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Senator Elizabeth Warren joined Mayor Thomas M. Menino on Friday to press for stricter gun control and throw her support behind three Senate bills that are expected to be filed next week in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn. “We owe it to our children to start,” Warren said at a news conference at the Parkman House, the city-owned Beacon Hill residence where Menino is convalescing after a lengthy illness. On Dec. 14, a gunman with an assault rifle and two pistols killed 20 first-graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Warren said she will...

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Bass Reeves, one of the first African Americans to become a Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River, could have been an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s fictional character Django. Reeves, who was born a slave, arrested 3,000 felons, killed 14 men and was never shot throughout his 32-year career as a federal lawman. The fearless solider was born into slavery in 1838 in Crawford County, Arkansas, and eventually broke from his owner, George Reeves, to live among the Creek and Seminole Indians.

<p>VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican praised President Barack Obama's proposals for curbing gun violence, saying they are a "step in a right direction."</p> <p>The Vatican's chief spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Saturday that 47 religious leaders have appealed to members of the U.S. Congress "to limit firearms that are making society pay an unacceptable price in terms of massacres and senseless deaths."</p>

Today, a new grassroots organization is being launched: Organizing for Action. Following in the footsteps of the campaign you built, Organizing for Action will be an unparalleled force in American politics. It will work to turn our shared values into legislative action -- and it'll empower the next generation of leaders in our movement. Michelle recorded a video to tell you more about the new organization -- take a look and let OFA know you're in: http://my.barackobama.com/Organizing-for-Action We may have started this as a long shot presidential primary campaign in 2007, but it's always been about more than just winning...

Mexico's federal government may limit the amount of debt and the size of deficits that states and municipalities accumulate, as local debt levels have doubled in recent years and a handful of governments have defaulted on debt payments. The proposal is tricky to maneuver because Mexican states are independent federal entities, complete with their own constitutions, and as such they may tap as much nonguaranteed debt as they like. The states do require congressional approval to issue long-term debt backed by their shares of federal tax revenue. Local Mexican governments have limited independent revenue sources, relying instead on transfers from...

President Barack Obama's political operation began asking its wide network of backers Thursday to voice their support for the president's gun violence proposals, the first step in Obama for America's post-campaign iteration. An email from Obama's 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina asks supporters to "stand with President Obama in tackling this critical issue," directing readers to a webpage with a button to express support for Obama's plan, which includes executive actions and legislative proposals to curb gun violence. The appeal comes as Obama for America, the operation formed in 2007 to elect Obama to the White House, transitions from a...

Germany to shift 54,000 gold bars home ___ High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. Germany’s central bank is planning to shift 54,000 gold bars worth €27bn from Paris and New York to its base in Frankfurt, one of the biggest publicly announced shipments of the precious metal on record. Not to make it too easy for anyone planning a series of heists, the Bundesbank declined to say exactly...

U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-Huntington, N.Y.) plans to propose a ban on creating gun magazines with 3-D printers. The bill is still in the drafting stage, but Israel intends to make sure existing legislation includes consideration for this new kind of homemade firearm. Last month, Rep. Israel proposed to renew the Undetectable Firearms Act, which was adopted in 1988 and will expire in December of this year. Israel suggested that the act, which requires all guns to be detectable by such devices as X-ray machines and metal detectors, is more relevant than ever.

Dear Freepers This is a draft of something I am planning for a wider distribution. Please take a look at it. In the past you have given me great feedback on typos and grammar corrections which I am thankful for, but I can also take feedback on concepts or things that need clarification. The group this is intended for I assume knows how to google so I am not going to document anything as everything in here should be common knowledge or easily web searched. Thank you in advance. All the best... CGTGOC Why Obama is Different On the eve...

SCOTTBASE, Antarctica (AP) — Talk about whisky on ice: Three bottles of rare, 19th century Scotch found beneath the floor boards of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackelton's abandoned expedition base were returned to the polar continent Saturday after a distiller flew them to Scotland to recreate the long-lost recipe. But not even New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who personally returned the stash, got a taste of the contents of the bottles of Mackinlay's whisky, which were rediscovered 102 years after the explorer was forced to leave them behind. "I think we're all tempted to crack it open and have a...

