Reuters | At least 21 people were killed on Tuesday in an attack in northern Syria, activists said, and members of a team of U.N. monitors caught in the incident said they were in rebel hands "for their own protection." When Reuters asked one of the four monitors by phone if they were being held prisoner, he said: "We are safe with the (rebel) Free Army."

ChrisMartenson.com | Most informed people are familiar with the concept of Peak Oil, but fewer are aware that we’re also entering the era of Peak Government. The central misconception of Peak Oil -- that it’s not about “running out of oil,” it’s about running out of cheap, easy-to-access oil -- can also be applied to Peak Government: It’s not about government disappearing, it’s about government shrinking.

Farm Wars | In the United States, the Hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine is scheduled to be given to babies at birth. Since babies do not normally go out and indulge themselves in high risk behavior such as tattooing, body piercing, IV drug use, sharing needles with others, having sex with multiple partners, or engaging in any high risk activity other than being born in a hospital, and “the duration of protection after hepatitis B vaccination of infants is unknown,” why give them the shot?

ZeroHedge.com | While the long-term decline in bank deposits over the past 3 years has been well documented both on Zero Hedge and elsewhere, it is the most recent, acute post-election phase that has not gotten much coverage. Minutes ago Bloomberg sent out a notice that things in Greece may be on the verge of the final collapse.

Infowars.com | A Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation has revealed a plan by the Department of Homeland Security to collect DNA from children 14 years old and up without a search warrant or criminal prosecution.

AFP | Eating too much sugar can eat away at your brainpower, according to US scientists who published a study Tuesday showing how a steady diet of high-fructose corn syrup sapped lab rats' memories. Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) fed two groups of rats a solution containing high-fructose corn syrup -- a common ingredient in processed foods -- as drinking water for six weeks.

Alter Net | Norman and Oriane Rousseau were one more couple pushed by a huge, greedy bank to the brink of homelessness. On Sunday, desperate and with nowhere to go, Norman Rousseau shot himself.  This is the story of what happens when an average couple is up against a giant, wealthy, powerful bank. Unfortunately the result is what the result always is when people are on their own against the wealthy and powerful: the bank ends up with all of their money, takes their house to sell and throws them out onto the street. In this case the bank is Wells Fargo.

Infowars.com | The Bilderberg Group is terrified that Greece’s potential exit from the eurozone could lead to a dramatic economic recovery and provide a template for other countries to follow suit, threatening to torpedo the euro single currency and the entire agenda for a European federal superstate. One of the primary discussion topics at this year’s upcoming Bilderberg Group meeting in Chantilly, Virginia will revolve around how the elite plan to address the issue that threatens to bring their agenda for global governance crashing down – the euro crisis.

ScripturalScrutiny.com | Christians, social conservatives, economic conservatives, and others sought to find a candidate to rally behind as an alternative to Mitt Romney.  Candidates took turns rising to the top, only to eventually fall back for one reason or another.  There is little in the national media to suggest that Romney has anyone still competing with him for the Republican nomination.  Yet recent events indicate that Dr. Ron Paul is still in contention to become that elusive solid conservative Republican presidential candidate–if conservatives seize the opportunity to rally around him.

Azizonomics.com | There’s nothing controversial about the claim— reported on by Slate, Bloomberg and Harvard Magazine — that in the last 20 years Wall Street has moved away from an investment-led model, to a gambling-led model. This was exemplified by the failure of LTCM which blew up unsuccessfully making huge interest rate bets for tiny profits, or “picking up nickels in front of a streamroller”, and by Jon Corzine’s MF Global doing practically the same thing with European debt (while at the same time stealing from clients).

Rawstory | MIT professor Noam Chomsky on Monday decried the use of drones against suspected terrorists, saying that it was murder and violated due process. “If Bush, the Bush Administration, didn’t like somebody, they’d kidnap them and send them to torture chambers,” he said on Democracy Now. “If the Obama Administration decides they don’t like somebody, they murder them, so you don’t have to have torture chambers all over.”

Youtube | Not pursuing further primary states but still collecting delegates in caucus states is not "dropping out."

The Blaze | On rare occasions, members of the hacker collective Anonymous speak out as individuals. Recently, a member known as Commander X (his real name is Christopher Doyon) granted the Montreal Gazette in Canada an interview in which he revealed the hackvists claim to have access to every federal government database.

Reason.com | During an interview with a local CBS News affiliate in Colorado yesterday, Mitt Romney got more than a little annoyed with a reporter after she asked about gay marriage, college tuition for children of illegal immigrants, and finally about medical marijuana. Romney wanted to talk about other things. And he told her so.