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JANUARY 2016

Friday - January 29, 2016 - Today in History:

1802 - John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress.
1848 - Greenwich Mean Time was adopted by Scotland.
1850 - Henry Clay introduced in the Senate a compromise bill on slavery that included the admission of California into the Union as a free state.
1861 - In America, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union.
1886 - The first successful petrol-driven motorcar, built by Karl Benz, was patented.
1916 - In World War I, Paris was bombed by German zeppelins for the first time.
1963 - Britain was refused entry into the EEC.
1979 - President Carter formally welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House. The visit followed the establishment of diplomatic relations.
1985 - The Dow Jones industrial average peaked at 1,292.62.
1990 - Joseph Hazelwood, the former skipper of the Exxon Valdez, went on trial in Anchorage, AK, on charges that stemmed from America's worst oil spill. Hazelwood was later acquitted of all the major charges and was convicted of a misdemeanor.
1996 - French President Jacques Chirac announced the "definitive end" to nuclear testing.
1998 - A bomb exploded at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, AL, killing an off-duty policeman and severely wounding a nurse. Eric Rudolph was charged with this bombing and three other attacks in Atlanta.
1999 - Paris prosecutors announced the end of the investigation into the accident that killed Britain's Princess Diana.
1999 - The U.S. Senate delivered subpoenas for Monica Lewinsky and two presidential advisers for private, videotaped testimony in the impeachment trial.
2014 - Archaeologists announced that they had uncovered what they believed to be the oldest temple in Roman antiquity. The temple was found at the Sant'Omobono site in central Rome.

World News

Zika Outbreak Epicenter in Same Area Where GM Mosquitoes Were Released in 2015
Activist Post - Oxitec first unveiled its large-scale, genetically-modified mosquito farm in Brazil in July 2012, with the goal of reducing “the incidence of dengue fever,” as The Disease Daily reported. Dengue fever is spread by the same Aedes mosquitoes which spread the Zika virus — and though they “cannot fly more than 400 meters,” WHO stated, “it may inadvertently be transported by humans from one place to another.” By July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they had “successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and zika virus, by reducing the target population by more than 90%.” Though that might sound like an astounding success — and, arguably, it was — there is an alarming possibility to consider. Nature, as one Redditor keenly pointed out, finds a way — and the effort to control dengue, zika, and other viruses, appears to have backfired dramatically.
* Related: Zika vaccine may be ready this year: developer

Saudi Arabia Conducted 119 Airstrikes Against Civilian Targets In Yemen, UN Panel Finds
Zero Hedge - The report (which was obtained by The Guardian) says the following: “The panel documented that the coalition had conducted airstrikes targeting civilians and civilian objects, in violation of international humanitarian law, including camps for internally displaced persons and refugees; civilian gatherings, including weddings; civilian vehicles, including buses; civilian residential areas; medical facilities; schools; mosques; markets, factories and food storage warehouses; and other essential civilian infrastructure, such as the airport in Sana’a, the port in Hudaydah and domestic transit routes.” "The panel documented 119 coalition sorties relating to violations of international humanitarian law.”

Iraq’s biggest dam on verge of ‘catastrophic collapse’ – US commander
RT - A hydroelectric dam near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul could rapidly collapse in the near future, resulting in thousands of deaths, a top US general in Iraq warns. “The likelihood of the dam collapsing is something we are trying to determine right now ... all we know is when it goes, it’s going to go fast and that’s bad,” US Army Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, the head of the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, told reporters in Baghdad. The foundation of the dam, which is the largest in Iraq, requires constant grouting in order to maintain its structural integrity. However, this is no longer possible due to the activities of IS terrorists in the area.

BRICS gets greater say in IMF
RT - For the first time the four emerging market economies Brazil, Russia, India and China have entered the International Monetary Fund's top 10 biggest members. The IMF’s 2010 quota and governance reforms have finally come into force. "The entry into force of these reforms will reinforce the credibility, effectiveness, and legitimacy of the IMF," read the IMF statement. "The reforms represent a major step toward better reflecting in the institution’s governance structure the increasing role of dynamic emerging market and developing countries," it added.

Danish police accused of manipulating rape statistics to hide ‘hundreds’ of cases
RT - Denmark`s Justice Ministry has found out that the real number of rape cases processed by police was at least three times higher than official statistics suggested, local media report. Police deny any cover-up, blaming the difference on statistical inaccuracies. Police didn’t properly classify crimes involving rape up to 2014, with about 700 cases containing allegations of sexual abuse remaining unattributed to this category every year. The average number of rape cases annually registered by police was nearly half that figure at 395, according to the Justice Ministry’s investigation, Metroxpress reports.
* Related: Police in German town advised not to prosecute migrant offenders over petty crimes

Parents Furious After School Changes The Word “God” To “Allah” In Christian Hymn
Steve Watson - Parents of 10 year old children at a school in Austria are reportedly fuming after teachers assigned homework to learn the words to a Christian hymn.. except they substituted the word ‘God’ for the word ‘Allah’. Austria’s largest newspaper Kronen Zeitung reports that school officials claim to have made the change the words to the song ‘Gottes liebe ist so wunderbar’ (God’s love is so wonderful) to ‘Allah’s liebe ist so wunderbar’ in order not to offend the Muslim children in the class. The newspaper reports that an angry father registered a complaint with the Austrian schools inspectorate, saying that it is unacceptable to change the wording to Christian hymns.... The teachers claim that Muslim and non Muslim children were supposed to be given different segregated versions of the hymn.... The incident dovetails with a professor from the University of Vienna publishing a report warning of rapid Islamisation of Austria’s schools.

Zika virus spreading explosively, says World Health Organisation
The Guardian - The World Health Organisation has convened an emergency committee to discuss the “explosive” spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked to thousands of birth defects in Latin America. “Last year the disease was detected in the Americas, where it is spreading explosively,” Margaret Chan, the WHO director general, said at a special briefing in Geneva. It was “deeply concerning” that the virus had now been detected in 23 countries in the Americas, she added. One WHO scientist estimated there could be 3-4m Zika infections in the Americas over the next year.... This year’s El Niño weather patterns meant mosquito populations were expected to spread, Chan added. “For all these reasons, I have decided to convene an emergency committee under the international health regulations,” she said.

MEPs Call on EU Commissioner to Stop Re-Approval of Glyphosate Herbicides over Health Concerns
Sustainable Pulse - Sixty-seven Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have written a letter Thursday to the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, to request for the re-approval of glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the World, to be stopped due to a lack of transparency in the re-approval process as well as serious health concerns.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

FBI Releases Video of LaVoy Finicum Shooting
Infowars - The FBI has released to the public today a video recorded on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 of the FBI and OSP law enforcement action to bring into custody the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupiers.... At 26 minutes and 20 seconds the video shows Finicum shot to death. Although the footage was taken from the air, it plainly show Finicum with his hands up. He then appears to reach inside his jacket and is shot by two OSP officers.
** Related: Complete, Unedited Video of Joint FBI and OSP Operation 01/26/2016 (Thanks to Sam Bushman and Liberty Roundtable for providing)

The Clintons: is the Oregon standoff really about uranium?
Jon Rappoport - I realize there are many other issues swirling around this event. The Hammonds, the Bundys, militias, the feds, cattle grazing on federal lands, federal land grabs, and so on. This article isn’t meant to take apart those matters. It’s meant to follow up on my previous article, in which I present a circumstantial case for the Clintons’ heavy involvement in a scheme that’s transferred 20% of US uranium production to Putin and Russia. And the key company in that piece is Uranium One. Remember the name. It’s apparently a major clue in what I’m about to discuss.

Oregon occupation simmers
Reuters - A handful of armed protesters remained holed up in a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon on Thursday, surrounded by police and federal agents, despite impassioned pleas from their jailed leader for them to stand down after the death of an activist. One of the holdouts at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, David Fry, said in a YouTube message on Thursday that their number had dwindled to four following the departure of another occupier on Wednesday night. Fry said that the small group had been in contact with the FBI, who had pledged not to arrest anyone not subject to a federal warrant. "(But) it turns out that if you do leave they end up charging you later, they're pressing charges on everybody who was here, it sounds like," he said. "That's like 5 years of prison sentence, its a felony. So of course if you get a felony you can't vote any more and they take your guns away."

Hundreds of DHS badges, guns, cell phones lost or stolen since 2012
Fox News - Hundreds of badges, credentials, cell phones and guns belonging to Department of Homeland Security employees have been lost or stolen in recent years -- raising serious security concerns about the potential damage these missing items could do in the wrong hands. Inventory reports, obtained by the news site Complete Colorado and shared with FoxNews.com, show that over 1,300 badges, 165 firearms and 589 cell phones were lost or stolen over the span of 31 months between 2012 and 2015. The majority of the credentials belonged to employees of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), while others belonged to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees. The lost or stolen guns also mostly belonged to CBP employees, though others were cited as belonging to TSA and ICE workers. The agencies all fall under DHS.

NYPD hopes more potent pepper spray will lead to fewer police shootings, some critics say upgrade is recipe for disaster
NY Post - The NYPD hopes a more potent pepper spray will lead to fewer police shootings — but some critics say the upgraded aerosol is a recipe for disaster. More than 19,000 cops so far have been given canisters of Sabre 5.0, a spray with a .67% concentration of major capsaicinoids, the chemicals that make peppers hot. That’s more than three times the .21% concentration in the spray the NYPD has used for years. Both sprays are manufactured by Sabre Security Equipment Corp.... “The new pepper spray will still be significantly weaker than what is used by many other police departments around the country.” Indeed, nearly 100 other law enforcement agencies use a stronger spray, including the Suffolk County Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Boston Police Department — all of which use the strongest one on the market, a 1.33% concentration.

Election News

**DRUDGE POLL** Who is Your Republican Pick for President?

Live Updates: Donald Trump’s Veteran Fundraiser
Breitbart - Donald Trump, the frontrunner candidate in the Republican presidential primary, is skipping tonight’s debate hosted by Fox News and putting on a fundraiser for America’s military veterans as counter-programming. Follow Breitbart News for live updates on the event at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Undisclosed–Trump Campaign: Fox News Debate Chief’s Daughter Working for Rubio
Breitbart - Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for 2016 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, exposed a blatant conflict of interest on Wednesday that the Fox News Channel has been hiding for months. Lewandowski showed how Fox News has been hiding the fact that Fox News Channel Vice President Bill Sammon has a daughter working for the campaign of the Washington establishment-backed Sen. Marco Rubio. Sammon’s daughter, Brooke Sammon, is Rubio’s national press secretary, and obviously both have a vested interest in the success of the Rubio campaign and the demise of the other campaigns.

Cruz, Rubio tensions flare at Trump-less GOP debate
Fox News - While the Iowa debate assumed a somewhat more subdued tone without Trump, Cruz and Rubio got into a barbed dispute over “amnesty” in the second half of the debate. Rubio accused Cruz of falsely describing himself as the most conservative candidate, and changing his position on immigration. “This is the lie that Ted’s campaign is built on,” the Florida senator said. “Throughout this campaign, you’ve been willing to say and do anything in order to get votes.”
* Related: Rand: Cruz ‘Wants To Play Both Sides’ On Foreign Policy, NSA, and Has Changed on Immigration

Rebellion: Candidates Rip Fox News In Undercard Debate
Breitbart - All four candidates, especially Rick Santorum and Carly Fiorina, took every opportunity to rip into the network itself, as well as moderators Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer. MacCallum and Hemmer certainly seemed eager to give the candidates an opportunity to tee off on the cable news giant. The opening questions were interview questions, not debate questions, and they all centered on process and the horse race. Some of the questions were outright insulting.

Huckabee and Santorum to Attend Trump Event During Fox News Debate
NY Times - Mike Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses who has been struggling to gain traction in this year’s race, will appear with Donald J. Trump and an event for veterans that the billionaire businessman has scheduled as counterprogramming to tonight’s debate on Fox News, which he is skipping. Another low-polling former caucuses winner, Rick Santorum, has also been very aggressively criticizing Mr. Cruz, but not Mr. Trump.... John Brabender, the top strategist for Mr. Santorum, said his candidate would be honored “to help support our veterans” and he also plans to attend.

Sanders Campaign Worried Microsoft App Will Misrepresent Iowa Caucus Vote
Kurt Nimmo - On Wednesday the Bernie Sanders campaign said it is concerned software giant Microsoft will tamper with caucus election vote tallies in Iowa next week. Microsoft has partnered with both establishment parties and will provide a “mobile-enabled, cloud-based platform that will facilitate accuracy and efficiency of the reporting process,” according to its website. Under the new system, each Iowa political party will have their own app available on all mobile and PC platforms, which will support the party’s unique caucus voting process. The reporting apps may be used in every precinct in Iowa by both parties. The results will be securely stored and managed in Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform. “You’d have to ask yourself why they’d want to give something like that away for free,” said Pete D’Alessandro, who is heading up the Sanders campaign in Iowa. Both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns have built reporting systems based on the Microsoft app.

Science & Technology

US Homeland Security’s $6B Firewall Has More Than a Few Frightening Blind Spots
Defense One - A recent audit revealed the National Cybersecurity Protection System—aka EINSTEIN—does not scan for 94 percent of common computer vulnerabilities. But that's not all of its shortcomings. A firewall run by the Department of Homeland Security meant to detect and prevent nation-state hacks against the government functions ineffectively, according to a sanitized version of a secret federal audit. EINSTEIN relies on patterns of attacks, called signatures, to spot suspicious traffic, but it does not scan for 94 percent of commonly known vulnerabilities or check web traffic for malicious content.

Berkeley’s cell phone radiation warning law can go into effect, judge rules
Ars Technica - After complying with a federal judge’s order on Wednesday, the city of Berkeley, California, will now be allowed to go forward with its cell phone radiation warning law, as it has cut out one controversial line. It is not clear when the new notice will go into effect. Last year, the city passed a municipal ordinance requiring that a retailer provide, either in the form of a mounted poster or as a printed handout, this message: The City of Berkeley requires that you be provided the following notice: To assure safety, the Federal Government requires that cell phones meet radio frequency (RF) exposure guidelines. If you carry or use your phone in a pants or shirt pocket or tucked into a bra when the phone is ON and connected to a wireless network, you may exceed the federal guidelines for exposure to RF radiation. This potential risk is greater for children. Refer to the instructions in your phone or user manual for information about how to use your phone safely. Shortly thereafter, the city was sued by CTIA, the wireless trade group, in an attempt to halt the law on the grounds that it was in violation of the First Amendment...

Many NYC students so tech-oriented they can’t even sign their own names
NY Post - Many Big Apple students, including the children of several state lawmakers, can’t even sign their own names, it was revealed at an educational budget hearing in Albany today. “Not only is it sad, but it’s a security issue,” said Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI/Brooklyn). She told Board of Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia that students have become so tech-oriented that they never learn how to sign their John Hancock, which renders them unable to properly ink contracts, checks and credit cards. Malliotakis said the penmanship problem was brought to her attention while helping one of her constituents fill out a voter registration form. He printed his name, and when she told him to actually sign it, he insisted that was his signature.... Common Core state standards don’t require students to learn cursive, and the city Department of Education leaves that decision up to each school.

Self-filling bottle turns air into water (VIDEO)
RT - A new, portable invention which generates water from thin air could benefit water-scarce areas worldwide. Currently in the development phase and seeking crowdfunding, the Fontus water bottle takes in moisture and turns it into water using a condensation system and solar power. The present version is geared towards sports enthusiasts looking to carry less weight. The unit relies on the airstream of a moving bicycle to help draw air into the system. Don’t get too thirsty though: the current incarnation of the Fontus produces less than half a liter of water per hour – and that’s only if it’s exposed to extreme heat and high humidity. Austrian creator Kristof Retezár told LiveScience he hopes to raise funding to improve his invention and develop a model that will cost less than $100. The bottle could potentially benefit 1.2 billion people who live in water-scarce areas globally.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Oregon Proposes Legislation to Protect Farmers and Consumers from GE Contamination
(Beyond Pesticides) Last week, Oregon Representative Paul Holyey introduced legislation that would protect traditional crops against contamination from their genetically engineered counterparts. As it stands, local governments are preempted (disallowed) from taking actions that protect traditional farmers from contamination by genetically engineered (GE) crops. With the help of advocates representing family farms and food safety, The Transgenic Contamination Prevention Bill (HB 4122) will repeal sections of Senate-passed Bill 863, which preempts local governments, and restore the right of local jurisdictions to regulate the planting of GE seed.

Bus Converted Into Mobile Food Market Provides Low-Income Neighborhoods With Fresh Food
Natural Blaze - The Mobile Good Food Market travels across Toronto selling affordable fresh food in neighborhoods, selected through consultation with local communities and analysis of access gaps. In the United States, about 23.5 million people live in “food deserts,” geographic areas where access to affordable healthy food options (aka fresh fruits and vegetables) is limited or nonexistent because grocery stores are too far away. Left to depend on the offerings sold at convenient stores and gas stations, this crisis is partly to blame for the increasing obesity epidemic.


The Rapture, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton And 50 Other Excuses People Use For Not Prepping
Economic Collapse - Have you ever come away discouraged after trying to talk about prepping with friends or family members that just don’t seem to be interested? Over the years, I have heard countless excuses from people for why they aren’t getting prepared for what is about to happen to America. Some of the excuses, like a lack of money, are definitely legitimate. But in many other instances, the objections don’t seem to make a lot of sense.... The following are 53 common excuses that people like to use for not prepping…

Health

10 Foods That Fight Allergies
Natural Blaze - Taking antihistamines is the most common way to ward off seasonal allergies; however, there are certain foods that can help you alleviate the symptoms of a runny nose, sneezing, congestion and watery eyes. Some foods have anti-allergic properties mainly due to their anti-inflammatory, decongestant and bronchodilator effects.

Another Benefit of Flaxseed
Healing from Home Remedies - You probably know flaxseeds contain high levels of dietary fiber as well as lignans, an abundance of micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids. Flaxseeds may lower cholesterol levels and studies suggest that flax seeds taken in the diet may benefit individuals with certain types of breast and prostate cancers. What you probably don't know is that another benefit of flaxseed is it's power as a drawing poultice! A flaxseed poultice is excellent for drawing out infections, swelling, splinters, poisons and even pain. Flaxseed Poultice Instructions...
* Related: Make a poultice to treat many skin ailments!

Home Remedies for Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Organic Facts - Some of the most important home remedies for human papillomavirus include the use of echinacea, goldenseal, calendula, oregano oil, astragalus, garlic, tea tree oil, thuja oil, mushroom, and curcumin. You have likely heard the phrase HPV before, but the longer name is human papillomavirus. You’ve likely heard of this because approximately 70% of everyone will be infected by a papillomavirus at some point in their life, and many people will be continually infected without ever showing any symptoms or ill effects. The human papillomavirus is a DNA virus that infects the keratinocytes of the skin or membranes in the body, and can manifest in a number of ways. You may not show any outward symptoms, or you could develop warts and premalignant lesions. There are more than 170 different types of human papillomavirus, and more than 40 are transmitted through sexual contact.

Weekend Viewing

Truth in Media: CDC, Vaccines and Autism
Ben Swann - The debate over whether vaccines cause autism has become one of the most controversial disputes in this country. In this episode of Truth In Media, the focus is not on whether vaccines are responsible for autism. The issue at hand here is a study that was performed at the CDC and the question of whether the agency was complicit in a cover-up over a decade ago.
 



Thursday - January 28, 2016 - Today in History:

1788 - The first British penal settlement was founded at Botany Bay.
1807 - London's Pall Mall became the first street lit by gaslight.
1878 - The first telephone switchboard was installed in New Haven, CT.
1909 - The United States ended direct control over Cuba.
1915 - The Coast Guard was created by an act of the U.S. Congress to fight contraband trade and aid distressed vessels at sea.
1916 - Louis D. Brandeis was appointed by President Wilson to the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming its first Jewish member.
1935 - Iceland became the first country to introduce legalized abortion.
1945 - During World War II, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
1958 - Construction began on first private thorium-uranium nuclear reactor.
1980 - Six Americans who had fled the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, on November 4, 1979, left Iran using false Canadian diplomatic passports. The Americans had been hidden at the Canadian embassy in Tehran.
1982 - Italian anti-terrorism forces rescued U.S. Brigadier General James L. Dozier. 42 days before he had been kidnapped by the Red Brigades.
1986 - The U.S. space shuttle Challenger exploded just after takeoff. All seven of its crewmembers were killed.
2003 - President George W. Bush said in his State of the Union address that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had sought uranium from Africa. (The claim was later disputed by former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had been asked by the CIA to investigate.)
2009 - In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House approved a $819 billion stimulus bill.
2010 - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke won Senate confirmation for a second term.

World News

NATO to Strengthen Turkey’s Air Defense With More AWACS Aircraft says Chief
Sputnik News - NATO will send additional AWACS early warning planes to Turkey in order to strengthen the country’s defense systems, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday. The NATO chief added that NATO had tripled the size of its Response Force and would set up eight headquarters to ease planning and drills. According to the report, NATO leaders will discuss the crisis in the southern borders and support of their partners during the alliance’s summit in Warsaw in July.

Sweden to deport nearly 80,000 asylum seekers amid migrant-linked violence
RT - Sweden is planning to expel nearly 80,000 refugees and migrants who arrived in the country in 2015, Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said, adding that their applications for asylum had been rejected. “We are talking about 60,000 people, but the number could climb to 80,000,” Swedish media quoted Ygeman as saying. Police and local authorities have been tasked with organizing the departures by charter flights. The countries of origin of the rejected asylum seekers have not been disclosed.

Norway may ask refugees with savings to cover ‘some’ costs they incur
RT - Norwegian officials have distanced themselves from suggestions that Oslo may follow in Denmark’s footsteps and start seizing valuables from refugees. However they hinted that refugees ‘with savings’ might have to cover some of the costs. Norway’s parliamentary leader and member of the Progress Party, Harald T. Nesvik, rejected claims that the country is considering legislation aimed at stripping refugees of their valuables, as some of his own party members earlier suggested. However, Nesvik conceded that it would be fair for refugees to abandon a part of their assets in favor of the state if they want to be entitled to welfare benefits.

US troops could remain in Afghanistan for decades says report
RT - Thousands of US troops could remain in Afghanistan for decades to come, despite Washington's plan to pull the majority of soldiers out by early 2017, US military commanders reportedly suggest. The revelation comes amid concerns about the Afghan government's vulnerability. “What we’ve learned is that you can’t really leave,” a senior Pentagon official told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity. “The local forces need air support, intelligence and help with logistics. They are not going to be ready in three years or five years. You have to be there for a very long time.” Senior US commanders expressed surprise at Al-Qaeda's resilience in Afghanistan, as well as the Taliban's continued seizure of large areas of contested territory.

New figures from Brazil's Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared
US News - New figures released Wednesday by Brazil's Health Ministry as part of a probe into the Zika virus have found fewer cases of a rare birth defect than first feared. Researchers have been looking at 4,180 suspected cases of microcephaly reported since October. On Wednesday, officials said they had done a more intense analysis of more than 700 of those cases, confirming 270 cases and ruling out 462 others. But what that means is hard to say, according to some experts. It does not answer whether the tropical Zika virus is causing the babies to have unusually small heads. Nor does it really tell us how big the problem is.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Oregon Occupation: FBI Arrests Trio at Checkpoints Outside Remote Refuge
NBC News - The FBI arrested three more people who occupied the Oregon federal wildlife refuge. One of the trio arrested Wednesday was 43-year-old Jason S. Patrick, who The Oregonian newspaper reported had assumed the role of leader for the remaining protesters after the original ringleaders were detained on a highway the previous day. Patrick, of Bonaire, Georgia, turned himself in at a checkpoint at around 7:40 p.m. (10:40 p.m. ET), according to a statement from the FBI. About four hours earlier, Duane Leo Ehmer, 45, of Irrigon, Oregon, and Dylan Wade Anderson, 34, of Provo, Utah, also were arrested after leaving the compound, the FBI said. "The arrests were without incident," the agency said in a statement. The three men were among eight people who left the refuge after the FBI and Oregon State Police established a series of checkpoints on roads surrounding the site. The other five people were released, according to the FBI.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Has No Plan to Remove Poison Pipes in Flint
NBC News - A day after NBC News reported that none of the corroded lead pipes at the core of the Flint water crisis have been removed, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R-Terrorist) admitted he has no immediate plans to replace them. NBC News repeatedly pressed the embattled governor Wednesday on how he expects to win the trust of Flint's residents while the pipes that poisoned the water supply are still being used...There are up to 25,000 service lines containing lead that run between water mains and homes in Flint.

White House dropped $10 million claim in Iran prisoner deal
Reuters - Nader Modanlo was facing five more years in federal prison when he got an extraordinary offer: U.S. President Barack Obama was ready to commute his sentence as part of this month's historic and then still-secret prisoner swap with Iran. He said no. To sweeten the deal, the U.S. administration then dropped a claim against the Iran-born aerospace engineer for $10 million that a Maryland jury found he had taken as an illegal payment from Iran, according to interviews with Modanlo, lawyers involved and U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The surrender of the U.S. claim, which has not previously been reported, could add to scrutiny of how the Obama administration clinched a prisoner deal that has drawn criticism from Republican presidential candidates and lawmakers.

There they go again: US mulls anti-ISIS operations in ‘liberated’ Libya
RT - Washington is exploring options for intervening in Libya, citing reports of Islamic State extremists operating in the country that was plunged into chaos in 2011 by a NATO intervention. US troops have already visited the country, the Pentagon admitted. The US is “closely monitoring” the situation in Libya, and it is “too soon to say exactly where things will evolve,” Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook told reporters Wednesday, acknowledging for the first time that US military personnel were recently present in the north African country. “There have been some US forces in Libya, trying to establish contact with forces on the ground” to get a clear idea of what the situation, and evaluate who might be “worthy of US support” in the impending struggle against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) extremists, Cook said.

Zika Virus Reaches L.A.–As Predicted
Breitbart - The first case of Zika virus was confirmed in Los Angles County on Tuesday within days of a warning from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that predicted the spread of the virus throughout the Americas. A young Los Angeles County girl traveled to El Salvador last November, where county health officials suspect she contracted the disease, according to the Los Angeles Times. Zika infections usually do not have symptoms–but that is part of the worry say health experts.

Bundy Family Claims Protestor was Unarmed, had Hands Up When Killed by FBI
Truth in Media - The Bundy family claimed Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum was unarmed and had his hands up when he shot and killed by FBI agents during a confrontation Tuesday near Burns, Oregon. Finicum, 55, was part of the group of protestors occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge headquarters in Burns. At least eight others, including protest leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy, were arrested after the FBI and Oregon State police confronted them while they were traveling along U.S. Highway 395. Cliven Bundy posted an audio message on the Bundy Ranch Facebook page Tuesday night claiming that his son Ammon told two family members that he was arrested, his brother Ryan was shot in the arm, and Finicum was murdered in “cold-blood.”

FBI tells Bundy group to leave after fatal shooting
The Hill - The FBI is telling the remaining occupiers of an Oregon federal wildlife to leave the area after its leaders were arrested in a violent shootout with police. Federal and local officials announced early Wednesday morning that Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who has served as a spokesman for the group, was killed Tuesday night by police during a traffic stop that turned violent about 50 miles from the refuge. Law enforcement had not released Finicum’s name initially. He had stated previously that he’d prefer to die than to be arrested, according to the Oregonian. Six others, including self-styled militia leader Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan Bundy, both sons of famed Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, were arrested, and Ryan Bundy was also shot. Two others were arrested elsewhere.

Declassified Memo Proves the Pentagon had ZERO Evidence of WMDs in Iraq
Activist Post - Thirteen years after the invasion and occupation of Iraq, it is common knowledge that this war of choice was based on fabrications and slick propaganda. There were no weapons of mass destruction, the country posed no real threat to the U.S., and it was not a hotbed of terrorism until after Saddam was deposed. Now, a bombshell has dropped in the form of a leaked classified report—a “smoking gun” if you will—that confirms the utter deception carried out on the American people to support the invasion. It demonstrates just how far the cabal under George W. Bush, making up a group known as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), would go to prey upon fear in pursuit of global hegemony.

New Gov’t Task Force Calls for Screening Every Adult, Pregnant Women for Depression
Brandon Turbeville - A new recommendation has been released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government advisory group that is now recommending all adults be routinely screened for depression as part of their healthcare. The first part of the recommendation suggests that all adults be screened, but singles out pregnant women and new mothers as a target population. The second part of the recommendation mentions the need to ensure that systems are in place that will allow for the proper diagnosis and treatment of people who are singled out through this screening. The guidelines, which were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, did not specify how often adults should be screened.... Parents may be visited by a child services agent, who generally is more than eager to confiscate their children. Some patients may be visited by a law enforcement agent, demanding they turn over their guns. Others may be forcibly hospitalized. All this because they made the mistake of trusting their physician or answering a question honestly.

Election News

Live Stream: Donald Trump Holds Special Event for Veterans in Des Moines, IA
RSBN.TV - Thursday, January 28, 2016: GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump will hold a special event for Veterans and Wounded Warriors in Des Moines, IA at Drake University. The event is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM CST.

Campaigning in style: Bush blew through his warchest
Reuters - There were stays at boutique hotels featuring rooftop pools, private soirees at members-only, jacket-and-tie clubs and fundraisers at the Four Seasons, the St. Regis and the Mandarin Oriental. In the world of Jeb Bush, the campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination has at times been a whirl of private planes and high-end affairs, according to the federal filings of Bush’s campaign and his Super PAC, Right to Rise, which can raise unlimited funds for Bush as long as it does not coordinate directly with him.

Obama Turns Against Hillary, Brings Sanders to White House
Kit Daniels - President Obama will privately meet with Bernie Sanders at the White House, an unprecedented move which signals Obama is likely breaking ties with Hillary Clinton. Obama’s invitation to the underdog presidential candidate, who until recently struggled to break free of Hillary’s dominance, comes as sources reveal the FBI is ready to indict Clinton and are even willing to blow the whistle and go public with their findings if the Attorney General doesn’t press charges against the Democratic frontrunner.

BREAKING: CNN Says They Will Host Trump’s Counter-Programming to FOX GOP Debate
Gateway Pundit - Donald Trump told CNN that when FOX News put out its snarky press release today, he said, “Bye,bye!” CNN announced Wednesday they will host Trump’s counter-programming to the FOX debate. Ouch.
* Related: POLL: Without Trump 83% Say They WILL NOT Watch GOP Debate ...

FLASHBACK: Ronald Reagan Skipped Last Debate Before IA Caucus – Went on to Win in Landslide
Gateway Pundit - Trump is not the first Republican candidate to skip a debate. Ronald Reagan skipped the Republican debate ahead of the 1980 Iowa caucus. Bloomberg reported: Trump isn’t the first top-tier presidential candidate to skip a debate. Ronald Reagan did not attend a Republican debate ahead of the 1980 Iowa caucuses, which he lost to George H.W. Bush. Reagan went on to the win the nomination and the presidency. Reagan went on to win in a landslide.
* Related: Video: The media narrative around the latest Trump controversy

Rand Paul Presidential Campaign Office Burglarized, Computers Stolen
Truth in Media - Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign office in New Hampshire was broken into sometime in the past 24 hours, robbed of computers with databases and campaign files, according to social media posts from one of the candidate’s top advisers. Michael Biundo, serving as a National Senior Adviser for Senator Paul’s presidential campaign, posted to his Facebook and Twitter accounts this morning with the following update: “Getting ready to go to Iowa today for the final caucus push and now I am dealing with our New Hampshire for Rand Paul office being broken into. I needed more stress this morning. Thanks.”

Economy & Business

The World's Favorite New Tax Haven Is the United States
Bloomberg - Last September, at a law firm overlooking San Francisco Bay, Andrew Penney, a managing director at Rothschild & Co., gave a talk on how the world’s wealthy elite can avoid paying taxes. His message was clear: You can help your clients move their fortunes to the United States, free of taxes and hidden from their governments. Some are calling it the new Switzerland. After years of lambasting other countries for helping rich Americans hide their money offshore, the U.S. is emerging as a leading tax and secrecy haven for rich foreigners. By resisting new global disclosure standards, the U.S. is creating a hot new market, becoming the go-to place to stash foreign wealth. Everyone from London lawyers to Swiss trust companies is getting in on the act, helping the world’s rich move accounts from places like the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands to Nevada, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

The Federal Reserve Just Made Another Huge Mistake
Economic Collapse - As stocks continue to crash, you can blame the Federal Reserve, because the Fed is more responsible for creating the current financial bubble that we are living in than anyone else. When the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates all the way to the floor and injected lots of hot money into the financial markets during their quantitative easing programs, this pushed stock prices to wildly artificial levels. The only way that it would have been possible to keep stock prices at those wildly artificial levels would have been to keep interest rates ultra-low and to keep recklessly creating lots of new money. But now the Federal Reserve has ended quantitative easing and has embarked on a program of very slowly raising interest rates. This is going to have very severe consequences for the markets, but Janet Yellen doesn’t seem to care.

Railroad slowdown ahead as Norfolk cuts 2,000 jobs, profits down 30%
MarketWatch - Norfolk Southern Corp. said it would cut 2,000 jobs and downsize its rail lines after reporting its profit dropped a worse-than-expected 29% in the final quarter of the year as the railway tries to fend off a takeover attempt and deals with weak demand for coal.... The sweeping cost reduction plans come as the company tries to rebuff a takeover attempt from Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. Last month, the board shot down Canadian Pacific's latest offer--$30 billion in cash-and-stock plus a financial incentive known as a contingent-value right--calling it "grossly inadequate" in a sharply-worded letter that challenged the rationale for a merger.

