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EL SOBRANTE (CBS SF) – A street in El Sobrante has reopened after fire crews and a hazardous materials team finished removing an estimated 2,000 used hypodermic needles that spilled onto the roadway early Tuesday morning. The spill was reported just after 5 a.m. on Santa Rita Road near Appian Way. Contra Costa County Fire Protection District crews used brooms and shovels to pick up the needles and put them back in the container they appeared to have come from, Fire Marshal Lewis Broschard said.

No longer is it unusual to hear about incidents in which police shoot unarmed individuals first and ask questions later. What is unusual is our lack of outrage, the relative disinterest of our elected representatives, the media’s abysmal failure to ask questions and demand answers, and our growing acceptance of the status quo in the United Police States of America—a status quo in which “we the people” are powerless in the face of the heavy-handed tactics employed by the government and its armed agents. We have been silent about too many things for too long, not the least of which...

The Irish Government has announced that it will hold a nation-wide referendum to seek approval for the legalization of same-sex marriage in this predominantly Catholic country before the summer of 2015. The Catholic Church said it will actively push for a rejection of this proposal.

Two knee surgeons at University Hospitals Leuven have discovered a previously unknown ligament in the human knee. This ligament appears to play an important role in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Despite a successful ACL repair surgery and rehabilitation, some patients with ACL-repaired knees continue to experience so-called 'pivot shift', or episodes where the knee 'gives way' during activity. For the last four years, orthopedic surgeons Dr Steven Claes and Professor Dr Johan Bellemans have been conducting research into serious ACL injuries in an effort to find out why. Their starting point: an 1879 article by a French...

Two British co-eds dress up as the burning Twin Towers AND win a costume contest Amber Langford and Annie Collinge, both 19, won a costume contest at a club in Chester, the U.K., but were criticized by loved ones of those killed on 9/11. Comments (71) BY CORINNE LESTCH / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Two British co-eds dress up as the burning Twin Towers AND win a costume contest Amber Langford and Annie Collinge, both 19, won a costume contest at a club in Chester, the U.K., but were criticized by loved ones of those killed on 9/11. The only...

WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged Wednesday that it would be possible for a convicted felon to become an Obamacare navigator — one of the workers responsible for helping people deal with the ins and outs of the healthcare law. “Isn’t it true there is no federal requirement for navigators to undergo a criminal background check, even though they will receive personal information from the individuals they help to sign-up up for the Affordable Care Act?” asked Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn at a Senate Finance Committee hearing at which Sebelius was testifying. “That is true,”...

For centuries, it has been common for men in Russia’s southern regions to kidnap the woman they want to marry, a ritual known as “bride stealing.” And despite amounting to a major felony, the local custom is still widely tolerated. That tension between Russian law and local tradition was on display on Nov. 4, Russia’s National Unity Day, when the Kremlin-appointed leader of the region of Ingushetia called on his tiny, mountainous republic “to preserve its historic traditions and cultural values.” What President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov failed to mention was how much trouble the tradition of bride stealing has caused his...

It looks like labor unions might be getting tax relief from Obamacare, according to a report from kaiserhealthnews.org. "Weeks after denying labor’s request to give union members access to health-law subsidies, the Obama administration is signaling it intends to exempt some union plans from one of the law’s substantial taxes," reads the report. Buried in rules issued last week is the disclosure that the administration will propose exempting “certain self-insured, self-administered plans” from the law’s temporary reinsurance fee in 2015 and 2016. That’s a description that applies to many Taft-Hartley union plans acting as their own insurance company and claims...

Don’t worry. This is not another piece about Obamacare. Instead, we’ll go back to basics, and see if health insurance can ever satisfy the demands of the payers, the providers, and the patients. It’s not as if people haven’t been working on this for awhile. The notion of health insurance stems from the so-called “friendly societies,” and dates back to the very dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Arguably, those associations can trace their own origins back to the burial societies of ancient Greek and Roman artisans. In the Middle Ages, they morphed into the trade guilds of Europe, and expanded...

Sgt. Sean Murphy Retires from Massachusetts State Police Murphy, the tactical photographer who released dramatic photos of the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev manhunt, retires after 25 years with the force. By John Wolfson Three and a half months after releasing the dramatic behind-the-scenes photos he took during the manhunt for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Sgt. Sean Murphy has retired from the Massachusetts State Police. As part of a negotiated agreement, Murphy has also signed off on five disciplinary charges that were brought against him for the unauthorized release of the photos: violation of rules; unbecoming conduct; unsatisfactory performance; insubordination; and...

