Columbine Gunshot Survivor To Obama On Gun Control: ‘WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?’

"'It was during this time that I personally witnessed two fellow students murder twelve of my classmates and one teacher,' he writes. 'The assault weapons ban did not deter these two murderers, nor did the other thirty-something laws that they broke.' Of particular note in the letter is the survivor’s insistence that Obama’s proposed regulations impede the rights of Americans and endanger them by capping magazine sizes and restricting the types of guns that are available to law-abiding citizens. 'Why would you prefer criminals to have the ability to out-gun law-abiding citizens?,' he asks the president in the text. 'Whose side are you on?'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingColumbine Gunshot Survivor To Obama On Gun Control: ‘WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?’

India plans $70 million mission to Mars in 2013

"India said on Thursday it will send a $70 million space mission to Mars this year to study the red planet’s atmosphere. The unmanned Mars orbiter mission, to be launched in October by the Indian Space Research Organisation, will undertake a 300-day journey to the planet to collect data about its climate and geology. India says the Mars mission will mark a significant step in its space programme, which has already placed a probe on the moon and envisages its first manned mission in 2016." Continue reading

Continue ReadingIndia plans $70 million mission to Mars in 2013

Scientists create lifelike ears with 3D printing

"The new ears could provide the solution long sought by reconstructive surgeons to treat thousands of children born with the congenital deformity microtia, along with those who suffered ear loss to cancer or in an accident. Cornell biomedical engineers and physicians said the flexible ears grew cartilage over three months to replace the collagen used to mold them. Bonassar and his colleagues first constructed the ears with a digitized 3D image of a person’s ear that served to build a mold of a solid ear using a 3D printer. A high-density, injectable gel made of living cells helped fill the mold. Once the mold removed, cartilage was grown on the collagen." Continue reading

Continue ReadingScientists create lifelike ears with 3D printing

Weapons made with 3-D printers could test gun-control efforts

"In a spare bedroom, where an AR-15 rifle leans against the wall, the 30-year-old software engineer is using a 3-D printer no larger than an espresso machine to make plastic rifle parts and ammunition magazines in between tea sets and chess pieces. The parts print, layer over layer, creating objects like an ink-jet printer etches words. Three-dimensional printers offer a potentially easy way around restrictions and registrations — a source of growing consternation among gun-control advocates and some allies in Congress." Continue reading

Continue ReadingWeapons made with 3-D printers could test gun-control efforts

PBS Runs an Article on Government Default

"Should the U.S. government default? Wrong question. The right question: Can the U.S. government avoid defaulting? The answer is clear: no. It will default. It is $222 trillion in the hole. That’s the present value of its future obligations. Of course it’s going to default. Would that be bad? Not for taxpayers. Would it be bad for the Powers That Be who run this country? Yes. Devastating. It’s coming. The mainstream media have ignored this statistically inevitable problem. The problem threatens the Establishment as no other. So, the media pretend it does not exist. But the blackout may at long last be cracking. We read this on PBS." Continue reading

Continue ReadingPBS Runs an Article on Government Default

U.S. tire magnate blasts France’s ‘so-called workers’

"An incredulous -- and insulting -- letter from an American capitalist to a Socialist government minister in France has revealed a monumental clash of cultures. Tire magnate Maurice 'Morry' Taylor Jr., head of Titan International, did not hold back when he decided to tell Arnaud Montebourg, France's minister for industrial renewal, where he could stick his suggestion that the U.S. businessman take over an ailing French factory." Continue reading

Continue ReadingU.S. tire magnate blasts France’s ‘so-called workers’

A City of Fear: A Visit to Timbuktu after Its Liberation By French Troops

"Colonel Gèze set up his headquarters in a camouflage tent across from the runway. Following the airstrikes by the French Air Force, his men entered Timbuktu without meeting any resistance. The colonel still feels a little uneasy about their speedy victory. Gèze can't say how many people were killed in the air strikes. His soldiers didn't take any prisoners, either. Still, even though the jihadists have left Timbuktu, Gèze hasn't defeated them. Perhaps they have gone to Mauritania or Algeria. The officer shrugs his shoulders. 'We're keeping our eyes and ears peeled and are questioning our informants,' he says. 'The Islamists have to be hiding out somewhere.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingA City of Fear: A Visit to Timbuktu after Its Liberation By French Troops

British pound strikes seven-month lows amid calls for further weakness

"Sterling's slide came as Martin Weale, a senior Bank of England policymaker, said on Saturday that the pound may need to weaken further, which would help to make exports cheaper and spur growth. 'It may be that high levels of uncertainty and a reluctance to take on new risks have stood in the way of exporters seeking new markets and domestic producers doing what is needed to displace imports,' Mr Weale said in a speech. 'Provided the calmer atmosphere we have seen since the summer is sustained, we may see further benefits of the depreciation.'" Continue reading

Continue ReadingBritish pound strikes seven-month lows amid calls for further weakness

G20 vows to combat corporate tax avoidance

"G20 finance ministers meeting in Moscow have pledged to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies. The final communique said members were determined to develop measures to stop firms shifting profits from a home country to pay less tax elsewhere. The UK, France and Germany were the main movers behind the drive. The communique also said members would refrain from devaluing their currencies to gain economic advantage, amid fears of a new 'currency war'." Continue reading

Continue ReadingG20 vows to combat corporate tax avoidance

UK Government and Isle of Man in deal to stop offshore tax evasion

"Under the agreement, a wide range of financial information on UK taxpayers with accounts in the Isle of Man will be passed automatically to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). A disclosure facility will allow account-holders to come forward and settle their past affairs before the details are automatically passed on to HMRC. The Treasury said the deal with the Manx authorities closely followed an agreement struck with the United States to improve international tax compliance." Continue reading

Continue ReadingUK Government and Isle of Man in deal to stop offshore tax evasion