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(LEAD) White House condemns any violation of U.N. resolution, vows never to accept N.K. as nuclear state 2016/01/06 14:07 (ATTN: ADDS details, background, byline) By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- The White House said Tuesday that it cannot confirm North Korea's claims of a successful H-bomb test but condemns any violation of U.N. resolutions banning the communist nation from nuclear tests. It also said that the United States won't accept the North as a nuclear state. "We are aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula in the vicinity of a known North Korean nuclear test site and...

(LEAD) N. Korea says it has conducted hydrogen bomb test 2016/01/06 12:43 (ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS more info) SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea announced Wednesday it has succeeded in conducting a hydrogen bomb test, hours after what seems to be an artificial earthquake was detected close to the North's nuclear test site. In a "special" announcement aired on the North's state television station, North Korea said it conducted an H-bomb test at 10:00 a.m. (Pyongyang Time).

State media indicated Thursday that North Korea has added the hydrogen bomb to its arsenal, a development that, if true, would represent a major leap in its nuclear weapons capabilities. But outside observers were skeptical, saying that such an advance in the country's nuclear technology seemed unlikely. Analysts in recent years have believed that North Korea may have been working toward -- but didn't yet have the capability to produce -- a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb. It can be hundreds of times more powerful than an atomic bomb....

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Wednesday it had conducted a hydrogen bomb test, a defiant and surprising move that, if confirmed, would put Pyongyang a big step closer toward improving its still-limited nuclear arsenal. A television anchor read a typically propaganda-heavy statement on state TV that said North Korea had tested a "miniaturized" hydrogen bomb, elevating the country's "nuclear might to the next level" and providing it with a weapon to defend against the United States and its other enemies. The statement said the test was a "perfect success." The test, if confirmed by outside experts, will...

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Under federal law, the executive branch is expressly required to take religion into account in determining who is granted asylum. Under the provision governing asylum (section 1158 of Title 8, U.S. Code), an alien applying for admission must establish that ... religion... was or will be at least one central reason for persecuting the applicant. Moreover, to qualify for asylum in the United States, the applicant must be a 'refugee' as defined by federal law. That definition (set forth in Section 1101(a)(42)(A) of Title , U.S. Code) also requires the executive branch to take account of the alien's religion: The...

The Center for Public Integrity has issued a report that shows tht only three states recieved a grade of better than "D+."  The investigation "found that in state after state, open records laws are laced with exemptions and part-time legislators and agency officials engage in glaring conflicts of interests and cozy relationships with lobbyists. Meanwhile, feckless, understaffed watchdogs struggle to enforce laws as porous as honeycombs." That's pulling no punches. After describing disturbing practices in several states, the report says: These are among the practices illuminated by the State Integrity Investigation, which measured hundreds of variables to compile transparency and...

The U.S. Navy said it launched a second -- and final -- missile in a planned exercise Monday afternoon from a submarine off the Southern California coast. The second test launch of the Trident II (D5) missile from a ballistic submarine in the Pacific Ocean took place Monday afternoon, the Navy said. The blast-off took place to far less fanfare than Saturday night's launch, which provoked residents from San Francisco to Mexico to take to social media, posting photos of an eerie-looking bluish-green plume smeared above the Pacific...

NASA Completes Its Third Cessna Crash Test. Popular Science (8/26, Atherton) reports on Wednesday’s crash test of a Cessna aircraft by NASA as part of a study to try to improve emergency location transmitters (ELTs). This third test involved “a tail-first crash into soil, which flipped the plane but didn’t crush it in on its crash-test-dummy occupants so much.”

The New York State Education Department released a sampling of questions from statewide math and reading tests this week, showing the kind of problems elementary- and middle-school students have to grapple with. As The New York Times notes, New York is generally considered to have some of the hardest tests in the country. Only 36% of students passed the math exams in 2014; reading scores were even lower. Along with some of the questions that appeared on each test, NYSED included the percentage of students statewide who answered the question correctly. Scores of individual schools will be released later this...

