The oil services company said it would pay the maximum allowable fine of $200,000 and will be subject to three years of probation. It will also continue its cooperation in the government’s criminal investigation. Separately, Halliburton made a voluntary contribution of $55 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The Justice Department filed one criminal charge against the company. In a statement, Halliburton said that the violation was a misdemeanor associated with the deletion of records created after the accident. Additionally, the company said, “The Department of Justice has agreed that it will not pursue further criminal prosecution of the company.”
WASHINGTON -- The sunny, confident President Barack Obama who was the master of all that he surveyed at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last Saturday night was nowhere in sight at the podium in the White House press room Tuesday morning. In his place was a glum character, whose gloomy demeanor matched the lack of legislative motion he was discussing -- and the many obstacles (from Republicans to Russians) he complained were in his way.
After listening to a recitation of his political predicament, the president said, “If you put it that way, maybe I should just pack up and go home.” It was a joke, of course, but no one laughed and, judging from his attitude, it almost seemed as though he wished he could.
Only when asked about Jason Collins did the president become animated and eager to respond. Obama praised the NBA center for his decision to come out of the closet about his sexual orientation and said that the American people should be proud of the growing acceptance of gays and lesbians.
In terms of energy and forward lean, Tuesday morning's performance was about as static as the Obama presidency has ever been.
His administration is not the first to fall into a Slough of Despond early in the second term. It’s all but inevitable. Still, the session was notable primarily for the complexity and intractability of the issues Obama is now facing.
Syria is an unholy mess, a proud and ancient country being ground to pieces in a bloody conflict between a ruthless dictator and rebels whose ideas may well be no more tolerant or democratic.
Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor says she has second thoughts on whether the Supreme Court should have accepted Bush v. Gore -- the deeply controversial case that effectively decided the 2000 presidential election.
"It took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big election issue," O'Connor told the Chicago Tribune editorial board last Friday. "Maybe the court should have said, 'We're not going to take it, goodbye.'"
In a 5-4 decision at the time, O'Connor voted with four other Republican-appointed justices to shut down the recount in Florida, the decisive state in the election.
"Obviously the court did reach a decision and thought it had to reach a decision," the retired justice told the Tribune editorial board. "It turned out the election authorities in Florida hadn't done a real good job there and kind of messed it up. And probably the Supreme Court added to the problem at the end of the day."
O'Connor, the first woman Supreme Court justice who retired in 2006, lamented that the case "stirred up the public" and "gave the court a less-than-perfect reputation." Legal experts have noted that the Court has not cited the decision even once since it was made, which some interpret as a testament to its soundness.
When this is going on in Texas, we as Americans need to stick up for people that are being harassed by police all over this great country!
He is just out hiking with his son, when out of nowhere this cop sees him carrying his gun, and then pulls over to try and strong-arm the guy for his gun. Please watch the video and share your thoughts / reaction to the video below!
While the country was trying to process the terror as it unfolded at the Boston Marathon on Monday, Alex Jones, a right-wing radio host, took to Twitter to express his sympathy for the victims.
"Our hearts go out to those that are hurt or killed," Jones wrote. "But this thing stinks to high heaven #falseflag."
The "false flag" attack Jones was referring to is a term that originated during naval warfare. "For centuries, ships have sailed under a flag identifying their nationality," The Atlantic Wire noted. "During times of war, ships would sometimes change the national flag they flew in order to fool other vessels that they sought to attack or escape from. They would fly, in other words, a 'false flag.'"
Jones posted a YouTube video further fanning the false-flag flames, saying that reports of a "controlled explosion” drill, scheduled to coincide with the race, was proof that the FBI was behind the Boston Marathon blasts.
Via the Hollywood Reporter:
"Turban Cowboy," which premiered in the U.S. on March 17, culminates with a scene depicting Peter Griffin accidentally blowing up a bridge by dialing a terrorist's cell phone. But in the video making the rounds online, the cell phone scene is placed immediately after an unrelated moment in the episode when Bob Costas, voicing himself, asks Peter how he won the Boston Marathon.
The clip was pulled from YouTube, Fox removed the episode from Hulu, and Seth MacFarlane, the show's creator, responded to the conspiracy claim.
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A man considered one of the largest marijuana traffickers in Northern California has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison Monday, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced.
U.S. District Judge William Shubb sentenced 44-year-old Uriel Ochoa-Espindola to 17.5 years in prison for growing tens of thousands of marijuana plants in three different counties in California with his partners and shipping the product across the country with the help of commercial trucks, according to court documents.
“This was his operation,” Judge Shubb noted, holding Espindola responsible for the weapons his partners and workers used to run their operation.
A bipartisan gun control deal by Toomey and Manchin inspired Senate conservatives to drop their filibuster plans, even though many Republicans who allowed the legislation to advance said they were unlikely to vote for its passage in the end. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bipartisan amendment that would have expanded background checks on gun purchases, a blow to advocates calling for more strict firearm laws after the mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., late last year.
The measure, the product of intense negotiations between Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, would have extended background check requirements on gun owners. It needed 60 votes to pass, but failed 54-46.
Democrats voting against the amendment were Mark Begich of Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Max Baucus of Montana. (Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada switched his vote to no at the end, a procedural tactic that allows him to bring it up for a vote later.) In addition to Toomey, Republicans who supported the amendment were Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain of Arizona.