A freshman state senator from Broken Arrow has filed legislation challenging the federal government's authority to regulate weapons in any way. Sen. Nathan Dahm's Senate Bill 548 says that "the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms free from infringement; that federal acts, laws, orders, rules, regulations, bans, or registration requirements regarding firearms constitute an infringement on the individual right, are not authorized by the Constitution of the United States and violate its true meaning and intent as given by the founders and ratifiers, and are hereby declared to be invalid in the State of Oklahoma,...

<p>A small-batch ice-cream company claims to have scooped up a cure for the worst epidemic in years — a bold new flavor called “Influenza Sorbet.”</p> <p>The virus-soothing treat — made by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams — blends Maker’s Mark bourbon, lemon and cayenne pepper to mimic an old family flu remedy.</p>

It's a fool's game to take anything Obama says at face value. There is always a catch. For his second inaugural, he publicly congratulates himself for banning lobbyists from sponsoring the events. Of course, no such prohibition exists on the companies who hire the lobbyists. The companies who are trying to influence the government are welcome to participate, even if their hired guns are not. The corporations who are the biggest donors to the inauguration have spent $160 million lobbying government since Obama first took office. From a report by The Center for Public Integrity: "Chief among corporate inaugural donors:...

Most people would cut a 13-year-old girl some slack if she became obsessed enough with Justin Bieber to write the teen singer emails and letters all the time, but what if an ostensibly professional journalist were to do the same to a politician? This odd scenario actually is not a hypothetical, however. A CNN correspondent named Tom Foreman has admitted publicly to writing a letter every single day to President Obama for the past four years. Foreman's admission came on the CNN website where he does not really explain why on earth he ever did such a strange, stalkerish thing....

How did the rest of the media miss this? According to the new issue of Newsweek online, President Obama, who this weekend begins his second term--the third president in a row to do so--is "The Second Coming." With flattering photographs, the magazine edited by Obama fan Tina Brown holds out hope that in his second Inaugural Address, Obama can inspire and show that he can also lead. The conservative media watch dog, Media Research Center, first noticed the God-like cover. "Conservatives have long joked that the national press corps see Barack Obama as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Today,...

A four day hostage crisis ended Saturday in a final assault by Algerian special forces on a group of Islamic terrorists who were holed up, along with dozens of hostages, in a gas facility in the country. The forces stormed the complex resulting in the deaths of at least 19 hostages and 29 Islamist terrorists. The Niger terrorist believed to lead the al-Qaeda splinter group, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, is reported...among those killed.

Security for President Barack Obama's second inauguration will, of course, be extremely tight. Uniformed police will be everywhere in Washington. ---snip--- But some of the security is meant to be nearly invisible. At Union Station, two men who could have been waiting for a train were actually DHS Behavioral Detection Officers who blend into the crowd. Trained to look for suspicious behavior among passengers, they were in communication with teams of armed TSA officers.

RALEIGH, N.C. — At least two people were injured Saturday afternoon in an apparent accidental shooting at the gun show being held at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. Emergency crews responded to the scene shortly after 1 p.m., and two people were loaded into ambulances. A witness told WRAL that a gun went off after being checked by an official at a safety check-in location, hitting a man in the hand and a woman in the side. The Raleigh Fire Department confirmed that the Dixie Gun and Knife Show would be closed for the remainder of the day Saturday. There...

The source of information for this news post came from Roger Hedgecock’s 1/17/13 radio show. Here’s the link. Fast forward to 21:13 for Roger’s comments. The five worst mass killings, where a firearm was used, have a common thread. Hint #1: They didn’t belong to the NRA. They don’t fit the stereotype of the “red-neck” gun owner. Ft Hood: Registered Democrat/Muslim. Columbine: Too young to vote; both families were registered Democrats and progressive liberals. Virginia Tech: Wrote hate mail to President Bush and to his staff. Colorado Theater: Registered Democrat; staff worker on the Obama campaign; Occupy Wall Street participant;...