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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reserves the right to buy up to 750 million rounds of ammunition over the next five years and currently has “two years worth” of ammo on hand, or around 247 million rounds in its inventory, the department’s top procurement official said Thursday during congressional testimony. DHS has already purchased around 41 million rounds of ammunition this year alone, Nick Nayak, DHS’s chief procurement officer, said during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill. Some $37 million in taxpayer dollars will be spent on the purchase of ammunition in the entirety of fiscal year 2013.

As NewsBusters reported Wednesday, Al Jazeera entered into an agreement to buy Al Gore's failing network Current TV. Hours later, as a result of the purchase, Time Warner Cable dropped the station with a message reading to viewers "This channel is no longer available on Time Warner Cable." According to multiple news sources, Current co-founder Joel Hyatt said in a statement that TWC dropped his TV network because TWC "did not consent to the sale to Al Jazeera." “Current will no longer be carried on TWC," wrote Hyatt. "This is unfortunate, but I am confident that Al Jazeera America will...

Lincoln County residents can now apply for and purchase gun permits through the Sheriff’s Office website. The agency recently made the switch to online applications to “provide better customer service” and “streamline the permit process,” ultimately cutting back on the public’s flow of traffic in and out of the Sheriff’s Office and increasing the system’s level of convenience for residents, according to a press release. Prior to moving the permit process online, citizens had to make multiple trips to the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff David Carpenter told the Times-News on Thursday.

SYDNEY: A seven-year-old British boy nearly bought a real-life Harrier fighter jet for $113,515 via online shopping. The boy hit the "buy it now" button to purchase the fighter jet, which was put on sale at the online store eBay. But his father quickly apologised to the sellers, saying his son was not able to buy the aircraft out of his pocket money, news.com.au reported Friday. "His dad rang up and profusely apologised to us, so it's still for sale. We've put it on as an auction now so that won't happen again," said a spokeswoman for Britain-based Jet Art...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seeking to build ties with an economic rival, the White House said Wednesday that China would purchase $45 billion in U.S. exports, including a highly sought-after $19 billion deal for 200 Boeing airplanes. The announcement came as Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived at the White House for a state visit with President Barack Obama. The deals could soothe some concerns from the U.S. government and corporate America, both of which contend that China keeps its currency artificially low in order to make Chinese products cheaper in the U.S. and U.S. products costlier in China.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – AOL and several private equity firms are exploring the possibility of buying Yahoo!, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The newspaper said Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone Group are among the firms that have expressed interest in either teaming up with AOL to buy Yahoo! or trying to take it private on their own. The Journal, citing "people familiar with the matter," said at least two or three other companies could be interested in participating if a formal buyout proposal is drawn up. The newspaper said the discussions involving private-equity firms, AOL executives and financial advisers are...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Were ethical lines crossed when the city purchased the property that will be the future site of the new west police precinct? One concerned citizen thinks so and is taking his complaint to the Tennessee Ethics Commission Related: Watch This Story His question about the property comes down to who owned it, a familiar name on the trust with Metro ties, and a price tag he says is way too high. Mike Peden believes something isn't right when it comes to the old Ford dealership on Charlotte Pike. Metro just bought it to become the future site...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Shares of BB&T Corp. rallied Friday on reports it will buy deposits and branches of Colonial BancGroup Inc. in a deal backed by federal regulators to take the struggling lender into receivership. The deal was approved by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Thursday night and is expected to be announced later on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported. "The market is treating it as it was a foregone conclusion here," said Sandler O'Neill & Partners analyst Kevin Fitzsimmons. Shares of BB&T rose $2.26, or 8.8 percent, to $28.06 in afternoon trading Friday, while shares of Colonial...

Hey fellow FReepers. My camera, the Canon Powershot A540 has decided to bite the dust after 13 months. I strongly suspect abuse by spouse and possibly being used as a hand grenade by a 1 year old. So, I need a new camera. $200 top budget. Will be used to take pics of kids. Lots of indoor shots. Lots of outdoor shots. Maybe even some action shots. What I want. 7MP. 3x zoom, but prefer 4x or better. Here is where my language will say what I mean, but not in proper "camera" world terms. I want the flash to...

I need a four wheel drive heavy duty vechile. I currently drive an 8 passenger four wheel drive. I ned something with good gas milage, that can take my quarter mile gravel driveway, manage the hills and the substantial ice and snow. Of course it has to be economical, and make me look good as I fly down the road like a low-flying rocket. Your recommendations would be valued. Thank you.

