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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. - "It's ridiculously blown out of proportion." That's how the mother of the 16-year-old Cedar Creek High School student arrested Tuesday described her son after local police found items at his home that could cause an explosion. "He really cares about people," she said. "He's kind, he's loving, he's brilliant...I think this is fear because of what just happened in Connecticut."

Excerpt: MANTLE OF SHAME: Perpetrators of Violence Against Native American Women. All who work against protecting Native women in the Violence Against Women Act for intentionally maintaining the jurisdictional gap on reservations that allows perpetrators to remain free. Tribal police and courts need statutory authority to hold violent offenders accountable, because Native nations were stripped of that jurisdiction by federal law, but federal and state authorities do not vigorously pursue non-Native predators on tribal lands. One in three Native women is raped during her lifetime; non-Natives commit 88 percent of all violent crimes against Natives and about 67 percent of...

‘Major setback’ in fiscal cliff talks By: Manu Raju and John Bresnahan December 30, 2012 12:15 PM EST Negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered a “major setback” after Republicans demanded the inclusion of a new method for calculating entitlement benefits as part of the fiscal cliff package, according to Democrats. The provision, known as “chained CPI,” is opposed by many liberals because it would result in lower payments for Social Security beneficiaries. While President Barack Obama has backed the provision as part of a major deficit package, Democrats are objecting to including this...

For most of its existence, Bakersfield has inhabited that awkward in-between place. Not as sophisticated as Los Angeles, just over the Tehachapi Mountains to the south, not as wealthy as its longtime economic rival Fresno, equidistant to the north. Cheap land, affordable housing, proximity to Los Angeles, a location that's within a three-hour drive of 90 percent of the state's population, and a planning department that doesn't throw up roadblocks are driving the region's economic revolution, business leaders say.

House leaders have prepared three bills to deal with the looming "milk cliff" for floor action this week. The three bills are aimed at preventing a spike in dairy prices looming in the new year. Because Congress has failed to renew farm programs, an underlying 1949 law is slated to kick in. This would force the government to buy up American milk at inflated prices and the purchases are expected to possibly double the price of milk at the grocery store as supplies dwindle. Late Saturday night, House Republicans posted the three bills on the House Rules Committee website, setting...

Anytime a party suffers an unexpected defeat, there are two general responses: assigning blame and planning a better strategy for next time.After Jimmy Carter in 1980 was — in the words of CBS News’ Bob Schieffer — “whomped” by Ronald Reagan, Democrats went through both reactions. As would be expected, the Reagan victory caused much debate in Democratic Party circles about how to respond. (Mostly every Democrat except Jimmy Carter’s inner circle agreed that Democratic mistakes had greatly helped Reagan.) More traditional Democrats like Walter Mondale believed that Reagan’s victory was largely due to national anger over inflation and...

The Russian Orthodox church has been attacked for supporting a new law banning Americans from adopting Russian children, at the end of a year that saw it plagued by scandal and accusations of collusion with an increasingly authoritarian Kremlin. Father Vsevolod Chaplin, a high-ranking priest and a spokesman for the church, said the law was "a search for a social answer to an elementary question: why should we give, and even sell, our children abroad?" Speaking to Interfax, a state news agency, last week, Chaplin said the path to heaven would be closed to children adopted by foreigners. "They won't...

Economist Peter Morici had this to say this morning about Obama’s fiscal cliff negotiating tactics: “The president, by being so persistent that it’s my way or the highway, no spending cuts, taxes on folks over $250,000 or nothing, has basically put a pistol to the head of the middle class. It’s threatened them with financial extortion if he doesn’t get his way to satisfy the populist wing of the Democratic Party.”

President Obama turned up on NBC’s “Meet the Press” for the first time since the passage of ObamaCare, and gave exactly the performance that every veteran Obama-watcher would have expected: a bitter, intransigent partisan claiming to be the only non-partisan, non-ideological participant in the “fiscal cliff” drama. “I’m not driven by some ideological agenda – I’m a pretty practical guy,” he explicitly stated, offering his past four years in office as evidence. It’s too bad “Meet the Press” doesn’t have a laugh track. Obama’s interviewer, David Gregory, was willing to flagrantly violate D.C. gun laws to beat up on NRA...

An effort led by Vice President Joe Biden to find ways to reduce gun violence after the Connecticut school massacre so far has not included talking to the National Rifle Association, the president of the gun rights group said on Friday. NRA President David Keene said neither Biden nor his staff has contacted the organization since President Barack Obama unveiled the effort on December 19.

