THIS WEEK IN REVIEW

A US Hellfire missile, shipped to Europe for NATO use, has appeared in Cuba. Authorities are concerned that the weapon will be reverse engineered with the technical information falling into the hands of Russia and China and their allies. Gizmodo 2016 Jan 8 (Story) (Cached)

South Florida University tenured Professor, James Tracy, was fired for questioning the official narrative about the mass shootings at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. Due to many anomalies in the official story and suppression of critical information, he believes that the event was staged, and the shooting did not even happen. Before dismissing that view as absurd, you may be surprised at the evidence to support it. Stephen Lendman 2016 Jan 7 (Story) (Cached)

Easton, Pennsylvania: Wal-Mart faces a lawsuit on charges that store employees negligently allowed an underage, intoxicated customer to buy a box of bullets later used to commit three murders. Until recently, sellers of guns and ammunition assumed they were protected from liability by the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but a Wisconsin jury recently found a gun store liable in the shooting deaths of two police officers. Reuters 2016 Jan 7 (Story) (Cached)

Gary Franchi reveals that Libya is the next front of the war against ISIS. 6,000 European and US troops soon will be deployed there, including 1,000 British Special Forces. He says that Islamic extremists have taken possession of a dozen major oil fields that fund their activities. [We do not expect this to turn out any better than US military action in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria.] Next News Network 2016 Jan 7 (Story)

California has issued more than 605,000 drivers licenses to immigrants, granting them identifying documents, without requiring proof that they are in the country legally. AP 2016 Jan 6 (Story) (Cached)

California: Two and a-half months after an enormous methane gas leak appeared in northern Los Angeles, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency. It is speculated that the delay may have been a result of the fact that the governor’s sister is a member of the board of directors of Sempra Energy, the parent company of SoCalGas, which owns the leaking well. Sempra has donated to Brown’s campaigns since 2006, so it possible that Brown is motivated to protect the financial interests of Sempra. Buzz Feed News 2016 Jan 6 (Story) (Cached)

North Korea claims to have detonated a hydrogen bomb, which is twice as destructive as an atomic bomb. It was exploded underground, leaving scientists unsure of whether it was really an H-bomb or if North Korea is bluffing. Scientists now are busy examining the evidence to find out. Wired 2016 Jan 6 (Story) (Cached)

Sandra Bland mysteriously died by hanging in her prison cell three days after her arrest for failure to use her turn signal. Her family says she should not have been arrested and would never kill herself. Brian Encinia is the Texas state trooper who arrested her and who was suspected of excessive force and brutality. A grand jury investigated the case and indicted Encinia for perjury relating to the arrest but did not confirm the charge of brutality. CNN 2016 Jan 6 (Story)

Cologne, Germany: On New Year’s Eve, there were a thousand rioters and scores of mob sexual assaults on women in the street perpetrated by migrant young men from Syria and North Africa. However, on New Year’s Day, authorities issued a press release claiming the previous night was “peaceful” and without incident. [The political agenda of Germany’s leaders is to suppress any news that would interfere with the ongoing cultural suicide of the nation.] InfoWars 2016 Jan 6 (Story) (Cached)

A Chinese company has produced a single-passenger drone that autonomously flies people from one location to another (the passenger does not have access to the controls except for an emergency hovering or landing). The company says it should be commercially available this year, at a cost of $200,000 to $300,000. Gizmodo 2016 Jan 6 (Story) (Cached)

Cologne, Germany: At least 80 women filed complaints of sexual assault on New Year’s Eve by men who appeared to be Arab and North African. Hamburg also had problems with groups of men hunting women. News Beat Social 2016 Jan 5 (Story)

The war in Yemen between the Saudis and the Shia Muslim Houthis has killed at least 5,884 people since the beginning of Saudi airstrikes in March. The Doctors Without Borders organization blames the Saudis for bombing their hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. The country now is at risk for widespread famine. UK Independent 2016 Jan 5 (Story) (Cached)

Obama has announced his latest gun-control measures. They include: expanded background checks for private sales, hiring 200 more BATF agents, clearing the way for denying gun ownership based on mental-health medical records, and promoting ‘smart guns’ that fire only for the designated user. [It is likely that a designated user could become undesignated at any time by the government.] CNN 2016 Jan 5 (Story)

US: Maine’s Secretary of State announced that the Libertarian Party is not qualified for ballot access. The reason is that state officials failed to process all of the registration cards submitted by the party to prove it has over 5,000 registered members, which is required for ballot access. 6,400 cards were submitted, but officials stopped counting at 4,489 in what appears to be a deliberate move to prevent the Libertarian Party from appearing on the ballot. Truth In Media 2016 Jan 4 (Story) (Cached)

Obama rule allows doctors to turn in gun owners who they think may be mentally ill. The purpose is to deny them of their Second Amendment right to bear arms. InfoWars 2016 Jan 4 (Story) (Cached)

Protesters are converging in Burns, Oregon, in support of rancher Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven, who were convicted of arson and sentenced to prison for conducting controlled burns on federal land they had leased. Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy of Nevada, is leading an occupation of the empty headquarters building of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. So far, there has been no police or military response, but it is inevitable. ABC News 2016 Jan 3 (Story)

Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, challenged Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton, to disarm her bodyguards to prove her claim that guns don’t keep people safe. UPI 2016 Jan 3 (Story) (Cached)

Reporter, David Knight, who was present at the Bundy Ranch showdown with the feds in Nevada in 2014, says that the actions taken there were justified and the strategies were sound. However, he explains why he thinks the new protest in Oregon, led by Ammon Bundy, is not wise. Perhaps the most important of those reasons is that it is not supported by the local population or even by the Hammonds, whose arrest was the trigger for the protest. InfoWars 2016 Jan 3 (Story)

Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independent Party (UKIP), had a front wheel come off his car while driving on a busy highway and had to jump over a road divider to escape being hit by oncoming traffic. Police said all four lug nuts on the wheel had been uniformly loosened and that it looked like an attempt on his life. Breitbart 2016 Jan 3 (Story) (Cached)

Saudi Arabia has a Sunni Muslim majority, and the government executed 47 people in a single day from the Shi’ite Muslim minority. Mainstream media are reporting that all of the victims were al-Qaeda members, but Namr al-Namr, a popular Shia cleric who preached non-violence, also was killed. Iran hosts a Shi’ite majority, and citizens there set fire to the Saudi embassy. CBS News 2016 Jan 2 (Story)

Jackson, Mississippi: Councilman, Kenneth Stokes, said black leaders should encourage citizens to throw rocks, bricks, and bottles at police who are in pursuit of small-time criminals. He did not explain how citizens were to know what crimes had been committed by those being pursued. CNN 2016 Jan 2 (Story)

California: Activists are working to get a bill on the ballot that, if passed, would require California state lawmakers to wear patches identifying their financial backers, just like NASCAR drivers. What started as a joke is now being pushed seriously. [We doubt that politicians would vote for this, but it’s interesting to see the action develop.] Vice posted 2016 Jan 2 (Story) (Cached)

India’s New Delhi region has the world’s worst pollution, 40% worse than Beijing in China and almost 700% worse than Los Angeles. Scientists say coal-fired power plants, vehicle emissions, construction dust, crop burning, and cooking fuel are the sources of the pollution. CNN Money posted 2016 Jan 2 (Story)