It is the most anticipated world championship match since the Fischer-Spassky title clash in 1972. A new era has possibly dawned, where one of the greatest players in the history of chess, Viswanathan Anand, plays Magnus Carlsen. In Norway, like in India, chess is in the shadow of more popular TV sports such as skiing and football. Despite his being recognised in the streets regularly, Carlsen's fame hasn't led to an increase in the number of chess players. When I first saw Carlsen as a nine-year-old in April 2000, I knew he was something special. It may sound like a...

If we’re going to burn Christie in RINO effigy, we might as well have lots of gasoline for the fire. In the interview, Mr. Christie said intelligent voices were being drowned out in Washington, and described the effort led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas to cut off funding for President Obama’s health care program as “a monumental failure.”… In the interview, Mr. Christie said he would be appearing frequently in “places like Ohio and Michigan and Florida,” all states with incumbent Republican governors up for re-election next year. He has also told South Carolina Republicans that he wants to...

Five millions tons of debris made up of devastated property is making its way to the US following the 2011 tsunami in Japan A floating island of debris three times the size of BRITAIN is heading for the California coastline sparking huge environmental concerns. Five millions tons of rubbish made up of devastated homes, boats, cars and businesses is making its way across the Pacific Ocean following the 2011 tsunami in Japan. Scientists have already discovered debris on the west coast but their latest findings suggest California is expected to be hit with a deluge all at once. America’s National...

'I'm not here to be preaching hate, pushing people down' God “absolutely” approves of everyone — including homosexuals — declared one of America’s most well-known evangelical pastors The Houston megapastor and best-selling author Joel Osteen, whose followers include the likes of Cher and Oprah Winfrey, is hitting the talk-show circuit to promote his new book, “Break Out! Osteen, the very visible face of Lakewood Church in Houston since 1999,  talked to the Huffington Post about his thoughts on prayer, the pope and the homosexual lifestyle. HuffPo Live host Josh Zepps quoted from Osteen’s new book: “It doesn’t matter who...

“Furthermore, IOD’s spending on promotional items increased by 975 percent during the 6-year period examined by the OIG and vastly outpaced the growth of the USMS’s appropriation during the same period,” the IG said. “As an illustration of some of the IOD’s spending we found that in six years the IOD branches spent $155,081 on USMS challenge coins, $11,338 on neckties and silk scarves bearing the USMS seal, $13,605 on USMS-themed Christmas ornaments, $16,084 on USMS-themed blankets and throws, and $36,596 on USMS lapel pins.” Other spending included $8,789.60 on cufflinks, $6,266.04 on teddy bears, and $21,543.86 on key chains....

Democrat Terry McAuliffe won the Virginia governor’s race on Tuesday, in a surprisingly close victory over Republican rival Ken Cuccinelli -- who was heavily outspent and trailed in the polls for much of the race. With nearly all precincts reporting, McAuliffe was ahead with just 48 percent of the vote, to Cuccinelli’s 45 percent. Though McAuliffe previously held a double-digit lead, exit polls showed voters opposed to the federal health care law overwhelmingly backed Cuccinelli, helping him narrow the gap on Tuesday.

LOUISIANA, MO. -- The Missouri State Fire Marshal continues its investigation into an early morning Thursday fire that took the life of a 3-year-old Louisiana, Mo. boy. A city police officer stunned Riley's stepfather Ryan Miller with a Taser gun three times as he tried to enter the burning house. Lori Miller, Riley's grandmother, said police stunned Ryan Miller as he tried to get back in the house. “He tried to get back in the house to get the baby,” Lori Miller said. “They took my son to jail because he tried to save his son.” Ryan Miller's sister-in-law doesn't...

On a special election edition of MSNBC’s “All In” on Tuesday, “Hardball” anchor Chris Matthews said that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had won re-election despite the fact that he has touched President Obama, whom Republicans usually reject on a “primitive…tribal” level. “[C]hristie is known for physical — it seems so high school — physical contact with the president. We think of them not hugging or anything. They’re not bromance material or anything here, but they were actually walking together, been seen together. And then you have these terrible cases of people saying or somebody from South Carolina, I was...

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