1/26/2014::Last of yesterday's news

Banker Peter Schiff: Fracking dangers made up by private property-snatching socialists

Investment banker Peter Schiff told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan on Wednesday that socialists were making up environmental concerns about “fracking” in a secret plot to take away people’s private property.

The two public figures were debating the role of government regulations on Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

“I think also the idea is that the government is going to be the one that is impartial, the government is going to be standing outside looking at this industry, having no vested interest in you profiting over you, or you over you, and say, ‘Hey, these are the rules and this is how we can make this fair and ethical.’ That is the idea that most people have about the government,” Rogan said.

Schiff, an ardent libertarian, said the government did have a vested interest in helping certain companies rather than others because politicians were corrupted by campaign donations. Even if campaign donations from big companies were restricted, the wealthy would still find other ways to influence the government. The only solution, Schiff said, was to limit the power of the government.

Time Warp: The Modern Religious Right and American Theocracy

Today’s Republican Party consists of an unholy alliance between the business wing of the party and the religious right. What better way to meld the two seemingly unrelated groups than through a religious lens? What today’s GOP has done has been to essentially use the views of the religious right to convince Americans that the current path we’re on is not a desirable one. Today’s GOP believes that the time of Jesus Christ was one that should be emulated today. Never mind the fact that the Middle East of 2,000 years ago was a time of extreme strife and violence. No, what matters to today’s Republicans is that they can easily manipulate their base’s perceptions of a time period that happened so long ago. By convincing their religious core that the United States is moving further and further away from what it was like in Jesus’ time, the GOP is attempting to convince Americans today that the country is heading down a path that will ultimately lead to death and destruction unless the country comes around and stands up to this terrible onslaught.

These Five States Have Spent More Than $3 Million Defending Anti-Abortion Laws

Five states — Idaho, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas — have spent a combined $3,228,000 defending strict anti-abortion laws over the past several years. But it’s not like that money has no better purpose. Here’s a tally of what these states are spending the money to defend — and what they could get instead.

Video contradicts police statement about fatal shooting of unarmed suspect

Police in Pinal County, Arizona, claimed that the shooting death of a suspected car thief two weeks ago came after the man had turned to reach for a weapon. But video surfaced this week from a bystander, showing that the suspect had turned his back to officers, with his hands held high in the air.

Republican chairmen seek Dave Agema's resignation over antigay, Muslim comments

As the Republican National Committee’s 3-day winter meetings drew to a close today, the calls for Michigan committeman Dave Agema to resign over comments seen as insensitive to gays and Muslims grew to a roar.

Adding their voices to the call were top Republicans: RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and state Party Chairman Bobby Schostak told the Free Press they want him out, as did state Attorney General Bill Schuette and Agema’s colleague on the RNC, former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

They join six Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation who already asked him to quit.