107,581,000 Americans Already in Government Health Plans

There were 107,581,000 people enrolled in government health insurance plans in the United States in 2013, the year before the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) was fully implemented. The Census Bureau published this number last week in its annual report on health insurance. These 107,581,000 pre-Obamacare government-health insurance enrollees equaled 34.

100 Christians, Including Children, Arrested During Major House Church Raid in China

Over 100 Christians, including children, were arrested during a major house church raid on Sunday in Foshan city in China’s Guangdong Province. Close to 200 police officers stormed in during the service, eyewitnesses said, believed to be part of a large-scale crackdown on Christians in the country. “We don’t know exactly why they raided our church,” a local believer told watchdog group International Christian Concern, which has been keeping track of the rising tide of persecution in China.

‘Shemitah’ starts at sundown: Are you ready?

The ancient principle of the “Shemitah” goes back 3,000 years to the time of Moses, but a rabbi from New Jersey is warning Americans to pull out their Bibles and take note. The year of the Shemitah, also called the Sabbath year, begins at sundown Wednesday with the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and continues through Sept. 13, 2015.

Should U.S. modify nuclear treaty to confront Chinese threat?

After Russia tested a ground-launched cruise missile two months ago to break the its landmark nuclear limitation treaty signed with the US in 1987, Evan Braden Montgomery, a defense expert from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said the United States has been debating whether or not to modify the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, reports National Interest magazine. The treaty was a landmark arms agreement which successfully prevented both the US and Soviet Union from fielding surface-to-surface ballistic and cruise missiles carry conventional or nuclear warheads within a range of 500-5500 kilometers. The State Department announced that Russia had violated the treaty to test a prohibited weapon in late July.

ISIS fighters ‘have returned to America’ U.S. officials say

The FBI is monitoring a number of US citizens who have returned to America after fighting for the jihadist groups in Syria, including the Islamic State (Isil), the US has confirmed for the first time. An administration official told Time magazine that the US National Counterterrorism Center believes that approximately 100 US citizens have gone on jihad, but declined to specify how many have returned to the US. “It includes those who’ve gone, those who’ve tried to go, some who’ve come back and are under activeâ?

Video: Cop Insists Travel is a Privilege Granted by the State

Back when the Constitution was drafted the founders did not explicitly include the right to travel. Although the Articles of Confederation recognized the freedom of movement under Article 4, the founders considered this right so fundamental they felt it did not need specific enumeration in the Constitution. So essential was the natural right of travel and freedom of movement considered, it was spelled out in Article 42 of the Magna Carta in 1215.

‘Moderate’ U.S. Armed Syrian Rebels Slam Obama’s Airstrikes On Extremists

The so called ‘moderate’ rebels in Syria who have received arms and training from the US, have condemned the US led airstrikes on ISIS extremists, underscoring the fact that their fight is against the Syrian government, not the terrorists the Obama administration claims it is funding them to fight. The US-backed Harakat Hazm rebel group in Syria, which consists of an estimated 7000 fighters who have been given US weapons, slammed the US led airstrikes Tuesday, according to reports. “The sole beneficiary of this foreign interference in Syria is the [President Bashar] Assad regime, especially in the absence of any real strategy to topple him,” a statement posted by the group on Twitter reads.

Mortgage Originations Down By 60-70%…..But Everything Is OK!

Mortgage originations for the first quarter of this year fell off a cliff.  JPMorgan reported a decline of 71 percent, as I recall, and I think Citibank reported a drop of 66 percent.  Now, the second quarter’s bloodletting has come in and the numbers are about the same… down more than 60 percent year-over-year, if memory serves and it often does.

Study: One in Ten Adults in U.S. Not Proficient in English

The number of working-age adults in the United States with limited proficiency in English has more than doubled since 1980, according to a new Brookings Institution study. The increase has not limited the job prospects for immigrants or their children, the study notes, though immigrants proficient in English make more money. “English proficiency is a strong predictor of economic standing among immigrants, regardless of the amount of education they have attained, and it is associated with the greater academic and economic success of the workers’ children,” the study found.

Jobs gained during the recovery pay an average 23 percent less than the jobs lost during the recession

As the so-called “recovery” continues, the facts just inconveniently get in the way, if you dare to look beyond the lamestream media. In a mere 6 years, since the recession began, wages have dropped substantially. “Jobs gained during the economic recovery from the Great Recession pay an average 23% less than the jobs lost during the recession,” according to a new report released by The U.

The Pure Hell At The Heart Of The Ebola Pandemic In Africa Could Soon Be Coming To America

Did you know that the number of Ebola cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone is approximately doubling every 20 days? People are dropping dead in the streets, large numbers of bodies are being dumped into the rivers, and gravediggers can hardly keep up with the the number of corpses that are being delivered to the cemeteries. As you read this, life is pure hell in many areas of West Africa, and now the CDC is warning that things may get far, far worse in the very near future.

Guiding Principle: Maintain Humanity Under 500 Million… Starting in 2014?

Some say that the mysterious granite structures in Elbert County, Georgia were put there by members of the sustainable development movement. Others say they’re guidelines for the what the elite members of society plan to do with the world in the near future. Wherever they came from, the Georgia Guidestones as they are called, have been the topic of much controversy and conspiracy theory over the last 35 years.

The glaringly obvious guide to the next financial crash

Leveraged loans to private equity are not just flashing red but have a wailing siren and a man walking in front waving a flag. The loans are even bothering the see-no-evil officials at the Federal Reserve, who have been trying to persuade banks that excessively leveraged loans are risky. More than a third of leveraged loans this year have lent more than six times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, only slightly below the proportion at the peak of the 2007 credit bubble, according to S&P Capital IQ.

Vatican astronomer: Just a matter of time until life found elsewhere in the universe

Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, the new president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, has no doubt that life exists elsewhere in the universe and that when humanity discovers it, the news will come as no big surprise. He suggested that the likely discovery — whether next month or a millennium from now — will be received much the way that news of planets orbiting far off stars has filtered in since the 1990s. “The general public is going to be, ‘Oh, I knew that.

Islamic State attack on Iraqi base leaves hundreds missing, shows army weaknesses

The army base in Iraq’s western Anbar province had been under siege by Islamic State militants for a week, so when a convoy of armored Humvees rolled up at the gate, the Iraqi soldiers at Camp Saqlawiyah believed saviors had arrived. But this was no rescue attempt. The vehicles were driven by militants on suicide missions, and within seconds on Sunday the base had become a bloody scene of multiple bombings.

San Francisco’s World Famous Fetish Festival Turns 30

Some things are classically San Franciscan. The Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard’s curves and the celebration of alternative sexuality known as the Folsom Street Fair are treats as signature to San Francisco as Rice-A-Roni. The 30-year-old culmination of Leather Week, this year happening on Sunday, attracts visitors from around the world as well as locals.

Two London chefs are trying to come up with a burger that tastes like human flesh

Two London chefs are this week trying to come up with a burger that tastes like human flesh, while Hannibal is busy cooking lung and loin bourguignon over on NBC, but exactly what flavour do we have? It’s a macabre thought, but one carnivores can’t help but idly wonder from time to time when eating the wide array of animals that we do. What with cannibalism being illegal and all, we only really have the unreliable testimonies of murderers and long-dead explorers to go on.