Energy & Environment

California air quality agency sues SoCalGas over Porter Ranch gas leak
LA Daily News - Just days after the South Coast Air Quality Management District ordered the Southern California Gas Go. to control a colossal natural gas leak in the hills above Porter Ranch, the air regulator sued the utility late Tuesday, seeking what could be a record penalty that could run into the tens of millions.... The latest lawsuit adds to the more than 25 that have been filed against the company owned by Sempra Energy of San Diego regarding its ongoing gas leak.... The offending gas well may not be plugged until February, gas company officials say. Nearly 3,000 households, containing an estimated 9,000 residents, have been relocated along with two elementary schools at gas company expense, with nearly 2,000 households on a waiting list.

Science & Technology

License Plate Readers Are Turning Texas Police into Mobile Debt Collectors and Data Miners
Activist Post - Vigilant Solutions, one of the country’s largest brokers of vehicle surveillance technology, is offering a hell of a deal to law enforcement agencies in Texas: a whole suite of automated license plate reader (ALPR) equipment and access to the company’s massive databases and analytical tools—and it won’t cost the agency a dime. Even though the technology is marketed as budget neutral, that doesn’t mean no one has to pay. Instead, Texas police fund it by gouging people who have outstanding court fines and handing Vigilant all of the data they gather on drivers for nearly unlimited commercial use.... EFF has long been concerned with this technology, because ALPRs typically capture sensitive location information on all drivers—not just criminal suspects—and, in aggregate, the information can reveal personal information, such as where you go to church, what doctors you visit, and where you sleep at night.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Who’s Afraid of Hawkins Family Farm?
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund - Legislation prohibiting or restricting market access for local food producers is not about food safety but rather about eliminating competition for the industrial food system, often before local producers can get any traction in the market. There is no better example of this than what is currently playing out in Indiana. Big Ag and government agencies in alliance with it are supporting legislation that would prohibit the sale of on-farm processed poultry to restaurants and other food establishments. Under current Indiana law, a farm receiving a “grant of exemption” from the Indiana Board of Animal Health (BOAH) can sell on-farm processed poultry to restaurants. There is only one farm that is currently operating under the exemption, Hawkins Family Farm of North Manchester, which is owned and operated by FTCLDF member Jeff Hawkins and his son, Zach. For Big Ag and its allies, that is one farm too many.

Health

Printable List of Bottled Water Containing Fluoride
REALfarmacy.com - The world is slowly waking up to the fact that fluoride, a by-product of the phosphate fertilizer industry, wreaks havoc on the brain and body. Despite peer-reviewed scientific evidence against it, fluoride is still added to 70 percent of U.S. public drinking water supplies. What’s more is that processed beverages and food, tea, and even bottled water contain fluoride. That’s right, many popular brands of bottled water have a known neurotoxin added to them.... The list below contains data provided by the International Bottled Water Association that you can use to make sure you’re not feeding fluoride to yourself and your family.

Ancient clay used by aboriginal Canadians could fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria  says study
RT - Ancient mineral clay used by aboriginal people in Canada for centuries could be the key to fighting against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a new study. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and published in the American Society for Microbiology's mBio journal on Tuesday, found that the clay killed 16 strains of ESKAPE bacteria samples from nearby hospitals and waste treatment facilities. ESKAPE bacteria – which includes Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae,Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species – causes the majority of infections in US hospitals, and is resistant to antibacterial drugs.

No Candy Bars Here: This Vending Machine Sells Only Fresh Organic Salads And It's Seriously Delicious
The Huffington Post - When 27-year-old Luke Saunders told his former boss he was turning down a substantial raise and promotion to create a vending machine that would sell exclusively organic, restaurant-quality salads and snacks, he was met with looks of disbelief and confusion. "They still think I'm nuts," Saunders, the founder of Farmer's Fridge, admitted. ...Saunders unveiled the first of what he expects to be many of his unusual kiosks in an otherwise dreary food court in downtown Chicago in late October. And it was an almost immediate hit. The machine resembles something out of a "Portlandia" sketch. Made from reclaimed wood and surrounded by real plants with a carpet of artificial grass leading up, the kiosk is stocked at 10 a.m. every day with an array of fresh salads and snacks consisting mainly of organic, locally grown produce and assembled at a nearby kitchen just hours before. Whatever is left at the end of each day is donated to a local food pantry.

Pet News

Largest Settlement for a Dog Killing in US History Paid After Cop Murders Restrained Dog on Video
Activist Post - Commerce city taxpayers have just been hit with a $262,000 bill for a settlement in an incident where someone’s dog was needlessly shot and killed by police. According to the report, On November 24, 2012, Commerce City police responded to reports of a “loose, vicious dog.” When officers arrived on scene, a small woman was able to get the catchpole around the dog’s neck. However, officer Robert Price felt it necessary to taser the dog, whose name was Chloe, and then shoot her five times. The graphic incident was captured on a neighbor’s cellphone and was used as evidence in the case. Officer Price was subsequently charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals. However, as is typical in police officers charged with crimes caught on video, an Adams County jury found him not guilty. Commerce City police documents obtained by KDVR show an internal affairs investigation ruled Price was “within policy” when he killed the dog.

Problems With Your Pet Food? You Must Report it! Here’s How...
Dogington Post - Do you suspect a problem with your pet’s food? Foreign objects, mold, bugs, a strange odor or appearance? Is your dog suddenly refusing to eat or showing signs of illness that you believe are a result of his food? As pet parents, we expect our pet’s food manufacturers to ensure the quality of each and every bag of food that leaves the factory. As a second line of defense, we expect the Food & Drug Administration to monitor pet food and initiate recalls when a product doesn’t live up to standards. Unfortunately, we can’t always rely on manufacturers and the FDA to make sure every bit of food we feed our pets is safe. That’s why, as pet parents, we have a responsibility to inspect food before feeding and monitor our dog’s health. If something about your dog’s food is not right, it needs to be reported.
 



Wednesday - January 27, 2016 - Today in History:

1870 - Kappa Alpha Theta, the first women’s sorority, was founded at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) in Greencastle, IN.
1880 - Thomas Edison patented the electric incandescent lamp.
1943 - During World War II, the first all American air raid against Germany took place when about 50 bombers attacked Wilhlemshaven.
1944 - The Soviet Union announced that the two year German siege of Leningrad had come to an end.
1945 - Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.
1951 - In the U.S., atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flats.
1967 - Astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo I spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, FL.
1973 - The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.
1977 - The Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests.
1981 - U.S. President Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House.
1998 - U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on NBC's "Today" show. She charged that the allegations against her husband were the work of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
1999 - The U.S. Senate blocked dismissal of the impeachment case against President Clinton and voted for new testimony from Monica Lewinsky and two other witnesses.
2010 - Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPad.

World News

London to Immediately Initiate Brexit if Supported at Referendum
Sputnik News - The United Kingdom will initiate a so-called Brexit if Britons vote in favour of it at an in/out referendum, although it is not legally binding, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said. Britain, being one of the main contributors to the EU budget, is currently rethinking its relationship with the 28-nation bloc ahead of a referendum on its membership in the European Union, due to take place by the end of 2017… London wants the right not to commit itself to the EU pledge of an "ever closer union," curb social benefits for EU migrants, secure greater protections for non-eurozone countries in the bloc, and more powers for the national government.

France Declares Permanent Police State
Kurt Nimmo - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared on the sidelines of the Davos globalist confab last week his country’s state of emergency—in other words the imposition of a police state—will last until the “total and global war” against the Islamic State is completed. Additionally, French president, François Hollande, has told senior figures that an extension of the measures is probable. “In Africa, in the Middle East, in Asia we must eradicate, eliminate Daesh, it is a total and global war that we face with terrorism,” Valls said. “We will have to live for decades or for many years with this menace or this threat and that’s why it’s a war. There are many generations that will have to live with this and the crisis will have to be managed in north Africa and the Middle East.”

Russia, OPEC hint at oil production cuts
RT - Both Russia and OPEC have separately implied they are ready to cut crude output amid collapsing prices. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Moscow has the instruments to keep the oil output at the current level, but the prices could take a toll. “If prices remain low for a long time, a production cut is possible. This is what our partners - other countries – know,” he said on Tuesday… This came as OPEC Governor Nawal al-Fuzaia hinted on Tuesday that OPEC is ready to cut production in an effort to slow down the plunge in oil prices. The governor told an energy forum in Kuwait that OPEC is ready to "cooperate" with others to stabilize the crude market.

TIDAL WAVE: 400,000 New Migrants to Invade Italy ‘in Weeks' (Video)
Breitbart - As the Schengen treaty guaranteeing open internal European borders continues to crumble, Italy is gearing up for a tidal wave of as many as 400,000 immigrants “in the coming weeks,” according to Italian sources, and worse still, they will be coming to stay. Italian authorities fear that their worst nightmare is materializing before their eyes: as droves of immigrants arrive on Italy’s shores, they have no choice but to remain in Italy. According to analysts, the worst is yet to come. Until a few days ago the Italian peninsula was a transit channel for tens of thousands of desperate migrants en route to the countries of Northern Europe, yet now these same migrants are finding themselves stranded in Italy because of closed borders to the north. Overnight, Italy has moved from being a passageway to a dead end.

McDonald's to 'fully localize' production in Russia
RT - McDonald's restaurants operating in Russia have announced plans to source all food supplies locally. It is aimed at softening the impact of currency swings and import restrictions, TASS quotes McDonald's in Russia President Khamzat Khasbulatov. The global fast-food chain intends to entirely replace poultry and meat imports with locally grown production within two years. Earlier the company announced plans to start growing potatoes for its french fries in Russia by next year. The measures are not connected to the sanctions and come as a part of a long-term company project, according to a top-manager. However, a weak ruble has forced McDonald's to increase its menu prices, though the increase was below the inflation rate.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Rumsfeld: US Has to “Compete” with the Islamic State
Kurt Nimmo - Former Pentagon boss Donald Rumsfeld emerged from the shadows on Tuesday to warn about the threat posed by the Islamic State. “We’re going to have to find ways to reduce the funding for radical Islamists, we’re going to have to find ways to limit their recruiting successes, and that means we’re going to have to compete worldwide with a very powerful, apparently attractive strain of that faith,” Rumsfeld told Morning Joe.

Video: Senator Warns AUMF Bill is “Declaration Of International Martial Law”
Adan Salazar - “This resolution is a total rewrite of the War Powers clause of the Constitution. Let’s be clear about that,” Democrat Senator Chris Murphy said on the Senate floor last week in regards to S.J. Res. 29, a bill purporting to give the sitting US president the power to declare war on ISIS. “It is essentially a declaration of international martial law,” Murphy said. Speaking out against the fast-track authorization for the use of military force bill proposed by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Murphy explained the resolution would permanently hand over war-making authority to the office of the president. “A sweeping transfer of military power to the president that will allow him or her to send US troops almost anywhere in the world for any reason with absolutely no limitations,” Senator Murphy described, adding that Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution “vests in Congress the responsibility to declare war.” “While the ink is still wet on this resolution… it’s safe to say that this resolution is the wrong way to authorize war against ISIS,” Murphy said. “The language of this resolution is dangerous and it is unprecedented.”

West Virginia Bill Would Block Unconstitutional National Guard Deployments
Tenth Amendment Center - A bill introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates this month would block unconstitutional foreign deployments of the state’s national guard troops, effectively restoring the Founders’ framework for state-federal balance on the Guard. House Bill 2168 (HB2168), the Defend the Guard Act, was introduced by Del. Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock), a former Air Force intelligence officer who did tours in Afghanistan and the Middle East. It was cosponsored by ten other delegates. If passed, the bill would block the federal government from deploying West Virginia Guard troops overseas unless there is a declaration of war from Congress, as required by the Constitution.

Move Over Flint: Ohio Town Falls Victim to Lead-Poisoned Water Scandal
Sputnik News - Just like in Flint, state officials knew about the contamination for months but did nothing to warn people… "Correspondence from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Village of Sebring show concerns with water testing, beginning in late September. Elevated lead levels were noted by the EPA in November, but customers didn’t learn of the issues until Thursday, meaning that some people could have been drinking water containing lead for months," local station WKBN reported. While the contamination is being investigated, Sebring water treatment plant superintendent Jim Bates has been placed on paid administrative leave for "not properly performing his duties to protect public health,” and allegations that he “may have falsified reports," the Youngstown Vindicator reported.

City Demands Firearm Applicants Write Essay Explaining Need for Gun
Adan Salazar - A new policy in a Massachusetts town imposes burdensome steps on residents who want to obtain a license to carry a firearm: an essay exam and a $1,100 training seminar. Pro-firearm supporters in Lowell last Tuesday pleaded with police and city administrators to ease new gun regulations, which among other things now require an essay of anyone applying for an unrestricted firearm license.... Additionally, those applying for permits must submit documentation, such as a letter of recommendation, a previous gun license or a military or law enforcement ID, and are required to take a firearms training course.... Gun rights supporters say the town’s essay requirement infringes on the Second Amendment. “It is absurd that people should have to write an essay to the town to explain why they should be able to exercise their constitutional rights,” Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts Executive Director Jim Wallace said in a statement. “We already have a very strict set of gun laws in the state, but this is way over the top.”

NY Court: Farmers to Be Re-Educated, Pay Fines for Not Hosting Homosexual Wedding
CNS News - A couple who hosts occasional wedding ceremonies on their New York farm have lost an appeal to overturn the $13,000 in fines levied against them by the state’s human rights agency, which ruled that their refusal to host a wedding for two women was discriminatory.... “After the agency ruled that the Gifford's were guilty of ‘sexual orientation discrimination,’ it fined them $10,000, plus $3,000 in damages and ordered them to implement re-education training classes designed to contradict the couple’s religious beliefs about marriage,” a press release issued following the court decision stated. In order to comply with the order, the couple will have to attend those “re-training” classes or have a “trainer” come to them, according to ADF.

Jailed E.C. councilman sworn into office
NWI - Locks and bars didn't stop East Chicago Councilman Robert Battle's inauguration. The newly sworn-in Battle can retain his public title and annual salary of $42,356 a year despite being held in Porter County Jail on federal drug and homicide charge. Michelle Fajman, Lake County elections director, said Friday she received a document stating Battle has been sworn into office for his new term as representative as East Chicago's 3rd District… Battle ran unopposed in the November election, receiving 308 votes. State law requires elected officials to take the oath of office no later than 30 days after the beginning of their new term, which began Jan. 1 for Battle, or vacate the office. He has been in federal detention since his arrest Nov. 17.

Americans Really, Really Hate The Government
Economic Collapse - If there is one thing that Americans can agree on these days, it is the fact that most of us don’t like the government. CBS News has just released an article entitled “Americans hate the U.S. government more than ever“, and an average of recent surveys calculated by Real Clear Politics found that 63 percent of all Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction and only 28 percent of all Americans believe that the country is heading in the right direction. In just a few days the first real ballots of the 2016 election will be cast in Iowa, and up to this point the big story of this cycle has been the rise of “outsider” candidates that many of the pundits had assumed would never have a legitimate chance. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders have all been beneficiaries of the overwhelming disgust that the American people feel regarding what has been going on in Washington.

New Study Quantifies U.S. Fascism — Nearly Half of All Retired Congress Members Become Lobbyists
Activist Post - As a member of the U.S. Congress, one can expect to earn a substantial income of $174,000 per year – a very comfortable sum to live on. But it doesn’t stop there, now legislators are frequently using their political careers as a stepping-stone to a much larger payday upon retirement, often quintupling their income as an industry lobbyist. Three political scientists have tracked data all the way back to 1976 to analyze the lobbying activity of former members of Congress in an eye-opening new study.

Election News

Trump: ‘Most Likely’ Won’t Do the Fox News Debate… ‘Can’t Toy With Me Like They Toy With Everybody Else' (Video)
Breitbart - Tuesday at press conference before a campaign event in Marshalltown, IA, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump indicated he “most likely” won’t be a participant in Thursday’s Republican presidential debate to be host by the Fox News Channel. “I told Fox you should give money to the Wounded Warriors,” Trump said. “I’m not a fan of Megyn Kelly. I think she’s a third-rate reporter. I think she is frankly, not good at what she does. I think they could do a lot better than Megyn Kelly. I’m going to make a decision with Fox but I probably won’t bother doing the debate. They picked me as number one. Not only number one, number one by far. But probably I won’t be doing the debate. I’m going to have something else in Iowa, do something where we raise money for the veterans and the Wounded Warriors....
* Related: Trump's campaign manager confirmed that Trump would "definitely not" participate in Thursday's Fox News debate

Shock Poll: Cruz Plummets with White Evangelicals ; Trails Trump by 17 Points
Breitbart - A new weekly tracking poll from NBC News finds Donald Trump opening a big lead over Sen. Ted Cruz among evangelical voters nationwide. The poll, conducted by NBC News and Survey Monkey, shows a 14 point shift in favor of Trump over the past week. According to the survey, Trump has 37 percent support among evangelicals, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has the support of 20 percent of evangelicals. Last week, Trump led Cruz by just 3 points in the tracking poll. Dr. Ben Carson is third among evangelicals with 11 percent while Sen. Marco Rubio is fourth with 10 percent. Both candidates saw slight up-ticks in their support among evangelicals over the past week.

Rand Paul's Return to the Main Stage
Conservative Review - After failing to make the main debate stage in Charleston, Rand Paul is on the verge of returning to the debates. Fox News is using the same criteria as the Fox Business debate, and with that criteria Paul Currently qualifies for the main stage due to a slight surge in Iowa polling. According to Fox News, GOP candidates who poll in either the top six nationally or the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire will be eligible for the prime-time debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. The network will look at an average of the five most recent national, Iowa and New Hampshire polls when making its determination.

Democratic mayor to challenge GOP's Rand Paul in Senate race
Fox News - As he continues his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Rand Paul will begin facing pressure at home as a viable Democratic challenger has filed to run for his Senate seat. Lexington Mayor Jim Gray filed for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate before Tuesday's 4 p.m. deadline. Gray, the wealthy former CEO of a construction company, made history in 2010 when he was elected Kentucky's first openly gay mayor. Since then, he has wrangled the city's pension funds and signed an ordinance raising the local minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

Reporters Barred From Hillary's Wall Street Speeches
The Daily Caller - The list of Wall Street firms that barred reporters from covering her speeches reads like Who’s Who of the country’s largest and most prestigious wealth management companies. Those confirmed by TheDCNF to have excluded reporters include: the Goldman Sachs Group, UBS Wealth Management, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts and Company, the Carlyle Group, Apollo Management Holdings, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley and Golden Tree Asset Management... Clinton laughed off a request Friday at a campaign stop in Manchester, N.H. to release transcripts of speeches she delivered before the Goldman Sachs Group, one of Wall Street’s best known investments firms. Goldman Sachs paid $675,000 for three Clinton speeches in 2013, yet journalists were barred from these speeches.

Science & Technology

Internet Search Engine Snoops on Webcams Around the World
Sputnik News - Shodan randomly searches the Internet on the lookout for Internet Service Providers (ISP) with open ports. Once it discovers a vulnerable webcam, it files the ISP address, camera details and takes screenshot. Users of the Shodan search engine can type in specific terms to see images from insecure webcams. Dan Tentler, a security researcher told Ars Technica UK that the ability to see screenshots from webcams is "all over the place, practically everything you can think of."… Shodan's new webcam snooping service has opened up the world of vulnerable webcams of pictures that probably should be private for anyone who uses it and for just US$49, users can pay to view images running in real time — as long as the IoT remains insecure.

Video: This Vending Machine Is Watching You
Nextgov - As the battle for shoppers' attention and dollars rages on, retailers are embracing new technology to gather data on us. Previously innocuous objects like a candy vending machine can now provide loads of information to companies about who you are and what you want. These high-tech vending machines use THE Microsoft Kinect sensor and a webcam to scan your face, compile your demographic profile and the type of candy in the machine that caught your attention.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Virginia House Passes Bill to Authorize Hemp Farming without Federal Permission, 98-0
Tenth Amendment Center - House Bill 699 (HB699) would amend current state law on hemp by removing a provision that authorized the licensing of hemp farming only upon approval of the federal government. ...the bill would also require the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to “adopt regulations as necessary to license persons to grow and process industrial hemp for any purpose.” Under the Code of Virginia, § 3.2-4113 – as passed into law in 2015 – authorizes the state to issue licenses to farm and produce hemp for research purposes only under the Federal Farm Bill of 2014. If passed into law, HB699 would broaden the scope of hemp in the state to include the commercial “manufacture of industrial hemp products.
* Related: West Virginia Bill Would Allow Industrial Hemp Production Without Federal Permission

10 Syngenta Employees Sent to Hospital in Kauai Following Pesticide Use
Natural Society - After being exposed to an insecticide called chlorpyrifos only 20 hours prior, 10 Syngenta (a biotech company) field workers were rushed to the hospital after serious adverse health conditions arose. The Kauai agricultural workers were exposed to the insecticide chlorpyrifos, used on corn, which is currently under consideration for a ban by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). More than 3.5 tons of the pesticide were used in Hawaii in 2014 despite concerns over its environmental effects, as well as adverse health implications. The insecticide was also recently found in what were once considered protected water sources.... Uyehara said the company doesn’t have any plans to discontinue its use of chlorpyrifos. “As far as we’re concerned, it’s still registered as safe as long as it’s used in accordance with the label,” he said.

Health

Natural ginger is up to 10,000 times more effective than chemotherapy drugs at treating cancer, study shows
(NaturalNews) Ginger naturally contains a compound that is up to 10,000 times more effective than chemotherapy drugs at killing the cancer stem cells that make malignant tumors so dangerous, according to a study published in the journal PLoS. The chemical, known as 6-shogaol, is produced when ginger roots are dried or cooked. The researchers found that 6-shogaol is active against cancer stem cells at concentrations that are harmless to healthy cells. This is dramatically different from conventional chemotherapy, which has serious side effects largely because it kills healthy as well as cancerous cells.

Morning lemon ginger detox
STEPin2 - Your first line of defense against toxins is your liver. It works like a filter by preventing toxic substances contained in foods from passing in our blood stream. It is important to start your day with foods that will flush toxins from your body. Not only will this morning lemon ginger detox help cleanse your body, it will help you lose weight as well.

The seven most extreme childhood allergies coincide directly with vaccine ingredients
(NaturalNews) During the first year of life children are injected with known carcinogens and neurotoxins. Then, children develop strange food allergies, some so severe they can't even be in the room when someone takes out that food, like peanuts. Let's take a hard look at vaccines like the MMR, DTaP and HPV, and see just what these extreme allergies root themselves in, sending the body into a panic when it senses that same allergen, thinking it might be INJECTED into muscle tissue again. The immune response is overwhelming. It's fight or flight, and anytime you inject processed emulsifiers, genetically modified bacteria, human albumin, MSG, egg protein, reduced animal hide and cartilage (gelatin), and heavy metal toxins, into your muscle tissue 50 times in less than seven years, you might stop wondering why you or your child has EXTREME ALLERGIES to the SAME EXACT ingredients used to manufacture the majority of today's vaccines.
 



Tuesday - January 26, 2016 - Today in History:

1784 - In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the symbol to be the turkey.
1802 - The U.S. Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol.
1837 - Michigan became the 26th state to join the United States.
1861 - In the U.S., Louisiana seceded from the Union.
1870 - The state of Virginia rejoined the Union.
1934 - The Apollo Theatre opened in New York City.
1939 - In the Spanish Civil War, Franco's forces, with Italian aid, took Barcelona.
1942 - The first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland.
1961 - U.S. President John F. Kennedy appointed Dr. Janet G. Travell as the first woman to be the "personal physician to the President".
1992 - Russian president Boris Yeltsin announced that his country would stop targeting U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.
1996 - U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning the Whitewater probe.
1998 - President Clinton denied having an affair with a former White House intern, saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky."
1999 - Saddam Hussein vowed revenge against the U.S. in response to air-strikes that reportedly killed civilians. The strikes were U.S. planes defending themselves against anti-aircraft fire.
2014 - In the U.S., the First Class postage rate increased to 49 cents.

World News

China warns George Soros: Don’t go to ‘war’ against our currency
RT - China’s official newspaper warned billionaire investor George Soros not to bet against the Yuan in a front-page opinion piece, as China tries to boost confidence in its home currency, also known as the renminbi, which has dropped 5 percent since August.

Zika virus spreading in Europe as 1st person tests positive in Denmark
RT - One person has tested positive in Denmark for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has caused severe birth defects in Latin America, Danish media has reported. The new case comes after Italy, Spain, the UK and Switzerland registered several people infected with the disease. A Danish tourist contracted the virus while traveling through South and Central America, where Zika is spreading now, Danish media reported. The patient is now being treated at the University hospital in Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city. Its symptoms are mild and include a fever, rash, joint pain and red, itchy eyes. Pregnant women are most at risk, as the virus has been linked to serious birth defects. The disease has gained international attention in recent weeks because of the increase in infected cases.
* Related: Zika virus likely to spread to southern U.S., experts say

China sinks over 6 percent
Reuters - Chinese shares plunged more than 6 percent to 14-month lows on Tuesday after oil prices dropped again, reviving concerns about global growth and prompting a sell-off in the world's equity markets. Battered by a late selling frenzy, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC ended down 6.4 percent at 2749.79 points, its lowest close since Dec. 1, 2014. The CSI300 index .CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen dropped 6 percent to 2940.51, also its lowest since the beginning of December 2014. After a rebound on Friday and early Monday, crude prices fell back below $30 a barrel, not far from last week's 12-year lows, ending a couple of days of gains for Wall Street stocks.
* Related: The race to get money out of China

Arab monarchies turn down Syrian refugees over security threat
Deutsche Welle - … while Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt have taken in around 5 million refugees, and boatloads of the destitute are making their way to Europe, the Gulf states have taken only a few hundred refugees, according to data from the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR). In part, the low numbers are due to a technicality, as the Gulf states are non-signatories to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the governing international convention defining refugees and their rights… The Saudis refer them as "Arab brothers and sisters in distress."… "They prefer to share their responsibility with financial donations," Metin Corabatir, who served for 18 years as the spokesperson of the UNHCR and is currently the president of the Research Center on Asylum and Migration in Ankara, told DW… "The Saudis worry that Syrians are a security threat," he [Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi scholar at the Institute for Gulf Affairs] said. "They have ideas of revolution."

Top Psychiatrist: Angela Merkel is Having a “Mental Breakdown”
Paul Joseph Watson - Top psychiatrist and best-selling author Hans-Joachim Maaz says Angela Merkel’s refusal to reverse her “completely irrational” policy on accepting migrants is evidence that the German Chancellor is undergoing a “mental breakdown”. Maaz, who was noted for his work studying the psychological impact of government repression on the population of the former East Germany, told Huffington Post Germany that Merkel’s “emotional” decision to open the country’s borders to a flood of refugees was an expression of her own rampant narcissism. According to Maaz, Merkel being dubbed the “most powerful woman in the world” has left her incapable of handling criticism and prone to hubris, with the psychiatrist adding that the German leader has, “lost touch with reality.”

Wives With Benefits: Immigrants With More Than One Spouse Win EXTRA Payments Under New Reforms
Breitbart - Polygamous marriages, which form a common thread in Islam, are recognized in Britain but only if they take place in countries where they are legal. Now a House of Commons library paper, published earlier this month, has highlighted a loophole that will allow additional wives coming to the UK to claim a full single person’s allowance while the husband and his first wife still receive their respective benefits.

Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies
Business Insider - Ecuador is planning to auction off three million of the country’s 8.1 million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies, Jonathan Kaiman of The Guardian reports… In 2009 China began loaning Ecuador billions of dollars in exchange for oil shipments. It also helped fund two of the country’s biggest hydroelectric infrastructure projects, and China National Petroleum Corp may soon have a 30 per cent stake in a $10 billion oil refinery in Ecuador. “My understanding is that this is more of a debt issue – it’s because the Ecuadoreans are so dependent on the Chinese to finance their development that they’re willing to compromise in other areas such as social and environmental regulations,” Adam Zuckerman, environmental and human rights campaigner at California-based NGO Amazon Watch, told the Guardian.

Thank the Ban: Food Sanctions Make Moscow One of Europe's Culinary Capitals
Sputnik News - The Kremlin's ban on the import of certain kinds of food from Europe, the US and Turkey have surprisingly transformed Moscow into one of the most interesting culinary capitals of Europe, leading to the renaissance of true Russian cuisine, according to an American weekly news magazine. Russian cuisine is enjoying "the strange, delightful renaissance" due to the Kremlin-imposed bans on the import of foodstuffs from Europe, the United States and Turkey, according to Newsweek magazine. Under the current circumstances, Moscow's restaurateurs decided to turn to a movement, popular in many parts of the world - locavore cooking - or consumption of only locally grown foods.

Massive food inflation strikes Canada... consumers paying $8 for a head of cauliflower, $3 for a single cucumber
(NaturalNews) Due to a "perfect storm" of inflationary factors – not the least of which being the continuing drop in oil prices – Canadians are seeing the effects of a weakening currency reflected in food prices at the supermarket. $3 cucumbers, $8 for a head of cauliflower, grapes at $10 per bag – the spiraling cost of foods, particularly those imported from Canada's neighbor to the south, has consumers there reeling from sticker shock.... From The New York Times: As prices for commodities have dropped, the value of the Canadian dollar has fallen, a direct link to an economy that is dependent on oil and other resources. It makes imports, like fresh American vegetables during the dark Canadian winter, look especially costly. Two years ago, one Canadian dollar was worth 93 American cents. On Wednesday, it stood at 69 American cents.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Oregon stand-off militiaman killed in shootout with the FBI: Traffic stop turns into deadly gunfight, ending with militia's spokesman dead and leader Ammon Bundy arrested along with seven others
Daily Mail - Oregon militia spokesman LaVoy Finicum has been shot dead after a traffic stop escalated into a shoot-out that saw Ryan Bundy wounded and eight leaders of the occupation movement arrested. The group's leader Ammon Bundy was among the militiamen arrested during the encounter on Tuesday afternoon as they drove to attend a community meeting in the neighboring town. It is the climax of a tense stand-off between federal agents and the activists more than three weeks after they took over a government building in Burns, Oregon, to protest two ranchers being jailed. According to local media, shots were fired within minutes of the traffic stop, killing Finicum and wounding Ryan Bundy. It is not clear who opened fire first. Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, and three other leaders of the occupation - Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, and Shawna Cox - were charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers, Oregon Live reports.

Israel, Saudi Arabia, Defense And Oil Spent Nearly One Trillion Urging DC For More War In 2015
Mint Press News - The defense industry spent millions lobbying the federal government last year, but they weren’t the only ones urging the country toward more war. Countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia, and even oil and computer industry representatives, also got in on the act. According to OpenSecrets, a project of the Center for Responsive Politics, the defense and aerospace industries spent a combined total of $56,272,948 on D.C. lobbying efforts last year. That’s down from the all-time high in 2013, when the industry spent over $78 million on lobbying.

FBI Investigators Will Go Public If Obama’s Attorney General Does Not Indict Hillary Clinton
Infowars - If Obama’s Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, does not follow her oath of office and indict Hillary Clinton, FBI investigators will go public with their findings, according to former House Majority leader Tom DeLay. DeLay told The Steve Malzberg Show on Monday the FBI is ready to indict the former Secretary of State on criminal charges related to 1,300 classified documents stored on a private email server. “They’re ready to recommend an indictment and they also say that if the attorney general does not indict, they’re going public,” the Texas Republican told the radio host. “One way or another either she’s going to be indicted and that process begins, or we try her in the public eye with her campaign. One way or another she’s going to have to face these charges,” DeLay added.

Flint militia members call for justice in water crisis: 'It's a human issue'
Washington Times - Militia members in Flint, Michigan, have joined the likes of Michael Moore and Jesse Jackson in calling for the government to take responsibility for the city’s water crisis. About 30 members of the Genesee County Volunteer Militia, some armed, gathered outside City Hall on Sunday afternoon, the Detroit Free Press reported… Dave McKellar, a militia liaison who helped organize the rally, said an additional 50 militia members have spent the last week or so delivering non-contaminated water door-to-door with the American Red Cross… Mr. Moore, a liberal filmmaker and activist, has called the situation in Flint a “racial crisis” and has accused Gov. Rick Snyder of “knowingly” poisoning the water supply in the predominantly black city. Mr. Krol [Matthew Krol, the militia’s executive officer] echoed some of Mr. Moore’s comments as onlookers shouted: “They knew!” and “Unacceptable!” the Free Press reported.

Activists behind Planned Parenthood videos indicted
WLKY - A Texas grand jury investigating Planned Parenthood has instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who made videos of the group, The New York Times reported. David Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress, was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs, a prosecutor announced. Sandra Merritt, who also worked for the center, was indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record, prosecutors said.... Grand jurors had cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing.

JFK allowed passengers arriving on international flight to exit without going through Customs
NY Daily News - Passengers arriving at Kennedy Airport on an international flight were allowed to exit the busy hub without going through Customs — for at least the second time in recent months, the Daily News has learned. Bumbling airline and security officials let travelers on American Airlines Flight 1223 from Cancun, Mexico, out of the airport on Monday morning without having their passports or bags checked, sources told The News. The security lapse mirrored a similar incident involving another American Airlines flight in November.... Neither the TSA, which screens passengers before they fly, nor the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, responded to a request for comment.

