Vermont first state in nation to ban fracking for oil and gas

Vermont first state in nation to ban fracking for oil and gas 04 May 2012 With a 103-36 vote in the House of Representatives, Vermont on Friday became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing to extract oil or natural gas. The bill passed the Senate earlier this week. The House debate was short.

U.S. to resume on-the-ground military training in Yemen 09 May 2012 The United States has resumed on-the-ground military training aimed at bolstering Yemen's fight against 'al Qaeda,' the Pentagon said on Tuesday, following a suspension during a period of intense political upheaval [created by the US]. "We have begun to reintroduce small numbers of trainers into Yemen," Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told reporters. Kirby said the trainers had begun to be sent back to Yemen "recently" but declined to give further details on when that occurred - or on the number or location of those trainers.

AP: Feds investigate leak in terrorism case --Federal investigation is latest move in aggressive campaign by Obama administration to crack down on leaks 09 May 2012 Federal investigators are conducting a probe into who leaked information about an al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] plot in which an explosive device was to have been detonated on a U.S.-bound airline flight, a law enforcement official said Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity about the leak investigation, which is just getting under way.

Mole who helped CIA foil al-Qa'ida underwear bomb 'was British national' --Officials said it was an upgrade on a bomb [CIA's earlier version] which failed to detonate on a flight over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. 10 May 2012 An undercover agent who foiled an 'al-Qa'ida' plot to blow up a airliner with an underwear bomb is a British national, it was reported tonight. UK intelligence were said to have been "heavily involved" in recruiting the spy who infiltrated a terror group in Yemen in a rare coup for Western agencies. Quoting sources briefed by Saudi counter-terrorism officials, US television networks said the individual grew up in Europe where he was apparently radicalised. He was subsequently "turned" and recruited by Saudi agents last year, they said.

'Underwear bomber' was working for the CIA [as usual] 08 May 2012 A would-be "underwear bomber" involved in a plot to attack a US-based jet was in fact working as an undercover informer with Saudi intelligence and the CIA, it has emerged. The revelation is the latest twist in an increasingly bizarre story about the disruption of an apparent attempt by al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] to strike at a high-profile American target using a sophisticated device hidden in the clothing of an attacker. The plot, which the White House said on Monday had involved the seizing of an underwear bomb by authorities in the Middle East sometime in the last 10 days, had caused alarm throughout the US.

False flag rehearsal: Fort Campbell exercise tests radiation scenario involving 'dirty bomb' --County agencies also take part 10 May 2012 (KY) Fort Campbell first-responders and security officials, as well as off-post agencies from Montgomery County and Hopkinsville, were tested on Thursday with a scenario involving a radioactive "dirty bomb" incident. A number of Fort Campbell soldiers also took part playing the role of casualties, using make-up simulating burns, cuts and abrasions that added to the realism of the exercise. The annual Emergency Management and Antiterrorism event simulated the detonation of a remote-controlled device involving approximately 20 immediate area casualties.

3 Southwest planes searched in bomb scare 09 May 2012 Authorities searched three different Southwest Airlines jets for explosives late Tuesday evening, but nothing suspicious was found. One jet, Flight 811, returned to the gate at Orange County's John Wayne Airport after officials learned of an unspecified threat around 8:30 p.m. They isolated the plane and a bomb squad then determined the jet was safe. A Spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines said that one threat was made, but it was non-specific.

Heads up! Here come the false flags fast and furious, because the Sociopaths in Congress don't want to cut the Fatherland Security or Pentagon budgets: Possible threat grounds Southwest plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor 08 May 2012 Authorities are continuing to investigate possible threats involving three different Southwest Airlines 737s. One plane involved in the investigation landed Tuesday night at Sky Harbor International Airport. A Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman confirms the Southwest plane in question was taken to an isolation pad away from the terminal where dozens of passengers were removed from the plane one by one to be screened. The plane, Southwest flight 1184, arrived in Phoenix at 7:30 p.m. after departing from Orange County, California. The plane was bound for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

FBI chief urges US Congress to renew wide-ranging surveillance power in counterterror probes 09 May 2012 FBI Director Robert Mueller urged Congress on Wednesday to renew wide-ranging surveillance authority to 'thwart' terrorism plots like the latest one in which an 'al-Qaida'-engineered explosive device was to have been detonated on a U.S.-bound airline flight. Mueller told the House Judiciary Committee the FBI is examining the device and said the scheme hatched in Yemen demonstrates that it's essential for Congress to reauthorize counterterrorism tools enacted in 2008. Some of these programs expire at year-end.

Twitter fights request for Occupy protester's data 08 May 2012 Twitter Inc filed a motion in a New York criminal court on Tuesday seeking to quash a subpoena for Tweets and account records associated with Malcolm Harris, a Twitter user who was arrested last fall on the Brooklyn Bridge during an Occupy protest. Prosecutors in Manhattan have sought to build a case around Harris's Tweets by arguing that they show Harris was "well aware of the police instructions, and acted with the intent of obstructing traffic on the bridge," according to court filings. Harris lost a bid to squash the subpoena in April, after a judge ruled that Twitter holds a license to its users' Tweets.

