Gun Store Owner Breaks Silence, Reveals ATF Raided His Business in 2014 and Why He ‘Quit Fighting’ Them [+video]

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: KERO-TVA gun shop owner in Southern California was subjected to a raid by the federal government in 2014, but he has just now decided to voluntarily forfeit the more than 3,000 parts the agents took two years ago.

Christopher Cook, the owner of The Armory in Southwest Bakersfield, California, told KERO-TV that it was simply a clerical error and wrong information given to officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by a former lawyer that led to a raid of his business in 2014, during which officials took 3,804 parts . . .

Cook contended that his former lawyer gave ATF officials the wrong information regarding how the pieces were made that led to the raid as well as his eventual forfeiting of the more than 3,000 parts taken from him.

“The reason that I quit fighting is because it’s a battle that I don’t believe that the U.S state attorney, the DOJ or the ATF office would be able to say they were going to give our stuff back,” he said.

According to KERO-TV, the Department of Justice said in an agreement with Cook that the agency will ensure that the receivers stay out of the hands of criminals. The agreement also states that Cook will never be criminally prosecuted for this incident; he is also not allowed to sue the ATF for wrongfully taking his property. (Read more from “Gun Store Owner Breaks Silence, Reveals ATF Raided His Business in 2014 and Why He ‘Quit Fighting’ Them” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Top U.S. Intelligence Official Calls Gene Editing a WMD Threat

/0 Comments/in , /by

Genome editing is a weapon of mass destruction.

That’s according to James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence, who on Tuesday, in the annual worldwide threat assessment report of the U.S. intelligence community, added gene editing to a list of threats posed by “weapons of mass destruction and proliferation.”

Gene editing refers to several novel ways to alter the DNA inside living cells. The most popular method, CRISPR, has been revolutionizing scientific research, leading to novel animals and crops, and is likely to power a new generation of gene treatments for serious diseases.

It is gene editing’s relative ease of use that worries the U.S. intelligence community, according to the assessment. “Given the broad distribution, low cost, and accelerated pace of development of this dual-use technology, its deliberate or unintentional misuse might lead to far-reaching economic and national security implications,” the report said.

The choice by the U.S. spy chief to call out gene editing as a potential weapon of mass destruction, or WMD, surprised some experts. It was the only biotechnology appearing in a tally of six more conventional threats, like North Korea’s suspected nuclear detonation on January 6, Syria’s undeclared chemical weapons, and new Russian cruise missiles that might violate an international treaty. (Read more from “Top U.S. Intelligence Official Calls Gene Editing a WMD Threat” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Dr. Alveda King: Any True Conservatives Left?

/4 Comments/in , /by

As the presidential primaries are under way, Dr. Alveda King is concerned that “conservative” voters are more caught up with personalities than they are in supporting the U.S. Constitution based on godly principles.

King asserts voters are less concerned about candidates’ stances on issues than they are about appearances.

“We are dealing with a reality show mentality,” King told OneNewsNow. “Too many people are saying ‘I like,’ rather than ‘I think;’ thus voting with emotions rather than brains.”

When asked what she believes is the most important topic to be addressed at the conservative presidential debates, the former Representative of the Georgia State House categorically replied.

“[It’s] the failure to uphold the Constitution,” King stressed to OneNewsnow. (Read more from “Dr. Alveda King: Any True Conservatives Left?” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Iran Publishes Pictures of Captured U.S. Sailors Crying

/6 Comments/in , /by

Iran has released new photographs in which at least one of the recently captured U.S. sailors is crying, according to a series of the pictures posted on social media.

The pictures, as well as an accompanying video, were released by Iranian state-controlled news outlets and disseminated on Twitter by Iranian reporters early Wednesday.

The new photographs come on the heels of another set of pictures that showed Iranian military forces detaining the U.S. sailors at gun point and forcing them to place their hands upon their heads while kneeling on a ship.