MU professor Melissa Click, who called for ‘muscle’ to remove reporter, charged with assault
Kansas City Star - Melissa Click, the University of Missouri communications professor who garnered widespread scorn for trying to physically remove a student reporter from a campus protest, was formally charged with assault Monday morning. A spokeswoman for the Columbia prosecutor’s office said Click was charged with third-degree assault, a class C misdemeanor that carries a possible 15-day jail sentence.

Election News

Ex-Federal Prosecutor Issues a Warning to Hillary Backers in Obama's Cabinet
The Blaze - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has secured endorsements from several of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet members, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. These officials and any others should proceed with caution, warned former Iowa U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker in a letter to each Cabinet secretary Monday… “As an employee of the federal government, you are subject to the Hatch Act, under which federal employees are prohibited from using their official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the outcome of an election,” the letter to cabinet officials said. “Violations of the Hatch Act are a serious offense for government officials, particularly at the cabinet level.”

Trump Proven Right: Ex Top Hillary Clinton Aide: ‘She’s Tired’; Disdains Meeting Voters
Gateway Pundit - A campaign manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, Patti Solis Doyle, confirmed in a recent interview accusations by leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that Clinton is ‘low energy.’... reported by The Washington Post on January 1: “She’ll do a couple of minutes in Iowa, meaning a short period of time. And then she goes home,” the GOP presidential front-runner said in Davenport, Iowa, a few weeks ago, as his attention turned to those areas. “You don’t see her for five or six days. She goes home, goes to sleep. I’m telling you. She doesn’t have the strength. She doesn’t have the stamina.”
* Related: Hillary suffers massive coughing fit

Economy & Business

Economic Activity Is Slowing Down Much Faster Than The Experts Anticipated
Economic Collapse - We have not seen global economic activity fall off this rapidly since the great recession of 2008. Manufacturing activity is imploding all over the planet, global trade is slowing down at a pace that is extremely alarming, and the Baltic Dry Index just hit another brand new all-time record low. If the “real economy” consists of people making, selling and shipping stuff, then it is in incredibly bad shape. Here in the United States, the dismal economic numbers continue to stun all of the experts. For example, on Monday we learned that the Texas general business activity index just hit a six year low.

Social Security Inching Its Way Toward Bankruptcy, Says CBO
The New American - The latest report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the financial condition of Social Security merely confirms what the Social Security trustees have been saying for years: The welfare-state program that spent nearly a trillion dollars last year isn’t sustainable… Each year since 2010, the program has spent more than it received, and each year that gap has widened… Last year, according to the CBO, outlays for Social Security in 2015 approached a trillion dollars, accounting for one-quarter of all federal spending. Its payments to its beneficiaries exceeded its income by nine percent. The gap will widen to 30 percent in less than 10 years, and will exceed 40 percent by the year 2040. That's called unsustainable.

Sprint Fires 2500: 8% Of Its Entire Workforce
Zero Hedge - According to the Kansas City Star, "layoffs and cutbacks at Sprint Corp. have claimed at least 2,500 jobs and struck six customer care centers, company officials confirmed. The job cuts are coming mostly in customer care but also include 574 other positions eliminated at the Overland Park headquarters campus. The total does not include any jobs that may have been eliminated at other Sprint employment centers… Sprint shed 1,700 jobs in the fall of 2014 and announced plans to cut 2,000 more. The 2,500 come on top of those totals, bringing the announced job cut total in that time to more than 6,000. An email notified all employees last week of the six call center closings that will idle about 2,000 employees.

San Francisco’s Biggest Taxi Biz Goes Bankrupt
Breitbart - San Francisco’s largest taxi company, Yellow Cab Cooperative Inc., filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday, adding it to a growing list of traditional taxi companies that have been feeling the burn from ride-sharing startups Uber and Lyft. According to the Wall Street Journal, part of the San Francisco’s Yellow Cab’s liabilities includes $8.1 million in reparations paid to a woman who sued the company after becoming paralyzed in a collision. The co-op is also reportedly facing some 150 open claims valued as high as $10 million. An article in Market Watch suggests ride sharing companies, like Uber and Lyft, that employ the independent contractor model might not be shielded from the same plight as San Francisco’s Yellow Cab co-op. Multimillion-dollar lawsuits stemming from injuries during rides could wind up catching up with the startups. Uber, which is currently valued at more than $50 billion, is better able to afford such a scenario.

Energy & Environment

Carbon Capture Failure Might Mean Quadrupled Industry Fines
Breitbart - Now that attempts by the government to prop up projects attempting “carbon capture and storage” have failed, industries’ penalties for releasing carbon into the atmosphere could be quadrupled in California. State law forces industries to pay roughly $12 per ton of carbon release due to the cap-and-trade program. But as Sally Benson, a professor of energy at Stanford University and a vehement supporter of carbon capture, told Bay Area public radio station KQED, “We have to de-carbonize everything we can. If we have to wait to replace every gas or coal plant with renewables, I think we’ve run out of time…I think there really has to be a clear price on carbon. $50 a ton plus – that will get people to really pay attention.”

Science & Technology

Uber monitoring drivers in US in attempt to flag dangerous driving
The Guardian - Uber has quietly begun monitoring the movements of some of its drivers in an experimental Texas-based pilot that is attempting to flag up dangerous driving. Abrupt movements in a smartphone’s accelerometer, a movement sensor built into most smartphones, can show when a driver accelerates and brakes too quickly – consistent with driving too close to the car in front, or ‘tailgating’. Uber did not explicitly tell drivers that their movements are being tracked, but the company says it is informing users only when it needs to access the data after a company complaint. Selected drivers in Houston have been monitored for the trial since it started in late 2015.

US government hands cyber-security to military
TechEye - The US government has handed over the its sensitive cybersecurity role to the military. The move is seen as a snub to the Office of Personnel Management, the agency at the center of last year’s scandal over one of the worst government data breaches known to the public… The Pentagon has been called in to overhaul the federal security clearance system. A new government office, called the National Background Investigations Bureau, will take over the job of running background checks on all federal employees, contractors and others. The Defense Department will design, build and operate the computer system that houses and processes people’s personal information, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and other officials said.

Have scientists found a CURE for Type 1 diabetes? Experts halt the disease by implanting cells that help produce insulin
Daily Mail - A cure for Type 1 diabetes is a step closer after scientists managed to halt the condition for at least six months thanks to insulin-producing cells. Experts from US hospitals and institutions including Harvard University managed to transplant cells into mice, which immediately began producing insulin. The team was also able to show they could prevent the cells being rendered useless by the body's own immune system, which was effectively 'switched off' thanks to scientific work. It means a cure for Type 1 diabetes - which affects 400,000 people in the UK - could be much closer.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

How To Grow Fruit Indoors During Winter … Successfully
Off the Grid News - It may surprise you to know that many types of fruit, like peaches and nectarines, often grow extremely well indoors. Indoor fruit tends to flower and fruit sooner than usual. You can easily grow fruits organically indoors, and you will be able to enjoy fresh fruit year-round, as well as the fresh fragrances of nature. Saving money is also a bonus of growing your own fruit. All you need is a sunny window or area, some containers or pot and some healthy soil. Plants will need to be transplanted into larger pots or containers as they grow bigger, and fruit shrub and trees will need to be pruned.

Health

Noni Leaf Extract Superior To Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer (Preclinical Study)
Green Med Info - Tragically, 1.4 million die from lung cancer each year, with 1.6 million newly diagnosed. Could this humble leaf extract beat a drug that can cost over 100,000 dollars to improve lung cancer survival only a few months? A promising new study published in the journal Food & Function titled, "Morinda citrifolia edible leaf extract enhanced immune response against lung cancer," has found that an alcohol-based leaf extract of the noni tree (Morinda Citrifolia) was more effective than a commonly used chemotherapy drug in treating lung cancer in an animal model.... Remarkably, the noni leaf extract was observed to positively modulate a wide range of biological pathways, without discernable adverse effects...

5 Herbs for lung cleansing and respiratory support
Natural News Blogs - The average human breathes in and out between 12 and 20 times a minute – and the human body cannot go more than just a few minutes without oxygen without suffering brain damage or even death. And yet, until something grows wrong, many people probably don’t think about their lungs at all. Keeping the lungs healthy, however, is incredibly important. Indoor and outdoor air pollution, cigarette smoke, high pollen and mold counts and exposure to artificial scents and perfumes can all irritate and take their toll upon the lungs. These organs are also vulnerable to conditions like pneumonia, asthma and COPD.

Here’s Why You Should Avoid Toxic Tide Laundry Detergent Like The Plague
Human N Health - According to the New York Times a petrochemical solvent known as 1,4-dioxane which is also found in paints and varnishes is found in Tide laundry detergent. The group Women’s voices for the earth made the discovery. They found that tide detergent contained 63 PPM (parts per million) of this petrochemical. The Tide Free & Clear also contained this petrochemical at a slightly higher dosage of 89 PPM (parts per million) as well.... This is just ONE of the ingredients in Tide’s laundry detergent. Another ingredient known as sodium hydroxide may be a possible carcinogen as well. Tide also contains propylene glycol which is a known endocrine (hormone) disruptor. It’s also a chemical used in anti-freeze!

Pet News

Merrick, Purina, Fromm, Others Sued Over ‘Made in USA’ Claims
Dogington Post - A California man is suing popular pet food and treat manufacturers, Merrick Pet Care, Castor & Pollux, Nestle Purina, Fromm, and Wysong alleging the pet food makers knowingly mislabel certain dog and cat food and treats as “Made in the USA” when they include ingredients sourced outside the U.S. In three separate $5 million class action lawsuits, Sean Randall of Ventura County, California, citing violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, alleges that these companies have been labeling dog and cat food and treats as made in the United States when they contain ingredients sourced from foreign countries, including tapioca as well as vitamin, mineral and amino acid packs. Although the companies named above are specifically being called out in the lawsuit, a vast majority of pet food manufacturers use a vitamin premix – and most often, those premixes contain ingredients from outside the U.S., namely China and India.

5 Nutrients That Make Your Pet Move Like a Puppy Again
Dr. Becker - When arthritis kicks in, your pet hopes you'll provide an end to the pain and suffering. These 5 proven inflammation fighters provide improvements in pain, mobility, weight bearing, and more. But arthritis is progressive... so administer these at the first hint of pain.
 



Monday - January 25, 2016 - Today in History:

1870 - G.D. Dows patented the ornamental soda fountain.
1881 - Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and others signed an agreement to organize the Oriental Telephone Company.
1890 - The United Mine Workers of America was founded.
1915 - In New York, Alexander Graham Bell spoke to his assistant in San Francisco, inaugurating the first transcontinental telephone service.
1924 - The 1st Winter Olympic Games were inaugurated in Chamonix in the French Alps.
1937 - NBC radio presented the first broadcast of "The Guiding Light." The show remained on radio until 1956 and began on CBS-TV in 1952.
1946 - The United Mine Workers rejoined the American Federation of Labor.
1950 - A federal jury in New York City found former State Department official Alger Hiss guilty of perjury.
1959 - In the U.S., American Airlines had the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707.
1961 - John F. Kennedy presented the first live presidential news conference from Washington, DC. The event was carried on radio and television.
1981 - The 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived in the United States and were reunited with their families.
1999 - In Louisville, KY, man received the first hand transplant in the United States.
2011 - A revolution began in Egypt with the demonstrations that demanded the end of President Hosni Mubarak's rule.

World News

Conflict in Syria Escalates as Russia and US Establish Air Bases Along Turkish Border
Kurt Nimmo - On Friday the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted sources in Syria as saying 200 Russian personnel will fortify the airfield in Qamishli and ready it for military aircraft… Also on Friday The Australian reported the US has established a secret airbase 30 miles outside of Qamishli. Syrian activists reported several dozen US military personnel are busy setting up a base at a former agricultural airfield a few miles from the Iraqi and Turkish borders… Turkey has declared it will not tolerate the presence of Russian troops along the border.

Russia, US agree to have 2 rebel delegations at Syria peace talks
RT News - Moscow and Washington are close to reaching a compromise on the participants of the Syria peace talks set to start next week. Two separate Syrian opposition delegations are expected to be invited to the negotiations in Geneva, according to media reports… Washington supports the participation of the Saudi-backed Islamist militia Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) - something Moscow has strongly objected to. Russia insists that political figures it deems more moderate, such as Qadri Jamil, a former Syrian deputy prime minister, and Saleh Muslim, co-head of the Syrian Kurdish group PYD, should join the negotiations, Kommersant daily reported Saturday.
* Related: Turkey ‘threatens to withdraw’ from Syria talks over Syrian Kurds

Shooting of Kurds waving white flag caught on camera (GRAPHIC VIDEO)
RT - An incident in which several civilians with a white flag came under fire has been caught on camera. The victims are reported to be Kurds in the town of Cizre, where they were allegedly shot at by Turkish troops. The series of short video clips published on social media shows a procession of people going along a street, pushing a cart with what appears to be two covered bodies. The walls of the buildings are dotted with holes, possibly from bullets. A tank is shown in the distance.

Norway’s largest bank calls for total end to cash
The Local - Citing the “dangers and disadvantages” of cash, DNB Bank has called for it to be completely phased out. Norway’s largest bank, DNB, has said that cash has fallen out of favour with everyday Norwegians and is instead primarily used on the black market and in laundering schemes. Today, there is approximately 50 billion kroner in circulation and [central bank] Norges Bank can only account for 40 percent of its use. That means that 60 percent of money usage is outside of any control. We believe that is due to under-the-table money and laundering,” bank executive Trond Bentestuen told VG. "There are so many dangers and disadvantages associated with cash, we have concluded that it should be phased out," he added.

Ontario Rules Veganism A Human Right Legally Protected Against Discrimination
Natural Blaze - Hospitals will now have to provide vegan meals upon request, and students cannot be forced to dissect animals. Vegetarianism and veganism are two trends rapidly increasing in popularity. And now, thanks to a recent ruling, individuals in the province of Ontario, Canada, will have an even easier time sticking to their plant-based diet. The Vegan Herald reports that the Human Rights Commission of Ontario recently ruled that veganism is a human right that should be legally protected from discrimination under law similar to how religious beliefs are protected.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Mitch McConnell Moves To Grant The President Unlimited War Powers With No Expiration Date
Zero Hedge - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is moving to fast track an Authorization of Military Force (AUMF) for the President that would allow for unrestricted warfare against ISIS. There would be no time or geographic restrictions on this authorization. Rather than being a favor to President Obama, this is primarily a means to ensure that whoever takes control in 2017 receives a blank check for unrestrained militarism with no expiration date.

EPA head in charge of Flint resigns as Obama pledges $80 million for poisoned water crisis
RT - President Barack Obama announced his administration is giving $80 million to help repairs Flint’s water infrastructure and make the drinking water safe, calling the situation “inexcusable.” The head of Michigan’s Environmental Protection Agency resigned.
* Related: Tribe Donates $10,000 to Help Save Flint, Michigan Residents from Toxic Water

Report Backs "Predictive Analytics" To Identify "Bad Kids" In L.A. County
The Crime Report - A primary goal of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system is keeping kids out of lock-up. In this pursuit, the county took a surprising step: It used a predictive analytics tool as part of a program to identify which specific kids might end up behind bars, says Pacific Standard magazine. The process wasn’t incredibly complicated: It involved analyzing data about a child’s family, arrests, drug use, academic success, and abuse history. The goal was abundantly clear: separating out the good kids from the potentially bad.

Zero Tolerance: Another Texas Student Suspended for Helping Asthmatic Classmate
Breitbart - Instead of praise, a Central Texas school district suspended a 15-year-old boy when he rushed a classmate, who was in the throes of an asthma attack, to the school nurse’s office in yet another incident of zero tolerance policies overriding common sense. This follows last week’s double suspensions for two North Texas students, which also involved an asthma attack. The Killeen Independent School District suspended eighth grade student Anthony Ruelas on Jan. 19, for breaking the rules when he left the class to help the asthmatic student. Ruelas attends Gateway Middle School, a behavioral alternative school where he is on a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP).

Florida Launches 3 Bills for Mandatory GMO Labeling!
Natural Society - Due to the efforts of thousands in a grassroots campaign, as well as the actions of Senator Maria Sachs and Representative Vasilinda who started a campaign 3 years ago, 3 GMO labeling bills are being put forth in Florida – Senate bills SB 1700 and SB 1708, and House bill HB 1369.

Election News

The Palin Effect: Trump Takes Back Iowa with 11-Point Surge
Breitbart - A new Fox News poll of Iowa shows Donald Trump surging to a strong 11-point lead in the caucuses taking place next week. With just one week until the first votes of the 2016 primary are cast, Trump leads second-place Sen. Ted Cruz 34-23 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio remains in a distant third place with 12 percent, but he has lost 3 points since early January. No other candidate has support in the double digits.

Bowe Bergdahl's Lawyers May Call Trump as Witness
Newsmax - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may be called to testify at Bowe Bergdahl's court martial this summer over statements that have "irreparably compromised" the Army sergeant's "right to a fair trial," Bergdahl's attorney said Friday. In an interview with Brooke Baldwin on CNN, Eugene Fidell likened Trump's attacks on Bergdahl to those of a "lynch mob" trying to "incite ill will and vilification" of his client.

Michael Bloomberg Mulling Presidential Campaign, Takes Hillary Clinton Supporters
Breitbart - Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is reportedly looking into a presidential run as an Independent. A new Morning Consult Poll suggests Bloomberg entering the presidential race would hurt Hillary Clinton more than GOP frontrunner Donald Trump... Bloomberg would pull support from independents and adults under 30 years old from Clinton if he entered the race, according to the new poll that also found Bloomberg receives 13 percent in a three-candidate matchup.

Veteran News

Georgia cop indicted for fatal shooting of an unarmed, naked Air Force vet
RT - DeKalb County Police Officer Robert Olsen, who shot and killed Anthony Hill last year, has been indicted on all six charges against him, including murder. The family and their supporters have expressed delight at the ‘historic’ grand jury decision. The grand jury deliberated from 9:00am into early evening on Thursday, before indicting Olsen on two felony murder counts, one aggravated assault count, one making a false statement count, and two violation of oath by a public officer counts.

Economy & Business

TPP Trade Deal Will Cost US 448,000 Jobs, Say Researchers
Anti Media - One of the major purported selling points for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a supposed increase in new jobs as a result of the controversial trade deal. The deal involves 12 nations, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia and more. However, two recent economic reports have contradicted the claims that jobs will increase. They have shown that, more than likely, the deal will lead to a loss of jobs.

JPMorgan CEO gets 35% pay raise to $27M amid cutbacks
USA Today - Even as Wall Street braces for more cuts to jobs and bonuses, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was paid $27 million in 2015, up from $20 million the year before, the company said Thursday. The pay raise comes after JPMorgan announced record annual profits last week, thanks to cost-cutting that helped to offset stagnating revenue growth. PMorgan’s board paid Dimon a $1.5 million salary, a $5 million cash bonus and $20.5 million in performance-based stock grants, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Energy & Environment

7.1 quake hits Alaska leaving thousands without power (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
RT - A 7.1 earthquake hit southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, on Sunday early in the morning sending about 30 aftershocks, according to seismologists. Power companies said that thousands were left without power. The quake struck at about 1:30 am local time about 280 kilometers (162 miles) southwest of Alaska’s biggest city, Anchorage, according the US Geological Survey. The epicenter of the quake was located 124.8 kilometers deep. According to residents tremors were felt in Anchorage. The Alaska Earthquake Center recorded some 30 aftershocks during the night with the strongest measured at 4.3.

Health

Contagious Airborne Diseases Appear in Schools Across Texas
Breitbart - Highly contagious airborne diseases–tuberculosis (TB) and measles–surfaced in three Texas public school districts located in different parts of the state, although officials have not identified the origins of these cases. In Harris County, Houston Independent School District officials confirmed one case of tuberculosis at Sugar Grove Academy Middle School. The student, according to ABC-TV affiliate KTRK, was diagnosed, treated, and is recovering. The contagious airborne pulmonary infection can spread rapidly once the bacteria becomes active because an individual will manifest symptoms. Not everyone infected exhibits tell-tale signs of the reputed lung illness if the bacteria remains dormant.

Stevia Kills Lyme Disease Pathogen Better Than Antibiotics (Preclinical Study)
Green Med Info - Lyme disease is exceedingly difficult to treat, due to its well-known shape-shifting (pleomorphic) abilities, with conventional antibiotics often failing to produce a long-term cure. Could the commonly used natural plant Stevia provide a safer, and more effective means to combat this increasingly prevalent infection? A promising new preclinical study has revealed that whole stevia leaf extract possesses exceptional antibiotic activity against the exceedingly difficult to treat pathogen Borrelia Burgdorferi known to cause Lyme disease. The study found, Stevia whole leaf extract, as an individual agent, was effective against all known morphological forms of B. burgdorferi."
* Related: Lyme Patients to Call on Congress for Decisive Action on Epidemic

8 Things You’re Doing Wrong With Garlic
Natural Blaze - For all the amazing health benefits of garlic – wouldn’t it be nice to know how to get the best benefits and stop wasting this superfood? Whether it’s eating, storing or cooking garlic – there are some things you need to know to get the best benefits. Here are 8 amazing garlic hacks!



Friday - January 22, 2016 - Today in History:

1771 - The Falkland Islands were ceded to Britain by Spain.
1879 - James Shields began a term as a Senator from Missouri. He previously served Illinois & Minnesota. He was the 1st Senator to serve 3 states.
1901 - Queen Victoria of England died after reigning for nearly 64 years. Edward VII, her son, succeeded her.
1905 - Insurgent workers were fired on in St Petersburg, Russia, resulting in "Bloody Sunday." 500 people were killed.
1917 - U.S. President Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for "peace without victory." America entered the war the following April.
1930 - In New York, excavation began for the Empire State Building.
1944 - Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy, during World War II.
1973 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that had been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case (Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion.
1997 - The U.S. Senate confirmed Madeleine Albright as the first female secretary of state.
1998 - Theodore Kaczynski pled guilty to federal charges for his role as the Unabomber. He agreed to life in prison without parole.
2000 - Elian Gonzalez's grandmothers met privately with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno as they appealed for help in removing the boy from his Florida relatives and reuniting him with his father in Cuba.
2002 - Lawyers suing Enron Corp. asked a court to prevent further shredding of documents due to the pending federal investigation.
2002 - Kmart Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy making it the largest retailer in history to seek legal protection from its creditors.
2008 -Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up a radioactive "dirty bomb," was sentenced by a U.S. federal judge in Miami to more than 17 years in prison on terrorism conspiracy charges.
2009 - President Barack Obama ordered the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay closed within a year and banned harsh interrogation of terror suspects. (The prison remains open.)

World News

Protesters Break Police Line and Enter Parliament of Bankster Ransacked Moldova
Kurt Nimmo - Hundreds of protesters in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau forced their way through a police line and entered the parliament on Wednesday. The protesters called lawmakers traitors for appointing Pavel Filip, a member of the main pro-European coalition, as prime minister. Moldova has not had a government since a no-confidence vote in October overturned the administration of Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet. The vote occurred following a scandal that siphoned more than $1 billion—amounting to 15% of Moldova’s GDP—from three banks in the small country of 3.5 million people. Moldova is the poorest country in Europe with a per capita income of $300 per month. Banca Sociala, Banca de Economii (BEM) and Unibank had taken control of 30 percent of Moldova’s banking sector assets. The banks issued loans that allowed them to move around $1 billion to Latvia and then into a bewildering array of shell companies.

Diphtheria, Tuberculosis, And Malaria: European Hospitals Prepare for Influx of Migrant Diseases
Breitbart - The Danish State Serum Institute (SSI) has warned hospitals to be on the lookout for signs of diphtheria, an illness that has not been seen in Denmark for 20 years, after two Libyan migrants tested position for the disease.... Danish newspaper Metroxpress also reported that other asylum seekers had also been found to be carrying tuberculosis and malaria, prompting the SSI to comment that Denmark may start introducing mandatory health checks for migrants. The Local reports that Health Minister Sophie Lunde has confirmed immigration officials will discuss a change in policy with the country’s Health and Medicines Authority. As well as screening, Denmark could also introduce mandatory vaccinations for migrants.

A New U.K. Law Tells Migrants to Earn $50,000 or Go Home
City Lab - U.S. citizens who work in the United Kingdom for an annual income of less than $50,000 may soon find themselves buying a ticket home. If so, they’ll be doing so thanks to a new law coming this April, one that will see any non-European Union citizens in the U.K. earning less than £35,000 ($49,960) a year deported after five years in the country. The law comes as part of a new package intended to slash migration levels in the U.K., and will also see the country become a lot harder to get into professionally in the first place. After April, U.K. companies won’t be able to bring anyone in unless they pay them more than £30,000 ($42,800) per year and pay a levy of £1,000 a year ($1,427) for every new non-E.U. hire.
* Related: IMF recommends paying refugees below the minimum wage

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Pentagon to increase number of US troops in Iraq; Carter discusses 'accelerating' ISIS campaign
RT - The US plans to increase the number of troops in Iraq as it seeks to “accelerate” its campaign to “crush” Islamic State in the region, the Pentagon chief said. Ash Carter met with his French partner seeking ways to bring Arab states “in the game,” too. Aside from his bilateral meeting with his counterpart and “good friend,” French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, the US Defense Secretary Carter sat down for the first with seven major members of the anti-Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) coalition. The “face-to-face meeting” included Britain, Germany, Italy, Australia and the Netherlands, all trying to figure out in what ways they could boost their fight against Islamic militants.

Obama authorizes US troops to target new ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan
RT - Known as ISIL-K, the Afghanistan group claiming to be a branch of Islamic State can now legally be targeted by US troops, thanks to White House authorization. Military officials welcomed the move as a “significant step.” The new authorization came Wednesday after Defense Secretary Ash Carter asked for it last month. A military official referred to President Barack Obama’s fulfillment of the request a "significant step," reported The Military Times.

‘Fast & Furious’ rifle capable of taking down helicopter found in 'El Chapo' cache
Fox News - A .50-caliber rifle found at Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman’s hideout in Mexico was funneled through the gun-smuggling investigation known as Fast and Furious, sources confirmed Tuesday to Fox News. A .50-caliber is a massive rifle that can stop a car or, as it was intended, take down a helicopter. After the raid on Jan. 8 in the city of Los Mochis that killed five of his men and wounded one Mexican marine, officials found a number of weapons inside the house where Guzman was staying, including the rifle, officials said. When agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives checked serial numbers of the eight weapons found in his possession, they found one of the two .50-caliber weapons traced back to the ATF program, sources said.

#Snowmaggedon2016: Empty Store Shelves As Panicked Shoppers Ransack Grocery Stores (Photos)
Adan Salazar - Concerned shoppers worried about spending days snowed indoors have hit grocery stores hard leaving empty shelves in their wake, hours before a massive snowstorm is due for the northeastern United States. A few inches of snow have already piled up in places like Washington DC causing havoc, but forecasters predict Winter Storm Jonas could be a “historic storm” that will bring 50 to 60mph winds and more than two feet of snow.

Election News

Ron Paul: Realistically, Trump Will Be The Nominee
Breitbart - Former presidential candidate Ron Paul, and father of presidential contender Sen. Rand Paul (R-TX), said Wednesday that that Trump will likely be the Republican presidential nominee.,,, When asked about his son’s chance, Paul said that he may do better than people expect. “I think he may well surprise everybody because he has good organization and caucus states are different. That’s where we always did well.” Paul also discussed his 2012 presidential bid and how difficult it was for his campaign to get coverage in the media. “Remember, the coverage was tough to get,” Paul said. “The system isn’t really that fair. Actually when we got to the convention, they changed the rules. And the rules they changed, now looks like it can help Trump. They’re in a tizzy now, the Republican Party, because they got to change the rules again because ‘We certainly don’t want to help Trump.'” Paul also dumped on polling, says it can be rigged.

Hume Explains How Sarah Palin's Trump Endorsement 'Blows Up' Cruz's Game Plan
Fox News - Hume explained that Cruz has a reputation as a "consistent conservative," while Trump's conservative credentials have often been questioned on the campaign trail. "And now comes Sarah Palin, who, I think, retains the affections and loyalties of a certain number of American conservatives to vouch for him," Hume said. "That hurts Cruz. It hurts him particularly in Iowa." "The whole effect of all of this is to blow up the Cruz game plan," Hume said. Hume explained that Cruz's strategy was to coast in Trump's wake, wait for him to drop out and be in an excellent position to inherit Trump's supporters. "His game plan for how to win this is wounded," Hume stated. "If he doesn't win Iowa - he's really not strong in New Hampshire - he's got a problem."

Conservatives pen anti-Trump manifesto
The Hill - Conservative authors are banding together to publish a manifesto Friday denouncing the ideas of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Leading conservatives including Erick Erickson, William Kristol and Yuval Levin have written essays for a special issue of National Review to be published Friday, The New York Times reports. “Donald Trump is a menace to American conservatism who would take the work of generations and trample it underfoot on behalf of a populism as heedless and crude as The Donald himself,” reads an editorial accompanying the essays in the issue, according to the newspaper. The issue will include essays from 22 prominent conservative voices, according to CNN.

Veteran News

Palin takes heat from veterans for using son's arrest, PTSD to criticize Obama
Fox News - Sarah Palin is taking heat from veterans for seeming to point the finger at President Obama over mental issues her son may be dealing with following his Iraq war service. Her son Track was arrested earlier this week on domestic violence charges, and Palin publicly addressed the case Wednesday during a post-endorsement appearance on the campaign trail for Donald Trump. She appeared to link his alleged behavior to post-traumatic stress disorder – and used it to criticize Obama’s veteran policies. But Paul Rieckhoff, the head of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), criticized the former Alaska governor’s comments Wednesday night. He tweeted: “We need more programs and less politics to battle PTSD.”

Economy & Business

Crashing oil prices hit former Texas boomtowns
USA Today - Crude’s free fall has rattled world markets, erased billions of dollars in stocks worldwide and led to thousands of layoffs in the oil and gas sector. But the steady march of declining prices – with no end in sight – and recent news that lifting of sanctions on Iran could deliver even more oil to the market has nudged the outlook in South Texas from depressed to near desperate. The number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the Eagle Ford Shale has shrunk from 259 at the boom's peak in 2012 to 68 today, according to oil field services firm Baker Hughes.

Thousands Of Angry Students "Flood" Government With Demands For Debt Relief
Zero Hedge - Last summer, Corinthian Colleges closed its doors amid government scrutiny of for-profit colleges… Sure enough, the government quickly found itself scrambling to respond after Secretary of Education Arne Duncan received a group request from 78,000 former Corinthian students requesting loan forgiveness in late May. Essentially, the law says students can have their debt expunged in the event they’ve been defrauded. In cases like Corinthian, where the government itself has effectively accused the school of fraud, it’s difficult to deny students’ claims… Fast forward nine months and sure enough, “thousands” of students are “flooding the government” with appeals to have their student loans discharged on the grounds they were the victims of fraud. "In the past six months, more than 7,500 borrowers owing $164 million have applied to have their student debt expunged under an obscure federal law that had been applied only in three instances before last year," WSJ wrote on Wednesday. "The law forgives debt for borrowers who prove their schools used illegal tactics to recruit them, such as by lying about their graduates’ earnings."

Energy & Environment

US Awards $1Bln to States to Prepare for Climate Change Disasters
Sputnik News - The White House release characterized the grants as a historic commitment to "building climate resilient communities." "Out of 40 finalists, the winners include states and local communities that will invest in innovative coastal protection and storm water management, relocation assistance for the most distressed communities, and economic development and job creation through adaptation," the release said on Thursday… The Obama administration and some scientists believe extreme weather events, including the looming snowstorm, are symptoms of climate change caused by a global increase in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Despite environmental concerns, North Dakota approves largest capacity crude oil pipeline
RT - North Dakota regulators have approved a proposal to build the largest capacity pipeline to date. The 1,130-mile long pipeline seeks to transport nearly 600,000 barrels of crude oil from the Bakken oil fields through 50 counties across four states. On Tuesday, the North Dakota Public Service Commission approved permits for a pipeline that would transport crude oil through the Dakotas, Illinois, and Iowa. The all-Republican panel voted 2-0 in favor of the pipeline, with one member abstaining due to a conflict of interest. owa is the only state yet to approve permits, however, The News and Observer reports that Energy Transfer Parts, the company behind the project, expects Iowa to approve by next month. According to The News & Observer, the project is estimated to cost roughly $3.8 billion, with the North Dakota leg alone costing $1.4 billion.

Health

Black Seed Extract 'Cures' HIV Patient Naturally
Green Med Info - There are words you don't use in medicine today, such as "cure." But a remarkable case study in an HIV positive patient treated with black seed extract resulted in a sustained remission, indicating a safe, accessible and affordable alternative to highly toxic antiretroviral HIV drugs may already exist. Nigella Sativa, also known as 'black seed,' has been studied for a wide rage of health benefits, but not until recently was it discovered to hold promise as a curative agent against potentially lethal viral infections, including Hepatitis C[i] and now HIV.

6 Reasons to Go Nuts Over Pistachios – How to Make Your Own Pistachio Milk
Natural News Blogs - If you have never considered pistachios to be a healthy snack, maybe you need to reconsider. Here are a few ways that pistachios can benefit your health and lifestyle.