US spy drone crashes in eastern Afghanistan 10 May 2012 An American reconnaissance drone has crashed in Logar Province in the east of war-ravaged Afghanistan, Press TV reports. Din Mohammad Darvish, a spokesman for the provincial governor, confirmed on Tuesday that the surveillance plane went down in suburbs of Pul-e-Alam the capital of Logar Province. Afghan government officials and NATO sources say that a technical failure caused the aircraft to crash. The Taliban militant group has not commented on the incident.

Rocket attack injures three US soldiers in Afghanistan 10 May 2012 At least three US soldiers have been wounded in a rocket attack in Afghanistan's eastern province of Logar, Press TV reports. Din Mohammad Darvish, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said on Thursday that the soldiers were injured after militants targeted a US-run base in the region. The Taliban has not commented on the incident, but such attacks have been carried out by the militant group in the past.

12.6 Billion-Dollar Bailout for Fukushima Operator TEPCO 10 May 2012 Japan is set to nationalize Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, under a ¥1 trillion bailout plan approved Wednesday. The $12.6 billion bailout comes at a time when the government itself is reeling under a debt burden that has mushroomed to more than twice the size of its economy. The government has separately committed ¥2.4 trillion in taxpayer money to meet compensation payments arising from the accident. But estimates of the payments that Tepco might have to pay out have reached many tens of billions of dollars, making further government support likely.

Over 1,300 Tubes Damaged at Calif. Nuclear Plant 08 May 2012 More than 1,300 tubes that carry radioactive water inside the San Onofre nuclear plant in Southern California are so damaged that they will be taken out of service, the utility that runs the plant said Tuesday. The figures released by Southern California Edison are the latest disclosure in a probe of equipment problems that have kept the coastal plant sidelined for more than three months. At issue has been the integrity of tubing that snakes through the plant's four steam generators, which were installed in a multimillion-dollar makeover in 2009 and 2010.

Gay rights campaigners around the world hail Obama's message of support --From Russia, to India and Kenya, campaigners welcomed US President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage 10 May 2012 President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage in the US has been hailed by campaigners as a significant boost for gay rights around the world – but they warned there was much work to be done. "President Obama joins the British prime minister and the new French president in backing same-sex marriage," said Peter Tatchell, veteran campaigner and national coordinator of the UK's Equal Love campaign, which is seeking to overturn the twin legal bans on gay civil marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships.

Obama says he supports same-sex marriage, first president to take that position 09 May 2012 President Barack Obama told ABC News he supports gay marriage, becoming the first U.S. president to take the position. Obama told ABC reporter Robin Roberts that he had initially opposed the idea of gay marriage, that he felt civil unions may have sufficed in granting gay couples equal rights. "I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient," he said. "I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that invokes very powerful traditions and religious beliefs." The president said he had a change of heart after long talks with friends and family.

Prep School Bully: Mitt Romney Carried Out 'Vicious Attack' on Gay Student 10 May 2012 Mitt Romney returned from a three-week spring break in 1965 to resume his studies as a high school senior at the prestigious Cranbrook School... John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn't having it. "He can't look like that. That's wrong. Just look at him!" an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann's recollection... A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school's collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors. The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another.

Arizona: Sheriff to Face Civil Rights Suit Over Claims That Include Profiling 10 May 2012 The federal authorities said Wednesday that they planned to sue Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County and his office over claims of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos. The Justice Department has been seeking an agreement requiring the sheriff's office to train officers in how to make constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops and reach out to Latinos to assure them that the department is there also to protect them. A "notice of intent to file civil action" came Wednesday from Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general, in a letter to a lawyer for the sheriff.

Pharma-terrorists are pushing phony epidemics to pimp their mercury-laden, squalene-filled vaccines again: Washington state health officials declare whooping cough epidemic, seek CDC 'help' as cases soar 10 May 2012 Washington state's worst outbreak of whooping cough in decades has prompted health officials to declare an epidemic, seek help from federal experts and urge residents to get vaccinated [That's how the 'epidemic' likely started in the first place.] amid worry that cases of the highly contagious disease could spike much higher. It's the first state to declare a whooping cough, or pertussis, epidemic since 2010, when California had more than 9,000 cases, including 10 deaths. Washington has had 10 times the cases reported in 2011, and so has Wisconsin with nearly 2,000 cases this year, though that state has not declared an epidemic.

Smallest seahorse in US waters might get endangered protection --Dwarf seahorse threatened by loss of Florida seagrass, aquarium trade, 2010 BP oil spill 03 May 2012 A species of seahorse that's just an inch tall, the smallest in U.S. waters, appears to warrant endangered protection, the U.S. said Thursday in kicking off a year-long review process. Found in seagrass beds in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in the Atlantic off Florida and the Caribbean, the dwarf seahorse caught the attention of the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group that petitioned for protection a year ago.

US Bank Hit By 'Embarrassing' £1.2bn Loss 11 May 2012 JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the US, has admitted losing $2bn (£1.2bn) in a trading portfolio designed to protect the company against risks it took with its own money. Chief executive Jamie Dimon blamed "errors, sloppiness and bad judgement" for the embarrassing loss. "The portfolio has proved to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than we thought," he said. the bank acknowledged the latest developments could hit its reputation. "This puts egg on our face," Mr Dimon admitted.