As we approach the end of 2012, you’ve likely heard lots of talk among politicians and the media about the impending “fiscal cliff.” This term refers to a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that are slated to take effect in January 2013 if Congress fails to take action. But how will this affect you? Payroll Tax - 2013 will bring the expiration of the payroll tax cut enacted by Congress in 2011. Starting next year, the current employee payroll tax rate of 4.2 percent will go back to 6.2 percent. Higher Tax Levels - At the end of...

Recalling the shooting of 20 first graders as the worst day of his presidency, President Barack Obama on Sunday pledged to put his "full weight" behind a legislative package next year aimed at containing gun violence. In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama voiced skepticism about proposals to place armed guards at schools in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 deadly assault at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In his boldest terms yet, he vowed to rally the American people around an agenda to limit gun violence and said he still supports increased background checks and...

President Obama issued a statement Saturday urging the Illinois General Assembly to legalize gay marriage as state lawmakers prepare to take up the issue this week. White House spokesman Shin Inouye highlighted the rare nature of the president’s move, telling the Chicago Sun-Times the while the president “does not weigh in on every measure being considered by state legislatures, he believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect.” He went on, “As he has said, his personal view is that it’s wrong to prevent couples who are in loving, committed relationships, and want to marry, from doing...

What can be done to reduce the incidence of violence and the death toll the next time some deranged individual decides to kill as many people as he can? That’s the question that rational people ask following the killing at Sandy Hook. The media are in agreement that having an armed guard in every school is not the answer. What they can’t seem to agree on is the alternative. Wayne LaPierre’s position, representing the NRA, is simple and easy to understand. The media’s recommendations are either ineffective (limit the size of gun magazines, ban scary looking weapons or stop the...

It all began when Eric Hanst and his fellow sailors were Navy deployed overseas. When they were in port for a few days, they were greeted by an unexpected guest. “A cat came aboard via mooring line. We lost track of her, and found her later that evening. We managed to get her back to the pier, and waved goodbye as we took off. This cat seemed unusually upset by this,” said Hanst. What they did not know was that the cat didn’t just come alone. “It turns out, when she managed to sneak on board, she also managed to...

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KENTUCKY): My office submitted our latest offer to the Majority Leader last night at 7:10 p.m. and offered to work through the night to find common ground. The Majority Leader's staff informed us they would be getting back to us this morning at 10:00 a.m., despite the obvious time crunch we all have. It's now 2:00 p.m., and we have yet to receive a response to our good-faith offer. Now, I'm concerned about the lack of urgency here. I think we all know we're running out of time. This is far too much at stake for political...

 “Who then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’” (Mt 19: 25-26) Introduction I have certainly never thought of myself as a Catholic “apologetic” but when a dear friend wrote to tell me she needed help in responding to her Protestant friends on certain elements of Catholic teaching, I agreed to help without hesitation.  Both of us had been raised in the old school of Catholic education at a time when study of Scripture was never suggested or even considered.  There was never a need to actually...

Got a letter from our bank which basically says: Beginning January 1, 2013, noninterest-bearing transaction accounts will no longer be insured separately from depositors’ other accounts at the same IDI. Instead, noninterest-bearing transaction accounts will be added to any of a depositor’s other accounts in the applicable ownership category, and the aggregate balance insured up to at least the Standard Maximum Deposit Insurance Amount (SMDIA) of $250,000, per depositor, at each separately chartered IDI. For example, if after the expiration of the Dodd-Frank Deposit Insurance Provision a depositor under the single ownership category has $500,000 deposited in a noninterest-bearing transaction...

Here are some interesting statistics from today's Chicago Tribune regarding the 500 murders that have happened in Chicago: As of this past Thursday, 500 people were murdered in the city of Chicago. 83% of those murdered in Chicago last year had criminal records. Many of them FELONS who'd served prison time. (415.) 60% of those murdered in Chicago had known gang affiliations and multiple arrests and convictions. (300) 2% of those murdered in Chicago were kids under 10 years of age. (10 kids.) Is this the "Chicago" that Obama referred to last week when he said the city represents the...

<p>SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Top-ranked Notre Dame finally got down to the serious business of getting ready to play defending national champion Alabama in the BCS title game on Jan. 7.</p> <p>After weeks of some players and coaches traveling the nation for award shows, players finishing up the school year with finals and making trips home for Christmas, Notre Dame had its hardest hitting practice Saturday since its 22-13 victory over USC on Nov. 24 in the regular-season finale. Kelly plans another physical practice Sunday.</p>