National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander revealed Wednesday that his spy agency once tested whether it could track Americans' cellphone locations, in addition to its practice of sweeping broad information about calls made.Alexander and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on proposed reforms to the NSA's surveillance of phone and internet usage around the world, exposed in June by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden. But neither spy chief discussed proposed reforms; instead they were questioned about new potential abuses that have come to light since then.

NSA chief admits testing US cellphone tracking

On August 21st, Congressman Mark Meadows sent a letter to John Boehner. Meadows is a former restaurant owner and Sunday-school Bible teacher from North Carolina. He’s been in Congress for eight months. Boehner, who has served in Congress for twenty-two years, is the Speaker of the House and second in the line of succession if anything happened to the President.

Where the G.O.P.'s Suicide Caucus Lives

The US Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear a case that would determine if someone convicted of domestic violence could be allowed, in some cases, to own a gun.The top US court, the final arbiter of America's most burning legal questions, will hear a challenge to a 1996 law making it illegal for someone to possess a firearm if they have been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence involving physical force or a deadly weapon.

This is one to watch

Supreme Court could end domestic violence gun ban

Jeuck and Sallemi plan to reroute their eight guests to a new location two hours away in Sedona. While the new site is free, they don't know if they will be able to recoup their $250 permit fee and the hundreds of dollars in hotel deposits everyone attending the wedding has made.

Since individual parks issue their own permits, it's unclear exactly how many weddings are expected to take place in the upcoming weeks at the country's hundreds of national parks.

At Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which features sweeping views of San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate bridge, 11 wedding permits have been issued for the first two weeks of October. And this weekend alone, Yosemite National Park has eight weddings scheduled.

Meanwhile, nine weddings are scheduled on the National Mall in Washington D.C. for this coming week, according to Carol Johnson, a spokeswoman for the National Mall and Monuments. The couples were all notified that if the shutdown continued, their permit would be canceled, she said. She was not sure whether affected couples would receive a refund.

One bride who spent more than a year planning this weekend's wedding in Joshua Tree National Park told CNNMoney she's hopeful that her guests will know where to show up on the big day. She has a backup plan, but is still holding out ho

I have been a bride and this would suck!!

The Government Shutdown Canceled Our Wedding

The federal government shutdown has forced the U.S. Park Service to close the country’s national park system, affecting 401 areas covering 84 million acres. Rangers closed many roads and advised most overnight campers that they have 48 hours to leave. Here are reports from parks around the country, and from the towns and businesses that rely on the tourists they draw.

At Yellowstone, the country’s first national park, all entrances were closed Tuesday morning and day visitors were directed to find the nearest exit, a park spokesman said. Those staying in the park’s hotels and campsites had 48 hours to find other lodging — and enjoy the grounds unencumbered by crowds.At Pahaska Tepee Resort, just outside Yellowstone’s east entrance, some guests were cutting their trips short, said manager Angela Coe, who on Tuesday checked out tourists from China, Thailand and France.

Not only does this hurt the rangers and people who work at the parks because they are furloughed it hurts the communities that rely on the business drawn from people visiting national parks (hotels, food, gas, etc)

Tourism hit feared at national parks because of government shutdown - Yahoo Travel

When meteorologist Eric Holthaus read the recent climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he saw that things were worse than even he had anticipated.

Now that is passion about the environment

Meteorologist vows never to fly again after seeing latest climate report

Part-time fugitive and antivirus software founder John McAfee has a new invention he's working on. Speaking at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center on Saturday, McAfee unveiled his grand plan to create a "D-Central" gadget that communicates with smartphones, tablets, and laptops to create decentralized networks that can't be accessed by government agencies.

Possible?

John McAfee wants to sell you a $100 gadget that blocks the NSA

A government shutdown starting Tuesday, Oct. 1, now seems virtually certain. The House and Senate still can't agree on a bill to fund the government, and time has run out.

So... it's shutdown time. Let's take a look at how this will work.

Not all government functions will simply evaporate come Oct. 1 — Social Security checks would still get mailed, and veterans' hospitals would stay open. But many federal agencies would shut their doors and send their employees home, from the Environmental Protection Agency to hundreds of national parks.

Here's a look at how a shutdown would work, which parts of the government would close, and which parts of the economy might be affected.

Here is another version of information about what shuts down and what doesn't

Absolutely everything you need to know about how the government shutdown will work

It's been 17 years since the federal government last faced a partial shutdown because Congress and the president couldn't agree on a spending bill. A lot has changed in that time, leaving federal employees, citizens and even government decision-makers confused about what a shutdown would mean.Every shutdown is different. The politics that cause them are different. Because of technology and structural overhauls, the way the government functions has changed since 1996. Much of what will happen is unknown.Here's what we do know about Tuesday's looming shutdown:

I am so done with the friggin US government!!

66 questions and answers about the government shutdown

More than half of 259 accidental firearm deaths of children aged 14 and younger reviewed by the Times were not recorded as accidents, the paper said, mostly because of inconsistencies in way such deaths are classified by authorities.

In nearly all of the child shooting deaths reviewed by the paper, the shooter was male, as were more than 80 percent of the victims — highlighting an "almost magnetic attraction of firearms among boys," the Times said. "Time and again, boys could not resist handling a gun, disregarding repeated warnings by adults and, sometimes, their own sense that they were doing something wrong."

I am going to put this out there. I do NOT want my child in a house with guns

Many accidental child gun deaths not classified as accidents