Pet News

Ultimate Cat Lady: Woman Shares Her Home With 1,100 Rescue Felines
Barcroft TV - A CARING cat lady has given up her 4,200 square foot home to more than a THOUSAND felines. Sixty-seven-year-old Lynea Lattanzio now lives in a trailer on her six acre property and allows the cats to run freely through the five bedroom house. She started fostering cats in 1992 and acquired 96 by the end of the year - successfully rehoming all of them. In 1993 she became a veterinary technician to help keep the animals’ medical costs down and the number of cats continued to grow. Today she runs Cat House On The Kings which is California’s largest no-cage, no kill sanctuary for feral and abandoned cats.
 



Thursday - January 21, 2016 - Today in History:

1793 - During the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was executed on the guillotine. He had been condemned for treason.
1812 - The Y-bridge in Zanesville, OH, was approved for construction.
1846 - The first issue of the "Daily News," edited by Charles Dickens, was published.
1861 - The future president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, resigned from the U.S. Senate. Four other Southerners also resigned.
1865 - An oil well was drilled by torpedoes for the first time.
1915 - The first Kiwanis club was formed in Detroit, MI.
1924 - Soviet leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died. Joseph Stalin began a purge of his rivals for the leadership of the Soviet Union.
1954 - The Nautilus was launched in Groton, CT. It was the first atomic-powered submarine. U.S. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower broke the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow.
1954 - The gas turbine automobile was introduced in New York City.
1970 - The Boeing 747 made its first commercial flight from New York to London for Pan American.
1977 - U.S. President Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders.
1994 - A jury in Manassas, VA, acquitted Lorena Bobbitt by reason of temporary insanity of maliciously wounding (severing his penis) her husband John. She accused him of sexually assaulting her.
1997 - Newt Gingrich was fined as the U.S. House of Representatives voted for first time in history to discipline its leader for ethical misconduct.
1998 - A former White House intern said on tape that she had an affair with U.S. President Clinton.
1999 - The Coast Guard intercepted a ship headed for Houston, TX, that had over 9,500 pounds of cocaine aboard. Was largest drug busts in U.S. history.
2004 - The recording industry sued 532 computer users it said were illegally distributing songs over the Internet.
2010 - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards finally admitted fathering a child during an affair before his second White House bid.

World News

‘We’ll fight ISIS until its complete annihilation’ – Russian FM Lavrov after Kerry talks
RT - Islamic State and the Nusra Front won’t be part of the proposed Syrian ceasefire as the fight against the jihadists will go on until their complete annihilation, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, John Kerry, agreed during talks in Zurich. During the negotiations, the two diplomats “discussed practical steps to ensure the conditions for a ceasefire” in Syria in accordance with the UN resolution, the Russian foreign minister added. During the negotiations, the two diplomats “discussed practical steps to ensure the conditions for a ceasefire” in Syria in accordance with the UN resolution, the Russian foreign minister added. The truce “wouldn’t apply to terrorist organizations Islamic State and the Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra),” he stressed. "They can’t be subject to an agreement on a ceasefire as they remain our enemies. And we’ll continue to fight them until their complete annihilation,” Lavrov stressed.

Turkish Troops Entered Syria - Kurdish Media
Sputnik News - On Tuesday evening, the Turkish army reportedly entered Syrian territory near Jarablus. While ostensibly aimed at liberating the city from Daesh, the operation may have more to do with keeping Kurdish People’s Protection Units away from the Turkish border. According to information received by Sputnik Brazil, Turkey has been amassing military units along the Syrian border. The number of troops is estimated to be around 1,000.

World facing ‘wave of epic debt defaults,’ says economist who predicted Lehman crash
RT - The financial situation in the world has become so unstable that a new wave of defaults and bankruptcies will soon emerge, says William White, the chairman of the OECD's review committee and former chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). "The situation is worse than it was in 2007. Our macroeconomic ammunition to fight downturns is essentially all used up," the economist told the Telegraph newspaper before the World Economic Forum in Davos. White is one of a few bankers who warned about the rising crisis in the Western financial system before the financial crash eight years ago.

Putin slams Big Pharma and GMO foods
Hang The Bankers - Russian President Vladimir Putin believes the pharmaceutical industry and big food corporations are threatening the lives of Russia’s citizens. Vladimir Putin stated in a report prepared by the Security Council that Russians should be protected from GMO foods and pharmaceutical companies “at all costs.” The Russian leader judged that human evolution is at “grave risk” and that Western powers are “intentionally decelerating the process for personal gain,” YourNewsWire reported. According to the report, Putin believes that “we as a species have the choice to continue to develop our bodies and brains in a healthy upward trajectory, or we can follow the Western example of recent decades and intentionally poison our population with genetically altered food, pharmaceuticals, vaccinations, and fast food that should be classified as a dangerous, addictive drug. We must fight this. A physically and intellectually disabled population is not in our interests,” the report revealed.

Libya destroyed by the west, $7 billion in gold and silver missing
Hang The Bankers - A declassified email sent on April 2, 2011 to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reveals the invasion of Libya was launched to prevent Muammar Gaddafi from establishing a pan-African currency based on Libya’s gold Dinar. According to the document posted on the US State Department website advisors to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son of Muammar Gaddafi, told sources the Libyan government held 143 tons of gold and a similar amount in silver valued at more than $7 billion. The gold and silver was to be used to establish an alternative currency to the French franc for African Francophone countries.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Senate Democrats block bill to restrict Syrian refugees from entering U.S.
USA Today - Senate Democrats blocked a vote Wednesday on a bill that would have halted the admission of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. until they underwent the strictest vetting process ever required for people fleeing their war-torn homelands. Senators voted 55-43 to advance the bill, falling five votes short of the 60 needed. President Obama had vowed to veto the legislation if it passed. At one point, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., offered to allow the bill to advance — but only if Republican leaders agreed to permit a vote to denounce GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump's proposal to bar all Muslims from entering the U.S.

Obama’s gun control order runs into first legal challenge
RT - Conservative advocacy group Freedom Watch on Monday challenged Obama’s executive order on guns, which instructed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and other agencies to reinterpret legislation passed by Congress.... The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that President Obama doesn’t have the legal authority to redefine laws that Congress passed. The new interpretation allows the ATF to extend its enforcement activities to people who do not make their livelihood selling firearms and require them to perform background checks. This previous limitation on jurisdiction was known by its detractors as the “gun show loophole. This is only the first lawsuit challenging the January 4 executive order that many experts predicted to be controversial both politically and legally.

Video: Fed Employees Brag About Federal Land Grabs
Adan Salazar - Employee brags they “stole the money from Washington” to push World War II vets off land. “We went out to the mine and the owners were two little guys that had been in the Second World War,” a California park service employee recalls at a retirement celebration for Mojave National Preserve Superintendent Mary Martin in 2005. The employee brags about how the veterans’ mine was appraised by the federal government at $40 million, and acquired for a paltry $2.5 million. “We did get it appraised and we did acquire it for $2.5 million which I stole the money from Washington to acquire it,” the employee in the video admits, adding that it’s sometimes hard to bamboozle property owners due to the agency’s reputation. “’Lands’ isn’t always supported because we’re the ‘bad guys.’ We come in, and we take this land. And we always take it for less than it’s worth.”

Oregon standoff: Militia member loses foster kids, blames ‘pressure from the feds’
RT 19 Jan, 2016 - One of the most visible members of the armed militia that took over a wildlife refuge in Oregon says his four foster sons were taken away due to his involvement in the standoff, and he blames the federal government who “must have gotten to the governor.” Robert “LaVoy” Finicum and his wife Jeanette have fostered more than 50 boys over the last decade at their ranch near Chino Valley, Arizona. The couple is licensed and has a care contract with the Catholic Charities Community Services. Many of the children came from mental hospitals, drug rehabs and group homes for emotionally distressed youth, he told Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).... A social worker began removing the last four of the family’s foster kids on January 4, the fourth day of the Oregon standoff. The last left five days later, he said.

Bill of Rights Birthplace Partially Demolished by Developer
Kit Daniels - Serving as a microcosm of the Obama administration, a real estate developer partially demolished the reputed birthplace of the Bill of Rights. The developer, Triple Crown Corp., secured a permit to demolish a two-story stone building, formerly known as James Bell Tavern, in Silver Spring Township, Penn., but by the time a third of the building was destroyed, the city stopped the demolition because officials realized the Bill of Rights was conceived at the tavern during a 1788 meeting. “How appropriate that part of the building has been torn down while other parts remain,” commenter W.C. Handy wrote to the local Sentinel Newspaper. “We have a Congress that is so intent on destroying the Bill of Rights… the building as it stands now is rather indicative of the current state of our Bill of Rights.” “Why not leave the building as it is to serve as a reminder to us all?” Another commenter pointed out that, just like the Obama administration, the developer stopped the demolition for now, but may continue in the near future.

Election News

Does Your Presidential Candidate Support Big Pharma Agendas Like Mandatory Vaccines?
Health Impact News - How do the individual presidential candidates stack up in relations to pharmaceutical allegiance, their stance on mandatory vaccination laws and drug company donations they have accepted for their campaign? The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. The group tracked all donations that took place during the 2015-2016 election cycle. The table below is what they found...

Trump Nears 50 Percent in Florida Poll
The Hill - Donald Trump is leading in Florida with 48 percent of the GOP vote, according to a poll released Wednesday. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) follows in second with 16 percent, with Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) at 11 percent support and former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.) at 9.5 percent, the survey from Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative found.... In a general election matchup, Trump has 47 percent of the vote, leading Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton who takes 44 percent. The FAU poll was conducted from Jan. 15 to 18.

Veteran News

Bakers Green Acres Farm to Stay Open as Place for Veterans to Rebuild Their Lives after War
Health Impact News - In a turn of events, Bakers Green Acres farm owner Mark Baker announced last week that he and his family have decided not to sell their farm as previously announced but instead they will transition from production to education. They plan to focus on veteran rehabilitation, using the farm as a place for veterans to come and live, build skills and heal. Mark, a veteran who served for 20 years, says of the recent decision to keep their farm... Mark explains his heart for making the farm a place for veterans, I see the real need out there of veterans that would like to get their lives back together, transition out of military service, and I think the farm is a good place to make that happen. The stories that I’m hearing now are not good and I think we can make a dent in a lot of that tragedy.
* Related: Michigan DNR Forces Closure of Family-run Heritage Hog Farm

Economy & Business

US Oil Settles at $26.55 Barrel Reaching Lowest Price Since 2003
Sputnik News - The oil prices have reached their lowest point since May 2003, settling several cents higher than their intraday low of $26.19. In addition, the global benchmark Brent settled at $27.94 a barrel, falling 2.9 percent and collapsing the US stock market. Earlier in the day, the Fitch rating agency lowered the 2016 price forecast for oil to $45 a barrel, suggesting that the long-term oil price will stand at $65 a barrel.

Global Stocks Enter Bear Market: One-Fifth Of All Worldwide Stock Market Wealth Is Already Gone
Economic Collapse - It’s official – global stocks have entered a bear market. On Wednesday, we learned that the MSCI All-Country World Index has fallen a total of more than 20 percent from the peak of the market. So that means that roughly one-fifth of all the stock market wealth in the entire world has already been wiped out. How much more is it going to take before everyone will finally admit that we have a major financial crisis on our hands?

ATM and overdraft fees top $6 billion at the big 3 banks
WGN - America’s three biggest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo — earned more than $6 billion just from ATM and overdraft fees last year, according to an analysis by SNL Financial and CNNMoney. That equates to $25 for every adult in the United States.

Energy & Environment

Flint Sends Overdue Notices to Residents Who Aren’t Paying for Their Water, Which Is Poison
Slate - Flint, Michigan, is sending out notices to residents who haven’t been paying for their city water services. The notices say that services could be cut off if payment isn’t received. This is a normal civic administrative practice except for one thing: Flint’s water is so badly poisoned that the National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency have been called in to manage the situation, which has left residents drinking bottled water that’s being given out as an emergency measure.... As MLive notes in dry fashion: Some residents have expressed outrage over the fact they are being billed for water they cannot drink without filtration due to elevated lead levels found in water in some Flint homes.

Dow Fails to Appear in Court for the Third Time over Toxic Disaster
Natural Society - Leaders of 5 organizations representing survivors of the Dow Chemical (Union Carbide) disaster in Bhopal, India condemned the US government for protecting Dow from ongoing criminal proceedings in the Bhopal District court. Dow Chemical failed to appear in court for the third time recently to account for exposing half a million people to the deadly gas, methyl isocyanate. The December 2nd, 1984 incident involved a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, a subsidiary of Dow, which began leaking 27 tons of the deadly gas. None of the 6 safety systems designed to contain such a leak were operational, allowing the gas to spread throughout the city of Bhopal. More than 120,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the accident and the subsequent pollution at the plant site.

Revealed: You Won’t Believe How Many Times Squirrels Have Caused Blackouts
Off the Grid News - America’s electrical power grid is so fragile that even squirrels can knock it. Believe it or not, squirrels have caused 623 electrical outages in recent decades. That’s according to a new website, CyberSquirrel1.com, that traces the number of times squirrels, birds, raccoons, rats, beavers and even snakes cause power outages. Although the map covers the entire world, the overwhelming majority of outages on the map took place in the United States.

Science & Technology

Pentagon’s DARPA Wants Implanted Brain Chips to Directly Communicate with Computers
Sputnik News - The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's secretive research arm, announced that it is working to develop an implantable neural interface intended to transfer data between computers and the brain. ... DARPA said the program has the potential to create tiny devices – about the size of two stacked nickels – that could improve sight or hearing by feeding digital auditory or visual information from powerful sensors directly into the brain. For that to happen, DARPA said that first there will have to be "breakthroughs across numerous disciplines, including neuroscience, synthetic biology, low-power electronics, photonics, medical device packaging and manufacturing, systems engineering, and clinical testing."

New cars to record your iris, fingerprints, voice and blood pressure
MassPrivateI - Auto manufacturers are working with a company called Eyelock to put 'Myris' iris scanners in new cars. According to Biometricupdate.com, Eyelock's iris authentication process takes less than five seconds to complete.... Eyelock only allows authenticated drivers behind the wheel, which means insurance companies will be drooling at the mouths to profit from this invasive technology... Allstate Insurance wants cameras to spy on other drivers and identify any distractions: "Allstate's Traffic-Based Driving Analysis patent uses sensors and cameras to record potential sources of driver distractions inside your car like a cell phone, pets or unsecured objects in vehicle." "Allstate's Traffic-Based Driving Analysis patent uses sensors and cameras to record potential sources of driver distractions inside your car like a cell phone, pets or unsecured objects in vehicle." "It'll also spy on the number and types of passengers inside the car."

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Grass-Fed Label For Meat – Gone!
Natural Blaze - The US Department of Agriculture is nixing its grass-fed standard, but they’re doing it for the most absurd reason imaginable. Last week, the USDA announced it would be withdrawing its standard for the grass-fed meat label. The agency is giving producers who used the grass-fed label thirty days to (1) convert the current “grass-fed” standard, in which 99% of the animal’s feed must be from grass or forage, into their own private standard; (2) use some other “recognized grass-fed standard,” or else (3) develop a new, voluntary, grass-fed standard—whatever the company decides is fine with the USDA. All of this is being implemented through the USDA’s Process Verified Program (PVP).... So if producers can create their own standard and call their product “grass-fed,” and if there are no labeling regulations, it could contain 80%, or even 50%, and the rest grain-fed. There is just no way to know.

Fig Trees: The Easy Indoor Plant That Fruits Fast
Off the Grid News - Are you looking for something new for your gardening tastes? Why not try figs? Figs are well-known as being easy to grow indoors. They only take one or two years to mature and fruit, which is great for those gardeners who don’t feel like tending a plant for years before they get to taste their hard work. You will not only get fruit, but also have a lovely, decorative plant to enhance your home. It’s perfect for a little exotic or tropical touch during the long months of winter.

Health

Electromagnetic fields from mobile phones accelerate mercury release from dental fillings
(NaturalNews) A fascinating scientific study has found that using mobile phones can accelerate the release of toxic mercury from dental fillings..... The authors of the mobile phone study concluded that "MRI and microwave radiation emitted from mobile phones significantly release mercury from dental amalgam restoration." This means when you hold a mobile phone next to your jaw, you are driving electromagnetic energy into the mercury fillings in your mouth, heating them up just enough to accelerate their release of mercury. You then inhale the mercury which enters the bloodstream, poisoning your brain and kidneys.

11 Foods That Increase Magnesium Levels, Prevent High Blood Pressure, Blood Clots & Muscle Fatigue
Natural News Blogs - According to population studies of average magnesium intake, there’s a good chance that you’re not. Less than 30% of U.S. adults consume the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of magnesium. And nearly 20% get only half of the magnesium they need daily to remain healthy.... Magnesium is probably the most important nutrient for that energy powerhouse, the human heart; it helps the heart muscle itself function better. Magnesium also helps protect blood vessels, which is where most of what we call heart disease actually happens.

Sports stadium food moldy, expired, infested with vermin feces
(NaturalNews) Expired pizza dough. Moldy hot dogs. Rat droppings near food. These and other disgusting health violations are surprisingly more prevalent than you might think at some professional sports stadiums, alleges one district safety manager for a major food distributor. And little is being done, he says, to address the problem and keep sports fans safe. Outraged by the level of filth he observed at sports stadiums after being hired on with Aramark's Sports and Entertainment division, Jonathan Costa began to collect photo documentation of what he says are major and ongoing health code violations taking place at the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium and the Royals' Kauffman Stadium, both in Kansas City, Missouri.



Wednesday - January 20, 2016 - Today in History:

1801 - John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the United States.
1841 - The island of Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain. It returned to Chinese control in July 1997.
1887 - The U.S. Senate approved an agreement to lease Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a naval base.
1937 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to be inaugurated on January 20th. The 20th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution officially set the date for the swearing in of the President and Vice President.
1942 - Nazi officials held the Wannsee conference, during which they arrived at their "final solution" that called for exterminating Europe's Jews.
1944 - The British RAF dropped 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
1954 - The National Negro Network was formed on this date. Forty radio stations were charter members of the network.
1981 - Iran released 52 Americans that had been held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were flown to Algeria and then to a U.S. base in Wiesbaden, West Germany. The release occurred minutes after the U.S. presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.
1986 - The U.S. observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
1987 - Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon. He was there attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages. He was not freed until November 1991.
1997 - Bill Clinton was inaugurated for his second term as president of the United States.
1998 - American researchers announced that they had cloned calves that may produce medicinal milk.
2000 - Greece and Turkey signed five accords aimed to build confidence between the two nations.

World News

At least 21 dead in Pakistan university attack
AFP - At least 21 people died in an armed assault on a university in Pakistan Wednesday, where witnesses reported two large explosions as security forces moved in under dense fog to halt the bloodshed.

Turkey: The Islamic State’s Second Home
Global Research - A recent bombing in the Turkish city of Istanbul has left at least 10 dead and 15 injured. The government in Ankara was quick to blame the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS/ISIL/Daesh), claiming the bomber was “Syrian” and had crossed over from Syria into Turkey before carrying out the terrorist attack. The Guardian would report in its article, “Deadly Istanbul blast ’caused by Isis suicide bomber’,” that: “We have determined that the perpetrator of the attack is a foreigner who is a member of Daesh,” prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said, using an Arabic acronym for Isis. “Turkey won’t backtrack in its struggle against Daesh by even one step … This terror organisation, the assailants and all of their connections will be found and they will receive the punishments they deserve.” However, an overabundance of evidence during the past several years indicates that ISIS is in fact both an intentional creation and continuous perpetuation of foreign state-sponsors of terrorism, including Turkey itself.

ISIS Not the Only Bad Actors in Iraq, U.N. Report Shows
USN - Iraqi forces and militia members battling the Islamic State group are allegedly responsible for abuses against civilians that have contributed to the chaos in the war-torn nation over a nearly two-year period, according to a new U.N. report. Officials working on the report, which is based on interviews with Iraqi civilians, were unable to clearly tally all of the abuses according to which were perpetrated by pro-government forces and which by the Islamic State group because the security situation in the country is so precarious. But the report notes allegations of "arbitrary arrests" and civilian abductions by Iraqi security forces and associated troops, as well as "unlawful killings" of suspected Islamic State group sympathizers.

Kurds use bulldozers to ‘de-Arabize’ lands captured from ISIS – Amnesty
RT - Iraqi Kurdish forces are involved in a campaign aimed at preventing the Arab population displaced by violence from returning to their homes in Kurd-controlled northern areas, Amnesty International said in a damning report. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Peshmerga militias were one of the leading forces fighting against the onslaught of the terrorist group Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) in northern Iraq. While the Iraqi army fled the initial IS offensive, Kurds held their ground and became a principal ally for the US-led coalition fighting against the terrorists. As fighting on the ground continued and territories in Iraq changed hands, some 3 million people were displaced. Lately the Kurds fended off IS fighters and asserted control over areas, where mixed Arab-Kurdish population lived before the violence escalated.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous phone calls, fears of stalking and veiled threats: How power-hungry Hillary torpedoed the torrid affair between Bill Clinton and 21-year-old campaign worker that threatened to destroy her master plan to become president
Daily Mail - New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer, who recently published RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream, investigated the Clintons in his book State of a Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Inspector General: Clinton emails had intel from most secretive, classified programs
Fox News - EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton's emails on her unsecured, homebrew server contained intelligence from the U.S. government's most secretive and highly classified programs, according to an unclassified letter from a top inspector general to senior lawmakers. Fox News exclusively obtained the unclassified letter, sent Jan. 14 from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III. It laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified "several dozen" additional classified emails -- including specific intelligence known as "special access programs" (SAP).

Americans missing in Baghdad kidnapped by Iran-backed militia
Reuters - Three U.S. citizens who disappeared last week in Baghdad were kidnapped and are being held by an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia, two Iraqi intelligence and two U.S. government sources said on Tuesday. Unknown gunmen seized the three on Friday from a private residence in the southeastern Dora district of Baghdad, Iraqi officials say. They are the first Americans to be abducted in Iraq since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011. The U.S. sources said Washington had no reason to believe Tehran was involved in the kidnapping and did not believe the trio were being held in Iran, which borders Iraq. "They were abducted because they are Americans, not for personal or financial reasons," one of the Iraqi sources in Baghdad said.

Italian town shuts down Wi-Fi over health fears
The Local - The mayor of Borgofranco d'Ivrea, a town in Piedmont, has ordered Wi-Fi to be turned off in two schools over health fears. Mayor Livio Tola told the town's high school and elementary school to return to using cables to connect to the internet after reading that the electromagnetic waves given off by wireless routers were especially harmful to young children. “It's not that we're against technology, our choice is merely a precautionary measure,” La Stampa reported the mayor as saying.

50 Million Americans Prepare For "Potentially Historic" Winter Storm
Zero Hedge - All that mild winter weather is about to change, and all those warm weather-slammed retailers are about to get just the top line-boosting gift they have been waiting for because according to AccuWeather, the Northeast - from Charleston all the way to Boston - is about to be hit with a major winter storm, with the potential for heavy snow to impact more than 50 million people at the end of the week.

Kent State professor being investigated for ISIS ties
fox8News - A Kent State University associate professor is allegedly being investigated for reported ties to ISIS.
Julio Pino, an associate history professor, is under investigation by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. According to KentWired.com, he has been under investigation for a year and a half, specifically by a joint terrorism task force. Faculty members as well as students have been interviewed. The published report also states that Pino has allegedly tried to recruit students to join ISIS.

North Korea hasn’t increased ‘technical capability’ after nuclear test – US
RT - Washington believes North Korea has not increased its technical capability as a result of its January 6 nuclear test, the head of the US Missile Defense Agency said. However, he said that the US continues to “watch it closely.” "I would assess that their technical capability has not increased," Vice Admiral James Syring said after speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on his agency’s plans for the future. "That said, everything they're doing continues to be alarming and provoking," Syring continued, according to South Korean Yonhap news agency. "And every step that we've taken with the program I briefed and our actions every day are vitally important to stay ahead of that threat. We continue to watch it closely and continue to watch its actions with scrutiny."

Ebola news

Vaccines alliance signs $5 million advance deal for Merck's Ebola shot
Reuters - The Gavi global alliance for vaccines and immunization group signed a $5 million advance purchase commitment on Wednesday to buy a vaccine being developed by Merck to protect against future outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus. Gavi said the agreement would help the U.S. drugmaker take the experimental Ebola vaccine through late-stage clinical trials to licensing and then through pre-qualification by the World Health Organization (WHO). If approved, Merck's so-called VSV-ZEBOV live attenuated Ebola Zaire vaccine would become one of the world's first licensed Ebola shots and Gavi would be able to start buying it to create a stockpile for future outbreaks, it said in a statement issued at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Election News

Sarah Palin endorses Trump for president: 5 dramatic quotes from both politicians
RT - Donald Trump has been endorsed for the GOP presidential nomination by Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and John McCain’s running mate in 2008, giving him a big boost right before primary season.
* VIDEO: Sarah Palin Endorses Donald Trump

Veteran News/Military News

Veteran Blood Bank May Play Key Role in Cancer 'Moon Shot'
Military.com - Veterans are likely to play a significant part in what has been called "the Moon shot" in cancer research -- the plan announced by President Barack Obama last week for a cancer fight effort to equal the country's determination to put a man on the moon during the 1960s. Fittingly, the veterans' role in the cancer Moon shot, as well as in scores of other research projects into illnesses that impact vets and non-vets alike, will be doing something they were prepared to do back in their active duty days: shed some blood. "When they realize that this could help other veterans most of them volunteer right away" when asked, VA Secretary Bob McDonald said during a visit to the VA Medical Center in Boston on Friday, when he toured the lab and growing biorepository.
The VA project, called the Million Veterans Program, predates the cancer Moon shot by six years. Its goal is to collect blood samples -- and with it the DNA -- of at least a million veterans, and use it to research illnesses, including at the genetic level.

Search Called Off for Marines Missing in Helicopter Crash
Military.com - The Coast Guard and Marine Corps are calling off the search for 12 missing Marines after five days of 24-hour effort, officials announced Tuesday evening in a Hawaii press conference. Capt. Jim Jenkins, chief of staff and acting commander for the Coast Guard's 14th District, said the service would formally suspend its search at sunset Hawaii time, or about 11 p.m. Eastern time. It's still not clear what may have caused the tragic crash.
Officials have said the two aircraft were on a routine night training flight and were due to return to their unit at Kaneohe Bay before they went down sometime before 11 p.m. Thursday. Coast Guard officials were first notified of a possible emergency when civilians reported seeing a "flare" and a "fireball" over the water off the shore of Oahu.

Economy & Business

The Federal Reserve’s Insidious Role in the Stock Market Slide
Global Research - The Dow Jones has more than doubled since it touched bottom on March 9, 2009 while the S&P soared to a new-high (2,130 points) on May 21, 2015, tripling its value at the fastest pace on record. These extraordinary gains are the direct result of the Fed’s not-so-invisible hand in the financial markets. Betting on the Fed’s ability to move markets higher has clearly been a winning strategy.
So why are stocks crashing now? Read More...

Two-thirds of Norwegian oil wealth could disappear
If crude prices remain at current low levels, Norway could lose two-thirds of its estimated oil wealth, according to an analysis done by the country's largest business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv. Norway's Finance Ministry estimates the value of oil not yet extracted at 4.2 trillion kroner ($475 billion), 89 percent of which belongs to the state. This means that the value of Norway’s oil wealth will fall from 4.2 trillion kroner to 2.5 trillion. The country could presumably lose 1.7 trillion kroner ($192.5 billion) of its oil riches.

Ruble sets new low against US dollar
RT - The Russian ruble hit a historic low against the US dollar during Wednesday's trading on the Moscow exchange. The currency fell below 80.10 rubles to the dollar, the previous low of 16 December 2014, dubbed Black Tuesday.

Crude Oil Slides Below $28, Lowest Since 2003, Dragging US Equity Futures Lower
Zero hedge - Traders had some hope that they could take at least a brief nap ahead of the China open before all risk hell broke loose in the latest evening session, however either some liquidating algo or the Iranian oil trading desk had different plans, and moments ago WTI dipped below $28 per barrel, sliding as low as $27.92, doing so only for the first time since 2003, a new 12 year low.

Health

5 Imported Vegetables From China You Should Avoid
Epoch Times - Chinese farmers often use dangerous amounts of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and preservatives to give vegetables a deceivingly healthy appearance. And even if a product has the “organic” label on the package, in reality, no one verifies this claim. Read the 5 vegetables produced in China you may consider staying away from, given the sometimes alarming stories about how they are produced in China.
 



Tuesday - January 19, 2016 - Today in History:

1764 - John Wilkes was expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel.
1793 - King Louis XVI was tried by the French Convention, found guilty of treason and sentenced to the guillotine.
1861 - Georgia seceded from the Union.
1883 - Thomas Edison's first village electric lighting system using overhead wires began operation in Roselle, NJ.
1937 - Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record. He flew from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.
1942 - The Japanese invaded Burma (later Myanmar).
1944 - The U.S. federal government relinquished control of the nation's railroads after the settlement of a wage dispute.
1949 - The salary of the President of the U.S. was increased from $75,000 to $100,000 with an additional $50,000 expense allowance for each year in office.
1955 - U.S. President Eisenhower allowed a filmed news conference to be used on television (and in movie newsreels) for the first time.
1971 - At the Charles Manson murder trial, the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" was played. At the scene of one of his gruesome murders, the words "helter skelter" were written on a mirror.
1977 - U.S. President Ford pardoned Iva Toguri D'Aquino (the "Tokyo Rose").
1981 - The U.S. and Iran signed an agreement paving the way for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14 months and for arrangements to unfreeze Iranian assets and to resolve all claims against Iran.
1983 - China announced that it was banning 1983 purchases of cotton, soybeans and chemical fibers from the United States.
1996 - U.S. first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury. The investigation was concerning the discovery of billing records related to the Whitewater real estate investment venture.
2013 - In Scottsdale, AZ, the original Batmobile for the TV series "Batman" sold at auction for $4.6 million. It was the first of six Batmobiles produced for the show.

World News

ISIS may ‘turn guns’ against Israel, Jordan amid failures in Syria – IDF chief
RT - slamic State’s inability to sustain its territorial gains in Syria in light of the Russian Air Force’s offensive “raises the probability” that jihadists will shift their tactics to attack Israel and Jordan, the chief of the Israeli armed forces has warned. After the intervention of the Russian Air Force in Syria to help government forces recapture vast stretches of land from the terrorists, Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) advances in the country have ceased, forcing the jihadists to look for new ways to terrorize the southern Syrian border with Israel and Jordan, Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot said during a conference at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for International Security Studies (INSS).... While IS presence along the Syria’s southern border is limited, the general believes that the group might align itself with other extremist cells operating in the region.

Morocco arrests Belgian national 'linked directly' to Paris attackers
RT - Morocco has announced the arrest of a Belgian national of Moroccan origin linked directly to the November 13 Paris attacks. The Interior Ministry said the man had a "direct relationship" with the attackers, who killed 130 people and injured 352 others.

Oil falls below $28 per barrel as Iran sanctions lifted
RT - Brent crude slipped to as low as $27.67 per barrel on Monday - its lowest since 2003 - before paring back to $28.16 at 8am GMT. US WTI crude was down 64 cents at $28.78 per barrel, not far from a 2003-low of $28.36 earlier in the session. “Iran’s additional crude shipments have the potential to further depress prices, perhaps to as low as $25 a barrel,” Gordon Kwan, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Nomura, told Bloomberg on Sunday… "Major producers are currently delivering 2-2.5 million barrels per day more than demand, so the question is how long they can continue to overproduce for at that level," said Stuart Gulliver, CEO of HSBC on Monday, speaking at the Asia Financial Forum in Hong Kong. The Saudi stock market Tadawul was down 5.44 percent on Monday. The largest Arab exchange is down 20.79 percent this year,

Sports events, concerts & flight tickets: UN panel calls for global tax to raise humanitarian funds
RT - A UN-appointed panel said that traditional ways of raising money for humanitarian relief are failing. Experts suggest the problems could be addressed by looking at new sources of finance, such as taxing entertainment purchases or seeking Arab donors… Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commission vice president, who was also the co-chair of the panel said that among the ideas to increase funds were introducing micro payments on large volume transactions, such as airline tickets. Other options included taxing entertainment purchases such as cinema tickets or taxi rides, ordered for example, via the Uber smartphone app… In 2014, humanitarian aid overtook peacekeeping for the first time as the UN’s biggest expense, with an extra $2 billion required to help those in need… it has questioned whether it would be better to provide those caught out in humanitarian crises with cash, as this would allow them to make their own choices about their priorities.

Swine flu grips Russia: Hundreds hospitalized, first deaths recorded
RT - Although doctors say that the outbreak of AH1N1 flu in Russia is “seasonal”, many are finding little solitude in this: In St. Petersburg alone, more than 100 people have been taken to hospital and several deaths have been reported.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Pentagon May Demote David Petraeus
Daily Beast - The Defense Secretary is looking to put the clamp down on misbehaving generals. Pentagon insiders say Petraeus could be the next general to face the consequences. The Pentagon is considering retroactively demoting retired Gen. David Petraeus after he admitted to giving classified information to his biographer and mistress while he was still in uniform, three people with knowledge of the matter told The Daily Beast. The decision now rests with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who is said to be willing to consider overruling an earlier recommendation by the Army that Petraeus not have his rank reduced. Such a demotion could cost the storied general hundreds of thousands of dollars—and deal an additional blow to his once-pristine reputation.