A senior official in Teheran said Wednesday that in the next few days, a "surprise" was expected regarding Iran's nuclear program, Al-Jazeera reported. Teheran's apparent refusal to suspend uranium enrichment set the stage for a showdown at the UN Security Council later this month. The United States said Wednesday that a proposal by Iran for nuclear negotiations falls short of UN demands for a halt to enrichment, and began plotting "next moves" with other governments. Diplomats from Europe, the US, Russia and China pored over details of Iran's counterproposal Wednesday, a day after Teheran presented it. Initial comments from Russia...

Hartford City, IN — The Indiana Homeland Security department was notified about the cell phone purchases. Two men have been questioned in Hartford City, Indiana. 22-year-old Bilal Muhamed Mustafa and 29-year old Sultan Allah Muhammond came to the Alco discount store looking to buy a particular model Nokia Trac phone in bulk. Terrorism experts say Tracphones can't be traced and are known to be used by terrorists as detenators for bombs. "Oh I was suspicious," said Alco Store Manager, Kenny Mazelin. " They always said after 9/11 be vigilant with cell phones sales and that we should contact somebody." That's...

Yahoo is planning to pony up $60 million to buy a 10% share in South Korea's No 2. online retailer GMarket. South Korea has one of Asia's fastest growing e-commerce industries. Yahoo will buy its steak, I mean, stake from the venture capital firm Oak Investment Partners. It seems Oak Investment is the only significant outside institutional investor in GMarket...in other words, Yahoo had to go through them to get their foot in the door. Yahoo's COO, Dan Rosenweigg, said, "GMarket's strength in e-commerce complements the strong offerings we already provide in the Korean market across communications, content, and search...

NEW DELHI: Air India, the country's flag carrier, will begin receiving the first of its 35 mint new Boeing aircraft from 2006, with the last plane being delivered in 2013. Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday announced the cabinet's approval of Air India's fleet expansion plans and said a group of ministers would work out the pricing with the manufacturer "in as quick a period as possible". In addition, subsidiary Air India Charters Limited that operates the no-frills Air India Express, will start taking delivery of the first of its 18 new Boeings from 2006 and the process will be...

Sorry for the vanity, but I do respect the opinions of the posters on this board, who also possess a great wealth of information. With that said, I am in the process of buying a car, and wanted your advice. Here is the deal. I am a young attorney at a large corporate law firm. I have about $40,000 to spend. I need something that I can drive clients around in, yet hopefully is fun to drive, reliable, and that my estemeed colleagues will not view with disdain. I am not opposed to buying a used car, and would prefer...

OK, it's a vanity thread, but one with a purpose, IMHO. Please bear with me... The current situation in Russia presents the United States with a major opportunity. Over the next twenty or thirty years, the great geopolitical struggles will be over living space and mineral resources. These items will become increasingly scarce and expensive. China, in particular, will be in a position where they desperately need land for their growing population and raw materials to feed their industrial growth. Where will they go to get what they need? The obvious answer is Eastern Russia. Russia is in the middle...

I am a US citizen & my British husband is a lawful, DOCUMENTED, permanent resident (he has to wait another 17 months before he can become a citizen). We want to buy a handgun, for personal safety in our home. Does anyone know; would the fact that he is not yet a citizen effect us getting a gun? I have a CRAZY relative (brother), who has sworn to kill me (he attacked me at Christmas, breaking 2 of my fingers, giving me a fat lip & black eye - yet, believe it or not, when Police arrived, I WAS ARRESTED,...

Two days before it is scheduled to complete a $95 million deal to preserve the scenic Hearst Ranch, the Schwarzenegger administration still has not made public its estimates about how much the landmark purchase will cost taxpayers for new park rangers, maintenance and other expenses. --snip-- If Schwarzenegger officials stick with a rule they approved earlier this year aimed at curbing costs for new state parks, they would have to reject the Hearst deal because of its operating expenses. Or they could accept the deal, and keep costs down by closing Hearst's beaches to the public, which would be unpopular....

Editor's note: Readers may be interested in two related stories: "Invested in Terrorism" and "BBC: U.S. Damned if it does and damned if it doesn't". -ALJ Douglas Farah uncovered the story of al-Qaeda's involvement in West Africa's diamond smuggling while reporting on Africa for the Washington Post, which he described in Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror (New York: Broadway, 2004). Mr. Farah, now a consultant, freelance writer on terror finance and national security matters, and a senior fellow at the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, addressed the Middle East Forum in New York City on...

On Monday, December 8, 2003, President Bush signed into law a Medicare prescription drug benefits package designed to help American seniors pay for their medications. This month, the Kerry campaign released a TV ad attacking President Bush’s Medicare record stating, “The very next day George Bush imposes the biggest Medicare premium increase in history while prescription drug costs still skyrocket.” There are several problems with this ad, namely that fact that 1) Kerry skipped the December 8 vote and 2) Kerry voted to support the increase in Medicare premiums that he now criticizes. The Kerry campaign offers no specifics on...