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As we reported last night, buried inside the NYT biopic of Newtown shooter Adam Lanza was arguably one of the most important missing pieces in the story, at least so far, which could provide clues into partially explaining yesterday's tragic loss of young life, namely that the 20 year old man suffered from Asperger Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism (two conditions which are being merged in the upcoming update of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) manual of mental disorders), which has been traditionally associated with social communication difficulties, including flat affect, and one which in some clinical studies...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is suffering from a concussion after fainting. Below is a statement from her Philippe Reines, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.“While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion. She has been recovering at home and will continue to be monitored regularly by her doctors. At their recommendation, she will continue to work from home next week, staying in regular contact with Department and other officials. She is looking forward to being back in the office soon.”

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has proposed that oral contraceptives should be available to all women without a prescription or doctor’s examination in an op-ed that has drawn praise from Planned Parenthood and condemnation from some in the pro-life movement. He called a new report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), calling for oral contraceptives to be sold over-the-counter, “a common-sense call for reform.”

Yesterday was the dark day always in the far corner of my head, and only brought to the forefront when friends or family sometimes ask why I carry a hand gun on simple everyday errands and activities. My answer is two-fold; because it's my Constitutional Right to do so, and there are a lot of crazy people out there in the world today, maybe even in Newtown. That once back-of-the-mind thought was also there everyday as my youngest boards the bus to spend about 7 hours in a completely defenseless environment where teachers and parents are not allowed to “carry”...

New Army Manual Orders Soldiers Not To Criticize Taliban Or Anything Related To Islam Here is a strong indicator that the Obama Administration’s crusade to appease Islam has gone too far; a new U.S. military handbook for troops deployed to the Middle East orders soldiers not to make derogatory comments about the Taliban or criticize pedophilia, among other outrageous things. It gets better; the new manual, which is around 75 pages, suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture— not Taliban infiltration—is responsible for the increase in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition forces. The soon-to-be-released Army handbook is...

The weapons used in Friday’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., were legally purchased and registered to Nancy Lanza, the mother of the gunman, Adam Lanza, two law enforcement officials told NBC News.

His mother taught him the way of the gun. Adam Lanza, the troubled nerd who turned a Connecticut school into a slaughterhouse, learned how to shoot under the watchful eye of his demanding mom Nancy. “She said she would often go target shooting with her kids,” landscaper Dan Holmes said. Nancy Lanza wound up being the first of her son’s 27 victims when he used one of her guns to shoot her dead. Holmes, who often mowed the grass at the Lanza’s sprawling Newtown home, told Reuters the doomed mom was proud of her arsenal and once showed him a...

Original title: First pictures of the tragic children murdered in their classrooms after 'deeply disturbed' gunman massacred 26 at Connecticut school --------------------------------- These are the first pictures of the victims who died in a shooting rampage when a 'deeply disturbed' gunman went classroom to classroom at a Connecticut school. Ana Marquez-Greene, seven, was killed when the shooter opened fire on children and teachers at 9.30am on Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty-six people died in the mass shooting. The little girl and her older brother had attended Linden Christian School nearby, before moving with their parents to Newtown in...

The secret, one-on-one nuclear negotiations President Barack Obama launched with Iran have run into a blank wall. A senior Iranian team member, Mostafa Dolatyar, said Friday, Dec. 14 in New Delhi that the diplomatic process for solving the nuclear issue with Iran was in effect going nowhere, because the demand that Tehran halt its 20-percent enrichment of uranium “doesn’t make sense.” He went on to say: “They [the world powers] have made certain connections with purely technical issues and something purely political. In so far as this is the mentality and this is the approach from 5 + 1 (the...

By upping the ante once again in its gamble to revive the lethargic economy through monetary action, the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee is now compelling the rest of us to buy into a game that we may not be able to afford. At his press conference this week, Fed Chairman Bernanke explained how the easiest policy stance in Fed history has just gotten that much easier. First it gave us zero interest rates, then QEs I and II, Operation Twist, and finally "unlimited" QE3. Now that those moves have failed to deliver economic health, the Fed has doubled the...

Ms Conte called the ordeal 'sad' for Lanza and his family, and suggested that the violence is a portion of a much larger situation. 'Guns are easy to point to, but it's really a mental health issue.'

At least one Fed governor understands the Bernanke Fed's hyper-accommodative monetary policy has no exit. Today on CNBC "Squawk Box", Dallas Fed governor Richard Fisher complained Fed Risks 'Hotel California' Monetary Policy. Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told CNBC that he's worried the U.S. central bank is in a "Hotel California" type of monetary policy because of its "engorged balance sheet." Evoking lyrics from the famous song by The Eagles, he said he feared the Fed would be able to "check out anytime you like, but never leave." Fisher said on "Squawk Box" that he argued against revealing the new...

We have all seen the outrageous, even violent, demonstrations by the leftist big-labor protesters in Michigan over the recently adopted Right-to-Work legislation.  The mirror image happened last February-March when Gov. Scott Walker and the Wisconsin legislature similarly addressed labor laws. It seems the left – the same people with those "Tolerance" and "Diversity" bumper stickers on their Subaru – are the first ones to cross the line of civility.   In my home state of Colorado the left's latest hot button is hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."  Fracking has been used for more than 60 years to successfully drill over a million...

BRUSSELS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Several Scud missiles fired at rebels by Syria have landed "fairly close" to the Turkish border, NATO's top military commander said on Friday in a blog explaining why Patriot anti-missile batteries are being deployed to Turkey. The comments by U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, were the first to confirm that Scuds have come down near the border of Turkey, a NATO member state. Stavridis also described the situation in Syria as "chaotic and dangerous".

Where do we go from here?

I was very critical of the General Motors bailout since it largely was designed to give undeserved special benefits to the UAW union. I’m also very down of teacher unions because they sabotage reforms that would help poor children trapped in failed government schools. And I’m definitely opposed to the excessive pay and benefits that politicians grant to bureaucrats in exchange for votes and money from government employee unions (as cleverly depicted in this great Michael Ramirez cartoon).So why, then, do I have mixed feelings about the recently enacted right-to-work law in Michigan?Here’s some of what I wrote almost 25 years...

Backers of laws that let pretty much all law-abiding carry concealed guns in public places often argue that these laws will sometimes enable people to stop mass shootings. Opponents occasionally ask: If that’s so, what examples can one give of civilians armed with guns stopping such shootings? Sometimes, I hear people asking if even one such example can be found, or saying that they haven’t heard even one such example. Naturally, such examples will be rare, partly because mass shootings are rare, partly because many mass shootings happen in supposedly “gun-free” zones (such as schools, universities, or private property posted...

Birmingham police are on the scene at Saint Vincent's Hospital this morning, where somebody fired a gun early this morning. We have now learned that a police officer and two hospital employees were injured during that shooting, and they have been taken to UAB hospital. Their injuries were not life threatening. The gunman was killed during the shooting. Police say that the public is not in any danger, and that the situation is under control. Our reporter on the scene says additional nurses have been called in to work.

Congress and the White House are struggling to find even one subsidy or entitlement program that they are willing to cut. Meanwhile, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) insists that the 2.2-cents per kilowatt-hour Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind electricity should be extended yet again – and then (maybe, partially) phased out over the next five years. By then, claims CEO Denise Bode, wind energy could be cost-competitive with other energy sources. What nonsense. No evidence supports any of this. Wind energy is a net jobs and economic loser. By raising electricity costs for factories, internet hubs, offices, malls,...