans in the 2000′s, has soared while the median U.S. net worth for households has dived to $57,000 in 2010 from 73,000 in 1983, ecreditdaily.com reports.

The findings come from the gravitationally left, think-tank Economic Policy Institute, who recently released “The State of Working America, 12th Edition,” which looks to see where and why the middle class has immerged into the country’s economic abyss.

Economic policies, including U.S. policymakers’ failure to action, have weakened the chances of workers to benefit from the United States’ economic growth and has contributed to the widening wealth gap in the country, the report suggests.

According to the study, the median household net worth would be $119,000 ““had wealth grown equally across households.”

The report also provides a more historical analysis: the top one percent had 125 times the net worth of the median household 50 years ago, which then jumped to 288 times the middle class net worth in 2010.

The Pew Research Center released a report entitled “The Lost Decade of the Middle Class: Fewer, Poorer, Gloomier” in August, 2012 which reported the results of a survey conducted with 1,287 middle class adults.

Of those surveyed, 85 percent said it was more difficult to maintain a middle-class standard of living now than it was ten years ago. The study also reveals that the middle-class tier has decreased from 61 percent in 1971 to 51 percent in 2011.

The study continued to say:

“For the middle-income group, the “lost decade” of the 2000s has been even worse for wealth loss than for income loss. The median income of the middle-income tier fell 5%, but median wealth (assets minus debt) declined by 28%, to $93,150 from $129,582. During this period, the median wealth of the upper-income tier was essentially unchanged—it rose by 1%, to $574,788 from $569,905. Meantime, the wealth of the lower-income tier plunged by 45%, albeit from a much smaller base, to $10,151 from $18,421.”

Often, the middle-class is associated with the American Dream, but the deepening crevasse in the U.S. wealth gap has made voters uneasy and left them questioning what steps will be taken to fill the gap.

Wealth Gap Grows As Household Net Worth Plummets is a post from: The Inquisitr

President Obama has refused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a meeting when the Jewish nation’s leader attends the annual UN conference at the end of September. This marks the first time the American President has not met with Netanyahu when the Israeli Prime Minister was in the United States. Compounding the conflict between the two leaders is the fact that Obama has never visited Israel since he was elected President; even when he was in nearby Egypt making his famous address to the Islamic world in 2009.

The Israel leader will be in New York City for the annual meeting of the General Assembly and he offered to meet with Obama during the short three day visit. The Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu would be willing to travel to Washington DC to meet Obama, but the White House replied that it would not be possible because of time constraints imposed by Obama’s campaign schedule. Obama will not be in New York while Netanyahu is at the United Nations.

The reaction to the news was meet with concern in Israel, where even the normally liberal newspaper, Haaretz, reacted strongly to the news, saying “The White House’s response marks a new low in relations between Netanyahu and Obama, underscored by the fact that this is the first time Netanyahu will visit the U.S. as prime minister without meeting Obama.”

Obama claims that he “has Israels back,” and recently he stood before the Democratic Convention to tell American voters, “Four years ago, I stood before you and said that, “Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable.” That belief has guided my actions as President. The fact is, my administration’s commitment to Israel’s security has been unprecedented.”

His critics claim otherwise, and say the refusal to meet with Netanyahu is Obama’s way of getting even for the Israeli leader’s highly critical remarks about Obama’s Iran Policy. Recently, Netanyahu was visibly angry, when spoke his mind to reporters:

“The world tells Israel ‘wait, there’s still time’. And I say, ‘Wait for what? Wait until when?’ Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.

“Now if Iran knows that there is no red line. If Iran knows that there is no deadline, what will it do? Exactly what it’s doing. It’s continuing, without any interference, towards obtaining nuclear weapons capability and from there, nuclear bombs.”

The Obama Administration was outraged by what they felt was another stab in the back by the Israeli Prime Minister. U.S. Department of State spokeswoman Victoria Nuland responded:

“We don’t think it’s particularly useful to have those conversations in public. It doesn’t help the process and it doesn’t help the integrity of the diplomacy. To be standing here at the podium parsing the details of the Iranian nuclear program is not helpful to getting where we want to go.”

Relations between Obama and Netanyahu have been getting progressively worse since Obama’s unfriendly behavior towards the Prime Minister on the occasion of his first visit to meet with the American President on March 23, 2010. The visit was described by the Daily Telegraph in a headline that read, “Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family.”