A Kentucky 8th grade exam from 1912 was donated to the Bullitt County history museum. The questions feature the fundamental foundation of education that we seem to have lost due to the dumbing down of the American education system. Now with the common core epidemic we can see our youth transformed by a cookie cut education system and a near total loss of critical and independent thinking. If you can not read the fine print or zoom in, then here are some examples of 8th grade level testing in 1912. 1) Define the following terms of government: Democracy, Limited Monarchy,...

Oregon is about to embark on a first-in-the-nation program that aims to charge car owners not for the fuel they use, but for the miles they drive. The program is meant to help the state raise more revenue to pay for road and bridge projects at a time when money generated from gasoline taxes are declining across the country, in part, because of greater fuel efficiency and the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient, hybrid and electric cars. Starting July 1, up to 5,000 volunteers in Oregon can sign up to drive with devices that collect data on how much they have...

If you listen closely you can almost hear a collective sigh of relief from 16 year olds across the state.The reason – the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration officially removed parallel parking as a required test element on the driver’s license test on a statewide basis starting today.According to Buel Young, spokesperson for the MVA, the administration determined that completing a two-point turn and backing up are similar enough to parallel parking to eliminate the parking element from the test.“The MVA consistently evaluates its assessments of both the knowledge and skills tests. In analyzing the skills test, it was determined that...

The entire junior class of a Seattle high school sent an unmistakable message to President Obama and other supporters of the Common Core curriculum last week: Thanks, but no thanks. Not a single junior at Nathan Hale High showed up Tuesday to take new state exams in reading and math, a Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman told The Seattle Times. That’s 280 students who skipped the tests in a show of force. **SNIP** “They didn’t skip school all day,” district spokeswoman Stacy Howard told the newspaper. “They just didn’t show up during the testing period.”

What goes up, must come down! Russian army’s rocket launch test goes terribly wrong when missile drops straight back down and explodes in front of them [Whole title.] S300 barely takes off before plunging back to the ground Minute-long clip shows people dashing for cover as rocket hits ground Mishap comes shortly after footage of crash killing missile engineers Embarrassing footage has emerged of a missile launch going spectacularly wrong in Russia. The minute-long clip shows the S300 rocket barely managing to take off before plummeting back down to earth. A small thud can be heard and bits of debris...

"Don't know much about history" -- Sam Cooke It's an old joke, but one that is a commentary on our times. A pollster asks: "What do you think about the level of ignorance and apathy in the country?" The person replies: "I don't know and I don't care." Each week, Jesse Watters of Fox News interviews mostly young people about politics, government, current events and history. He claims their displays of ignorance are not edited. The worst part is that the interviewees don't seem to care that they know little about their government and country. In a recent episode, interviewees...

A small pipe bomb packed with gunpowder and BBs exploded in a subway station last night, injuring a transit cop and throwing several blocks near Times Square into chaos. A police spokesman insisted that authorities do not believe that the incident was terrorism — but federal officials, including the Secret Service and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating, it was learned. The officer, whose name was withheld, was standing near a staircase leading to the A, C and E trains at 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue at around 8 p.m., when he saw a burning knapsack, police said. He...

Six Questions every American should answer before 2016. And NO Barack Obama is NOT the answer to every question. Prepare for a shock at the answers !! If you don't know the answers make your best guess. Answer all of the questions (no cheating) before looking at the answers. And, let me say again: The answers to these questions are NOT all “Barack Obama”. 1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." A. Karl Marx B. Adolph Hitler C. Joseph Stalin D. Barack Obama E. None of the above 2) "It's time for...

The latest version of a top-selling study guide for the Advanced Placement European History exam explains the French Revolution with a chart which identifies Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as a fascist and pairs him with the Ku Klux Klan.“Barron’s AP European History” (7th edition) makes the claim, intended for consumption by American high school students, on page 168. The chart attempts to compare modern American political affiliations with the various factions involved in the French Revolution. The chart moves politically from left to right.The far right of the chart is labeled “fascist.” The authors demonstrate modern-day “fascists” by pairing “Clarence...

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