We recently received a tip about a 18-year-old University of South Alabama student who was shot and killed by a campus police officer. We were asked why we have not covered this story. The short answer is that this story is not a new one, but one that broke two years ago, in October of 2012. But in the wake of the outrage surrounding the Michael Brown verdict not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, many have asked where the outrage over this story is...

Well, they're right. Every story of any unarmed citizen gunned down by rogue police officers deserves public outrage and attention. But the reality is that if we do not bring these stories to the attention of the nation through our own organic efforts (sharing, commenting, "liking" and tweeting), then many of the mainstream, corporate media sources will not find the stories to be discussion-worthy. That is the sad reality: the mainstream media will pick up story after story from independent, alternative media like Counter Current News, once they see the stories being shared widely. That was certainly with our breaking of the John Crawford shooting before any local or national media had published a story on it, or the shooting of Tamir Rice last weekend for that matter.

Two years ago, when Gil Collar was shot and killed by a campus police officer, there simply was not the "viral buzz" about the story, and thus it never got picked up. But his story is no doubt an important one that needs and deserves to be told.

When Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson left the scene of the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, the officer returned to the police station unescorted, washed blood off his hands and placed his recently fired pistol into an evidence bag himself.

Those actions, described in grand jury testimony, violated protocols for handling a crime scene and securing evidence, according to experts in policing procedures and Justice Department documents.

Wilson's movements after the shooting were among a number of police actions in the aftermath of Brown's death that experts said were unusual. The grand jury transcripts revealed, for example, that the officers who interviewed Wilson immediately after the shooting did not tape the conversations. The transcripts also showed that an investigator from the medical examiner's office opted not to take measurements at the crime scene and arrived there believing that what happened between Brown and Wilson was "self-explanatory.''

It is unclear how these un­or­tho­dox practices may have influenced the investigation of a shooting that has triggered a national conversation about race and police practices. The grand jury's decision Monday not to indict Wilson in connection with the shooting death has led to protests nationwide.

Police and forensic officials have not responded to requests for comment over a two-day period.

DeAndre Joshua, 20, was murdered on the same night of the Saint Louis Grand Jury announcement. DeAndre was shot in the head, and then a flammable liquid poured on him and set afire inside his vehicle.

Perhaps coincidentally DeAndre Joshua also fits the social profile of an eye-witness who gave a police/FBI statement and testified before the Grand Jury in the Mike Brown shooting case. If that were the only coincidence it might be easy to dismiss. Alas, it's not. Out of an abundance of caution for other witnesses we are avoiding outlining the most direct connections - however, they are not in doubt.

As you are aware he was an employed black male, with no history of drug use or illicit behavior. In the Canfield Community, marijuana is not considered illicit, nor does weed really qualify as drug use - it's as common as tobacco. DeAndre was also a friend of Dorian Johnson who is currently under protection. (Note: Dorian Johnson was Michael Brown's companion the day he was mortally shot.)

Tweet, Dorian Johnson: "My Fcking Brother Gone DeAndre Joshua!! Hella Fckd Up, SomeBody come get me right Now I gotta Go!!!!!"

Obviously, Dorian is very alarmed, understandably so. On the night before the Grand Jury announcement, there were considerable nerves amid a select group in the Ferguson community.

As the attention of a nation turned to the grand jury decision, and also to the demands of the Justice for Mike Brown coalition, Dorian Johnson was potentially going to be the recipient of a tremendous amount of angst. Several people were looking for DeAndre and Dorian.

Dorian was in hiding - DeAndre was vulnerable.

Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot black teenager Michael Brown, has resigned from the police force, his attorney said. The news comes amid unceasing protests across the US against a grand jury decision clearing Wilson of murder charges.

The resignation is effective immediately, AP quoted one of Wilson's lawyers, Neil Bruntrager, as saying on Saturday.

Prior to the resignation, Wilson was on administrative leave from the Ferguson Police Department since the August 9 shooting.

On Monday, a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, 28, for the fatal shooting of the 18-year-old Brown.

Wilson testified that he used deadly force against Brown - who was unarmed - in self-defense.

A majority of witnesses told the grand jury that the teenager had his hands raised and was running away from Wilson as the officer shot him repeatedly. This was, however, denied by St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, who announced the grand jury's decision and highlighted the alleged scuffle between Brown and Wilson, which ended with the police officer unloading his gun 12 times against Brown.

Wilson's attorneys argued that he had been following his training and the law when he shot Brown.

Few, if any, of the correct questions were asked in the grand jury hearing to decide whether policeman Darren Wilson would be indicted for killing Michael Brown.