When the Prime Minister returned to the the United States in May of 2011, Obama completely blindsided the shocked Israel leader, when he gave a speech the day before Netanyahu’s White House visit, saying, “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed [land] swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.” Netanyahu was notified of the contents of the speech while he was on his jet, in transit to the United States. When he arrived at the White House, he stunned observers by taking Obama to task like he was a school child, lecturing him on Israel’s security needs. He later made matters worse by giving a rousing address in front of both Houses of Congress that brought Netanyahu more standing ovations than Obama’s State Of The Union address.

While the latest incident may come as a slight surprise to some observers, it should not have been totally unexpected. Obama has never tried to hide his contempt for Netanyahu, highlighted by his accidentally recorded chat with former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in November, 2011. An open mic picked up the conversation during which Sarkozy told Obama, “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar,” and Obama replied, “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”

The world is on the brink over Iran, and one must wonder if the American President is still able to see past his personal opinion of the Israeli leader, and treat one of America’s strongest allies with the respect it has earned with 63 years of consistent support for American foreign policy. Israel is America’s partner in the struggle against Islamic extremism, and world terrorism. It is unbecoming, and worrisome, when an American President treats the elected leader of a close ally with open contempt, and acts as if Israel were an insignificant client nation, rather than one of our most loyal allies.

Obama Refuses To Meet With Netanyahu During His UN Visit is a post from: The Inquisitr

The US Border Patrol will no longer send illegal immigrants back to Mexico aboard aircraft. The federal government has deported nearly 125,000 illegal immigrants by way of jetliner since 2004.

The program is being ditched because of its massive costs, which has led to nearly $100 million in taxpayer dollars being spent on deportation flights. According to the agency, the program is being removed because too few illegal immigrants are being arrested to make the flights cost effective.

A Border Patrol officer explains to the Associated Press:

“Everything comes down to dollars and cents. We’re running into a more budget-conscious society.”

With more illegal immigrants heading to Mexico than entering the US, the Border Patrol is seeing its lowest arrest and deportation records in 40 years.

The program, which was an exclusive effort by the state of Arizona, had aimed to fly illegal immigrants far enough into Mexico that they did not bother to attempt a cross country voyage in order to brave the deadly dessert heat and make their way back into the United States.

Border Patrol officials say the program could one day return, although they give no definitive time frame. In the meantime, approximately 70 people per day are being bused to a Tuscon court where they face potential imprisonment or a bus ride back into their own country.

The flights have operated only in the summer and only in Arizona and were largely used to help immigrants who would have died trying to trek back through the blistering head of the dessert sun.

US To End Deportation Flights Over Cost Structure is a post from: The Inquisitr

American anxiety is at an all time high. According to Health on TODAY, anxiety disorders in the United States have jumped 1,200 percent over the past three decades. In most instances, people are experiencing extreme levels of stress despite the fact that no real threats are looming on the horizon. Taking a breath and attempting to relax is quickly becoming a lost art.

Although some are able to manage their anxiety in order to function on a daily basis, some individuals are so worried about one thing or another that it completely derails their lives.

“It can really lead an individual not to leave their home,” explained Dr. Moira Rynn, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. “It can lead individuals to lose their jobs. Anxiety becomes a problem when it’s keeping you from doing your everyday activities or functions.”

Dr. Nancy Snyderman believes that, while anxiety disorders were underdiagnosed in the past, stress-related problems are presently being overdiagnosed. After all, a certain amount of stress at home and in the work place is to be expected.

“Stress is a natural motivator for people in the work force,” Snyderman told TODAY. “Stress is what helps us avoid trouble. But anxiety is what happens when it interferes with your normal workday. You’re afraid to leave the house. You have such rampant thoughts that you can’t get a project done. You’re lying in bed and you’re already worried about what’s going to happen the next day.”

If you’re one of the millions of individuals who suffer from unwarranted anxiety, there are ways to treat your problem. For some, therapy is to the key to success, while others rely on medication to help manage their stress levels. However, sometimes all it takes to correct the problem is a simple lifestyle change.

One way Snyderman believes Americans can decrease their anxiety is to simply get away from their gadgets at the end of the day.

“I would say to anybody: one hour before you go to bed at night, the TV goes off, the blackberry gets put away, you’re off the computer an that’s when you start reading,” she explained. “That’s when you tuck yourself in. Stressors and anxiety many times can be undone and taken out of one’s life.”