Scores of onlookers filled the Senate gallery to watch the vote. When Vice President Joseph Biden read the final tally and announced the amendment had not passed, Patricia Maisch, who helped disarm the man who shot former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson in 2011, yelled, "Shame on you!" before walking out of the chamber.
WASHINGTON — The desire to secede from the union is older than the United States itself — but technology has made the effort a lot easier.
Some 21,900 people have signed an online petition submitted to the White House "peacefully" asking the federal government to grant the state of Colorado permission to secede from the United States and create its own government.
It was started by "Lynette A." in Golden and has been signed by thousands of people using just one name all across the nation — not just the Centennial State — who have likely signed similar petitions for the two dozen or so other states that have submitted similarly worded requests.
"Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute new government," the petition says.
This form of rebellion isn't new. White House officials say every year people submit petitions for state secession
— they usually arrive around the time of a presidential election that undoubtedly a large percentage of the country is unhappy with.
Alex covers the continued implosion of the economy following the reselection of Obama and its promised acceleration under the mandates of Agenda 21.
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Joel Skousen sits down with Alex Jones and discusses strategies on how to prepare for and survive major disasters.
Get all your Youngevity Products such as Beyond Tangy Tangerine, the Alex Pack and Pollen Burst. These supplements are a great way to get your essentials vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other beneficial nutrients
restoration of the republic through secession goes viral. Not only the United States, but the entire world is at a historic crossroad as the Agenda 21 corporate control grid attempts to bring the world into a new dark age. Dr. Michael Coffman, pioneer in exposing Agenda 21, will break down the enemy battle plan and how we can strike back with knowledge by knowing our enemy and waking up to just how hard-core our straights are. All this and more today.
This is America's absolute final chance. I already see so many people who think this is to divide the country into 50 little countries. This is not the case, I just wish these half-wits would get all the wax out of their ears, and truly listen to what is being asked of them.
1) We MUST Secede from the Union.
2) Restore the governing power back into the States.
3) Elect a new Central Government that re-swears to uphold the Constitution.
4) Then start to charge the crooked bankers and politicians behind the globalist agenda, with the crimes they have committed against the American People.
Get all your Youngevity Products such as Beyond Tangy Tangerine, the Alex Pack and Pollen Burst. These supplements are a great way to get your essentials vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other beneficial nutrients
The Campaign for Liberty Is doing their best job, and would like to thank those who are involved, again I think we can all put in a lil effort to make our City/state/country thrive!
As promised, here is your handy one-stop primer on Mitt Romney's seeming wonderment, after an emergency landing by his wife's plane, why airplane windows can't be opened during flight.
1) Cut Mitt some slack. His wife had been through an upsetting and potentially dangerous episode. However stressed she was, he might have felt even worse -- because he wasn't there, and because of reason #3 below. I'm on record as saying that Mitt Romney is rhetorically at his weakest when forced to improvise or handle unexpected questions or situations. But this one shouldn't count. Any of us, if filmed and recorded 24/7 and especially during stressful situations, could and would say things as inapt.
2) In case you were wondering, in-flight fires really can be bad news. An electrical fire is bad because it can destroy navigation, communication, or control systems, plus producing toxic fumes. Fires in the engine, the fuel system, the wing, or wherever are bad too. Apart from the smoke, you never want to have open flames in vehicles that are, essentially, flying metal tubes full of kerosene. After a multi-fatality Air Canada fire nearly 30 years ago, all sorts of safety regulations were tightened to reduce the risk of fire and to contain the effects if one breaks out. Even for small aircraft, part of pilot training is to memorize the various emergency procedures and work through the checklists involved in coping with a fire.
3) People are afraid of different things, and the reasons aren't purely logical. Some people are afraid of dogs -- or snakes or spiders or rats, or the big needles a doctor uses to give a shot. I don't mind any of those, but (like many people who fly airplanes) I'm a little queasy with heights. I also get nervous in very tight spaces, and I have an irrational fear and dislike of horses -- even though many members of my family were avid riders. It's beyond our rational control. We can be brave in some circumstances and terrified in others, for reasons that have no connection to the objective "danger" involved. Thus John Madden, famous tough guy, would never call Pro Bowl games because the bus he relied on for travel couldn't get him all the way to Hawaii.
Here's why I mention this. I have heard over the years, within the flying world, that Mitt Romney views airplanes more or less the way I view horses. He is (I have heard) not a happy or comfortable flyer, and one who can always imagine things going wrong. Fortunately I don't actually have to ride horses -- but he has no choice but to fly, white-knuckled, from one stop to the next. Someone with this outlook would naturally be all the more rattled by an emergency landing. So cut him all the more slack.
3A) Somehow the preceding point makes me think of this classic Twilight Zone moment. Thanks to Capt. David Ryan for the link:
4) How airplanes actually work. Gov. Romney's comments revealed factual confusion in two areas: Why you can't get fresh air into an airliner by opening its windows in flight, and where the oxygen inside the plane comes from. I mentioned before that Patrick Smith, of Ask The Pilot, might address these issues on his site. Even better, he just sent me an email with the answers. I turn the floor over to him: