Syrian rebels used Sarin nerve gas, not Assad’s regime: U.N. official
[May 2013] "Testimony from victims strongly suggests it was the rebels, not theSyrian government, that used Sarin nerve gas during a recent incident in the revolution-wracked nation, a senior U.N. diplomat said Monday. Carla del Ponte, a member of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told Swiss TV there were 'strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,' that rebels seeking to oust Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad had used the nerve agent. But she said her panel had not yet seen any evidence of Syrian government forces using chemical weapons, according to the BBC, but she added that more investigation was needed." Continue reading →
The Republican-controlled Missouri legislature is expected to enact a statute next month nullifying all federal gun laws in the state and making it a crime for federal agents to enforce them here. A Missourian arrested under federal firearm statutes would even be able to sue the arresting officer. The law amounts to the most far-reaching states’ rights endeavor in the country, the far edge of a growing movement known as 'nullification' in which a state defies federal power. In a letter explaining his veto, Governor Jay Nixon said the federal government’s supremacy over the states’ 'is as logically sound as it is legally well established.' When the legislature gathers again, it will seek to override his veto.