American Anxiety: Over 117 Million Adults Are Seriously Stressing Out is a post from: The Inquisitr

Military survillance blimps could well become new additions to the United States’ border patrol.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the United States military and border-patrol officials are working together in an initiative that could bring dozens of these unmanned surveillance blimps from the Afghanistan battlefield to the America’s border with Mexico.

The U.S. military will oversee a test over the next few weeks to see if “the floating eye” can help find drug runners and people trying to cross the border illegaly into the United States. The blimp’s initial use during the war was to find insurgents in Afghanistan. If successful, dozens of the $1 million -$5 million blimps could be patrolling our borders.

This initiative would help settle two issues . One issue is the upgrade to the United States’ border patrol, the second issue being that the military needs to find uses for equipment returning from Afghanistan once troops are withdrawn.

According to Newser, the blimps aren’t the only military equipment that they are looking at to help with enhanching border protection in the United States. They are also looking at instant-translation devices and wide-ranging sensors to help out. However, past attempts to pump up border protection using high-tech surveillance have not worked well.

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security pulled the plug on a billion-dollar initiative. This initiative, known as SBLnet, was abandoned once the troubled “electronic fence” using cameras, radars, and other devices could not provide the unified border-monitoring system that they initially envisioned.

“This kind of technology can be very alluring,” says a customs official. “In the past, we’ve said: ‘That’s kind of cool. Let’s go out and buy it.’ That can turn out to be a less-than-bright thing to do.”

If successful, the military will provide these blimps to border officials free of charge. However, border officals will stiill have to decide whether or not these 72-feet-long beauties are a good fit for the agency, and whether-or-not they are worth it, since they would have to pay people to operate, monitor, and repair them.

Military Blimps To Join U.S. Border Patrol? is a post from: The Inquisitr

In director David Fincher’s award-winning 2010 movie The Social Network, Zombieland co-star Jesse Eisenberg famously portrayed Facebook founder Mark Zuckberg. Although the two men do share a few physical similarities, telling them apart isn’t really all that difficult. However, during the Olympic basketball game between the United States and Spain, one announcer had a tough time telling one from the other.

So, if you thought Facebook CEO Mark Zuckberg had taken some time out of his busy scheduled to enjoy an Olympic event, I’m sorry to report that you, too, are mistaken. According to Yahoo! Sports, Bob Fitzgerald was giving the play-by-play when the camera happened upon Jesse Eisenberg sitting in the stands.

“I know I’m gonna put that picture on Facebook. We’ve got every executive of note worldwide, it seems, attending these games,” Fitzgerald said. Whoops. Apparently the announcer doesn’t watch a lot of movies.

According to Business Insider, this Eisenberg/Zuckerberg debacle was one of many issues viewers had with NBC’s handling of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In addition to complaining about Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira’s running commentary during the opening ceremony, audiences were also annoyed by the network’s use of tape delays, the commentators seemingly obsessive focus on American athletes, and some technical problems with the official NBC Olympics website.

NBC also ran into trouble when they ruined the outcome of Missy Franklin’s 100-meter backstroke victory by airing a promotional spot for the TODAY Show which featured the swimmer holding a gold medal. After angry viewers complained about the unintentional spoiler, NBC quickly addressed the mistake.

“Clearly that promo should not have aired at that time,” NBC Sports explained in a statement. “We have a process in place and this will not happen again. We apologize to viewers who were watching and didn’t know the result of the race.”

What do you think? Is it easy to mistake Jesse Eisenberg for Mark Zuckerberg?

NBC Announcer Mistakes Jesse Eisenberg For Mark Zuckerberg is a post from: The Inquisitr

It was neck and neck for a while there, but with the 2012 London Olympics finally over and done with, it was the United States atop the medal count.

The U.S. finished the Olympics with more overall medals, and more gold medals than any other nation. America’s 46 gold medals topped China’s 38, and the Yanks’ 104 bested China’s 87. Russia came in third overall with 82 medals and the hosting United Kingdom came in fourth with 65.

And for what its worth, the United States won the most silver medals too.

While its never a surprise to see the Americans atop the Olympic medal count, this year many expected China to come away with the most medals.

“We’re Americans and we’re human,” Teresa Edwards, the five-time Olympian for U.S. basketball, told the Associated Press. “When I was competing, when I went up against another country, I felt they wanted the same thing I wanted. But we were given an opportunity to prove it at that moment, and that’s what these games give us.”

The Christian Science Monitor reported that “the 104 total medals is actually six fewer than the US won in Beijing (though the 46 gold are 10 more). The 104 total medals is the sixth-best ever for the U.S., behind 1904 (239), 1984 (173), 2008 (110), 1992 (108), and 1968 (107).”