The Citadel Is Breached: Congress Taps the Fed for Infrastructure Funding
Web of Debt blog - On December 4, the last day the Department of Transportation was authorized to cut checks for highway and transit projects, President Obama signed a 1,300-page $305-billion transportation infrastructure bill that renewed existing highway and transit programs. But the bill was nevertheless considered a landmark achievement... Less publicized was where Congress would get the money: largely from the Federal Reserve and Wall Street megabanks. [From Bloomberg] "The highway measure would be financed in part by a one-time use of Federal Reserve surplus funds and by a reduction in the 6 percent dividend that national banks receive from the Fed. . . . Banks with $10 billion or less in assets would be exempt from the cut. The Fed’s surplus capital comes from the 12 reserve banks. The highway bill would allow for a one-time draw of $19 billion from the surplus, which totaled $29.3 billion as of Nov. 25. . . ."

This man is responsible for Flint's water crisis, and is now managing Detroit Public Schools
Blavity - … February of 2014, DWSD director Sue McCormick offered Flint an opportunity to continue using their water supply until their pipeline was complete; enter newly appointed Emergency Manager Darnell Earley and this letter he sent to McCormick that inflamed the crisis. Earley declined McCormick’s offer, choosing, what should have been the city’s temporary solution, to source the Flint River for their city’s tap water; a decision that led to residents being exposed to toxic waste. Now, Earley who is no longer mismanaging Flint, has taken his cut-corners approach to Detroit’s public schools where a series of protests have called attention to the underfunding of the school system. Plagued by molding, rat infestations, deteriorating infrastructure, and inadequate staffing, teachers have been calling out sick so much that last week, schools were closed for three days straight. But how has Earley been able to cause such damage in Michigan?
* Related: *  Obama declares emergency in Michigan over lead-contaminated water
                  * As Detroit Schools Close For 'Sick Out' Protest, Teacher's Facebook Post Goes Viral

Election News

RNC Officially Severs Ties With NBC News For Upcoming GOP Debate
Breitbart - The Republican National Committee (RNC) officially voted on Monday afternoon to sever its business relationship with NBC News for the previously-scheduled Feb. 26, 2016, GOP presidential primary debate, Breitbart News has learned.... After the October debate hosted by NBC partner CNBC—in which co-moderator John Harwood was roundly criticized for a poor performance—the RNC suspended its relationship with NBC News over that upcoming Houston debate.... The move by the RNC to formally extricate NBC News from the process is sure to seriously harm the media organization’s reputation, and its financial bottom line. Typically, networks make millions of dollars in ad revenue with debate moderation due to the extraordinarily high viewership.

Five Questions Hillary Hasn’t Been Asked at Debates
Breitbart - Lots of questions got tossed around during the Democratic Presidential Debate last night.... But Hillary Clinton avoided any serious questions about the ethical problems she faces. Here are five simple, straightforward questions that Hillary Clinton needs to be asked...

Economy & Business

Negative Oil Prices Arrive: Koch Brothers' Refinery "Pays" -$0.50 For North Dakota Crude
Zero Hedge - … the crude glut is now so acute that the Koch brothers are actually charging $0.50/bbl to take low grade oil at their Flint Hills Resources refining arm. North Dakota Sour is a high-sulfur grade of crude and “is a small portion of the state’s production, with less than 15,000 barrels a day coming out of the ground,” Bloomberg notes, citing John Auers, executive vice president at Turner Mason & Co. in Dallas… High-sulfur grades are more expensive to refine and thus fetch lower prices at market… The global deflationary supply glut has now reached the point that the market is effectively forcing producers to pay to give their oil away or else see it sit in bloated storage facilities until Riyadh decides enough is enough and until the world comes to terms with the return of Iranian supply.

Gas wars: A gallon is just 46 cents here
CNBC News - While gas prices are low nationwide, some stations are slashing the fuel's price to rock-bottom levels to the tune of less than 50 cents a gallon. The drastic price cuts are part of a gas price war at three Houghton Lake, Mich., stations. During the last three days, the prices dropped below a buck per gallon, falling as low as 46 cents at Sunrise Marathon. Meanwhile, the Beacon & Bridge gas station was as low as 47 cents, said employees of each station in interviews with CNBC. A nearby Citgo says its prices slumped to 95 cents a gallon. There have been long lines at the stations for most of the weekend, according to the three stations, with police officers directing traffic in the area due to the congestion.

Energy & Environment

California officials delay plans to mitigate massive gas leak
Reuters - Southern California air quality officials on Saturday delayed plans to capture and burn off natural gas leaking from an underground well near an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood, citing the possible risk of a fire… The South Coast Air Quality Management District was expected at Saturday's hearing to sign off on an order instructing Southern California Gas to come up with a plan to capture and treat the escaped gas in the interim… The South Coast Air Quality Management District was expected at Saturday's hearing to sign off on an order instructing Southern California Gas to come up with a plan to capture and treat the escaped gas in the interim.

Obama declares emergency in Michigan over lead-contaminated water
CBC News - U.S. President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration Saturday that clears the way for federal aid for Flint, Michigan, which is undergoing a drinking water crisis due to lead-contaminated water… FEMA has been authorized to provide water, filters, cartridges and other items for 90 days. Flint can get up to $5 million US in direct funding, though the state must match 25 per cent and more money can come through an act of Congress… The tap water in Flint, population 99,000, became contaminated after the city switched from the Detroit water system to the Flint River while a pipeline to Lake Huron is under construction. The decision to use the river was made while a Snyder-appointed emergency manager was running the city government due to its financial problems. The corrosive water from the Flint River lacked adequate treatment and caused lead to leach from old pipes in homes and schools.

Science & Technology

Apple asked widow for court order when she sought late husband's password
Ars Technica - Apple initially told the woman that she would have to provide a will and death certificate, but once she provided those documents the company reportedly asked for something else—a court order. There are good privacy and security reasons for Apple to impose strict controls on account access, but in this case, the company seems to have acknowledged it went too far by demanding a court order. After CBC got involved, Apple relented and will apparently allow the widow, 72-year-old Peggy Bush of Victoria, BC, to get access to her late husband's Apple ID… Bush realized that she didn't have her late husband's Apple ID password after a card game on the iPad they shared stopped working. "The family tried to reload it and realized it couldn't be done without the password," CBC wrote. Creating a new Apple ID would have required Bush to re-purchase any digital goods she and her husband had bought with his account.

Gene change could stop GM bacteria surviving outside the lab
New Scientist - Now GM bacteria have been designed that can survive for hundreds of generations as long as they are fed nutrients that don’t occur naturally. This, the researchers hope, will allow us to make use of GMOs while ensuring they can never survive on their own in the wild. But making sure engineered genes stay where you put them has been a challenge. “We need to have biosafety features that allow you to ensure that when you’ve made something it’s not going to escape from the lab, or if it does it won’t be able to prosper,” says Andrew Ellington at the University of Texas at Austin… Ellington’s solution should be more effective. His team has engineered E. coli bacteria to make proteins using an unnatural amino acid… As a result, the bacteria will die if they don’t have the unnatural amino acid. They were grown in the lab for hundreds of generations without evolving out of their reliance on it.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

10 Beautiful Under-Used Edible Trees and Shrubs to Transform Yards into a Raw Food Paradise
The Free Thought Project - Edible landscaping simply means planting things around the home that provide both food and ornamental value, and can even function as windbreaks or shade. Popular fruit trees like citrus and figs and peaches are all the rage, but there are several lesser-known trees and shrubs that provide fruit and blend well in the landscape. Here are 10 fruiting trees and shrubs that should be used more in edible landscape designs. Many of them are tougher than the popular fruit trees like peaches and do not require as much maintenance.

10 Useful Medicinal Plants To Cultivate From Seeds
Natural Blaze - Medicinal herbs have been used for thousands of years as a natural way to fight off disease and infection. Here are 10 medicinal herbs that are easily cultivated from seeds.

Health

Reishi mushroom combats cancer and deadly microorganisms
(NaturalHealth365) Research shows that Reishi’s cellular and molecular activities also provide protection against a long list of deadly microorganisms – including those causing human immunodeficiency (HIV) and hepatitis B (HBV), among others. The secret to Reishi’s powerful punch is its broad array of bioactive molecules, including alkaloids, sterols, polysaccharides and triterpenoids. Each has a different mode of action when interacting with the varied components of the immune system and spurring them to action.... Research has shown Reishi mushroom extracts could be instrumental in preventing cancer through their interaction with cells that are able to attack abnormal cancerous tissue before it can grow into a full-blown tumor. The spleen and the thymus, both of which are sources of aggressive cancer-killing cells, are likely the primary location of interaction. In laboratory tests, the advantages of Reishi in fighting cancer occurred even in subjects where cancerous tumors had already been discovered.

How to Craft a Natural Home Medicine Kit
Green Med Info - Not only is it common sense to have a natural medicine kit at home, but it is inexpensive to put together and quite empowering to realize that you have the ability to heal yourself and your family of just about any acute illness or injury that you may encounter. Following is a brief summary of some of the items you may want to include in your natural home medicine kit. They can be purchased ready made, but most of them you can make yourself very easily and inexpensively. A combination of any or all of the herbal items listed below would make a great addition to any home.

Raw Olive Oil Boosts Brain Function
Karen Foster - Phenolic compounds in olive oil are of the highest grade when they come from sources which use minimal refining and heating. Many of these compounds beneficially affect gene expression linked to brain function says new research. Scientists from the Department of Neuroscience, Area Drug and Child Health [...] reports that extra virgin olive oil rich in polyphenols was associated with "strong" improvements in coordination, memory, and anxiety-related behavior in older lab mice. Sources with the highest polyphenols such as Ice-Pressed Olive Oil, are manufactured by simply pressing (milling) the fruit without refining, heating, extracting, use of chemicals or other process; just cold (no heat applied) pressing of the olives. Every other oil involves a refining process using high heat and chemicals to extract the oil.

Pet News

Deadly Dog Flu Has Now Reached 18 States
Dogington Post - The sometimes deadly dog flu, canine influenza A H3N2, a type of bird flu that adapted with the ability to infect dogs first appeared in parts of Asia in 2007. In April of 2015, the first case of Canine H3N2 was found in the United States. Although it’s unknown how the virus made its way here, the outbreak first began in Illinois where an estimated 2,000 dogs have been infected.... The deadly flu has now been confirmed in 18 different states: Illinois, Alabama, California, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Carolina, and now Montana and Washington. The flu is spread from dog to dog (and now, to cats) much in the same way the human flu is spread – through direct contact, through coughing and sneezing, through contact with contaminated objects and surfaces, etc. The flu is not contagious to humans. The most common symptoms of H3N2 virus in dogs are runny nose, cough, and fever, but not all dogs will show symptoms.
* Related: Your Dog Can - and Should - Do Without a Flu Vaccine

Five Immune-Boosting Uses of Colloidal Silver
Dogs Naturally - Colloidal silver is a liquid antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal that has been touted as treating and preventing an assortment of conditions in both humans and animals. Colloidal silver, as opposed to just plain silver, means that submicroscopic silver particles are suspended in a liquid base. Because the silver particles are so tiny, they are thought to penetrate cells and kill pathogens.
 



Monday - January 18, 2016 - Today in History:

1803 - Thomas Jefferson, in secret communication with Congress, sought authorization for the first official exploration by the U.S. government.
1778 - English navigator Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which he called the "Sandwich Islands."
1788 - The 1st English settlers arrived in Australia's Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. The group moved north 8 days later and settled at Port Jackson.
1911 - For the first time an aircraft landed on a ship. Pilot Eugene B. Ely flew onto the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco harbor.
1943 - During World War II, the Soviets announced that they had broken the Nazi siege of Leningrad, which had began in September of 1941.
1943 - U.S. commercial bakers stopped selling sliced bread. Only whole loaves were sold during the ban until the end of World War II.
1964 - The plans for the original World Trade Center in New York were unveiled to the public.
1967 - Albert DeSalvo, who claimed to be the "Boston Strangler," was convicted in Cambridge, MA, of armed robbery, assault and sex offenses. He was sentenced to life in prison. Desalvo was killed in 1973 by a fellow inmate.
1987 - For the first time in history the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) was seen by over 100 million viewers. The audience was measured during the week of January 12-18.
1990 - In an FBI sting, Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug possession. He was later convicted of a misdemeanor.
1991 - Eastern Airlines shut down after 62 years in business due to financial problems.
1993 - The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 U.S. states for the first time.
1995 - The "yahoo.com" domain was created.
1995 - A network of caves were discovered near the town of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in southern France. The caves contained paintings and engravings that were 17,000 to 20,000 years old.
1997 - Hutu militiamen killed three Spanish aid workers and three soldiers and seriously wounded an American in a night attack in NW Rwanda.
2002 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of a saliva-based ovulation test.
2012 - Wikipedia began a 24-hour "blackout" in protest against proposed anti-piracy legislation (S. 968 and H.R. 3261) known as the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House. Many websites, including Reddit, Google, Facebook, Amazon and others, contended would make it challenging if not impossible for them to operate.

World News

US and Iraq search for Americans kidnapped in Baghdad
(AFP) - US and Iraqi authorities were searching Monday for three missing Americans said to have been kidnapped in Baghdad, the latest group of foreign nationals abducted in recent months. Kidnappers have recently seized Qataris and Turks, but it has been years since Americans were abducted, and it is Iraqis who have suffered the most from kidnappers seeking ransoms or to settle scores.... "We are aware of reports that American citizens are missing in Iraq," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "We are working with the full cooperation of the Iraqi authorities to locate and recover the individuals," Kirby added, without providing details about their number or the circumstances of their disappearance. An Iraqi police colonel said on condition of anonymity that three Americans and an Iraqi translator were kidnapped in southern Baghdad.

US sanctions illegal as American arms used against Palestinians, Yemenis - Iranian FM
RT - Iran has accused the US of hypocrisy and said that new sanctions imposed by the US are illegal, as arms sold by Washington are being used against people in Palestine and Yemen, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has stated. A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, says that Tehran will continue to enhance its missile capabilities, despite Washington introducing fresh sanctions, following a missile test by Iran in October, Press TV reports. "The US sanctions against Iran's ballistic missile program ... have no legal or moral legitimacy," Reuters cited Ansari as saying in a televised news conference. "America sells tens of billions of dollars of weaponry each year to countries in the region,” Ansari said. “These weapons are used in war crimes against Palestinian, Lebanese and most recently Yemeni citizens.”

Iran releases 5 American hostages in exchange for 7 Iranian criminals
The American Thinker - Five Americans imprisoned on trumped up charges in Iran have been released in exchange for 7 Iranian criminals convicted of violating the sanctions regime. The exchange was announced on the same day that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) certified that Iran had complied with several key steps to dismantle parts of their nuclear program, triggering a lifting of sanctions that will bring the Islamic regime more than $100 billion. Negotiations for the nuclear deal and for the release of the hostages were not related, according to sources. They took place on separate tracks. If so, this partially explains the administration's reluctance to sanction Iran for its missile tests.

U.S. Imposes New Ballistic Sanctions On Iran, Day After Many Penalties Lifted
NPR - A day after many sanctions on Iran were lifted under the international nuclear pact, the U.S. Treasury department has imposed new sanctions — over Iran's ballistic, not nuclear, weapons. The sanctions target 11 companies and individuals who have been involved in procuring goods for Iran's weapons program, the Treasury Department says.... The announcement of new sanctions comes a day after the U.S. and Iran conducted a carefully negotiated prisoner exchange. The released Americans who wished to leave Iran have now departed the country, according to a senior administration official. It also comes one day after "Implementation Day," when the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog verified that Iran has worked to shrink its nuclear program and opened it up for inspection. That meant that, under the terms of the international nuclear pact, many sanctions against Iran were lifted.

US to pay Iran $1.7 bn in debt and interest: Kerry
(AFP) - The United States is to repay Iran a $400 million debt and $1.3 billion in interest dating to the Islamic revolution, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday. The repayment, which settles a suit brought under an international legal tribunal, is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in frozen foreign accounts that Iran can now access after the end of nuclear sanctions. But the timing of the announcement, one day after the implementation of the Iran nuclear accord, will be seen as pointing to a broader clearing of the decks between the old foes. US President Barack Obama defended the settlement in a televised statement from the White House, saying it was for "much less than the amount Iran sought."

Iran Unleashes Oil Flood, Will Quintuple Crude Revenue In 2016
Zero Hedge - With sanctions lifted, Iran will now have access to some $100 billion in frozen funds and will be able to increase its oil revenue exponentially even as prices remain suppressed. It’s easy to see why the Saudis and other Gulf Sunni monarchies are nervous. Iran plans to immediately boost output by 500,000 b/d with an additional 500,000 b/d coming online by year end. “.... Even if oil hovers between $30 and $35 a barrel, Iran will be pulling in some $3 billion a month by summer and nearly $4 billion a month by December.
* Related: Oil Plunges To $28 Cycle Lows As Iran Supply Looms, Stocks Slide

The Financial Apocalypse Accelerates As Middle East Stocks Crash To Begin The Week
Economic Collapse - It looks like it is going to be another chaotic week for global financial markets. On Sunday, news that Iran plans to dramatically ramp up oil production sent stocks plunging all across the Middle East. Stocks in Kuwait were down 3.1 percent, stocks in Saudi Arabia plummeted 5.4 percent, and stocks in Qatar experienced a mammoth 7 percent decline. And of course all of this comes in the context of a much larger long-term decline for Middle Eastern stocks. At this point, Saudi Arabian stocks are down more than 50 percent from their 2014 highs. Needless to say, a lot of very wealthy people in Saudi Arabia are getting very nervous.

Austria deploys army to halt migrants intending to transit through Germany
RT - Austria is set to use its army to stop refugees intending to transit through Germany and not apply for asylum there, as hundreds are being rejected at the German border. More than 1,000 migrants with forged IDs are being turned around at the Austrian border each week. The new regulations issued by the Austrian Defense Ministry came into effect Saturday. Now migrants coming to Austria to travel through Germany and beyond will be denied access and sent back home, Austrian authorities said on Friday. Slovenia is expected to resort to similar measures in order to avoid becoming a refugee bottleneck.

Forget $20 - Oil Prices At $8 Per Barrel In Canada
OilPrice.com - The price for a barrel of bitumen, the tar-like oil sands that comes from Alberta, fell to just over $8 per barrel this week. That is not a typo. Bitumen traded at $8.35 per barrel on Tuesday.... Single-digit oil prices for oil sands is not just a problem, it is an existential crisis. That is because heavy oil is some of the costliest stuff around. Bitumen production is way more expensive than oil from shale.

Canada: Get Rid Of Your Wood Stove Or Face Thousands Of Dollars In Fines, Residents Told
Off the Grid News - Montreal residents that burn wood for heat must register their stoves and by October 2018, must replace them with newer models or face thousands of dollars in fines. The registration is part of an effort to ban most wood-burnings heaters in Canada’s second largest city. The burning of wood, coal, pellets and other solid fuels is already banned during smog alerts in Montreal. Starting October 18, 2018, the city will extend the ban to all devices that emit more than 2.5 grams of fine particles an hour. Any fireplace, furnace or stove that does not meet that standard will be banned, and there is no grandfather clause.

Ebola news

Sierra Leone puts more than 100 people in quarantine after new Ebola death
The Guardian - A woman who died of Ebola this week in Sierra Leone may have exposed at least 27 others to the disease, an aid agency report claims, raising the risk of more cases just as the epidemic appeared to be ending. Sierra Leone’s government on Saturday urged the public not to panic as it announced that more than 100 people had been quarantined, just as the country seemed to have overcome the epidemic.... The WHO warned of potential flare-ups as survivors can carry the virus for months. The latest case is particularly worrying because authorities failed to follow basic health protocols, according to the report compiled by a humanitarian agency and released on Friday.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

U.S. Radically Changes Its Story of the Boats in Iranian Waters: to an Even More Suspicious Version
The Intercept - Provided their government script, U.S. media outlets repeatedly cited these phrases — “mechanical failure” and “inadvertently drifted” and “boat in distress” — like some sort of hypnotic mantra… The U.S. government itself now says this story was false. There was no engine failure, and the boats were never “in distress.”… Instead, said Defense Secretary Ashton Carter at a press conference this morning, the sailors “made a navigational error that mistakenly took them into Iranian territorial waters.” He added that they “obviously had misnavigated” when, in the words of the New York Times, “they came within a few miles of Farsi Island, where Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps has a naval base.” … It is, of course, theoretically possible that this newest rendition of events is what happened. But there are multiple reasons to suspect otherwise.

‘I’m Here to Investigate Unsocialized Homeschoolers’
Off the Grid News - Simply homeschooling or having a large number of children can now apparently get a family investigated by a social worker in some states. In fact, one homeschool mom says that a social worker visited her home because her children allegedly were “unsocialized.” The unidentified mom, called “Amy,” gave the account to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). “When the social worker stopped by this afternoon I asked her what the accusations are, and she said: ‘Well, it looks like we’ve got a report here of unsocialized homeschoolers,’” the woman told Mike Donnelly, an HSLDA staff attorney.... “Unsocialized” apparently means that someone thinks the kids are not spending enough time with other children or in the community.

The FBI’s Two-Pronged Investigation of Hillary Clinton
Paul Craig Roberts - As Judge Napolitano explains, this crime does not require intent and can result from negligence or simply from a lack of awareness that a secret is being revealed, as in the case that Judge Napolitano provides of the US Navy sailor who was prosecuted for espionage because a “selfie” he sent to his girlfriend revealed a sonar screen in the background. An even more egregious case is that of the US Marine who was prosecuted for using email to alert superiors to the presence of an al-Quada operative inside a US military compound. The email is considered unsecure and thus the Marine was prosecuted for revealing a secret known only to himself. In view of these unjustified prosecutions of US military personnel, the FBI has no alternative to recommending that Hillary be indicted. Whether Hillary will be indicted ostensibly depends on the Justice (sic) Department and the White House. In fact, it is unlikely that either Wall Street or the military/security complex wants Hillary indicted as both have invested too many millions of dollars in her presidential candidacy, and both interest groups are more powerful than the Justice (sic) Department and the White House.

Election News

NBC News Democratic Debate Gets Low YouTube Viewership
Breitbart - Sunday night’s Democratic presidential debate was live-streamed on YouTube, but only a small fraction of the U.S. population actually tuned in. The debate in South Carolina was a joint production of NBC News and YouTube. Though NBC News overnight ratings have not yet come in, the YouTube viewership numbers—available on the bottom of the screen during the broadcast—were paltry. When the debate started at 9 PM Eastern Time, less than 300,000 people were tuned in.... Immediately after the debate ended at 11 PM and the post-game analysis started, only 214,713 people were still tuned in.
* Related: Top Google search during the debate: 'Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted?'

Clinton Says “The Details Really Mattle”
Breitbart - Hillary Clinton tripped over her own words in a telling gaffe in Sunday night’s Democratic debate in Charleston, South Carolina hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. “The details really mattle,” Clinton said, flubbing the details of her sentence at approximately 9:30 PM Eastern. Clinton got off to a slow start in the South Carolina debate, allowing Martin O’Malley to bludgeon her on her gun control record and for Sanders to hit her on health care.... Clinton is still taking a blood thinner medication and daily thyroid pills following her concussion in 2012. She has a medical condition called hypothyroidism, commonly caused by an underactive thyroid, which could diminish her energy levels. Additionally, journalist and author Ed Klein wrote about some details of her health for Breitbart News. “To this day, Hillary still suffers from many of the troubling symptoms that I wrote about in Unlikeable: blinding headaches, exhaustion, insomnia, and a tremor in her hands. As a precaution against the spectacle of fainting in public, which could easily doom her candidacy, Hillary now travels with a personal physician on all her major campaign trips,” Klein wrote.

Hillary: FBI Has Not Interviewed Me Yet
Weekly Standard - Hillary Clinton claimed on CNN this morning that she has not yet been interviewed by the FBI in regards to its investigation into her email server. Clinton made the claim in response to a question from CNN State of the Union host Jake Tapper. "In terms of the status of the FBI investigation into your private e-mail server, have you been interviewed by the FBI yet?" "No," Clinton replied. The interviewed then ended.

Many 'lost' voters say they have found their candidate in Trump
Reuters - About one in 10 Americans who plan to cast a vote this election will do so for the first time in years, if ever, and Trump holds a decided edge with them, according to polling by Reuters/Ipsos. These voters offer Trump a pool of voters who could be decisive either in the Republican primaries or a general election. They could be crucial for Trump in early-voting states such as Iowa and South Carolina, where his nearest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, is putting pressure on Trump and enjoys a strong base of support with more traditionally conservative voters. n Reuters/Ipsos polling from June to December 2015, 27.3 percent of these “new” voters said they would vote for Trump, higher than his poll numbers among independents and Republicans who regularly vote.... When analyzing “lost” or “new” voters, Reuters compiled poll results from people who haven’t voted in the previous two presidential campaigns and midterm congressional elections.

Network Newscasts Were All-Trump, All the Time In 2015
AllGov - Between ABC's World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News, Trump's campaign captured 327 minutes of airtime, according to television news analyst Andrew Tyndall (ABC: 121, CBS: 84, NBC: 122 minutes, respectively). That figure doesn't include the network newscasts' coverage of the Republican debates, which garnered an additional 123 minutes of airtime. Context: ABC's evening news broadcast produced almost as much Trump coverage last year as it did for the Ebola panic in 2014. How does Trump's 327 minutes compare to other candidates this year and to coverage for previous campaign cycles? Trump's figure is off the charts. Over the last decade, the networks' evening newscasts have never showered a presidential campaign with the kind of attention they gave Trump one year before the White House vote even takes place.

Economy & Business

Welcome To The New Normal: The Dow Crashes Another 390 Points And Wal-Mart Closes 269 Stores
Economic Collapse - Did you know that 15 trillion dollars of global stock market wealth has been wiped out since last June? The worldwide financial crisis that began in the middle of last year is starting to spin wildly out of control. On Friday, the Dow plunged another 390 points, and it is now down a total of 1,437 points since the beginning of this calendar year. Never before in U.S. history have stocks ever started a year this badly. The same thing can be said in Europe, where stocks have now officially entered bear market territory [...] Shanghai Composite declined another 3.6 percent, and overall it is now down more than 20 percent from its December high. Much of this chaos has been driven by the continuing crash of the price of oil. As I write this article, it has dipped below 30 dollars a barrel, and many of the big banks are projecting that it still has much farther to fall.
*Related: Is your neighborhood Wal-Mart closing? Check this interactive map

Energy & Environment

Sunny Nevada Just Killed the Solar Industry with 40% Tax Hike, Derailing the Off-Grid Movement
The Free Thought Project - While Nevadans were celebrating the holidays under solar-powered lights, the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted unanimously to increase a monthly fee on solar customers by 40% while reducing the amount they get paid for excess power sold to the grid. Adding insult to injury, they made the rate changes retroactive, sabotaging consumer investments in solar energy. This single move by government regulators will effectively kill the solar industry in Nevada and put an end to the surge of people seeking to detach from the grid by harnessing their own energy from the sun. Just as importantly, it serves to protect the profits of Nevada’s public utility company, NV Energy.

US Halts Issuing Leases of Federal Land for Coal Mining
Bloomberg - The Obama administration will stop leasing federal land to coal developers for three years while it studies the fossil fuel’s environmental impact and considers bigger changes such as raising royalty rates paid by mining companies. The decision brings more bad news to a battered coal industry that’s reeling from dropping demand as environmental regulations and lower-priced natural gas lure power utilities away from the fossil fuel.

Science & Technology

Obama Wants $4 Billion to Subsidize Silicon Valley Driverless Cars
Breitbart - US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx… announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that the U.S. Department of Transportation Agency intends to remove “potential roadblocks to the integration of innovative, transformational automotive technology that can significantly improve safety, mobility, and sustainability.” These code words mean driverless regulatory design is being turned over to Silicon Valley. Fox also released a statement that details President Obama’s request for the 2017 budget to steer about $400 million in each of the next 10 years to “test pilot programs to test connected vehicle systems in designated corridors throughout the country, and work with industry leaders to ensure a common multi-state framework for connected and autonomous vehicles.” These code words mean big subsidies flowing to Silicon Valley.

Twitter Sued by Victim’s Family for Allowing ISIS Accounts
Breitbart - The family of Lloyd Carl Fields Jr., alleges in the lawsuit that Twitter, by allowing 70,000 ISIS accounts that were sending 90 tweets a minute, played a role in the November 9, 2014 attack: “For years, Twitter has knowingly permitted the terrorist group ISIS to use its social network as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds and attracting new recruits.” The family’s lawsuit further alleges, “Without Twitter, the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible.” The plaintiffs also claim that Twitter’s “willful blindness” to ISIS activities on the social network amount to “material support to the preparation and carrying out of acts of international terrorism, including the attack in which Lloyd Fields Jr. was killed.”

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Turkeys test positive for bird flu at nine Indiana farms
Fox News - Turkeys tested positive for bird flu at nine more Indiana farms near the location where authorities first confirmed a strain different from the one that ravaged the U.S. poultry industry last summer, Indiana authorities said on Saturday. Farmers began euthanizing turkeys at the new farms even before final results of whether the birds were infected with the H7N8 strain, said Denise Derrer, spokeswoman for the Indiana State Board of Animal Health...The nine farms are located in Dubois County, about 70 miles from Louisville, Kentucky.

Saudi Arabia is Buying Up American Farmland to Export Agricultural Products Back Home
Liberty Blitzkrieg - Just what we need, cornfield crucifixions. Seriously though, this is very troubling. The Saudis are explicitly conserving their own resources at home, while exploiting land and water supplies here in America. CNBC reports: Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries are scooping up farmland in drought-afflicted regions of the U.S. Southwest, and that has some people in California and Arizona seeing red. Saudi Arabia grows alfalfa hay in both states for shipment back to its domestic dairy herds. In another real-life example of the world’s interconnected economy, the Saudis increasingly look to produce animal feed overseas in order to save water in their own territory, most of which is desert.

USDA reports first bird flu case since June, different strain than last year
CNBC News - This marks the first highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) case since June. In the past year, the U.S. poultry industry has been hit hard by avian flu. Before this latest sighting, HPAI had affected 211 commercial and 21 backyard poultry premises since December 2014. The USDA said state officials had quarantined the facility in Dubois County, Indiana. Depopulation of the flock has begun to prevent spread of the disease.... To help contain bird flu, the USDA has been planning for a worst-case scenario in which 500 or more commercial flocks across a wide swath of the U.S. could be affected. Its plan includes promoting improved biosecurity practices on farms, improving surveillance of wild birds (which have spread the virus in the past) and promoting rapid detection of the illness in domestic poultry before depopulating affected flocks within 24 hours.

How To Grow Edible Purslane In The Garden
Gardening Know How - Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is an herb that is native to Asia, but has spread all across the world. It is commonly found in cleared areas. The purslane herb has red stems and fleshy, green leaves. The flowers are a bright yellow. Purslane is high in Omega-3 fatty acids and contains vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B, magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron. All in all, edible purslane is a very healthy plant to add to your diet.

Health

Feds try to suppress herbal molecule that makes your liver nearly 'bulletproof' against alcohol damage
(NaturalNews) I've recently learned that the U.S. federal government is actively blocking the public from learning about an herbal molecule from licorice root that can be added to alcoholic beverages to dramatically reduce the liver toxicity caused by alcohol consumption. The liver protective effects of this plant-based molecule are astonishing, yet the TTB (which regulates alcohol) is demanding this molecule be censored from public knowledge and not mentioned on alcohol labels. The trade name for the molecule is "NTX" and it's a combination of a licorice root extract plus a functional sugar molecule, both derived from nature. It has already been awarded a patent as a liver protective substance (U.S. Patent Office patent #9,149,491), and it has the potential to help prevent tens of thousands of acute liver toxicity cases each year that are derived from alcohol consumption. Yet the federal government is going out of its way to make sure the U.S. public never hears about this.

New Study Shows Cannabis to be an Effective Treatment for the 6th Leading Cause of Death in US
Natural Blaze - Scientific research continues to uncover an astonishing number of ways in which medical cannabis can treat human ailments. The latest is a clinical study conducted by Israeli researchers which found that cannabis is “a promising treatment option” for those suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.... Results of the month-long trial showed that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—the main active ingredient in cannabis—caused a “significant reduction” in mental illness severity, particularly with regard to irritability, aggression/agitation, delusions and insomnia.

Early Exercise Changes Your Gut, Health and Future
Dr. Mercola - Science is only just beginning to recognize the importance of the trillions of bacteria that live in your gut. They have a rather unique symbiotic relationship with your body and your health. The bacteria depend upon the food you eat for nutrition, and the cells in your intestinal tract depend upon the chemicals released by the bacteria during metabolism. These chemicals are used to strengthen the cell walls of your intestines. This is only one way that the bacteria in your gut interact with your body and your health. Although the benefits of exercise are well documented for both adults and children, new research has demonstrated that exercise in the early years of development has a significant impact on the diversity of your gut microbiome.

Are These Dirty Little Secrets Lurking in Your Toxic Laundry Products?
Natural Blaze - For a space that’s completely dedicated to getting things clean, the laundry room can be a landmine of dirty substances. Toxic laundry products can contain ingredients that are irritating to the skin and damaging to the lungs. Some products disrupt hormones and have been linked to cancer.... The substances contained within laundry products aren’t that bad if you are just exposed to them once, but when you use them in your laundry, you have constant exposure. The artificial fragrances are chemically designed to linger in your clothing, meaning that your skin and lungs are constantly exposed.... Manufacturers aren’t required to list the specific ingredients of their products, because their trade secrets are protected before our health is.... In no particular order of awfulness, these are the 8 worst ingredients you are likely to find in the laundry aisle...

