Category: Aggregated

‘Russia is assembling its S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system to begin its shipment to Iran by 2016, the Kremlin’s top official for the arms trade says. Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Vladimir Kozhin, President […]

While you might not indulge in a high-quality cut of meat too often because of the cost, there is some new evidence showing that juicy steak could be great for you blood pressure. With summer in full swing, this is a perfect idea for your grill with the added benefit of good health! The study, published in the Journal of Human Hypertension, looked at four different diets. The first was The Healthy American Diet (the control), the DASH diet, the BOLD diet, and the BOLD+ diet to test how they respectively impacted vascular health. Where’s the beef? Fire up the … Continue reading →

An operation on my hand after a karate injury has me reading more than usual, and even attempting Don DeLillo’s Underworld, but I soon give it up. Truman Capote famously said that On The Road was typing, not writing, but old Jack Kerouac was Jane Austen compared to some of the novelists of today. Making it sound easy is the hardest thing in writing, and I grant you that today’s modernists sure make it look easier than easy. But they’re also sloppy, self-indulgent and at times incomprehensible. What I don’t get is how one can enjoy a novel when the … Continue reading →

After finishing a long term in public office, many politicians earn healthy amounts of cash through speaking engagements. Indeed, booking one of America’s more recognizable public figures comes with a hefty pricetag. Even though speaking engagements can prove highly lucrative for politicians, they can also be risky. The extortionate prices charged by some speakers have, somewhat unsurprisingly, sometimes led to accusations of greed. So who are the costliest public speakers in the United States? ABC News took a look at some of the country’s highest speaking fees with Donald Trump coming first by a huge distance. The billionaire earned an incredible $1.5 million for each of his … Continue reading →

This month marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta: Magna Carta (Latin for “the Great Charter”), also called Magna Carta Libertatum(Latin for “the Great Charter of the Liberties”), is a charter agreed by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215.  First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a … Continue reading →

Last Friday came the unpleasant news that Ross Ulbricht, the 31-year-old former operator of the Silk Road site, has been sentenced by a federal court to life in prison without parole. This follows his conviction in February for typically dubious (nowhere in the Constitution) federal crimes including conspiracy, money laundering, and the circular “engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.” His sentence, which appears unduly sadistic even by today’s standards, was handed down with a lecture from Judge Katherine B. Forrest: “[What] is clear is that you were captain of the ship as Dread Pirate Roberts and you made your own … Continue reading →

The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the US carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology – all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, the Associated Press has learned. The planes’ surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge’s approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. In a recent 30-day period, the agency flew above more than 30 cities in 11 states across the country, an AP review found. Aerial surveillance represents a changing frontier for law enforcement, providing what the government … Continue reading →

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: … Continue reading →

Half the fun of Cuba is getting there. I was there in the 1990s with about a dozen financiers from Europe. The contingent from England, Norway, and Switzerland came over together from London, changing planes in Miami for Panama. When an impertinent customs clerk asked one of them where he was going, he innocently responded “Cuba.” All six men were hustled into a locked room, with all kinds of armed and uniformed types milling about, and were detained there for two hours while agents ran background checks on them. The government couldn’t have cared less if they missed their connection. … Continue reading →

FIFA has nothing on the NFL. Maybe you’ve heard the shocking news that a country, where it’s 108 degrees when the games are played, Qatar, appears to have seen the need to bribe the people in charge in order to get the World Cup there in 2022. On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice department indicted 14 people on charges of bribery, racketeering, money-laundering and other charges. Two days later, FIFA reelected Sepp Blatter, the man in charge while all this corruption was going on, to his fifth term as president. All over the world, there are tumbleweeds bouncing around and through … Continue reading →

Former US congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul has said that the Central Intelligence Agency is a “secret government” that may be involved in “domestic assassinations.” “They are a secret government,” he said during his program “Ron Paul Liberty Report” on Monday. The CIA is “way out of control.” Paul said Americans should recognize the “corrosive nature of the CIA” and “what we don’t know that they’re involved in.” He noted that when he was in Washington, there was “a black budget, we never knew exactly how much money was spent, that I imagine there is not one person that … Continue reading →