To summarize: Wilson claims that Brown was charging toward him, that Wilson began to fire his gun when Brown was about 15 feet away, and that Brown continued to advance without slowing down until the final gunshot stopped him. Is there an objective timeline of these gunshots? Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for Wilson, had the prosecution actually been interested in prosecuting the case), there is. A nearby resident who was in an online voice chat at the time obtained audio of all the gunshots fired in the street (that is, the two gunshots that occurred at Wilson's SUV were not included). Here is a visualization of the recording (above).

The FBI has made it no secret that it hates Apple and Google's efforts to encrypt files in your smartphones and tablets. Now court documents have emerged showing just how far the Feds are willing to go to decrypt citizens' data. The paperwork has shown two cases where federal prosecutors have cited the All Writs Act – which was enacted in 1789 as part of the Judiciary Act – to force companies to decrypt information on gadgets. The Act, which was signed into law by none other than George Washington and later revised in the 20th century, gives the courts the right to...issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law. That's a pretty broad remit, but the Feds think it's just the thing to force Apple and others to break down privacy protections.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will address a forum about US-Israeli relationships sponsored by Israeli billionaire Haim Saban. ● The Saban Forum in Washington is an annual event organized by the Brookings Institution, The Hill reported on Monday. The Israeli mega-donor is a major political donor, who pledged last year to support Clinton should she run for the next presidential election. “I hope she will run. She would be a wonderful president,” Saban said. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden will also be among the participants of the forum. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will appear via sattalite. The event will focus on ties "via candid closed-door dialogue between US and Israeli officials, policymakers, journalists and business leaders." Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, won a US Senate seat from New York in 2000.

Israeli authorities are launching a probe into photos posted on the Internet featuring the regime’s top officials in Nazi uniforms. ● Calls for investigations came after President Reuven Rivlin, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and a number of public figures were shown in Nazi uniforms on a fictitious Facebook account under the name Natan Zoabi. ● On Sunday, the Israeli prosecutor's office ordered the police to find those behind the move. Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch called the page “the crossing of a black line.” “We must act quickly to find those involved and bring them to justice. Expressions of incitement must not be allowed on the Internet and on social media, and it is our obligation to root out the violence that is common there,” Aharonovitch said. ● Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also criticized the move, saying, “We must not take lightly any such disgusting act of this type. As we have warned more than once, the roots of violence and incitement spread like wildfire.” Edelstein called on Israelis to denounce such actions “and put out the fire before it destroys us.”In June 2013, a photo depicting Lapid as Hitler was circulated on the Internet.

Thousands of people across the United States walked out of work and classrooms for a nationwide day of action dubbed 'Hands Up, Walk Out!' The protest comes after a grand jury declined to indict an officer for killing a black teenager. ● The organizers – driven primarily by young people – spread the word online via the hashtag #HandsUpWalkOut, asking people to walk out in solidarity with those affected by police violence in Ferguson, Missouri, and around the country. The walkouts occurred simultaneously at 12 p.m. CST and referenced the 'Hands Up! Don't Shoot!' chant that has been used as a rallying cry all over the US ever since African American teenager Michael Brown, 18, was fatally shot by Officer Darren Wilson on August 9. The campaign also remembered other people lost to police violence, including John Crawford III, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Israel Hernandez, Oscar Grant, Ezell Ford, and Ramarley Graham. Additionally, the campaign comes with a list of demands: an end to all forms of discrimination, the full recognition of human rights, justice for Michael Brown, and freedom for all communities.

Juan Thompson ■ Ferguson Protests Spread in Size and Scope
Samuel Davidson ■ Hundreds mourn death of 12-year-old boy killed by Cleveland police

Last week, total US debt was a meager $17,963,753,617,957.26. Two days later, as updated today, on Black Friday, total outstanding US public debt just hit a new historic level which probably would be better associated with a red color: as of the last work day of November, total US public debt just surpassed $18 trillion for the first time, or $18,005,549,328,561.45 to be precise, of which debt held by the public rose to $12,922,681,725,432.94, an increase of $32 billion in one day. It also means that total US debt to nominal GDP as of Sept 30, which was $17.555 trillion, is now 103%. Keep in mind this GDP number was artificially increased by about half a trillion dollars a year ago thanks to the "benefit" of R&D and intangibles. Without said definitional change, debt/GDP would now be about 106%. It also means that total US debt has increased by 70% under Obama, from $10.625 trillion on January 21, 2009 to $18.005 trillion most recently. And now we wait for the US to become Spain, and add the estimated "contribution" from hookers and blow to GDP, once again pushing the total debt/GDP ratio below the psychological 100% level.