Pet News

Documentary: Pet Food A Dog's Breakfast CBC Doc Zone
What's really going on in the pet food industry!

Video: SuperSoul Original Short: The Rooster Who Nearly Died and Rose Again Stronger Than Ever
Poodle Roo wouldn't return to his coop at night, and his keepers at Apricot Lane Farms couldn't figure out why. After all, the coop is a safe haven for roosters like him, a way to avoid the dangers lurking in the night.

 

Friday - January 15, 2016 - Today in History:

1777 - The people of New Connecticut (now the state of Vermont) declared their independence.
1844 - The University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.
1863 - "The Boston Morning Journal" became the first paper in the U.S. to be published on wood pulp paper.
1870 - A cartoon by Thomas Nast titled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" appeared in "Harper's Weekly." The cartoon used the donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party for the first time.
1913 - The first telephone line between Berlin and New York was inaugurated.
1943 - The Pentagon was dedicated as the world's largest office building just outside Washington, DC, in Arlington, VA. The structure covers 34 acres of land and has 17 miles of corridors.
1953 - Harry S Truman became the first U.S. President to use radio and television to give his farewell as he left office.
1955 - The first solar-heated, radiation-cooled house was built by Raymond Bliss in Tucson, AZ.
1973 - President Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam. He cited progress in peace negotiations as the reason.
1986 - President Reagan signed legislation making Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a national holiday to be celebrated on the third Monday of January.
2001 - Wikipedia was launched.
2003 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Congress had permission to repeatedly extend copyright protection.
2006 - NASA's Stardust space probe mission was completed when it's sample return capsule returned to Earth with comet dust from comet Wild 2.
2009 - US Airways Capt Chelsey Sullenberger guided a jetliner disabled by a bird strike just after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport to a safe landing in the Hudson River. All 155 people aboard survived.

World News

Russian Warplanes Launch 97 Cruise Missiles on Daesh Targets in Syria
Sputnik News - The Russian Aerospace Forces have launched 97 cruise missiles hitting Daesh targets in Syria, the Russian General Staff said on Friday. Since the beginning of the Russian aerial campaign in Syria, Russian warplanes have carried out 5,662 sorties, the Russian General Staff said.... Due to Russian airstrikes destroying terrorist command centers and supply channels in Syria, jihadists started to lack fuel, weapons and supplies, Sergei Rudskoi said. Russian warplanes hit only verified terrorist targets in Syria after checking the information via various channels, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman emphasized on Friday. According to Konashenkov, this is one of the main differences of the Russian anti-terrorist campaign in Syria from that of the US-led coalition as Pentagon may approve a decision to carry out airstrikes in an area if the number of civilian casualties does not exceed 50 people.

The U.S. Spent a Half Billion on Mining in Afghanistan With ‘Limited Progress’
Pro Publica - The United States has spent nearly half a billion dollars and five years developing Afghanistan’s oil, gas and minerals industries — and has little to show for it, a government watchdog reported today. The project’s failings are the result of poorly planned programs, inadequate infrastructure and a challenging partnership with the Afghan government, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction wrote in its newest damning assessment of U.S. efforts in the war-torn country. The finding comes after some 200 SIGAR reports have detailed inefficient, unsuccessful or downright wasteful reconstruction projects. A recent ProPublica analysis of the reports found that there has been at least $17 billion in questionable spending.

Israel Primary Canceled, Netanyahu to Lead Likud Through 2023
Sputnik News - An internal court of Israel’s ruling Likud Party has canceled a planned primary election for party leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was announced the winner by default and will remain at the post through 2023. The court, explaining its findings, stated that it would be unreasonable to spend $1 million of its party money to hold a vote, especially taking into account that Netanyahu would have been the only candidate. "In these conditions, the election is no longer necessary and Likud leadership has declared the winner as Benjamin Netanyahu," a Likud spokesman told AFP.

Lowest Ever: The Baltic Dry Index Plunges To 394 As Global Trade Grinds To A Standstill
Economic Collapse - For the first time ever, the Baltic Dry Index has fallen under 400. As I write this article, it is sitting at 394. To be honest, I never even imagined that it could go this low. Back in early August, the Baltic Dry Index was sitting at 1,222, and since then it has been on a steady decline. Of course the Baltic Dry Index crashed hard just before the great stock market crash of 2008 too, but at this point it is already lower than it was during that entire crisis. This is just more evidence that global trade is grinding to a halt and that 2016 is going to be a “cataclysmic year” for the global economy.

The 'Real' Price Of Oil Is Below $17
Zero Hedge - "You see a big destruction in the income of the oil and commodity producers," exclaims on analyst but, as Bloomberg notes, while oil prices flashing across traders' terminals are at the lowest in a decade, in real terms the collapse is considerably deeper. Adjusted for inflation, WTI is its lowest since 2002 and worse still Saudi Light Crude is trading at below $17 (in 1998 dollar terms) - the lowest since the 1980s... Slumping prices are a critical signal that the boom in lending in China is “unwinding,” according to Adair Turner, chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. In fact, while sub-$30 per barrel oil sounds very scary, Saudi prices would be less than $17 a barrel when converted into dollar levels for 1998, the year oil sank to its lowest since the 1980s.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Oregon Fire Chief Catches FBI Agents Posing as Militia – Quits His Job in Protest
John Vibes - This week, Harney County Fire Marshall Chris Briels resigned after discovering undercover FBI agents posing as militia members near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which has been the site of a standoff for weeks now. According to Briels, he found FBI agents who were impersonating militia members lurking around the town’s armory. When he inquired about the undercover operation with county Judge Steve Grasty he was told to back off. Just before this discovery was made, there were reports of people who looked like militia harassing locals, which is uncharacteristic of the protesters who initially assembled at the refuge. It turns out that these militia members suspected of harassing locals were actually undercover FBI agents.

CMP Founder Responds to Planned Parenthood Lawsuit: 'Game On'
Townhall - Planned Parenthood hosted a conference call Thursday afternoon to announce some breaking news on how it plans to respond to the Center for Medical Progress’ undercover investigation that exposed them negotiating the sale of fetal body parts. They are going to sue.... CMP Founder David Daleiden reacted to the news with no sign of the fear Planned Parenthood was likely hoping for: "Game on,” Daleiden said. “I look forward to deposing all the CEOs, Medical Directors, and their co-conspirators who participated in Planned Parenthood's illegal baby body parts racket."

FBI investigating Philadelphia cop shooting as terrorism
CBS News - FBI Director James Comey said on Wednesday that last week's shooting of a Philadelphia police officer was being investigated as "a terrorist attack." FBI officials told CBS News while investigators have not concluded the Jan. 7 shooting was an act of terrorism, the shooting is being handled as a terrorism investigation. Late last Thursday, police said Edward Archer approached Officer Jesse Hartnett's patrol car and fired a hail of bullets at close range.... Hartnett, 33, was shot three times in the arm and will require multiple surgeries. According to police, Archer confessed to the shooting and told investigators he was following Allah, and had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Archer said he believed the police department defends laws that are contrary to Islam, police said.

Undercover Common Core Video: Executive Says "I hate kids, it's all about the money
Veritas - In this new video, Project Veritas journalists visit with America’s top textbook publishing companies, the moneymakers of Common Core, in an effort to expose how crony capitalism is taking over America’s educational system. Shockingly, our journalists caught a publishing executive mocking her own immoral behavior and then laughing about it on hidden camera.

Election News

FULL 6th Fox Business GOP Debate

DRUDGE POLL: Who Won The Debate?

Trump More Than Doubles National Lead in NBC/WSJ Poll
NBC News - Donald Trump has more than doubled his national lead in the Republican presidential race ahead of Thursday night's GOP debate here, according to the results from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Trump is the first choice of 33 percent of national Republican primary voters - his highest percentage in the poll. He's followed by Ted Cruz at 20 percent, Marco Rubio at 13 percent and Ben Carson at 12 percent. Chris Christie and Jeb Bush are tied at five percent. No other Republican presidential candidate gets more than 3 percent.

Trump: Open Borders Encourage “Trojan Horse” Attacks Gun Control Won’t Stop
Kit Daniels - Opening the borders for thousands of unvetted Muslim migrants could lead to “great Trojan Horse” jihadist attacks which won’t be stopped by gun control, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump pointed out during the sixth GOP debate on Thursday. Trump’s full statement...

Bloomberg: Trump’s Birther Attack on Cruz Is Landing in Iowa
Breitbart - Why has Cruz switched from lavishly praising Trump to attacking him? It may be because the birther charge is having an effect on the ground in Iowa. In the latest Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll of likely Republican caucus-goers, which shows Cruz narrowly leading Trump, 15 percent of respondents say they are “bothered” that Cruz was born in Canada.

Cruz To Trump: ‘Not a Lot of Conservatives Come Out of Manhattan’
Breitbart - Republican presidential candidates Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told fellow candidate Donald Trump “not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan” during Thursday’s GOP primetime debate on the Fox Business Network.

'Hillary is a LIAR!' Mother of State Department official killed in Benghazi lashes out at Clinton after watching new movie about the terrorist attack 13 Hours
Daily Mail - The mother of a U.S. State Department official who was killed in a terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 has called Hillary Clinton a liar during an interview on Fox News. Pat Smith, whose son Sean was murdered in the attack along with three other Americans, believes the former Secretary of State blamed the killings on a controversial movie, 'Innocence of Muslims' at a memorial service for the victims. Mrs Smith claims the Democratic presidential front runner made the comments during a private meeting with family members of the victims following a memorial service on September 14, just days after the attack.

Would a Brokered Convention Stop Donald Trump?
Breitbart - I am a veteran of nine national Republican presidential campaigns, including the floor of the 1976 Republican National Convention for Ronald Reagan. My sources inside the Republican party are warning me: The insiders have a stunning plan to stop Trump even if he wins the primaries. The plan involves stalling Trump short of a majority on the first ballot, since many of the delegates pledged to him would no longer be legally bound to support him on subsequent ballots. There are many, many Trojan Horse delegates inserted by the GOP establishment who could bolt from Trump after that first ballot.... There are 278 Super Delegates who are GOP establishment insiders, likely opposed to Trump. They constitute 4 percent of the convention. Thus, Trump must win 54 percent of delegates elected in caucuses and primaries to guarantee he could block a plot to stop him. To make it worse, Convention Rule 40 B says the Candidate must have a majority of delegates in at least eight states.

Scarborough on Trump Pensacola Rally: ‘I Never Saw Anything Like That in My Hometown Before’ — ‘I Don’t Get It’
Breitbart - Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough, weighed in on Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s rally in Pensacola, FL, a city of which was in the district that he represented in the U.S. House of Representatives. Scarborough indicated that it was unprecedented for Pensacola to draw such attendance for a presidential campaign event.... Later in the segment, Scarborough said he doubted any of Trump’s opponents could draw a crowd close to that of Trump’s crowd.
* Related: Full Speech: Donald Trump Holds Rally in Pensacola, FL (1-13-16)
* Watch: Pro-Trump ‘USA Freedom Kids’ — ‘Enemies of Freedom Face the Music’

Veteran News

State Confiscates Veteran’s Kids Over Medical Marijuana-PTSD Treatment
Adan Salazar - A Gulf War veteran who moved to Colorado last year has had his children confiscated by the State of Kansas over his use of marijuana as a treatment for PTSD symptoms. Raymond Schwab, 40, relied on medical marijuana to treat PTSD after he suffered severe side effects from medicines prescribed by the VA. “They were making me crazy, they made me worse,” Schwab told The Denver Post. Unfortunately before they left, Amelia’s mother reported them to Kansas Child Protective Services as “unfit parents.” After child welfare officials seized the children, her mother said she regreted making the call. Nine months later, and after a judge found the mother’s allegations unsubstantiated, the state is still requiring Schwab to curb medicinal marijuana use and submit to urine analysis for four months, which the veteran says will be difficult.

Economy & Business

World Rushes to De-Dollarize Oil Trade Before US Economy Crashes and Burns
Sputnik News - Russia, China, India and other emerging powers are pushing for a multipolar world; meanwhile the United States, a former hegemon, is unable to stop them as it is losing its political power and is “de-facto bankrupt,” William Engdahl, a political observer for New Eastern Outlook, told Radio Sputnik. Slowly, but surely Russia, China and other emerging economies are beginning to reduce their dependency on the US dollar. Russia plans to trade oil using rubles by undermining the current US oil price monopoly. This move would be a dramatic blow to the economy of the United States and break the US political hegemony, Engdahl explained.

So You Didn't Win the Lottery: Why That's Probably a Good Thing
Sputnik News - At least three people in the US won the largest lottery jackpot in history Wednesday night, and chances are you weren’t one of them. But look on the bright side: winners of huge payouts often find their lives changing significantly for the worse, rather than the better. The $1.5 billion pot will be divided amongst winners in California, Florida, and Tennessee — and more may come forward. They beat the one in 292 million odds, and are about to become millionaires. Unfortunately, however, the National Endowment for Financial Education has estimated that as many as 70% of people who come into massive amounts of money out of nowhere, typically run out of cash within just a few years, Think Progress reports.... Several other studies, including one conducted in 2008 by the University of California, found that lottery winners are no happier than their losing counterparts, only six months after their big wins.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Monsanto Scraps $90 Million GM Corn Facility Plans Due to Declining Profits
Natural Society - Monsanto’s plans to construct a $90 million GM corn processing plant in Independence, Iowa have reportedly been scrapped due to a ‘struggling farm economy.’ Monsanto notified the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) that it will not build a long-delayed seed corn production facility in Independence which would have created 47 full-time jobs and 800 seasonal positions. These jobs would have created $7.5 million in job creation tax credits for the company.... Another biotech company expecting to receive tax credits for creating new jobs associated with the Monsanto plant will have to forgo them as well. DuPont Pioneer had to cancel contracts for $13 million in tax benefits linked to creating 300 jobs for three projects. Fewer jobs will be available at three DuPont area plants in Iowa.

Health

TB Outbreak in Alabama Town Surpasses that of Third-World Countries
Natural Society - Alabama health officials are offering some residents $160 to be screened and treated for tuberculosis after an outbreak of the disease killed 3 people and sickened 26. The Alabama Department of Public Health said it will dispatch extra nurses and TB investigators to Marion, a town 80 miles west of the capital of Montgomery, where the outbreak has been centralized. In fact, the infection rate in Marion is higher than those in many third-world countries. “This is a case rate of 253 per 100,000 population in the town of Marion. This far exceeds the TB case rate of 2.5 per 100,000 in the whole state of Alabama in 2015,” the department stated in a media release.

Curcumin Helps Menopausal Women Mitigate Metabolic Alterations And Lose Fat
Arny Bustamante - Curcumin is a compound found in the spice turmeric which gives it a natural pigment. It has been linked to a range of health benefits, and now researchers have found it helps mitigate metabolic and oxidative alterations caused by hormone deprivation in events such as menopause.... Researchers from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul published a report in the Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity journal that outlines how curcumin may reverse aging symptoms, such as bone loss and weight gain, associated with post-menopausal animals and humans. The fat-vanquishing nature of curcumin has even generated significant interest within the mainstream medical establishment.

Health Benefits of Ginkgo Biloba
Organic Facts - Some of the most important and unique health benefits of ginkgo include its ability to improve memory, boost vision, treat depression, alleviate pain, boost circulation, reduce blood pressure, protects the nervous system, boost heart health, prevent cancer, and slow the signs of aging.
* Related: Study Confirms Gingko Biloba Aids Stroke Recovery

Combat Iron Deficiency with These 16 Iron Rich Foods
Dr. Group - Like zinc, magnesium, and potassium, iron is a nutrient your body absolutely requires. Iron helps the body grow normally and stay healthy and is used to make hemoglobin, a critical protein found in red blood cells. When you have enough iron, your blood cells are strong and carry life-giving oxygen throughout your body. Your metabolism, which relies on oxygen, stays active and you feel stronger and more clear-headed. If you are experiencing an iron deficiency, you may feel weak and experience other chronic symptoms.
 



Thursday - January 14, 2016 - Today in History:

1784 - The United States ratified a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War.
1858 - French emperor Napoleon III escaped an attempt on his life.
1878 - Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone for Britain's Queen Victoria.
1943 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. President to fly in an airplane while in office. He flew from Miami, FL, to French Morocco where he met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to discuss World War II.
1952 - NBC's "Today" show premiered.
1963 - George C. Wallace was sworn in as governor of Alabama.
1969 - An explosion aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Enterprise off Hawaii killed 25 crew members.
1994 - U.S. President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed Kremlin accords to stop aiming missiles at any nation and to dismantle the nuclear arsenal of Ukraine.
1998 - Whitewater prosecutors questioned Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House for 10 minutes about the gathering of FBI background files on past Republican political appointees.
1999 - The impeachment trial of U.S. President Clinton began in Washington, DC.
1999 - The U.S. proposed the lifting of the U.N. ceilings on the sale of oil in Iraq. The restriction being that the money be used to buy medicine and food for the Iraqi people.
2000 - A U.N. tribunal sentenced five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years for the 1993 massacre of over 100 Muslims in a Bosnian village.
2004 - In St. Louis, a Lewis and Clark Exhibition opened at the Missouri History Museum. The exhibit featured 500 rare and priceless objects used by the Corps of Discovery.
2005 - Army Specialist Charles Graner Jr., the reputed ringleader of a band of rogue guards at the Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted at Fort Hood, Texas, of abusing Iraqi detainees. (He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison.)
2008 - Republican Bobby Jindal, the first elected Indian-American governor in the United States, took office in Louisiana.

World News

At least 7 dead as Jakarta rocked by multiple explosions, gunfire in ISIS-related attacks
RT - Several blasts went off in the center of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, in a terrorist attack involving suicide bombers. Eyewitnesses describe casualties, chaotic scenes and exchanges of gunfire with police.... There were 10 to 14 attackers involved in the Jakarta attacks, the channel reported, citing local media. Following the blasts, police said that Islamic State militants might have been behind them. "We have previously received a threat from Islamic State that Indonesia will be in the spotlight," police spokesman Anton Charliyan said. Later, however, Sutiyoso, the head of the Indonesian national intelligence agency, told Reuters that while the Jakarta attacks were acts of terrorism, there wasn’t any indication that Islamic State was behind them.

Asian Stocks Plunge After Terrorists Attack Indonesia
Kit Daniels - Asian stocks fell sharply after suspected Islamic suicide bombers and gunmen attacked Indonesia’s capital on Thursday... The Jakarta Stock Index plunged as a result, impacting other Asian stock markets that were already in free fall following a massive sell-off on Wall Street yesterday fueled by concerns over China’s economy, overvalued stocks and low oil prices. China’s Hang Seng index stayed in negative territory most of the day and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was also down 2.68%, or around 474 points, near the end of trading, while Indonesia’s Rupiah currency crashed in response to the terrorist attack likely to be blamed on ISIS.

Iran removes Arak reactor core - Tehran's senior nuclear official
RT - Iran’s top nuclear official has said the core of the Arak heavy water reactor has been removed - a step that brings the country closer to the lifting of international sanctions. The announcement by Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, reported by state TV, comes days after he said the reactor would be disabled this week. The reactor core was capable of producing plutonium and its fate was a major point of disagreement during the negotiations between six leading world powers and Iran, which resulted in a deal last year. According to the agreement signed in July, the reactor is to be retrofitted with the help of foreign specialists to be used for research projects and the production of medical radioactive isotopes.

Final MH17 crash report ‘unsubstantiated, inaccurate,’ new Russian probe says
RT -Some of the key conclusions of the Dutch Safety Board’s final report on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash were ‘unsubstantiated and inaccurate,’ Russia’s aviation agency said in a letter to its counterpart in the Netherlands, citing new research. Since the final report, released on October 13, 2015, did not reflect many important facts mentioned by the Russian side, the country’s experts continued their investigation into the reasons for the crash, Oleg Storchevoy, deputy head of Rosaviatsiya, wrote in a letter addressed to leadership of the Dutch Safety Board (DSB).... According to the DSB’s findings, the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile with a 9N314M warhead. However, the Dutch experts were unable to determine which side in the conflict – the Ukrainian government forces or the rebels – was responsible for firing the missile.

Renault Plunges 20% After French Authorities Raid Offices In Apparent Emissions Probe
Zero Hedge - Don’t look now, but Renault may be pulling a Volkswagen. The French company’s shares fell by as much as 23% on Thursday after an apparent raid on what a union official described as “sites that have to do with standards testing and engine certification.”

Syrians Have No Food, NATO/MSM Have No Shame: Madaya Starvation Photos Faked For Propaganda
Brandon Turbeville - It seems the propaganda machine of the West just won’t quit when it comes to Syria.... The latest attempt at portraying Assad as the new Hitler without a shred of real evidence? Claims that he is starving the residents of Madaya for some undefined purpose that would allegedly benefit his “grip” on power. Actually, according to the Western media, no motives are necessary. For the West and its populations totally lacking in discernment, Assad is starving the people of Madaya and that is enough. But the truth is that Assad is not starving the people of Madaya. The people of Madaya are suffering because their village is overrun with the savages supported by NATO, the GCC, and Israel. Unfortunately, the Western media that insists upon calling them “rebels” and “activists” instead of what they are.

Oil could crash to $10 a barrel, warn investment bank bears
Telegraph UK - Oil prices have crashed to below $30-a-barrel amid warnings the rout could reach as low as $10 and bring down petrol prices to levels last seen in 2009. Standard Chartered became the latest major bank to downgrade its oil outlook to $10, joining the likes of Goldman Sachs, RBS and Morgan Stanley in making ultra-bearish calls as prices have collapsed by 15pc [per cent] this year… Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund, said supply and demand factors meant commodity prices were "likely to stay low for a sustained period"… The warnings came as Opec - the cartel that controls a third of the world's supply - said it would not cede to requests from some of its members to hold an emergency meeting.

Attack on Pakistan Polio Clinic Recalls CIA Vaccination Ruse
Sputnik News - The bomb reportedly hit a police van accompanying health workers participating in a drive aimed at immunizing young children. According to Reuters, two groups claimed responsibility: the Pakistani Taliban and Jundullah, which has ties to the Taliban. In 2011, the CIA orchestrated a fake vaccination drive at a polio facility in Abbottabad as part of the hunt for Osama Bin Ladin. Since then, facilities in the region and their workers have fallen under distrust… Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two remaining countries in the world where polio continues to be transmitted.

Russian Health Minister: Guinea Asks Moscow for Russian Anti-Ebola Vaccine
Sputnik News - Russia has received a request from Guinea to start using the vaccine recently developed by Russian against Ebola, and Moscow is ready to respond, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Wednesday… "We have received a request from the Pasteur Institute of Guinea to start introduction of our two medicines in a comparative study, which involves the US vaccine produced by the Merck company," the minister said during a meeting with Putin, adding that Russia was fully ready to start "implementing the task."

U.S. News, Politics & Government

How many is too many? State Dept says calculus for civilian casualties exists, but won’t disclose it
RT - Civilian casualties are weighed against the value of the targets in a “calculus” used by the US military, but what that ratio might be, the State Department refused to say. On Sunday, US warplanes bombed a bank in Mosul that was considered a hub of Islamic State’s (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) financial operations, housing the cash used to fund operations and pay the group’s fighters. US military officials said they were willing to tolerate up to 50 civilian deaths for such a high-value target, according to a CNN report.

Fear-mongering DHS chairman claims terrorists could target malls, Disney World etc.
MassPrivateI - Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Michael McCaul's new novel claims, terrorists could easily target Disney World, the Academy Awards and shopping centers like the Mall of America with biological attacks. DHS's latest fear-mongering book is titled Failures of Imagination: The Deadliest Threats to Our Homeland--and How to Thwart Them. McCaul's book describes a woman using a fan to spread smallpox at Disneyworld or possibly in a mall.

University of Missouri Student Enrollment Down After Last Year's Protests
The New American - In an e-mail, Admissions Director Chuck May stated, “While we don’t have any clear data, we know that the events this past fall have had an impact, and we are answering any questions that parents and students have about those events.” Applications for admission to the university have decreased nearly five percent from the previous year. The drop in graduate student applications — 19 percent — is even more dramatic. After last year's season, some recruits who were considering playing football for Missouri opted to de-commit from playing for the Southeastern Conference program. The Missouri Legislature has also expressed outrage at what happened at the University of Missouri, demanding the termination of Melissa Click, an assistant professor in communications at the school… What the legislators found so particularly outrageous about Dr. Click was that she called for a student photo-journalist on freelance assignment with ESPN to be removed by physical force from covering a student protest at Carnahan Quad on the campus.

Teachers in Detroit on 'sickout' strike against crumbling, pest-ridden schools
RT - Five schools were closed on Wednesday, down from 24 on Tuesday and 64 on Monday, due to teacher absences. Michigan law prohibits teacher strikes, with fines up to $5,000 a day for teachers involved, but a “sickout” is technically not a strike. According to examples provided by the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), one high school “is literally falling apart.” A special education school has “infestations of rats, other rodents, roaches and bed bugs.” At a preparatory academy, “pieces of the ceiling are falling on kids’ heads,” while one elementary school has “a classroom without power due to black mold in the wiring.” Duggan blamed the Michigan governor for the crisis, pointing out that the Detroit school district has been under state emergency management since 2009. “One third of the money in the district is being dedicated to the debt and not to fixing leaky roofs,” the mayor said. “We’re heading toward seven years of state takeover and test scores are low, and there’s a bigger deficit than before. After seven years of running the schools, the state needs to do something.”

Election News

Who's Funding the 2016 Election? Mostly, We'll Never Know
disinformation - Dark money groups have spent $143 million on the 2016 U.S. presidential election since last July—nearly four times as much as the candidates’ own campaigns, Politico reported in a new analysis on Tuesday. The origins of most of that funding will never be revealed, while some of it will be made public at midnight on January 31, just hours before the Iowa caucuses, writes Politico‘s chief investigative reporter Kenneth P. Vogel… All of the major candidates—with the exception of Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side and Donald Trump for the Republicans—has the support of at least one outside spending group dedicated to their election, Vogel said.

Ted Cruz Didn't Disclose Loan From Goldman Sachs for His First Senate Campaign
NY Times - As Ted Cruz tells it, the story of how he financed his upstart campaign for the United States Senate four years ago is an endearing example of loyalty and shared sacrifice between a married couple. "Sweetheart, I'd like us to liquidate our entire net worth, liquid net worth, and put it into the campaign," he says he told his wife, Heidi, who readily agreed. But the couple's decision to pump more than $1 million into Mr. Cruz's successful Tea Party-darling Senate bid in Texas was made easier by a large loan from Goldman Sachs, where Mrs. Cruz works. That loan was not disclosed in campaign finance reports.

Trump: Germans Will Riot, Overthrow Merkel
Kurt Nimmo - On Tuesday presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said the German people will stage a violent overthrow of the Merkel government. “We have a little situation that could be a trojan horse. You look at what is happening in Germany. Cologne never had a problem. Cologne, Germany. Okay? Everything’s fine. Everything’s nice. Clean. Beautiful. No problem. Now they are having riots, they’re having rapes,” Trump said during a campaign stop in Cedar Falls, Iowa. “Have you heard about the New Year’s Eve [attack]? It was like a disaster. And the German people are going to riot. The German people are going to end up overthrowing [Angela Merkel]. I don’t know what the hell she is thinking. But they have millions of people pouring into Germany, now they’re not stopping them. Now I guess they are going to have to stop them because the German people aren’t going to put up [with it].”

Veteran News

VA’s New Paperless Claim System Has Nearly Doubled in Costs
Defense One - The Department of Veterans Affairs may finally have good news to share, but lawmakers are balking at the price tag. Total costs for a digital system used to process veterans’ disability claims that officials say has been key to slashing a massive VA backlog are nearly double the initial estimates. And VA, which has continued to make upgrades to the system under an “agile” software development methodology, still can’t say how much the system will end up costing, according to auditors. VA has spent more than $1 billion developing and maintaining the Veterans Benefits Management System, or VBMS, since 2009. The agency has requested an additional $290 million this year for continued tweaks to the system, which was initially projected to cost $579 million.

Economy & Business

Breaking: Dow Jones Loses Over 1500 Points in Only 10 Days
Kit Daniels - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 16,151 on Wednesday, down over 1500 points in the past 10 trading days. The index declined consistently throughout the day with a rapid drop occurring mid-afternoon. On Dec. 29, the Dow Jones hit a peak at 17,720 but has since been on a downward trend, with the first five days of 2016 marking the index’s worst yearly start since 1897. The chart contradicts President Obama’s claim that “anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction,” which he stated during Tuesday’s State of the Union address. Numerous experts suggest that not only will the U.S. economy enter a bear market, but market losses could potentially hit 40%.

93% Of American Counties Haven't Recovered From The Recession
Zero Hedge - But even as the macro picture is hopelessly obscured by the mischievous tinkering of bureaucrats, the county-level data reveals the dismal truth: according to a new study by the National Association of Counties, 93% of America's counties have not yet recovered from the recession. "Overall, the county economies recovered on all four indicators by 2015 still represent only 7 percent of all county economies," the organization writes. "In contrast, almost 16 percent of county economies had not recovered on any indicator by 2015, mostly in the South and Midwest. States such as Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Mississippi have more than a third of their county economies still reeling from the latest downturn across all economic indicators." … the counties that have recovered on 3-4 of the indicators NAC measured are predominantly in the Midwest and Texas. How long, one might fairly ask, will that last in the face of a prolonged slump in crude prices?

Norfolk Shipyard To Lay Off 50% Of Workforce
Government Slaves - AE Systems notified 530 workers at its Norfolk shipyard Tuesday that they will likely lose their jobs in March, a company spokesman said. Citing a continued drop in workload, BAE spokesman Karl Johnson said the layoffs would be effective March 18. About 1,075 people work at the shipyard, so this would slash the workforce in half. The furloughs target both management and the skilled trades. Johnson said the layoffs will probably happen, although the company continues to work with the Navy in hopes of securing new business, and that could make a difference.... BAE does repair work on Navy amphibious warships, cruisers and destroyers.

‘No Groceries This Week’: Woman Goes Without Food to Buy Powerball Tickets
Adan Salazar - With the Powerball lottery jackpot at an all time high, the “proles” are out in full force spending their hard-earned money despite beyond-miniscule chances of winning. The odds, 1 in 292,000,000, are abysmal. They decreased from one in 175 million when the Multi-State Lottery Association raised the number of white balls from 59 to 69. According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s more likely you’ll die in an automobile accident, 1 in 112. Golf Digest says the chances are better of “two average players in the same foursome acing the same hole,” 17 million to 1. And CNN Money shows that you have better odds of all of the following happening, than matching five numbers and the Powerball correctly...

Energy & Environment

Michigan National Guard, FEMA Help Flint Amid Water Crisis
ABC News - Members of the Michigan National Guard are headed to Flint to help dole out bottled water, filters and other supplies to residents dealing with a drinking water crisis that began months ago. Gov. Rick Snyder activated the National Guard late Tuesday, and some members were expected to arrive as soon as Wednesday to assist state authorities and volunteers in the distribution effort.... More than 30 Guardsmen will be in place by Friday, enabling American Red Cross volunteers to join the door-to-door efforts that began Tuesday instead of staffing sites where residents can pick up free bottled water, filters, replacement cartridges and home water testing kits.... Flint has since returned to Detroit's system for its water, but officials remain concerned that damage to the pipes caused by the Flint River means that lead could continue to impair supply.

Alaskan Earthquake Could Unleash Huge California Tsunami
Breitbart - An area from San Francisco to Los Angeles lies in a perpendicular direction from a section of the trench where the Pacific Plate is digging under the edge of the North American Plate. That section, called the Semidi, has lain unstressed for too long, according to geophysicist John Miller and a team at the U.S. Geological Survey, and so they postulate that the area is due for a rupture.... Miller stated that the area around the Aleutian Islands has produced other tsunamis. Because the trench is shaped in an arc, the tsunamis caused by various earthquakes have targeted different areas, largely missing population centers. But the Semidi section, which last ruptured in 1788, is due for another rupture, as it typically ruptures every 180 to 270 years. Miller argued that a tsunami triggered by a rupture in the Semidi section could match the size of Japan’s giant tsunami in 2011.

Science & Technology

The US Government Has an Internet Killswitch - and It's None of Your Business
Activist Post - On Monday the Supreme Court declined to hear a petition from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) that sought to force the Department of Homeland Security to release details of a secret “killswitch” protocol to shut down cellphone and Internet service during emergencies. EPIC has been fighting since 2011 to release the details of the program, which is known as Standard Operating Procedure 303… This secret document codifies a ‘shutdown and restoration process for use by commercial and private wireless networks during national crisis.’”… Despite EPIC’s defeat at the hands of the Supreme Court, the four-year court battle yielded a heavily redacted copy of Standard Operating Procedure 303.