For the British, the Olympics allowed their nation to shine on the world stage. Moreover the British Olympic team won 10 more golds (19 to 29) and 18 more total medals (47 to 65) than it won in Beijing four years ago. The best sport for the British was cycling, where they won seven gold medals, and nine overall. For a time, the British were third in the medal count standings.

While the nations at the top of the medal count list get most of the attention, it is important to remember those at the bottom. An Olympic medal is a grand thing for anyone to win, but for 18 nations, the medal won by their athlete meant that much more.

While more than 50 nations returned home empty handed, 18 (Algeria, Bahamas, Grenada, Uganda, Venezuela, Botswana, Cypress, Gabon, Guatemala, Montenegro, Portugal, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan) all went home with a medal count of one.

USA Wins Olympic Medal Count, British Celebrate Too is a post from: The Inquisitr

The United States is helping Gulf countries build a missile defense shield according to reports made public by Israel National News early Thursday. The United States fears that Iran may target essential oil and military targets if it feels threatened by the US or Israel. The missile defense system will include advanced radar detection systems and batteries of Patriot missiles capable of shooting down Iranian rockets.

The report said the countries being fortified are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar.

These countries are all considered vulnerable if Iran decides to launch an offensive military campaign against them.

This newest initiative joins several other areas which are considered vulnerable to Iranian attacks. Europe has one of the more robust systems in the world to deter an Iranian attack. The Gulf missile shield has already cost $20 billion dollars and more expenditures are expected.

The United States and Israel seemed poised to attack Iran over its suspected nuclear program. The Iranians claim that their nuclear program exists to provide the country with electricity and medical research, while the United States and Israel claim the program is a cover for developing a nuclear bomb. Israel has threatened to launch a preemptive strike against the Iranian nuclear program if world sanctions do not deter Iran from enriching uranium.

The missile defense shield being built in the Gulf countries has been more difficult to accomplish because those countries are not as cooperative with the US on military matter regardless of their joint fear of an Iranian attack.

Report: The US Is Helping Gulf States Build Defenses Against Iranian Attack is a post from: The Inquisitr

Kayla Harrison earned the first Olympic judo gold medal in United States history. The judo gold medalist trained both physically and mentally, working to enhance both her fighting abilities and to overcome the years of sexual abuse she endured as a child by her former coach.

Kayla Harrison defeated British judo fighter Gemma Gibbons to bring home the gold for America, the Daily Mail reports. Unable to control her emotions, Kayla Harrison wept with pride and joy as the first note of the National Anthem was played in her honor.

Judo champ Kayal Harrison, 22, publicly revealed her inner struggle with childhood sexual assault after witnessing Joe Paterno supporters on television. In 2007, the aspiring judo athlete from Middletown, Ohio helped prosecutors put her former coach behind bars.

Kayla Harrison’s childhood judo coach, Daniel Doyle, plead guilty to sexual abuse and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The judo gold medalist’s mother had taken her to a local sports center so she could learn how to protect herself when she was just eight.

“I was almost disheartened by my country, to hear that kids at Penn State we protesting for Paterno but not for the victims. What kind of world do I live in? Are students really doing that? When that happened, when the victim was that far away from people’s minds, I was in shock,” Kayla Harrison stated during an interview with Fox Sports.

Kayla Harrison ran away from home when she was 16 to a town in the Boston area to chase her dream of becoming an Olympic judo wrestler. Harrison studied the sport she loves under the United State’s only four-time judo Olympian, Jimmy Pedro, USA Today notes.

Today Kayla Harrison showcased both her extreme physical abilities and her mental strength to overcome the tragic years of sexual abuse as a child. The judo gold medalist is now a happily married woman and recently joined the fire department so she could help others in her Boston area community.

Kayla Harrison Captures First Judo Gold Medal In U.S. History is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do you think your cities travel hub is the most congested airport in the United States? If you live in New York City and that airport is JFK you are right. A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studied the countries 40 most visited airports in an attempt to determine how efficiently they would spread deadly viruses to other parts of the world.

Researchers examined the airports to help public health officials better understand where and when to treat infections before an outbreak leads to an epidemic or pandemic.

The study was careful to point out that JFK was deemed the most communicable because of congestion and not because of cleanliness.

