Syrians said on Monday they expected only war after a speech by President Bashar Assad that was billed as a peace plan, and fighting resumed in the capital just a few miles from where he spoke.

Hours after Assad addressed cheering loyalists at the Damascus Opera House on Sunday, clashes raged just a few miles away near the road to the city’s international airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The opposition-linked group said artillery hit the district of Arqaba, 3 miles (5 km) from the Opera House. Fighting continued all night and into Monday around the capital, as well as in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, it said.

Damascus residents said the speech was met with celebratory gunfire in pro-Assad neighborhoods. But even there, some saw no sign peace was any closer, although the cabinet was due to begin implementing the plan to “solve the crisis in Syria.”

Click here for more from the Jerusalem Post.

Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-2) released the following statement regarding his vote on H.R. 41 – To temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Scott Garrett / Financial Services Committee.

“While I would like nothing more than to help the people affected by the horrible devastation from Hurricane Sandy, I simply could not vote for a piece of legislation that offers no offsets to spending.  Our nation is drowning in debt and I cannot, in good conscience, continue to pile more and more debt onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. You can’t get out of a hole by continuing to dig.”

Congressman Markwayne Mullin was sworn in to the 113th Congress on January 3rd, 2013 to represent the people of Oklahoma’s 2md Congressional District.  Click here to reach his congressional office.

According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.

This is an interesting fact, particularly amid the Democrats’ feverish push to ban many different rifles, ostensibly to keep us safe of course.

However, it appears the zeal of Sens. like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) is misdirected. For in looking at the FBI numbers from 2005 to 2011, the number of murders by hammers and clubs consistently exceeds the number of murders committed with a rifle.

Think about it: In 2005, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 445, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 605. In 2006, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 438, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 618.

Click here for more from Breitbart.com.