First genetically-modified human embryos 'could be created in Britain within weeks'
The Independent - The first genetically-modified human embryos could be created in Britain within weeks according to the scientists who are about to learn whether their research proposal has been approved by the fertility watchdog. Although it will be illegal to allow the embryos to live beyond 14 days, and be implanted into the womb, the researchers accepted that the research could one day lead to the birth of the first GM babies should the existing ban be lifted for medical reasons.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

How America’s Embrace of GMOs and Pesticides Could Trigger “Downfall” of EU Farmers
disinformation - Europe’s farmers should be forewarned. According to a new study, if the pending Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) become a reality, the United States’ distinctly low food standards, coupled with the dominance of industrial agriculture, could trigger a complete “downfall” of the entire European farming sector. Pointing to the significant differences between Europe and the United States’ agriculture industries, the study examines how the pending trade pact would try to “harmonize” standards pertaining to such things as genetically modified (GMO) crops, growth hormones in meat, and pesticides.... U.S. farms, the study finds, are in a superior position due to their larger size as well as “the lower consumer and production standards under which they are obligated to operate.” No one can produce products like cereal as cheaply as the USA,” the report states.

Health

How Fasting Can Help In Cancer Treatment?
Natural News Blogs - Renowned medical journal Cell Stem Cell of June 5 issue indicates that state of fasting activates stem cells and prompts them for self-renewal. These stem cells are directed to replenish the depleted immune cells when someone is on prolonged fasting. Laboratory monitoring of cancer patients who fast regularly due to poor appetite indicates a dramatic fall in WBC count. It is thus postulated that prolong fasting stimulates clearing of damaged and unwanted immune cells. The fall in white blood cell count is the result of this process in persons who are on regular fasting, and naturally food intake causes a rise of those cells.

Cooking from Scratch Is so Important for Health, Some Medical Schools Are Now Teaching Doctors Cooking Skills
Dr. Mercola - Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans has implemented a radically different curriculum, teaching their medical students not only about nutrition in general, but also the practical aspects of cooking with real ingredients. As noted by Dr. Timothy Harlan, executive director at the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane: "We know from the literature that when people go home and start cooking from real ingredients for themselves that their health improves. We also know that they don't really know how to do that." The goal is for Tulane-educated doctors to have the necessary skills to actually teach their patients what to cook, how to cook it, and why. Other medical schools are also following suit. The curriculum, which was developed with the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University, has also been bought by 16 other medical schools across the country.

Junk Food Eating Generations Can Pass Metabolic Disorders To Their Children
Mae Chan - "You are what your parent's eat," is becoming more relevant by the day. According to a study published in journal Science, just one junk food-eating generation can pass on the metabolic disorders it gains from an unhealthy diet to the next. Less than two years ago, scientists officially linked processed foods to autoimmune disease and the consequences may ripple to future generations. Medical researchers have before shown a link between a father's weight and diet at the time of conception and an increased risk of diabetes in his offspring. In research conducted on mice, a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that unhealthy eating behaviours were recorded in a tiny molecule that could then be transmitted through sperm to the embryo.

Pet News

Heartwarming Story Of A Nurse Cat Who Looks After Sick & Injured Animals In A Shelter
Collective Evolution - This is just a simple heartwarming story to hopefully make your day! Rademenes is a little black cat that has miraculously escaped death after a very close call caused by an upper-respiratory infection. He was originally brought to an animal shelter in Bydgoszcz, a city in Poland, to be euthanized, but against all odds, this little black kitty survived. Now with a second chance at life, Rademenes has decided to give back, and spends his days taking care of other animals in the shelter that he was originally admitted to. Workers at this shelter jokingly call this friendly kitty one of their “full-time nurses,” as he provides love and comfort to sick and injured animals. Read on for more of this heartwarming story!
 


Wednesday - January 13, 2016 - Today in History:

1794 - President Washington approved a measure adding 2 stars and 2 stripes to the flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union.
1854 - Anthony Faas of Philadelphia was granted the 1st U.S. patent for the accordion. He made improvements to the keyboard and enhanced the sound.
1893 - Britain's Independent Labor Party, a precursor to the current Labor Party, met for the first time.
1906 - Hugh Gernsback, of the Electro Importing Company, advertised radio receivers for sale for the price of just $7.50 in "Scientific American" magazine.
1942 - Henry Ford patented the plastic automobile referred to as the "Soybean Car." The car was 30% lighter than the average car.
1966 - Robert Weaver became the 1st black Cabinet member when appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by U.S. President Johnson.
1986 - "The Wall Street Journal" printed a real picture on its front page. The first time in 10 years. The story was about artist, O. Winston Link and featured one of his works.
1992 - Japan apologized for forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
1998 - NBC agreed to pay almost $13 million for each episode of the TV show E.R. It was the highest amount ever paid for a TV show.
2002 - The exhibit "In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." opened at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. More than 100 artists supplied the collection of 120 works of art.
2002 - Japan and Singapore signed a free trade pact that would remove tariffs on almost all goods traded between the two countries.
2002 - U.S. President George W. Bush fainted after choking on a pretzel.
2009 - Ethiopian military forces began pulling out of Somalia, where they had tried to maintain order for nearly two years.

World News

Iran 'releases US sailors held in Gulf'
Al Jazeera - All 10 US Navy sailors have been released hours after they were detained by Iran, state media reported on Wednesday. The sailors aboard two small patrol boats were taken into custody after they "inadvertently" strayed into Iranian waters. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the sailors were released on Wednesday after it was determined that their entry was not intentional.

Oil rises for first time in eight days on China, U.S. stock draw
Reuters - Oil prices rose for the first time in eight days on Wednesday as positive Chinese trade data and an unexpected draw in weekly U.S. crude oil inventories gave investors reasons to buy crude futures. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 87 cents at $31.73 a barrel at 0954 GMT, but remained near lows last seen nearly 12 years ago.
* Related: War Between Saudi Arabia And Iran Could Send Oil Prices To $250

Global Stocks Rebound As Fears Of Chinese Hard-Landing Pushed Back On Strong Trade Data
Zero Hedge - After two months of sharp currency devaluation, the market was carefully watching last night's China trade data to see if the Yuan debasement had led to a positive trade outcome to the world's second largest economy, and as reported last night, it was not disappointed when China reported a December trade surplus of $60.09 billion from $54.1 billion in November, as a result of exports beating expectations and rising 2.3%, the first increase since June, while imports declined by just 4%, the smallest drop since 2014 despite China importing a record amount of oil, or 33.2 million tons, in December.

Iran Seizes 2 US Navy Boats, Crewmen For "Illegally Entering Iranian Waters"
Zero Hedge - Tensions were already running high between Tehran and Washington in the wake of Iran's move to test-fire a next generation surface-to-surface ballistic missile with the range to hit Israel. And then the IRGC conducted a live-fire rocket test within 1,500 yards of a US aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz. Now, in a further escalation, Iran has reportedly seized two US Navy ships. But nobody panic, because Iran has promised to return the crew "promptly" and as CNN adds, according to Iran the sailors are safe: That appears to contradict a statement from Fars which says the US has "repeated" calls for the crew's release.

China on Track to Build Its Very First Military Base in Africa
Daily Sheeple - China has just signed a 10 year contract with the government of Djibouti to create a military base near the Red Sea. The base will be a logistics hub and airfield, which will give the Chinese military an extensive reach into the continent. Both the US and China have been competing for economic and political influence in the resource rich continent for some time now, but this is the first time that China has challenged America’s military presence in Africa. The base is clearly an effort to stymie America’s influence, since it’s located not far from a US military hub in Djibouti, known as Camp Lemonnier.

BP to cut 4,000 jobs as oil price plummets
Irish Times - Jobs to be culled in UK giant’s crude-oil production division. BP will cut 4,000 jobs in its crude-oil production division this year as prices continue to tumble. The company will reduce its worldwide upstream workforce to less than 20,000, London-based spokesman David Nicholas said by phone. The cuts include 600 people working at North Sea projects: they’ll lose their positions over the next two years “with the majority in the first year,” he said.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Fact Check: Top 10 Lies in Obama’s State of the Union
Breitbart - President Barack Obama promised his final State of the Union address would be short. Dana Bash of CNN called it “low-energy.” One thing it was not was accurate–or honest. Here are Obama’s top ten lies, in chronological order.
* Related: President Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address (Transcript)

Obama pledges US will cure cancer ‘once and for all’ — with Joe Biden leading the way
Raw Story - Obama, in the last State of the Union address of his presidency, said America must use its spirit of innovation to help tackle the challenge of cancer.... In a blog post released during the State of the Union address, Biden said the White House would focus on increasing public and private resources to fight the disease and to improve information sharing among researchers and medical professionals. He will travel on Friday to the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine to speak with physicians and next week he will meet with experts at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to discuss the initiative. The cancer initiative will build upon the $2 billion increase in funding approved for the National Institutes of Health last year, White House chief economist Jason Furman told reporters ahead of Obama speech.

'We may be breaking codes, but not supreme law of the land' - Bundy (EXCLUSIVE)
RT - On the 10th day of an armed standoff on federal property near Burns, Oregon, the leader of a rancher militia, Ammon Bundy, said he and his supporters “are breaking codes and regulations, but we are not breaking the supreme law of the land.” RT’s Simone Del Rosario took a tour around the Malheur National Wildlife Preserve with Bundy, who led militia members and anti-government activists in a takeover on January 2. They believe that the federal ownership of the land is unconstitutional and that it should belong to the local community. The laws on the books that are not constitutional, they are so tremendous, there are so many of them that every day you and I are breaking them and that’s part of the problem,” Bundy said. “Government has got to the point when they think they can make laws on anything.” Bundy says that people are left with the choice of either obeying the government-imposed codes or making the government follow the US Constitution.

Chicago Cops Frantically Fight to Destroy Misconduct Records Before Homan Square Investigation
The Free Thought Project - As the Cook County Commissioner and a state representative both call for a federal investigation into the CIA-style black site known as Homan Square, Chicago police union officials are fighting to incinerate decades of police misconduct records. Although the city, an investigative journalist, and a University of Chicago law school professor have battled in court to preserve the misconduct records, police unions argue that red-flagged officers should not be judged by their marred past. While Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin and the Board of Commissioners prepare to address a resolution on Wednesday calling on the DOJ to expand its investigation into Homan Square, leaders of the Chicago NAACP and state Rep. La Shawn Ford are working to prevent the Chicago Police Department from destroying any police misconduct files older than five years.

Report: White House Is Blocking Investigation Into Over 100 Terrorists INSIDE U.S.
Steve Watson - While President Obama claimed before his State of The Union Speech that there are no terror threats to the US, it has become apparent that his administration is actively stonewalling an investigation into hundreds of suspected terrorists ALREADY within the country. The Washington Free Beacon reports: “Leading senators on Monday petitioned multiple Obama administration agencies to stop stonewalling a congressional investigation into the immigration histories of at least 113 foreign-born individuals implicated in terrorist operations after legally entering the United States, according to a copy of the letters.” The Beacon also reported that 41 foreign-born individuals who legally entered the United States have been arrested for planning multiple terror attacks.

Meanwhile In Chicago, 120 People Shot In First 10 Days Of 2016
Zero Hedge - Even as Obama takes his anti-gun crusade to new highs with every passing week, having recently started dispensing executive orders, the president conveniently continues to ignore the state of affairs in his native Chicago - a city in which guns are banned - yet where the shooting epidemic has never been worse, and is truly emblematic of the "gun problem" America has. Judging by the most recent developments, Obama will have nothing to say about Chicago gun violence either during tonight's state of the union address, or ever for that matter, because recent developments are downright disastrous.

NEW EMAIL Shows Hillary Willing to Foment Palestinian Uprising for Political Gain
Gateway Pundit - Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton considered a secret plan created by her then-advisers to foment unrest among Palestinian citizens and spark protests in order to push the Israeli government back to the negotiating table, according to emails released as part of the investigation into the Democratic presidential frontrunner’s private email server. {n a Dec, 18, 2011, email, former U.S. ambassador to Israel Thomas Pickering suggested that Clinton consider a plan to restart then-stalled peace negotiations by kickstarting Palestinian demonstrations against Israel. Pickering described the effort as a potential “game changer in the region,” recommending that the United States undertake a clandestine campaign to generate unrest. Clinton requested that his email be printed. “What will change the situation is a major effort to use non-violent protests and demonstrations to put peace back in the center of people’s aspirations as well as their thoughts, and use that to influence the political leadership,” Pickering wrote.

‘Send Mr. Bundy the bill’: Judge wants Oregon militia to pay $70k a day for security costs
RT - An Oregon judge says that he will send the ranchers and anti-government activists the bill for security costs that have been piled up because of their standoff with the federal government. Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said the cost of setting up security measures for Ammon Bundy and his militia is between $60,000 and $70,000 a day.... In addition to the costly increase in security that Bundy and company brought, Grasty said that the “bill” would be for the salaries of teachers and other public employees who didn't go into work when schools and government buildings were closed due to the standoff. Grasty also urged the community not to provide supplies for the protesters, who have asked for items such as cigarettes, tampons and coffee creamer. “No matter how you feel, do not bring food and supplies up to the refuge,” Grasty said.

Election News

Obama knocks Trump, voices optimism in speech to set 2016 tone President
Reuters - Obama took aim on Tuesday at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and accused critics of playing into the hands of Islamic State in a speech meant to cement his legacy and set a positive tone for his final year in office. Obama, delivering his last annual State of the Union speech to Congress as president, called for leaders to "fix" U.S. politics and criticized candidates such as Trump for using anti-Muslim rhetoric that betrayed American values. "When politicians insult Muslims ... that doesn’t make us safer," he said, drawing applause from the crowd in the House of Representatives chamber. "It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals." Trump, whom Obama did not mention by name in his speech, is leading the Republican field ahead of the Nov. 8 election to pick the next president.

Ted Cruz Skips Vote On Federal Reserve Audit
Gateway Pundit - After co sponsoring Sen. Rand Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act, Senator Ted Cruz was a no show to Tuesday’s vote on the bill. According to Cruz’s facebook page, he’s hunkered down in Hew Hampshire, on the Presidential campaign trail and preparing his response to the State Of The Union address. The bill, S. 2232, failed in a 53-44 vote, with a near party line vote.

Poll: Bernie Sanders widens lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire
(CNN) - Sen. Bernie Sanders has widened his lead over Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire Democratic primary to 14 points, according to a new poll out Tuesday. A Monmouth University survey finds the Vermont senator leading Clinton 53% to 39% in the early voting state. That's a reversal from Monmouth's last poll, taken in November, that had Clinton up 48% to 45%, though Sanders led in September by 7 points.
* Related: Quinnipiac poll: Sanders surges to retake lead in Iowa

Economy & Business

$1 Trillion Erased from Stocks So Far in 2016
CNN - Wall Street’s disastrous start to 2016 has caused roughly $1 trillion to vanish from the stock market. The eye-popping losses highlight the deep fears that has gripped financial markets over China’s economic slowdown and crashing oil prices. That one-two punch caused the Dow and S&P 500 to suffer their worst start to a trading year on record last week. The S&P 500's market valuation has plunged by $1.04 trillion since the end of 2015, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. To put that stunning figure in context, it's like wiping out the combined value of the following tech giants: Google (GOOGL, Tech30) ($508 billion), Facebook (FB, Tech30) ($281 billion), Intel (INTC, Tech30) ($154 billion), Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) ($50 billion) and Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) ($29 billion)

Sales surge after U.S. Mint quadruples silver coin allocation
Reuters - American Eagle silver coin sales jumped on Monday after the U.S. Mint said it set the first weekly allocation of 2016 at 4 million ounces, roughly four times the amount rationed in the last five months of 2015, after a surge in demand. More than half of the week's allocation sold on Monday, the first day of 2016 sales, the mint said, a sign that demand remains strong as spot silver prices hovered above a 6-1/2-year low of $13.60 per ounce hit in December. The mint said nearly 2.76 million ounces of American Eagle silver bullion coins sold, about half of the 5.53 million ounces that sold in all of January 2015.

Energy & Environment

The Company Behind LA's Methane Disaster Knew Its Well Was Leaking 24 Years Ago
Zero Hedge - Last fall, a 7-inch injection well pipe ruptured 500 feet below the surface of Aliso Conayon in Los Angeles, after ferrying natural gas for six decades. The resulting methane leak is now being called one of the largest environmental disasters since the BP oil spill, has pushed thousands of people out of their homes, and has quickly become the single biggest contributor to climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions in California. But it's not the first time this well sprang a leak - and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), which owns and operates the well, knew it.... Aging natural gas equipment may have contributed. According to documents filed with the California Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources, this particular well, referred to as Standard Sesnon 25, was originally drilled in 1953, and showed signs of leakage 24 years ago, in 1992. Inspectors reported that they could hear the leak through borehole microphones.

Survival/Preparedness

“After Armageddon”: Marine Shows How to Survive An Urban Disaster
Mac Slavo - Society could be unraveled by any number of scenarios, and it could leave you stranded, without loved ones and desperate to secure food, water and shelter. Escape to the countryside or a remote location may not be feasible.... Rudy Reyes, a veteran Recon Marine, lends his expertise and shows how to survive an urban environment, find resources inside a broken city, all while avoiding other survivors whose interests can’t be assumed to align with yours.

Health

Major Drug Distributors Flooded West Virginia with Millions of Pain Pills
Natural Society - On Friday, Morrisey announced a lawsuit against San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation alleging the company violated state consumer protection laws and the Uniform Controlled Substances Act by flooding West Virginia with tens of millions of prescription pills. McKesson allegedly failed to detect, report, and stop the flood of suspicious prescription drug orders into the state, contributing to widespread drug abuse. The state says the company pushed narcotics to anyone who wanted them in a state that has more problems with prescription drug abuse than any other in the nation. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics show West Virginia’s rate of fatal drug overdoses was 28.9 overdose deaths per 100,000 people in 2010, most of those involving prescription drugs.

Rosemary helps heal estrogen-dominant breast cancer
(NaturalHealth365) According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, rosemary’s many health benefits include: memory improvement, the relief of muscle pain and spasm, the stimulation of hair growth, support for the nervous and circulatory systems and the prevention of thrombosis. It also has antimicrobial properties and is a known antioxidant. Its most impressive attribute, however, is the effect it has on cancer cells, including skin cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia and breast cancer. In large part, rosemary’s anticancer properties are due to high levels of carnosic acid, rosmarinic acid and alpha tocopherol (vitamin E), all strong antioxidants. In particular, carnosol, also found in rosemary, has been proven to detoxify certain substances that initiate the growth of breast cancer tumors.

High temperature cooking increases risk of prostate and breast cancer by 50%
(NaturalHealth365) Research has shown the incidence of certain cancers is notably increased in people who eat meat cooked at high temperatures. When raw foods are heated beyond 300 degrees F, chemical changes take place. Those changes damage cells and alter proteins in the body after the food is ingested. Mutagens are agents that damage human DNA, increasing the risk of serious diseases, including breast cancer and prostate cancer. Glycation end products are toxins that damage your body’s proteins, leading to loss of functionality and tissue damage – which can foster serious health conditions due to chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Glycation products are also known to cause weight gain and bring about premature aging.

Pet News

How Fleas are Becoming Chemical-Resistant Mutants
Natural Society - Veterinarians are telling pet owners that flea treatments like Advantage and Frontline are a waste of money because they’re no longer effective at getting rid of fleas and keeping them away. The bugs have mutated in order to survive, it seems. ... Vets are recommending ingestible flea treatments like Nextguard, which is also made by Frontline, but both dogs and cats are regularly sickened by over-the-counter flea treatments, especially if they ingest them. Some of the chemicals in these products are neurotoxins!... There are natural ways of ridding your pets and home of fleas. It’s a better choice, whether you have “normal” fleas or the mutant kind....
 



Tuesday - January 12, 2016 - Today in History:

1773 - The first public museum in America was established in Charleston, SC.
1915 - The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.
1915 - The U.S. Congress established the Rocky Mountain National Park.
1940 - Soviet bombers raided cities in Finland.
1942 - U.S. President Roosevelt created the National War Labor Board.
1945 - During World War II, Soviet forces began a huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe.
1948 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not discriminate against law-school applicants because of race.
1966 - President Johnson said in his State of the Union address that the U.S. should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there was ended.
1970 - Nigeria's civil war ended.
1991 - The U.S. Congress passed a resolution authorizing President Bush to use military power to force Iraq out of Kuwait.
1995 - Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew announced that as of January 16 British troops would no longer carry out daylight street patrols in Belfast.
1998 - Tyson Foods Inc. pled guilty to giving $12,000 to former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. Tyson was fined $6 million.
1998 - 19 European nations agreed to prohibit human cloning.
1998 - Linda Tripp provided Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's office with taped conversations between herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.
2005 - NASA launched "Deep Impact". The spacecraft was planned to impact on Comet Tempel 1 after a six-month, 268 million-mile journey.
2006 - The U.S. Mint began shipping new 5-cent coins to the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. The coin has an image of Thomas Jefferson taken from a 1800 Rembrandt Peale portrait in which the president is looking forward. Since 1909, when presidents were first depicted on circulating coins, all presidents had been shown in profile.

World News

At least 10 killed, 15 wounded in suicide bombing near tourists on central Istanbul square - media
RT - At least 10 people have been killed and 15 injured on a historic central square in Istanbul, Turkish authorities said. Local media reported that a suicide bomber blew himself up near a group of tourists. At least six German citizens, one Norwegian and one Peruvian were injured in the blast, Dogan reported. Norway’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed that one Norwegian citizen was injured in the blast and is receiving treatment at a local hospital.... Istanbul authorities are investigating the incident and the type of the explosives used in the blast, the governor’s office said. Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants are probably behind the Istanbul blast, two Turkish senior officials said, as cited by Reuters.... After the explosion, the German Foreign Office issued a statement, urging its citizens to avoid public places and tourist attractions in Istanbul. The office added that it fears there is a risk of terrorist attacks across Turkey, and called on its citizens to “avoid staying near government and military institutions.”

US Prepares for War with North Korea
Kurt Nimmo - The United States placed troops stationed in South Korea on high alert Monday following an alleged hydrogen bomb test by North Korea. he US responded to the claim by flying a B-52 bomber from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam over Osan, South Korea on Sunday and South Korea resumed its theatrical anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts on the border. The alert was ordered by Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the UN Command/Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea. Scaparrotti issued the order during a visit to the US and South Korea jointly operated Osan Air Base. The US is considering the deployment of B-2 bombers, F-22 stealth fighter jets, and nuclear submarines.

US Navy seeks 'long-term' presence in the Mediterranean, warns of Russia's increased capabilities
RT - US Navy weighs permanent deployment in the Mediterranean to respond to Russia’s increased naval capabilities, a senior Navy official said. As part of global rivalry, not countering Moscow at sea entails the "risk of falling behind," another Navy chief warned. The US Navy is considering "long-term" deployments in the Mediterranean in addition to the ongoing use of four guided missile destroyers stationed in Rota, Spain, the senior Navy official told Sputnik on Tuesday.

RBS tells investors: 'sell everything' as crisis nears
RT - The Royal Bank of Scotland has recommended its clients prepare for a “cataclysmic year,” as major stock markets could drop by a fifth and Brent oil could hit $16 a barrel.... According to RBS analysts, the markets are showing the same stress alerts as seem before the 2008 crisis. Andrew Roberts, the bank’s credit chief, says that “China has set off a major correction and it is going to snowball.” China “has very high debt levels (as a percentage of GDP) given they are still emerging” and crucially they have accumulated this debt incredibly fast, he said. He predicts European and Wall Street markets to drop from 10 to 20 percent this year. London’s FTSE100 was predicted to plummet even lower.

US Pumps Billions of Dollars Into Afghan 'Ghost Soldiers' That Don't Exist
Sputnik News - "At checkpoints where 20 soldiers should be present, there are only eight or 10," Atal [Karim Atal is the head of the provincial council in Helmand ] told the Associated Press. "It's because some people are getting paid a salary but not doing the job because they are related to someone important, like a local warlord." In other cases, dead soldiers and police remain listed among active participants, while senior police or army officials pocket the salaries of the deceased, said Attal, who estimates that some 40% of the registered forces do not exist, the AP reported… Afghanistan's government is ignoring the problem, Afghan lawmaker Ghulam Hussain Nasir told the AP. "When we say we have 100 soldiers on the battlefield, in reality it is just 30 or 40. And this creates the potential for huge catastrophes when the enemy attacks," he said.

Sweden Covered-Up Systematic Rape During Festival Because Migrants "Awkward to Write About"
Mac Slavo - After the events in Cologne raised questions about the highly coordinated and repeated sexual crimes by migrant groups, the Swedish media was forced to admit that it looked the other way after a source exposed – more than six months ago – at least 90 cases of unsolicited groping by males from Afghanistan or Syria during a summer music festival. Apparently a psychologist working with the police contacted the media, who despite initial interest, passed on the verifiable story over concerns that it was only fueling an anti-migrant narrative favored by the Social Democratic party in Sweden.

German Biker Gangs Attack Foreigners In Migrant "Manhunts"
Zero Hedge - … reports now indicate a rogue band of “bikers, hooligans and bouncers” organized a migrant “manhunt” on Facebook before attacking a group of Pakistanis in Cologne. “Two young Pakistani men needed hospital treatment after being attacked by vigilante gangs hunting foreigners in Cologne in apparent revenge attacks for the mass sexual assaults on women on New Year’s Eve,” The Evening Standard reports, adding that “police said the first incident took place early yesterday evening when a group of about 20 men attacked six Pakistanis near the main station near the railway station where the New Year’s Eve attacks took place.” “Shortly after the first attack, a similar incident unfolded when a 39-year-old Syrian national was assaulted by a group of five people,” Deutsche Welle adds.

Austrian police chief warns women not to leave home alone in wake of Cologne sex attacks
London Independent - Vienna’s chief of police has warned women against venturing into the streets alone, in the wake of highly-publicized sexual assaults in Austria and Germany. However, police boss Gerhard Pürstl is now being accused of putting the onus on women to protect themselves from assault, rather than targeting men who commit sexual crimes. Mr Pürstl said: “Women should in general not go out on the streets at night alone, they should avoid suspicious looking areas and also when in pubs and clubs should only accept drinks from people they know.” The controversial comments came in a statement made to Die Krone, Austria’s largest newspaper. The newspaper has been censured by the Austrian press council for inflaming anti-immigrant sentiment with inaccurate reporting, and forced to apologize after being caught forging photos of Syrian refugees.

"Nothing Is Moving," Baltic Dry Crashes As Insiders Warn "Commerce Has Come To A Halt"
The continued collapse of The Baltic Dry Index remains ignored by most… But, as Dollar Vigilante's Jeff Berwick details, it appears the worldwide 'real' economy has ground to a halt!!... This weekend, reports are circulating saying much the same thing… The North Atlantic has little or no cargo ships traveling in its waters. Instead, they are anchored. Unmoving. Empty. If true, this would be catastrophic for world trade. Even if it’s not true, shipping is still nearly dead in the water according to other indices. The Baltic Dry Index, an assessment of the price of moving major raw materials by sea, was already at record all-time lows a month ago... and in the last month it has dropped even more, especially in the last week.

Taiwan Bans GMOs from School Lunches. Mandates GMO Labeling. Throws down Gauntlet on Toxic Foods from USA and Monsanto
Global Research - Nearly a full year ago, Taiwan passed ‘Food Act Amendments’ that achieve remarkable food safety milestones the U.S. government refuses to implement, placing Taiwan far ahead of the United States on food safety. These milestones include: 1) Requiring the mandatory labeling of GMOs on all food products that contain 3 percent or more GMOs... 2) Limiting the use of food additives to just 799 compounds approved by the Taiwan FDA… 3) All GMO ingredients are required to be registered with the Taiwan government, and food manufacturers that use GMOs are required to establish an origins tracking system… 4) All the soy milk, tofu, miso and other soy-derived products sold everywhere across the country... must be clearly labeled as GMOs if they use genetically modified soy. 5) Food products made using genetically modified soy as a processing agent or blended ingredient must also label their final food products as GMO… 6) Fines for violating these food safety provisions have been set at NT$50 million.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Oregon militia tears down gov’t fence, wants ranchers released
RT - Armed men occupying Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon are tearing down part of a fence erected by the government to keep ranchers out of federally owned property. The escalation comes 10 days into the standoff at the fowl sanctuary south of Burns, Oregon. Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who head the group occupying the refuge, announced they would be tearing down the portion of the fence and replacing it with a gate, to allow local ranchers access to pastures… On Saturday, the brothers’ mother Carol Bundy sent out a call for more supplies, including sleeping bags, toiletries, food, coffee and cigarettes, suggesting that the group was preparing to stay for the long haul. Later that day, a convoy of almost 20 vehicles brought in rifle-armed volunteers from the Pacific Patriot Network, but the Bundys turned them away. Fellow rancher LaVoy Finicum said that while the PPN’s help was appreciated, “we want the long guns put away.”

Toxic “Reform” Law Will Gut State Rules on Dangerous Chemicals
The Intercept - The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act — named, ironically, for the New Jersey senator who supported strong environmental protections — would make it much harder for states to regulate chemicals after the EPA has evaluated them, and would even prohibit states from acting while the federal agency is in the process of investigating certain chemicals. he Senate’s version has some significant differences from the House bill — the TSCA Modernization Act, which passed in June — and the reconciliation process is now underway. If the worst provisions from both bills wind up in the final law, which could reach the president’s desk as soon as February, the new legislation will gut laws that have put Oregon, California, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, and Washington state at the forefront of chemical regulation.

FBI's Clinton probe expands to public corruption track
Fox News - The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email as secretary of state has expanded to look at whether the possible “intersection” of Clinton Foundation work and State Department business may have violated public corruption laws, three intelligence sources not authorized to speak on the record told Fox News. This new investigative track is in addition to the focus on classified material found on Clinton’s personal server… Inside the FBI, pressure is growing to pursue the case. One intelligence source told Fox News that FBI agents would be “screaming” if a prosecution is not pursued because “many previous public corruption cases have been made and successfully prosecuted with much less evidence than what is emerging in this investigation.”

Pacific Patriot Network Articles of Resolution Given To Leadership And Officials In Harney County
Oath Keepers - Pacific Patriots Network and affiliates (Idaho and Oregon III%, Josephine county Oath Keepers, and others), made a showing of presence today at the Malheur wildlife refuge. Due to threats to members of our network and local residents, and as a deterrent to fringe groups that may have malicious intent, we arrived at the refuge in numbers, with our security teams openly armed and in full kit for everyone’s safety. Our presence is strictly to ensure peaceful resolution to the situation, and serve as a neutral mediator between parties. We offered the Proposed Articles of Resolution to the occupiers of refuge and encouraged them to seek open dialog with all pertinent agencies to begin the process of bringing this situation to a peaceful conclusion. After delivering the proposal, our teams withdrew from the location, and will remain off site. We are not part of the Malheur occupation.... Proposal for Resolution is as follows...

Arizona Readies Bill to Outlaw Citizens Recording Cops on Private Property
Kurt Nimmo - The Arizona Senate is poised to pass a bill that will outlaw citizens from taking videos of police, even on their own private property. “It is unlawful for a person to knowingly make a video recording of law enforcement activity,” SB 1054 reads, “if the person making the video recording does not have the permission of a law enforcement officer and is within twenty feet of where the law enforcement activity is occurring.” The bill also states that an individual may not record police on their private property or in their homes unless they are twenty feet away from police or “from an adjacent room.” If a police officer determines the individual is “interfering in the law enforcement activity or that it is not safe to be in the area,” the officer may order “the person to step recording or to leave the area.”... The legislation represents another encroachment on private property by the state. If police can tell you want to do on your own property, you no longer have property rights.

Election News

Hypocrite Hillary Clinton Says Throw the Book at Bundy and the Oregon Occupiers
Kurt Nimmo - Hillary Clinton told the Las Vegas Sun last week Ammond Bundy and the occupiers in Oregon should be arrested and prosecuted. “They should leave—leave peacefully—but they should be charged for the illegal action they have undertaken, trespassing, breaking and entering and the like,” Clinton said. She also said the occupiers are “potentially posing a threat to law enforcement and civilians” despite the fact they have not used violence and have stated repeatedly they do not plan on using violence unless attacked by the government. The newspaper should have asked Clinton how Bundy and crew might be prosecuted for trespassing when the federal government has no legal right to own land beyond what is specified in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution.

Fox Business Announces Debate Line-Up
The Daily Caller - During his show Monday evening, host Lou Dobbs said those who will have podiums on the main stage are Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich. The primetime debate at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center in North Charleston is set for 9 p.m. EST on Thursday. The four other candidates who didn’t qualify for the main stage — Paul, Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum — are being invited to participate in an undercard debate, set for earlier that evening at 6 p.m. EST. Paul is suggesting he will not participate in an undercard debate, saying he deserves to be on the main stage.

Democratic, Republican Identification Near Historical Lows
Gallup - In 2015, for the fifth consecutive year, at least four in 10 U.S. adults identified as political independents. The 42% identifying as independents in 2015 was down slightly from the record 43% in 2014. This elevated percentage of political independents leaves Democratic (29%) and Republican (26%) identification at or near recent low points, with the modest Democratic advantage roughly where it has been over the past five years… Also, Americans' favorable ratings of each party are on the lower end of what Gallup has measured over the past few decades.

Three New Polls Show Trump Leading in Iowa and New Hampshire
Gateway Pundit - Two new Iowa polls shot Donald Trump leading in the Hawkeye State. Another poll shows Trump with three times the support as the runner-up in New Hampshire. The latest Iowa Quinnipiac poll shows Donald Trump leading Ted Cruz by 2 points in Iowa. The American Research Group has Trump up four points over Ted Cruz in Iowa. In NBC’s broader sample of potential Iowa caucus-goers Trump leads Cruz 26 to 24. If Trump wins both Iowa and New Hampshire this primary could be over pretty quick.