The most important unexamined question is whether police are trained to use force immediately as a first resort before they assess a situation or determine if they are at the correct address. Are the police trained that the lives of police officers are so much more valuable than the lives of possible suspects, or a houseful of people into whose residence a heavily armed SWAT team enters, that police officers must not accept the risk of judicious behavior when encountering citizens? If this is the case as all evidence indicates that it is, then the police when they gratuitously murder members of the public are merely doing what they have been trained to do. As police are trained to use violence as a first resort, the police cannot be held accountable when they do.

Hundreds of people have gathered near the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood with St. Andrew's Cross flags, music and speeches in a celebration of Scottish nationhood, amid continued demands for independence as St. Andrew's Day celebrations got underway.

Poetry recitals, speeches and songs were on the agenda, as people wrapped themselves in flags and "Yes"-related paraphernalia. Even the blue Estelada could be seen among the crowds to show a degree of solidarity between various independence movements in Europe.

On Monday St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced the grand jury had found "that no probable cause exists" to charge Officer Darren Wilson with any crime in the death of Michael Brown. The jury deliberated for three months and heard dozens of hours of testimony, including from Wilson himself. But did they hear the full story? McCulloch himself had faced public scrutiny throughout the grand jury investigation, with calls for him to resign over allegations of a pro-police bias and questions raised about an unusual grand jury process that resembled a trial. We speak to Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is just back from Ferguson. "I don't think we can take away anything from this decision not to indict other than that it is now officially open season on black folks when it comes to police violence," Warren says.

AMY GOODMAN: We are in Clayton, Missouri, right next to Ferguson, Missouri, where we spent all last night. Today we're standing in front of - well, the Clayton Courthouse where the grand jury has deliberated close to two dozen times over the last few months, before they came out with their decision yesterday, announced by the prosecutor Bob McCulloch. Our guest right now, in New York, we're joined by Vince Warren, the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights who will help us decide - will help us understand the decision that the grand jury made. And with me here in subfreezing weather, here in Clayton is Osagyefo Sekou, he is the Pastor from the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain Massachusetts, dispatched to Ferguson by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. He went to high school in St. Louis and has family in Ferguson. We're going to go first to Vince Warren. Can you explain the grand jury decision?

Americans are going to spend more than 600 billion dollars this Christmas season, and on Friday we got to see our fellow citizens fight each other like rabid animals over foreign-made flat screen televisions and Barbie dolls. As disgusting as this behavior is to many of us, there may soon come a time when we will all fondly remember these days. Most Americans are completely unaware of what is currently happening in the financial world, but right now there are deeply troubling signs that we could be on the verge of another major global financial collapse. If the next great economic downturn does strike in 2015, that could mean that we may have just witnessed the last great Black Friday celebration of American materialism. As you read this, stock prices are approximately double the value that they should be, margin debt is hovering near all-time record highs, and the "too big to fail" banks are being far more reckless than they were just prior to the last major stock market implosion. So many of the exact same patterns that we witnessed back in 2007 and 2008 are repeating right now, and as you will see below, this includes a horrifying crash in the price of oil. Anyone with half a brain should be able to see the slow-motion financial train wreck that is unfolding right before our eyes.

Very few people understand what Putin is doing at the moment. And almost no one understands what he will do in the future.

No matter how strange it may seem, but right now, Putin is selling Russian oil and gas only for physical gold.

Putin is not shouting about it all over the world. And of course, he still accepts US dollars as an intermediate means of payment. But he immediately exchanges all these dollars obtained from the sale of oil and gas for physical gold!

Authorities in Fruitvale, Colorado arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly putting them in fear for their lives by pointing a banana at them, KCNC-TV reported.

Nathan Channing faces two felony counts of menacing Mesa County sheriff's deputies after pointing the banana at Deputy Nathan Bunch as he drove by. Bunch then reportedly ducked in his car and called for backup.

After another deputy, Donald Love, arrived, he and Bunch approached Channing with their guns drawn before the suspect yelled, "It's a banana."

"Based on training and experience, I have seen handguns in many shapes and colors and perceived this to be a handgun," Bunch told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

Channing reportedly told the deputies he was practicing for a video he planned to post online to "lighten the holiday spirit."

Channing faces up to three years in jail and a $100,000 fine in connection with the charges.

"A lot of time it's how someone behaves and treats an object, depends on whether or not that object is actually dangerous or is a weapon," sheriff's department spokesperson Ben Carnes said. "In this case, it turned out to be a banana, but it could have been a disguised firearm."