World News

on June 20, 2013 in World News

‘We were told to lie’ – Bank of America employees open up about foreclosure practices

Employees of Bank of America say they were encouraged to lie to customers and were even rewarded for foreclosing on homes, staffers of the financial giant claim in new court documents. Sworn statements from several Bank of America employees contain a  number of damning allegations, the latest claims entered as  evidence in a multi-state class action lawsuit that challenges  the bank’s history with foreclosures. According to testimonies obtained by journalists at ProPublica,  supervisors at various Bank of America branches across the United  States encouraged employees to regularly deny loan modification  applications with no reason. At times, they were told to… View Article

click here for more
on June 20, 2013 in World News

Gallup Poll Shows Only One in Four Americans Trusts Newspapers, TV News

A  new poll conducted by the Gallup Organization contains some very bad  news for the news industry. The survey indicates that only 23 percent  of American adults have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in  newspapers and television news, the worst results since 2007. According  to Elizabeth Mendes, deputy managing editor at Gallup, newspapers have  been trending downward since 1979, when they reached a high of 51  percent, but TV news bounced up slightly from its all-time low  of 21 percent a year ago. Confidence in newspapers declined from 28 percent in 2011 and 25 percent in … View Article

click here for more
on June 20, 2013 in World News

California in the red by $127.2 billion, state auditors say

A financial report  issued by state auditors finds that the state of California is in the red by an  unsustainable $127.2 billion. The report says that the state’s negative status increased that year, largely  because it spent $1.7 billion more than it received in revenues and wound up  with an accumulated deficit of just under $23 billion in fiscal year 2011-2012,  the Sacramento Bee stated. Gov. Jerry Brown has referred to the  deficit and other budget gaps, mostly money owed to schools, as a “wall of debt”  totaling more than $30 billion, the Sacramento Bee reported. About half of the… View Article

click here for more
on June 20, 2013 in World News

Study: 70 Percent Of Americans On Prescription Drugs

Rochester, Minn. (CBS ATLANTA) – Researchers find that nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half receive at least two prescriptions. Mayo Clinic researchers report that antibiotics, antidepressants and painkiller opioids are the most common prescriptions given to Americans. Twenty percent of U.S. patients were also found to be on five or more prescription medications. The study is uncovering valuable information to the researchers about U.S. prescription practices. “Often when people talk about health conditions they’re talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes,” Dr. St. Sauver stated in a… View Article

click here for more
on June 20, 2013 in World News

Citizens Seek Security Alternatives as Police Forces Downsize

As cities across the U.S. face police shortages and violent crime rebounds, some communities have begun to police themselves through other means. One such watch group was created in a neighborhood in Milwaukee, Oregon and calls itself a “Glock Block.”KOIN News reports: “We’re starting a new group,” said Coy Tolonen, who lives in unincorporated Clackamas County. “We don’t feel neighborhood watch is sufficient, and we don’t feel the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is sufficient.” Tolomon and a group of Jennings Lodge neighbors say they’re responding to escalating crime on their block by also making fliers that read “This is a… View Article

click here for more
on June 19, 2013 in World News

CT Governor Tries to Crash Rick Perry’s Meeting with State Gun Manufacturers

While Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) was meeting with gun manufacturers in Connecticut on June 17, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) dropped in to show some “Yankee hospitality.” The gun manufacturers are considering leaving the state because of gun control measures Malloy signed into law on April 4. Perry is trying to be sure that if they do leave, their next stop is Texas. According to CT News Junkie, when Malloy spoke to reporters gathered outside the meeting between Perry and firearms manufacturers, he said: “I just thought it would be an appropriate thing, since you guys were so… View Article

click here for more
on June 19, 2013 in World News

FBI: We Use Drones to Monitor Targets in the US

On Wednesday, FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the agency was already using drones to monitor specific targets inside the United States. “Our footprint is very small,” Mueller said. “We have very few and have limited use.” Mueller said that the FBI was only in the initial stages of developing privacy guidelines – an uncomforting assertion as the United States undergoes heavy debate over the nature of privacy invasions from the National Security Agency. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who has been staunchly in favor of NSA snooping, said that drones were extremely problematic in her view…. View Article

click here for more
on June 19, 2013 in World News

Obama offends Catholics in the UK, says religious schools are divisive

The Catholic media is up in arms over comments President Obama made during a speech while in Northern Ireland for the G8 summit. Obama made what is described as “an alarming call for an end to Catholic education,” in spite of the fact that it is considered “a critical component of the Church.”   Fr. John Zuhlsdorf Photo credit: Facebook In front of an audience of about 2,000 young people, including many Catholics, Obama claimed that Catholic education divides people and blocks peace, according to the Scottish Catholic Observer. “If towns remain divided—if Catholics have their schools and buildings and… View Article

click here for more
on June 19, 2013 in World News

Anti-Gun Colorado Sen. Close to Recall

In the aftermath of the crime at a Colorado movie theater where 12 people were murdered, the Colorado State legislature quickly moved to adopt stricter gun laws and Senate President John Morse led that effort. But now, after his anti-gun bills were successfully passed into law, Morse faces a recall election that could turn him out of office. On June 18, Colorado certified that the recall effort had gained enough signatures to move forward making Senator leader Morse the first legislator to ever be recalled in the state’s history. Morse, a Democrat from Colorado Springs, has been in the legislature… View Article

click here for more
on June 19, 2013 in World News

Capitol Police Voice Message to Tea Party: ‘You Can Not Join Other Groups in Other Areas’

On Wednesday morning at 9:28 am Capitol Hill Police Officer Sandra Brown left a voice message for Kevin Mooneyhan, Deputy Executive Director of the Tea Party Patriots, the group holding a rally at noon Wednesday on the West Lawn of the Capitol. In the message, Officer Brown told Mr. Mooneyhan that attendees of the Tea Party Patriots rally on the West Lawn were prohibited from attending Congressman Steve King’s (R-IA) immigration event on the East Lawn, due to the terms of the Tea Party Patriots permit. There was only one problem with Officer Brown’s directive. Individual citizens attending either event… View Article

click here for more