JFK ranked at the top of the list because it connects to many other airports which means a higher likelihood of receiving and transporting illness. Researchers also discovered that travelers flying out of JFK tend to spend longer in New York than visitors flying into other airports for a long weekend stay in the city.

Behind JFK was Los Angeles International Airport, more commonly referred to as LAX.

In what might be the most surprising ranking Honolulu International Airport ranked third, not because of its congestion but rather because it connects to so many areas including Asia, Australia and elsewhere.

Also close to the top of the list was Newark Liberty International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport

Marine researcher from upstate Hammondsport Skylar Miller tells the NY Daily News he isn’t concerned in the least:

“Epidemics can happen anywhere. The study wouldn’t affect my travel choices,” she said after arriving on a flight from the Bahamas, where she now works.

On second thought, she added, “I guess if an outbreak did happen, it would be different, but until then I wouldn’t be too concerned.”

Inquisitr writer Kim LaCapria lives near JFK and she joked, “contracting a rare tropical disease is the trade-0ff for high parking costs and long waits at TSA security checkpoints.”

Are you worried about communicable diseases at congested airports?

MIT Determines Most Congested Airport In United States, Most Likely To Spread Diseases Around The World is a post from: The Inquisitr

AIDS has become a huge problem for the southern part of America.

America has put a lot of effort into educating today’s society on safe sex practices and coming up with a new generation of pharmeceuticals. Because of this effort, many Americans have begun to believe that the AIDS problem has been, if not solved, at least addressed. However, this is not the case for some southern American states. According to Los Angeles Times, these states make up 50% of all new HIV infections within the United States.

The South has the highest rate of deaths involving HIV in the United States. They also have the highest amount of teens and adults living with HIV, and sadly the fewest amout of resources to fight the epidemic. The horrible disease seems to be concentrated, for the most part, in poor minority communities. Unfortunately, by the time most of these HIV cases are diagnosed, they have already developed into full-fledged AIDS. This is unfortunate because by the time HIV has developed into full-fledged AIDS, treatment is much less effective. AIDS treatment is not easy to come by either. Thousands of people living with the virus are unable to get the medication they need. These people wait for slots to open up in state AIDS drug assistance programs. President Obama has recently spoken out and pledged to get rid of the waiting lists, so that these AIDS patients can get the treatment they need without the wait.

Mississippi has the highest AIDS death rate in America with it being 60% higher than the national average, and sadly about half of the people who know they are living with the AIDS virus are not geting the treatment they need. This is about the same percentage of untreated AIDS patience as it is in Ethiopia.

Public health workers and researchers from around the world are meeting for the annual International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. this week. This will be the first time in 22 years that the conference has been held in the United States.

HIV/AIDS Epidemic On The Rise In The South is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pat Buchanan wants to be dead before the United States elects its first female President. Bucnahan was talking on PBS’ McLaughlin Group on Friday when he joked about the election of the first U.S President.

When asked when America would be likely to elect its first female president Buchanan quipped, “Let’s hope” it’s not before “2040 or 2050.”

Mclaughlin then asked, “That late?” to which Pat Buchanan responded “Let’s hope so.”

Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift quickly shot back, “How about 2016, Hillary Clinton?”

At which point McLaughlin asked, “Hillary has a duty to her gender to run for president?”

Clift didn’t go so far as to call it a duty but noted, “She doesn’t have a duty. but a lot of women, and some men, were disappointed that [she didn't win].”

Buchanan was quick to point out:

“But there’s no Republican vice president even now. They’re not even considering any woman for vice president on the Republican ticket.”

McLaughlin’s prediction? “2028.”

We shouldn’t really be all that surprised by Buchanan’s outward hate for women, at one point he claimed that women were “less equipped psychologically” to deal with the workplace.

In a 1983 column Pat Buchanan wrote:

“Women are simply not endowed by nature with the same measures of single-minded ambition and the will to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of Western capitalism, women deserve an equal chance at the starting line. But, for women, there is an honorable and honored exit from the rat race – home, hearth and family”

In his 1998 book Right from the Beginning the women hating conservative wrote:

“Real liberators of American women were not feminist noisemakers; they were the automobile, the supermarket, the shopping center, the dishwasher, the washer-dryer, the freezer, the garbage disposal and frozen food.”

Here’s the full Pat Buchanan video interview:

Here’s to hoping Pat Buchanan dies before the first female president is elected and here’s to hoping that day arrives in November 2016.

Pat Buchanan Hopes To Be Dead Before U.S. Elects First Female President is a post from: The Inquisitr