(Read more from “Iran Publishes Pictures of Captured U.S. Sailors Crying” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

‘We’re Going to Die’: Alaska Air Flight Diverted After Unruly Passenger Threatens Crew

/3 Comments/in , /by

Alaska Airlines Flight 769 from Boston to San Diego took a scary turn Tuesday after a male passenger who was reportedly intoxicated “became disruptive” after the flight attendants would not let him drink on the plane.

The pilot was forced to divert the flight at Denver midway through its route, Fox 5 in San Diego reported.

Passenger Clair Conroy told NBC News that the man “was upset the flight attendants would not let him drink the nips [small bottles of alcohol] he brought” on the flight and became abusive as he began to threaten the flight’s crew members.

Yelling, “I’m not a terrorist” and, “We’re going to die” the crew tried to calm him down, KMGH-TV reported. He also threatened the crew members and passengers on board, saying that he was going to ”cut their throats” with a box cutter. (Read more from “‘We’re Going to Die’: Alaska Air Flight Diverted After Unruly Passenger Threatens Crew” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Despite Carbon Ruling, White House Says U.S. Can Meet Climate Deal Goals

/1 Comment/in , /by

The White House promised on Wednesday that it would be able to uphold U.S. commitments to an international climate change agreement, as a court ruling heightened concerns about the stability of the global carbon reduction pact reached last year.

Shares of coal companies reflected the uncertainty the day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. After jumping nearly 7 percent early in the session, the Thomson Reuters U.S. coal index was down 3 percent in afternoon trading.

The court dealt a serious blow to the Obama administration’s climate change agenda on Tuesday when it took the unusual step to delay implementation of the Clean Power Plan until legal challenges to the regulation are completed.

A centerpiece of the Obama administration’s climate change policy, the Clean Power Plan was designed to lower carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 2030 to 32 percent below 2005 levels.

The decision to temporarily block the rule came after the United States entered into a landmark agreement in December with countries around the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Read more from “Despite Carbon Ruling, White House Says U.S. Can Meet Climate Deal Goals” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Why Dementia Rates May Be Slowing Down

/1 Comment/in , /by

The older we get, the more memories we lose and the more scrambled some of our thoughts become. Some experts believe that such decline in our cognitive abilities is unavoidable if we live long enough.

But in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers question that theory. Working with data from the long-running Framingham Heart Study—which began in the 1940s and continues to follow the original group, as well as their children and their children’s children—scientists say that rates of dementia may actually be decreasing rather than climbing. Dementia refers to the overall drop in cognitive function and encompasses a number of disorders, including Alzheimer’s . . .

That makes sense, say Seshadri, since dementia is connected to problems in circulation, and the Framingham Heart Study looks at risk factors for heart disease, which include circulation-related factors such as blood pressure and stroke.

It’s possible that lifestyle factors such as physical activity and diet, as well as taking care of heart disease risk factors like hypertension, may all contribute to preventing dementia. Stroke is also a big risk factor for dementia, and keeping the circulatory system and heart healthy can lower stroke risk as well. Understanding that lifestyle factors may play a role in preventing dementia could be critical in reversing the upward curve of dementia rates that most studies are predicting in coming years. The World Health Organization says that 47.5 million people currently live with dementia, and by 2050, 135.5 million could suffer from its effects. (Read more from “Why Dementia Rates May Be Slowing Down” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Biohackers Implant Computers, Earbuds and Antennas in Their Bodies

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Ryan O’Shea/Grindhouse WetwareBody implants are a staple of science fiction. They turn members of futuristic societies into super-humans, making them stronger, smarter and more capable than an average person . . .

As amazing as body implants sound, though, how close are we normal humans to getting one of those? In other words, are contemporary science, medicine and technology advanced enough to allow us to seamlessly meld with the technology and actually improve our lives? Keep reading to find out.

We’ll start by introducing Northstar, a subdermal LED sensor that lights up when it’s in the vicinity of a magnet. It can be used to detect the magnetic north and act as a compass. Implanting such a basic device may sound like a silly and needlessly dangerous procedure to go through, but these biohackers did it anyway . . .

