Protesters block traffic on San Mateo-Hayward Bridge

OAKLAND, Calif. —Protesters made their way on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge and are blocking westbound lanes this evening, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The group made their way on eastbound and westbound lanes of state Highway 92 on the bridge around 4:50 p.m., CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt said.

As of shortly after 5 p.m., eastbound lanes were reopened for motorists heading to Hayward, but westbound lanes were still closed off for cars traveling to Foster City, Van Eckhardt said.

There were 30 CHP patrol units sent to the bridge to clear the protesters.


http://www.kcra.com/news/protesters-block-traffic-on-san-mateohayward-bridge/30805156

Military/media worship run amok as group tries to save 'Top Gun' carrier.

The decommissioned supercarrier Ranger is headed to the scrapyard unless a Southern California organization can persuade the Navy to spare it in the next few weeks.

Ranger, which Top Gun fans will remember for its on-screen cameo, was sold to International Shipbreaking late last year after a previous effort to turn the ship into a museum failed, according to a Dec. 22 release from Naval Sea Systems Command.

In early January, California-based Top Gun Super Carrier of Long Beach Inc., launched an online petition and social media campaign to save the Ranger.

"If you think about what we can bring to it, an economic boon to the city of Long Beach, it's a no-brainer," project manager Mike Shanahan, a career hospital architect, told Navy Times in a phone interview.

"If you think about what we can bring to it, an economic boon to the city of Long Beach, it's a no-brainer," project manager Mike Shanahan, a career hospital architect, told Navy Times in a phone interview.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/15/group-scrambles-to-save-top-gun-carrier-from-scrapheap/21838397/

Fox May Revive X-Files With David Duchovny And Gillian Anderson

It's learned that Fox is considering bringing back X-Files with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

The good news comes from Fox Television Group chairman Gary Newman who confirmed talks are underway at the recent Television Critics Association winter press tour.

“It’s been reported, and it’s true, that we’ve had some conversations about [reviving] X-Files” [ideally with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson]," Newman said, reports TV Line. “But I have nothing that we can announce at this time.”

X-Files ran for 9 seasons with 202 episodes and two movies, which kicked off back in 1993.


http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/content/fox-may-revive-x-files-david-duchovny-and-gillian-anderson

Here’s how Democrats win back the Senate in 2016. And it’s surprisingly simple.

The Senate map is Democrats' friend in the 2016 cycle. They are defending only 10 seats while Republicans have two dozen of their own seats to hold. But wait, it gets better. Seven of those 24 Republican seats are in states that President Obama won not once but twice: Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

To win the majority back, Democrats need to win five of those seven seats in November 2016. (If Hillary Clinton, or some other Democrat, wins the White House in 2016, then Senate Democrats need to win only four of those seven. That's the exact path Republicans took to the Senate majority in 2014 when, needing a six-seat gain, they won all six of the states — Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia — that Mitt Romney carried in 2012 and were represented by Democrats. (Republicans also won two states — Iowa and Colorado — that Obama carried twice and one, North Carolina, that Obama won in 2008 and Romney won in 2012.)

Of course, 2014 was a historically good year for Senate Republicans. The last time the party won more than nine seats in a midterm election was 1994 when they won 10. Prior to 1994, you have to go all the way back to 1946 when Republicans netted 12 seats.

And, while the map looks great for Democrats on paper, several of those seven races look less rosy in reality. Iowa is a very tough Democratic pickup unless Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) decides to retire, which he insists he isn't going to do. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman is a gifted politician and fundraiser while the Democratic bench in the state is decidedly thin. The Democratic fields in New Hampshire, Florida and Illinois are still quite muddled. And neither Sens. Pat Toomey (Pa.) nor Ron Johnson (Wis.) are political dead men walking. Not yet, at least.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/16/heres-how-democrats-win-back-the-senate-in-2016-and-its-surprisingly-simple/

The California Senate race is over and here is why.

First, she has the nomination sewn up. Harris has the support ranging from progressives to the DSCC, from Elizabeth Warren to the Northern CA Democratic establishement (which is the center of power in the state party these days). Her potential opponents will be mindful that Dianne Feinstein career is in its twilight and another seat will be opening soon after 2016. Second, the Republicans will take a pass on the race and put up another sacrificial lamb. Harris beat a strong (rare) Republican in 2010 in the worst possible year for a Democrat to run in. Hillary will be at the top of the ticket and, not only is this a blue state in big election, but the Clintons are still well regarded in the state.

She might as well start measuring the drapes.