If you think having LEDs in your forearm is silly, you may like this better: an antenna implanted in the skull. In 2004, Neil Harbisson had the device implanted in his cranium in an effort to fight color blindness. A camera at the far end of the device records whatever he is seeing and converts the image color data into a series of sound waves, which he has memorized. Instead of seeing various hues, he “hears” them with the help of a camera he calls Eyeborg. (Read more from “Biohackers Implant Computers, Earbuds and Antennas in Their Bodies” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Huffington Post Goes off on Trump, Calls Him a ‘Racist, Sexist Demagogue’

/17 Comments/in , /by

By Dylan Byers. Huffington Post took a visceral and aggressive approach to Donald Trump’s victory in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, blasting the GOP front-runner as a “racist, sexist demagogue.”

The headline on the homepage, in bold, red, 72-point font, reads: “NH GOES RACIST SEXIST XENOPHOBIC.” The headline on the story: “A Racist, Sexist Demagogue Just Won The New Hampshire Primary” . . .

In late January, Huffington Post announced that all of its Trump-related articles would include an editor’s note reading, “Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.” (Read more from “Huffington Post Goes off on Trump, Calls Him a ‘Racist, Sexist Demagogue'” HERE)

______________________________

Trump Echoes Supporter’s Vulgar Insult of Ted Cruz

By Sopan Deb. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made cursing a campaign staple for him on the stump. Most speeches will sprinkle in a “damn,” or a “crap.”

At a September speech in New Hampshire, Trump called Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s friendship “political bulls***.”

But at Monday night’s rally in Manchester, Trump ratcheted up his practice of keeping television censors (and reporters) on their toes with what might be his most off-color profanity yet: He repeated a woman calling Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, “a p****.”

Trump was in the middle of a riff about his answer on waterboarding at Saturday’s GOP debate, when he made light of Cruz’s answer on the same question.

“They asked Ted Cruz, serious question, ‘Well what do you think of waterboarding?’ Is it okay?” Trump said. “And honestly I thought he’d say absolutely. And he didn’t.” (Read more from “Trump Echoes Supporter’s Vulgar Insult of Ted Cruz” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The Winners of the New Hampshire Primaries

/4 Comments/in , /by

By Patrick Healy and Jonathan Martin. Donald J. Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont harnessed working-class fury on Tuesday to surge to commanding victories in a New Hampshire primary that drew a huge turnout across the state.

The success by two outsider candidates dealt a remarkable rebuke to the political establishment, and all but guaranteed protracted, bruising races for each party’s presidential nomination.

Mr. Trump, the wealthy businessman whose blunt language and outsider image have electrified many Republicans and horrified others, benefited from an unusually large field of candidates that split the vote among traditional politicians like Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who finished second, and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.

But Mr. Trump also tapped into a deep well of anxiety among Republicans and independents in New Hampshire, according to exit polling data, and he ran strongest among voters who were worried about illegal immigrants, incipient economic turmoil and the threat of a terrorist attack in the United States. (Read more from “The Winners of the New Hampshire Primaries” HERE)

____________________________________

Christie Heading Home to Evaluate Campaign’s Future

By Ben Kamisar. Chris Christie said he is taking a pause from the campaign trail to “take a deep breath” and evaluate his presidential campaign’s future after a poor showing in New Hampshire.

“We are going to go home to New Jersey tomorrow, and we are going to take a deep breath, see what the final results are tonight, because that matters,” Christie said at a speech Tuesday night as the New Hampshire primary results poured in.

“We will make our next step forward based on the complete results in New Hampshire.”
Christie had banked his presidential hopes on New Hampshire. With about half of the votes counted, he is in sixth place.

If he fails to finish in the top five, he’ll likely miss the cut for Saturday’s GOP debate. (Read more from “Christie Heading Home to Evaluate Campaign’s Future” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.