B.C. megathrust earthquake will rip earth open like a zipper, expert says

On Jan. 26, 1700 at about 9 p.m., a magnitude 9 earthquake struck the Pacific coast, causing violent shaking for minutes that scientists believe was felt as far away as the Manitoba border. The shaking was followed almost immediately by a tsunami that legend and scientists say sucked everybody and everything along the outer coast into the ocean.

About nine hours later, a tsunami the height of a four-storey building hit the Japanese coast on Jan. 27, 1700, destroying all in its path.

It wasn't until the late 1990s that scientists linked the tsunami in Japan to geologic reports of the earthquake off the Pacific coast in North America.

Scientists using earthquake mapping and profiling techniques now believe the ancient quake and tsunami are eerily similar to the magnitude 9.2 earthquake and tsunami that struck in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004, killing more than 250,000 people.

Earthquakes and tsunamis like the Vancouver Island and Boxing Day events are not one-time occurrences, due to their locations near major fault lines that build up pressure over 300 to 500 years and eventually cause the earth to buckle and let go, scientists say....

The odds of another megathrust earthquake and tsunami on Vancouver Island happening within the next 50 years are about one-in-10, says Bird.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-megathrust-earthquake-will-rip-earth-open-like-a-zipper-expert-says-1.2917261

Police: Florida man had 'several pockets full of ammunition' in mall shooting that left 2 dead

A Florida man who had "several pockets full of ammunition" targeted his wife in a shooting that killed two people at a mall food court where the woman worked, police said.

Authorities said the Saturday morning shooting happened about a half hour before the mall was to open to customers. Jose Garcia-Rodriguez, 57, of Palm Bay, died at a hospital following an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at Melbourne Square Mall, said Cmdr. Vince Pryce of Melbourne Police.

The man's 33-year-old wife, Idanerys Garcia-Rodriguez, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound and was in good condition late Saturday, Pryce said. A police statement later identified her as a worker at the mall's food court.

"The survivor is the intended victim," he said.

Offices said they responded to reports of multiple gunshots around 9:30 a.m, when about about 100 people were in the mall getting stores ready for a 10 a.m. opening to shoppers.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/01/18/florida-man-had-several-pockets-full-ammunition-in-mall-shooting-that-left-2/

White man shoots black police chief 4 times without being arrested or charged

Wishita County, Oklahoma — A black police chief was shot four times by a white ‘survivalist’ and the shooting did not result in an arrest. Louis Ross, the Sentinel Oklahoma police chief was hit three times in the chest and once in the arm.

The shooter has been identified as 29-year-old Dallas Horton. After the incident, he was detained by police but later released without being charged with any crime.

Chief Ross arrived at Horton’s house Thursday morning after Wishita County 911 received two calls saying that there was a bomb inside a nearby head start school. The 911 caller identified himself as Horton. Ross went inside the school and found no evidence of a bomb. He then decided to go into Horton’s home but not before getting backup.

Breaking down the front door, Ross entered Horton’s house. According to reports, he cleared one room and entered a second bedroom when Horton opened fire. In a press release Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations said, “Facts surrounding the case lead agents to believe the man was unaware it was officers who made entry.”

However, according to statements made by Chief Ross to a local news outlet, that may not be the case.

“Don’t know what he heard or didn’t hear screaming from five officers of the law announcing our presence, requesting to see hands,” Ross said to News9.


http://thegrio.com/2015/01/17/white-man-shoots-black-police-chief-no-arrest/

Elizabeth Warren Backs Kamala Harris In California Senate Race

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is backing California Attorney General Kamala Harris in the 2016 race for retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer's seat.

"Kamala Harris is a smart, tough, and experienced prosecutor who has consistently stood up to Wall Street," Warren wrote in a Wednesday email to supporters. "Yesterday, she announced her candidacy for the United States Senate, and I'm happy to support her campaign."

Harris, who was elected to a second term as attorney general in November, is the first candidate to officially jump in the race. Several other California Democrats have expressed interest in the seat, including Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer. It is the first time since 1992 that California has had an open Senate seat.

In her email, Warren praised Harris' work following the subprime mortgage crisis, highlighting her work on the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, which extended mortgage and foreclosure protections.

"Harris demanded real accountability from the lenders," Warren wrote. "She wasn’t intimidated by the big banks. When the negotiations in the National Mortgage Settlement weren’t tough enough on the banks, Kamala took a bold move. She said that her job was to protect the people of California, not help the big banks, so she pulled out of the group negotiations and later secured $20 billion in relief for struggling California homeowners."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/14/elizabeth-warren-kamala-harris_n_6473026.html

The American economy summed up in a three-minute movie clip - NSFW