Veteran News

Assyrian Army Chief Honors U.S. Fallen in Iraq at Arlington National Cemetery
Breitbart - Tears welled in the eyes of the Assyrian Army commander fighting to protect Christian communities from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria when he reached the section of the Arlington National Cemetery where American service members who died in the name of Iraqi freedom have been laid to rest. Emmanuel Khoshaba Youkhana, commander of the Christian Assyrian Army, primarily based in Iraq, visited the national cemetery Friday during the last day of his visit to the United States. Cmdr. Youkhana become very emotional as he expressed appreciation for the American service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice to improve the lives of the Iraqi people.

Economy & Business

Arch Coal Files for Bankruptcy in Latest Blow to U.S. Miners
Bloomberg - The holder of the second-largest reserve of coal in the U.S. filed for creditor protection Monday. The company said it has an agreement with a majority of its senior lenders to erase $4.5 billion in debt from its balance sheet and allow it to keep operating without interruption. Arch has been losing money since 2012. “Over the past several years, a confluence of economic challenges and regulatory hurdles has hobbled the coal industry,” Arch Chief Financial Officer John T. Drexler said in a filing accompanying the Chapter 11 petition in St. Louis. Industry wide troubles including slower demand from China, competition from Australian exports and cheap gas pushed competitors Patriot Coal Corp., Walter Energy Inc. and Alpha Natural Resources Inc. into bankruptcy last year.

Half of US shale drillers may go bankrupt: Oppenheimer's Gheit
CNS News - Half of U.S. shale oil producers could go bankrupt before the crude market reaches equilibrium, Fadel Gheit, said Monday. The senior oil and gas analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. said the "new normal oil price" could be 50 to 100 percent above current levels. He ultimately sees crude prices stabilizing near $60, but it could be more than two years before that happens. By then it will be too late for many marginal U.S. drillers, who must drill into and break up shale rock to release oil and gas through a process called hydraulic fracturing. Fracking is significantly more expensive than extracting oil from conventional wells.

The Financial Crisis Of 2016 Rolls On – China, Oil, Copper And Junk Bonds All Continue To Crash
Economic Collapse - Never before have we seen a year start like this. On Monday, Chinese stocks crashed once again. The Shanghai Composite Index plummeted another 5.29 percent, and this comes on the heels of two historic single day crashes last week. All of this chaos over in China is one of the factors that continues to push commodity prices even lower. Today the price of copper fell another 2.40 percent to $1.97, and the price of oil continued to implode. At one point the price of U.S. oil plunged all the way down to $30.99 a barrel before rebounding just a little bit.

GM Ignition Nightmare Won't Go Away, for Victims or Company
Bloomberg - Engineers at America’s biggest automaker, which got a $50 billion government bailout in the financial crisis, knew of a flawed ignition switch but rejected a fix that would have cost 90 cents apiece, according to evidence provided to lawmakers… General Motors spent 2014 under a harsh congressional spotlight, recalling millions of Ions, Cobalts and other vehicles. It spent 2015 scrambling for deals with prosecutors and plaintiffs. It’s already paid more than $2 billion to resolve investigations and a securities lawsuit, as well as injury claims. This year, the Detroit company will begin to see how big the total bill will be. The car maker, which faces at least 16 trials on death and injury claims in state and federal courts in the U.S. in 2016, has said in regulatory filings that it couldn’t estimate its potential liability.

Energy & Environment

Project 'Gridstrike' Finds Substations To Hit For A US Power Grid Blackout
InformationWeek - Remember that million-dollar Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) study in 2013 that found that attacks on just nine electric substations in the US could cause a blackout across the entire grid? Well, a group of researchers decided to see just what it would take for a small group of domestic terrorists to identify the US's most critical substations -- using only free and public sources of information. While FERC relied on confidential and private information in its shocking report and spent a whopping $1 million in research, researchers at iSIGHT Partners used only so-called open-source intelligence, at a cost of just $15,000 total for 250 man-hours by their estimates.

EPA’s Own Scientists Admit to Misleading Public on Fracking Impacts to Drinking Water
Natural Blaze - Despite these findings, and EPA’s own admissions of “data limitations and uncertainties” as well as “the paucity of long-term systemic studies,” the agency stated in its conclusion that “there is no evidence fracking has led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources.” Industry hacks and their MSM cheerleaders took this line and ran with it, proclaiming that “the science is settled” on fracking and any further concerns are just crazed environmental activists pursuing an agenda. However, it turns out that the EPA’s own science advisers have repudiated the study’s major conclusion, saying that it is “inconsistent with the observations, data and levels of uncertainty.” “Major findings are ambiguous or are inconsistent with the observations/data presented in the body of the report,” the 31-member scientific review board said on Thursday. The panel will have a public teleconference on Feb. 1 before sending its final recommendations to EPA.

Fracking-Related Earthquakes Lead Oklahoma to Increase Regulation of Wastewater Wells
AllGov - The state commission that regulates Oklahoma's oil and natural gas industry ordered some injection well operators to reduce wastewater disposal volumes on Monday after at least a dozen earthquakes hit an area north of Oklahoma City in less than a week… "We are working with researchers on the entire area of the state involved in the latest seismic activity to plot out where we should go from here," Oil and Gas Conservation Division Director Tim Baker said, adding that responding to the swarm of earthquakes in the region was an ongoing process. Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, with the number of quakes magnitude 3.0 or greater skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 800 in 2015. Many of the earthquakes are occurring in swarms in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater — a byproduct of oil and gas production — deep into the earth.

Science & Technology

The new way police are surveilling you: Calculating your threat 'score'
The Washington Post - … perhaps the most controversial and revealing technology is the threat-scoring software Beware. Fresno is one of the first departments in the nation to test the program. As officers respond to calls, Beware automatically runs the address. The searches return the names of residents and scans them against a range of publicly available data to generate a color-coded threat level for each person or address: green, yellow or red. Exactly how Beware calculates threat scores is something that its maker, Intrado, considers a trade secret, so it is unclear how much weight is given to a misdemeanor, felony or threatening comment on Facebook. However, the program flags issues and provides a report to the user.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

The Incredible Healing Power Of Essential Oils — For Livestock
Off the Grid News - In the past several years, a good deal of scientific research has been conducted to explore the use of various essential oils in livestock management. One such study was published in the October 2014 edition of the journal Poultry Science, and it found that chickens that consumed feed with added oregano oil had a 59 percent lower mortality rate due to ascites, than birds that were not treated. You can find many other similar studies on the Internet with a simple Google search. To help keep layer flocks and broiler chickens healthy, try a mixture of oregano and cinnamon oil in their water. A good rule of thumb is it takes about seven drops of oil in a gallon of water to equal 100 ppm. Oil doesn’t mix with water, so you’ll need to shake it up as you think about it through the day, or at least each time you refill the water.

Health

Government Continues to Pay Damages for Injuries and Deaths Due to the Flu Vaccine in Vaccine Court
Health Impact News - The report for December 3, 2015 which covered the period from 8/16/15 to 11/15/15 had 150 cases adjudicated. 83 of them were listed in the report, specifying the vaccine, the injury or death, and the amount of time the case was pending before settlement. There were three deaths: two related to the flu vaccine, and one related to the Hepatitis B vaccine, which is a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease routinely given to newborns in hospitals the same day they are born. 64 of the 83 cases settled were for injuries and deaths due to the flu vaccine, making the flu vaccine the most dangerous vaccine in the U.S., harming and killing more people than all the other vaccines put together.

Prevent Brain Disorders With Fermented Foods – Tips for a Healthy Brain
Natural Blaze - Your gut is home to an incomprehensible number of microbial life forms. In fact, there are more bacteria living in your gut right now than there are humans living on planet earth.... These bacteria are important for a number of reasons. They help synthesize different chemicals and compounds that affect just about every system in the body, and they are intimately linked with our brains. A little-known side effect of an unhealthy gut is a leaky gut. When the gut’s permeability is compromised, chemicals can leak into the bloodstream and cause inflammation throughout the body. This inflammation can even take place in the brain. Many different neurological and brain disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, have strong correlations with a leaky gut and are the result of excess inflammation in the brain. The best way to prevent a leaky, permeable gut is to do whatever you can to improve the gut flora (or gut bacteria).

Black Seed Confirmed Through Biomedical Literature To Have Over 20 Pharmacological Actions
Natural Blaze - Commonly referred to as black cumin or caraway, black seed is actually more of a description than a proper name, yet is preferred because it helps to distinguish it. Many health experts claim that it is, indeed, a true healer in many forms; able to help cure almost every illness known. People have used the seed to make medicine for over 2000 years and more than 600 peer-reviewed studies have validated most empirical evidence. Besides black cumin and caraway, black seeds are also referred to as black sesame, onion seed and roman coriander. Black Seed (Nigella Sativa) is capable of producing over 20 distinct pharmacological actions it expresses, such as...

Turmeric Cooler: The Juice that Can Save You from Buying Advil
Natural News Blogs - Chronic pain is a problem for millions of Americans across the country, forcing many to resort to over-the-counter or even prescription pain pills just so they can function from day to day. Unfortunately, all of these pain pills come with a price: aspirin, for instance, can cause ringing in the ears and even damage the hearing, while NSAIDs like Advil can lead to serious stomach problems if used for too long. Stronger pain pills based on morphine can not only cause dependence but problems like constipation and respiratory distress. Fortunately, there are natural alternatives: read on to find out more about turmeric, one of nature’s best anti-inflammatory analgesics.

Pet News

Antifreeze-like Ingredient Found in Pet Treats' Latest Recall
Dr. Becker - Recently a brand of commercially available cat treats found to contain low levels of propylene glycol was recalled by the manufacturer....Cats, with their unique physiology, are extremely sensitive to many substances other animals are not. In the case of propylene glycol, just a small amount can cause Heinz body hemolytic anemia, a condition in which red blood cells are destroyed. Heinz body hemolytic anemia can also be caused by ingestion of other substances toxic to cats, including onions, garlic, kale, turnips, zinc, acetaminophen, vitamin K, and benzocaine. The condition can also be the result of an inherited disorder, diabetes, or hyperthyroidism. When it comes to your dog, according to the FDA, propylene glycol is presumably safe in small doses. However, if you're feeding a processed diet containing propylene glycol day in and day out over an extended period of time, your canine companion is receiving continuous, long-term exposure to the stuff. According to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), the effects on humans of propylene glycol include potential damage to the central nervous system, genetic material, and reproduction (including birth defects).
 



Monday - January 11, 2016 - Today in History:

1805 - The Michigan Territory was created.
1861 - Alabama seceded from the United States.
1913 - The first sedan-type car was unveiled at the National Automobile Show in New York City. The car was manufactured by the Hudson Motor Company.
1922 - At Toronto General Hospital, Leonard Thompson became the first person to be successfully treated with insulin.
1935 - Amelia Earhart Putnam became the first woman to fly solo from Hawaii to California.
1942 - Japan declared war against the Netherlands. The same day, Japanese forces invaded the Dutch East Indies.
1943 - The United States and Britain signed treaties relinquishing extraterritorial rights in China.
1964 - U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry released a report that said that smoking cigarettes was a definite health hazard.
1988 - Vice President George Bush met with representatives of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh to answer questions about the Iran-Contra affair.
2000 - The U.S. Postal Service unveiled the second Vietnam Veterans Memorial commemorative stamp in a ceremony at The Wall.
2001 - The Texas Board of Criminal Justice released a review of the escape of the "Texas 7." It stated that prison staff missed critical opportunities to prevent the escape by ignoring a fire alarm, not reporting unsupervised inmates and not demanding proper identification from inmates.
2001 - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the merger of America Online and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.
2002 - The first planeload of al-Qaida prisoners from Afghanistan arrived at a U.S. military detention camp in Guantanamo, Cuba.
2003 - Calling the death penalty process "arbitrary and capricious, and therefore immoral," Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of 167 condemned inmates, clearing his state's death row two days before leaving office.
2010 - Mark McGwire admitted to the AP that he'd used steroids and human growth hormone when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998.

World News

5 killed in missile strike on Medicins Sans Frontieres clinic in Yemen
RT - At least five people have been killed in a missile strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres medical facility in Yemen. The organization “strongly condemns this,” while adding that 10 people have been injured in the attack… According to MSF staff on the ground, one missile hit the Shiara Hospital, where the humanitarian organization has been operating since November, 2015. MSF say they are unable to say who was responsible for the attack, but mentioned planes were seen flying over the facility at the time the attack took place. The organization adds that the death toll could rise as there is the possibility that people are still trapped in the rubble… MSF pointed out on their Twitter feed that this is the third severe incident the organization has had to deal with in the last three months.

German Official: Migrant Invasion Will Reach OVER 10 MILLION
Breitbart - Europe has barely even seen the start of the migrant influx, Germany’s Development Minister has warned. Gerd Müller said only 10 per cent of Syrian and Iraqi migrants have reached Europe so far and “eight to ten million are still on the way”, with even more to come from Africa. “The biggest movements are ahead: Africa’s population will double in the coming decades,” he told Bild am Sonntag, adding: “In the Sahara up to one million people have died trying to escape.” The European Commission, he added, has lost a significant amount of authority thanks to the crisis. “The protection of external borders is not working. Schengen has collapsed. A fair distribution of refugees has not taken place,” he said.

‘Merkel Out!’: German Far-right Vents Fury After Cologne Attacks
Agence France-Presse - Chanting “Merkel out” and waving German flags, supporters of the xenophobic PEGIDA movement vented their anger Saturday against migrants after a rash of sexual assaults in the western city of Cologne. Carrying banners and signs bearing slogans like “Rapefugees not welcome,” the far-right protesters took aim at Merkel, accusing her of allowing migrants to running amok in Germany through her liberal stance towards those fleeing war. “Merkel has become a danger to our country. Merkel must go,” a member of PEGIDA told the crowd, which echoed the call. Witnesses have described the perpetrators of the assaults in Cologne on the night of Dec. 31 as people with “North African or Arab” appearance.

Amid Stock Market Panic, Dozens of Chinese Billionaires Are Mysteriously Disappearing
Activist Post - According to Bloomberg, as many as 36 companies reported executives missing from January to September. Just a few weeks ago, Chang Xiaobing, the CEO of the state-owned telecoms giant China Telecom, resigned and then went missing. There were rumors that Xiaobing was taken by police or government agents in a widening corruption investigation that is touching every corner of the Chinese economy. Back in November, Yim Fung, chairman and CEO of Guotai Junan International Holdings went missing, sending the company’s stock down 12%. Also in November, Chen Jun and Yan Jianlin, two senior executives of Citic Securities vanished without a trace....

Brazil Justice Ministry Fines Nestle over Failing to Label GMOs
Sustainable Pulse - The Brazilian Ministry of Justice has issued fines against six food manufacturers for failing to include labels indicating the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). The list of companies charged with financial penalties includes Nestle, Pepsico and Bimbo, with fines ranging from US$277,400 to just over US$1 million. In total, the fines amount to an estimated US$3 million. The decision was reached as a result of an inspection carried out by Brazil’s Consumer Protection Agency Senacon in 2010, which found that GMOs had been used in cake mixes, snacks and various other products being sold in the country’s supermarkets. Senacon accuse the companies of violating Brazilian consumer rights including the right to information, freedom of choice and the right for protection against abusive corporate practices.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Drug test kits used by police are total science fraud: They produce positive results 70% of the time, no matter what is being tested
Natural News - An unknown number of completely innocent citizens have been the victims of false positive results of drug-testing kits routinely used by law enforcement authorities. These kits have been shown to produce up to 70 percent false positive results for marijuana and other drugs

Whoa: Hillary e-mail instructs aide to transmit classified data without markings
Hot Air - Has the State Department released a smoking gun in the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal? In a thread from June 2011, Hillary exchanges e-mails with Jake Sullivan, then her deputy chief of staff and now her campaign foreign-policy adviser, in which she impatiently waits for a set of talking points. When Sullivan tells her that the source is having trouble with the secure fax, Hillary then orders Sullivan to have the data stripped of its markings and sent through a non-secure channel.... Regardless of whether or not Sullivan complied, this demolishes Hillary’s claim to be ignorant of marking issues, as well as strongly suggests that the other thousand-plus instances where this did occur likely came under her direction.
* Related: Hillary: I Did Not Break the Law Handling Classified Material — ‘Headings Are Not Classification Notices’

Hillary Emails Reveal True Motive for Libya Intervention
Foreign Policy Journal - Newly disclosed emails show that Libya’s plan to create a gold-backed currency to compete with the euro and dollar was a motive for NATO’s intervention.... The email identifies French President Nicholas Sarkozy as leading the attack on Libya with five specific purposes in mind: to obtain Libyan oil, ensure French influence in the region, increase Sarkozy’s reputation domestically, assert French military power, and to prevent Gaddafi’s influence in what is considered “Francophone Africa.” Most astounding is the lengthy section delineating the huge threat that Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves, estimated at “143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver,” posed to the French franc (CFA) circulating as a prime African currency.

Idaho Militia Group Arrive To ‘Secure Perimeter, Prevent Waco-style Situation’ At Oregon Refuge
Washington Times - Members of an Idaho militia group arrived at an Oregon refuge on Friday as armed occupiers refused to leave the federal building outside Burns. The “3% of Idaho” group’s members will “secure a perimeter” around the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which has been occupied by an armed militia led by Ammon Bundy for seven days. “They just keep an eye on everything that is going on” to make sure “nothing stupid happens,” Mr. Bundy said Friday, The Oregonian reported. Mr. Bundy said if the Idaho group hadn’t showed up, “I’d worry” about a Waco-style siege by federal officers. Brandon Curtiss, the president of the 3% of Idaho, would not reveal how many people his group was sending to Oregon. Some of the members who had already arrived at the bird sanctuary where carrying what appeared to be handguns on their hips, according to The Oregonian. Mr. Curtiss said he was also on his way to the refuge.

TX Governor Proposes Nine New Amendments to fix "Broken Constitution"
Sputnik News - In order to fix what he calls the “cracks in our broken Constitution,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called for a convention of states to pass nine new amendments to the monumental document. During a Friday address, Gov. Abbott expressed the convention would be a response to the attacks on the Constitution by President Barack Obama’s executive branch, Congress and the Supreme Court… Abbott stressed his plan would strengthen the 10th Amendment which states, "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Throughout his address, Abbott also warned that the federal government was straying from the path laid out by the founding fathers.

Police to ask about your sexual orientation and English language proficiency
MassPrivateI - Under a proposed new law, Missouri cops will record a person's race, their perceived sexual orientation, religion, disability and their English language proficiency! Reams of data now show that “driving while black” is a real offense in the eyes of some Missouri officers and departments and it's about to get worse! Below are a some excerpts taken from the new law...

Campbell’s is the First Big Food Company to Disclose GMO Ingredients on Label
Natural Blaze - You spoke and Campbell’s food company listened. Previously, Campbell’s unveiled plans to run toward the health-conscious organic and non-GMO market dollar. Now, they have dropped one of the biggest publicity bombs ever by announcing their intention to voluntarily label their GMO ingredients. Part of their previous plans for change included launching several lines of organic kids soups, and removing MSG from all their kids soups, creating organic wheat versions of cracker products, increasing organics across other food lines, removing artificial colors and flavors from nearly all North American products in the next three years, removing high fructose corn syrup from Pepperidge Farm fresh breads, and increasing the transparency of their ingredients, including the launch of a new website; What’s in My Food.

Jackson County Oregon Farmers Win Battle for GMO-free Zone
Health Impact News - Jackson County, Oregon, has just joined the small but growing ranks of “GE-free zones” in the U.S., which prohibit the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. It’s at least the eighth county in the country to create such an ordinance, and efforts are springing up to pass similar measures in other places.

Election News

Cruz Campaign Reveals Ted’s Mother’s Birth Certificate
Breitbart - Eleanor Darragh, mother of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), was born in Delaware on Nov. 23, 1934, establishing her citizenship by birth–and, according to U.S. law, that of her son, even though he was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Dec. 22, 1970. Later, Ted Cruz’s own birth certificate listed his mother as “Eleanor Elizabeth Wilson.” “Elizabeth” was her mother’s first name, and “Wilson” is a surname from a previous marriage. The Cruz campaign was responding to inquiries from Breitbart News about a document showing that both of Cruz’s parents had been named on a list of voters in Calgary for the 1974 Canadian federal election. Only Canadian citizens were (and are) able to vote in federal elections. The lists were compiled through a door-to-door process of “enumeration” by registrars, and were publicized partly so that mistakes could be corrected.

Parents Outraged After Students Are Offered Credit to Serve as Volunteers for Hillary Clinton Campaign
Breitbart - The superintendent of the Maine School Administrative District 35 is scrambling to calm parents who were outraged that their high school students were offered community service credit for volunteering 50 hours of service in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

New Poll Shows Donald Trump Is a Real Threat to Hillary Clinton
US News - The survey by Washington-based Mercury Analytics... took place primarily Wednesday and Thursday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. Nearly 20 percent of likely Democratic voters say they'd cross sides and vote for Trump, while a small number, or 14 percent, of Republicans claim they'd vote for Clinton. When those groups were further broken down, a far higher percentage of the crossover Democrats contend they are "100 percent sure" of switching than the Republicans. When the firmed showed respondents the Trump ad, and assessed their responses to each moment of it, it found "the primary messages of Trump's ad resonated more than Democratic elites would hope."

Economy & Business

Defense Industry Revenue Forecast Gushes Over Global Turmoil
The Intercept - The global aerospace and defense industry is out of its doldrums. According to a new report by the accounting firm Deloitte, “the resurgence of global security threats” promises a lucrative “rebound” in defense spending. The report alerts investors that “revenue growth” is “expected to take a positive turn” due to the terrorism and war in the Middle East and the tensions in Eastern Europe and the South China Sea. Many analysts predicted declining revenue for the weapons industry as the U.S. scaled down military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan… But now governments around the world have moved swiftly to hike defense budgets to “combat terrorism and address sovereign security matters.”

U.S. Coal Production Falls to Lowest Level in 30 Years
AllGov - U.S. coal production has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 30 years as cheaper sources of power and stricter environmental regulations reduce demand, according to preliminary government figures. A report released Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates 900 million short tons of coal were produced last year, a drop from about 1 billion short tons in 2014. That's the lowest volume since 1986… Last year's drop in demand hit hardest in the central Appalachian basin, where production plunged 40 percent below its annual average from 2010 through 2014, according to the report. The U.S. coal industry didn't get any help overseas last year either, as exports to the United Kingdom, Italy and China plummeted by more than 50 percent. Overall, U.S. exports of coal dropped by about 21 percent last year, the report estimated.

Gas prices could drop toward $1 a gallon
USA Today - In some gas stations around the country, the price of a gallon of regular has dropped below $1.42. AAA and GasBuddy, two organizations that follow gasoline prices, say that gasoline prices below $2 will not be unusual in most of the United States. As oil prices fall, and refinery capacity stays strong, the price of gas could reach $1 a gallon in some areas, a level last reached in 1999. As a matter of fact, the entire states of Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Caroline have gas prices that average at or below $1.75.

Housing Market

Backyard ‘Granny Pods’ Are The Perfect Solution For Aging Elders And Their Families
Natural Blaze - Will nursing homes soon become a thing of the past? When a beloved member of the family reaches an age they can no longer thrive living on their own, it becomes a family’s worst nightmare to decide their fate. Should they send them to a nursing home where they are guaranteed to have assistance ‘round the clock, or should the family free up space in their busy house and hope everyone gets along underneath one roof? Both options have their pros and cons, but perhaps there’s an even better solution than might benefit all involved. Introducing MedCottages, or “Granny Pods”.

Science & Technology

Human-Animal Chimeras Are Gestating on U.S. Research Farms
MIT Technology Review - Braving a funding ban put in place by America’s top health agency, some U.S. research centers are moving ahead with attempts to grow human tissue inside pigs and sheep with the goal of creating hearts, livers, or other organs needed for transplants. The effort to incubate organs in farm animals is ethically charged because it involves adding human cells to animal embryos in ways that could blur the line between species. Last September, in a reversal of earlier policy, the National Institutes of Health announced it would not support studies involving such “human-animal chimeras” until it had reviewed the scientific and social implications more closely. The agency, in a statement, said it was worried about the chance that animals’ “cognitive state” could be altered if they ended up with human brain cells.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

How Grow to Pineapples Indoors
NutriUnify Solutions - Have you ever considered growing tropical fruits, such as pineapple, at home? It’s much simpler than you think. Check it out to learn how.

40 Million Pounds of Hemp Will be Produced In North Carolina
Natural Blaze - One of the only hemp decortication plants in the United States resides in Spring Hope, North Carolina. This plant has been inactive for many years due to legal issues, but with the passing of a recent law legalizing hemp for industrialization, the plant will begin to process 40 million pounds of hemp each year. This will pave the way for many employment opportunities and the opportunity to set an example of the various benefits industrial hemp can provide our states and our nation as a whole. Decortication is the process of stripping back plant material from stalks, allowing the crop to be used for production. This will allow hemp to be turned into clothing, rope, fuel, jewelry, and much more.

EPA Releases Study on Pesticides Killing Bees, Gets Sued Immediately by Beekeepers
Natural Blaze - Wednesday against the EPA. “Center for Food Safety, on behalf of several beekeepers, farmers and sustainable agriculture and conservation groups, filed a lawsuit [on January challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) inadequate regulation of the neonicotinoid insecticide seed coatings used on dozens of crops,” the Center for Food Safety stated in a press release. “EPA has allowed millions of pounds of coated seeds to be planted annually on more than 150 million acres nationwide. The lawsuit alleges the agency has illegally allowed this to occur, without requiring the coated seeds to be registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), without enforceable labels on the seed bags, and without adequate assessment of the serious ongoing environmental harm.”

Factory Farm "Cannibalism" and Rising Antibiotic Use Pose Serious Threats to Human Health
Dr. Mercola - In 2014, nearly 10 percent of the entire swine population in the U.S. was wiped out by the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) — a highly lethal virus traced back to pig's blood used in piglet feed. To thwart reemergence of PEDv, some farmers are now feeding the intestines from baby pigs that died from the disease to their breeding hogs — yet another "cannibal" strategy that may produce adverse results. Researchers recently discovered a mutated gene in Chinese meat and human patients that makes bacteria resistant to our last-resort class of antibiotics. The identical gene has also been found in Denmark, suggesting global spread has begun.

Health

How to Make Your Own Healing Salve with Plantain-infused Olive and Coconut Oils
Health Impact News - Whether you are looking for a safe salve for diaper rashes, or something to rub into working hands that could use a little TLC from all those winter-weather cracks, or an active playful child who has knees and elbows, this salve is for you. It's good for use on insect bites, scratches, rashes, nicks, cuts, dry skin, you name it – and even works as an earthy lip-balm. The first step in making your own Healing Salve with Plantain-infused Olive and Coconut Oils is to prepare a batch of plantain-infused olive oil which will later serve as the base for the salve.

This Tea Has 137 Times More Antioxidants Than Green Tea
Natural News Blogs - Matcha is a very powerful type of green tea that is grown under special conditions. During the last month prior to harvest, the tea leaves are covered in shade to protect them from sunlight. This increases the antioxidants, chlorophyll, and polyphenol content. In addition, beneficial amino acids are also increased. The tea leaves then go through a unique processing that involves drying, aging, and stone grinding. This is an extremely time-consuming and labor intensive process.

How drinking one can of Coke seriously harms the body in just one hour
(NaturalHealth365) Just what happens when you consume a can of Coke? A British pharmacist used what is already known about cola’s effect on the body to illustrate just what damage a 330 ml can of Coca-Cola can do within the first hour of consumption. Here’s what happens to your system as the minutes tick away...

Pet News

Five Gifts Our Pets Give Us — Not just during the holidays
Dr. Becker - I’d like to reflect on the gifts our animal companions bring to our lives not just during the holidays, but every day of the year. [Kleenex warning if you watch the video!]

Inspirational

The man is Jeff Carson on Facebook
 



Friday - January 8, 2016 - Today in History:

1790 - In the United States, George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address.
1815 - The Battle of New Orleans began. The War of 1812 had officially ended on December 24, 1814, with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The news of the signing had not reached British troops in time to prevent their attack on New Orleans.
1838 - Alfred Vail demonstrated a telegraph code he had devised using dots and dashes as letters. The code was the predecessor to Samuel Morse's code.
1853 - A bronze statue of Andrew Jackson on a horse was unveiled in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC. The statue was the work of Clark Mills.
1877 - Crazy Horse (Tashunca-uitco) and his warriors fought their final battle against the U.S. Cavalry in Montana.
1900 - U.S. President McKinley placed Alaska under military rule.
1918 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announced his Fourteen Points as the basis for peace upon the end of World War I.
1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty."
1973 - Secret peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam resumed near Paris, France.
1973 - The trial opened in Washington, of 7 men accused of bugging Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, DC.
1992 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush collapsed during a state dinner in Tokyo. White House officials said Bush was suffering from stomach flu.
1994 - Tonya Harding won the ladies' U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Detroit, MI, a day after Nancy Kerrigan dropped out because of a clubbing attack that injured her right knee. The U.S. Figure Skating Association later took the title from Harding because of her involvement in the attack.
1998 - Ramzi Yousef was sentenced to life in prison for his role of mastermind behind the World Trade Center bombing in New York.
2011 - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot and critically wounded when a gunman opened fire as the congresswoman met with constituents in Tucson; six people were killed and 12 others were injured. (Jared Lee Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in connection with the shooting.)

World News

S. Korea restarts propaganda warfare, North responds in kind, artillery deployed at border
RT - Seoul has responded to Pyongyang’s nuclear test by restarting propaganda broadcasts across the border. North Korea has answered by starting up loudspeakers of its own, Yonhap reports, as well as deploying artillery near the border.... South Korea raised military readiness to its highest level at locations near the loudspeakers and turned the broadcast on Friday morning. To protect their propaganda asset, K-9 self-propelled artillery and short-range missiles have been placed near speakers units. The broadcast can be heard 10 kilometers into North Korea during the daytime and some 24 kilometers at night, according to a Yonhap News defense source.

Missing U.S. Missile Shows Up in Cuba
WSJ - An inert U.S. Hellfire missile sent to Europe for training purposes was wrongly shipped from there to Cuba in 2014, said people familiar with the matter, a loss of sensitive military technology that ranks among the worst-known incidents of its kind. The unintended delivery of the missile to Cuba has confounded investigators and experts who work in a regulatory system designed to prevent precisely such equipment from falling into the wrong hands, said those familiar with the matter. For more than a year, amid a historic thawing of relations between the U.S. and Cuba, American authorities have tried to get the Cuban government to return the missile, said people familiar with the matter. At the same time, federal investigators have been tracing the paper trail of the wayward Hellfire to determine if its arrival in Cuba was the work of criminals or spies, or the result of a series of blunders, these people said.

Saudi warplanes attack Iranian embassy in Yemen – Iran
RT - Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of using warplanes to attack the Iranian embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. Some guards were reportedly wounded in the attack, according to state news channel IRIB. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen says it will investigate the accusation, according to coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, as cited by Reuters. Asseri acknowledged that coalition jets carried out heavy airstrikes in Sana'a on Wednesday night, targeting missile launchers used by the Houthi militia. He added that the group has used civilian facilities, including abandoned embassies.

Just Don't Call it Combat: Pentagon Avoids 'C-Word' When Discussing Afghanistan
Sputnik News - The Pentagon has been careful not to use the term "combat" when discussing the role of US forces in Afghanistan, even after an American soldier died in a gunfight with Taliban insurgents. On Tuesday, US special forces accompanying Afghan troops engaged in a protracted firefight with Taliban forces in the Helmand Province. One of the US soldiers was killed and two others were wounded. When asked if the fatal skirmish meant the US combat mission continues in Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook was evasive. He labeled the mission only a "train, advise and assist" operation.

Gaddafi's Grim Prophecy Fulfills as Terrorism Spreads Across Europe
Sputnik News - Gaddafi tried to explain Tony Blair in two phone conversations in February 2011 that if foreign powers helped Libyan rebels to overthrow his government then next thing Europeans would know jihadists would carry out terrorist attacks across the European continent… Gaddafi also welcomed foreign journalists to come over to Libya and see the situation for themselves, so the world would know the truth about those so-called "rebels" who eventually toppled his government… In the end, Gaddafi's words were ignored and three weeks later NATO began bombing the Libyan Armed Forces, which soon led to the overthrow of the Libyan government. After Gaddafi's government was overthrown and Colonel himself killed, the country failed to form a stable government and Libya descended into chaos.

FIGHTBACK: German Vigilante Groups Pledge To Protect Women In Migrant Sex Assault Cities
Breitbart - Declaring “one for all, and all for one”, the motto of Sweden and a saying commonly associated with the Three Musketeers the new ‘Dusseldorf is Watching’ group already had 2,300 members after it was launched on Facebook last night. The group intends to provide protection at major events and in city centres at weekends to ensure the safety of their fellow Germans, reports the Rheinische Post. While the desire to “protect our ladies future” appears sincere the group has already come under attack not only by police who maintain law enforcement should remain firmly their own responsibility, but also by the press who have labeled the group “absurd” and criticized it for including members of biker gangs.

Saudi Devaluation Odds Highest In 20 Years, Kingdom Now More Likely To Default Than Portugal
Zero Hedge - … the market is getting worried that Riyadh is about to careen into crisis… As Bloomberg notes, “twelve-month forward contracts for the riyal climbed 260 points to 950 as of 3:49 p.m. in Riyadh, set for the steepest close since December 1996 [reflecting] growing speculation the world’s biggest oil exporter may allow its currency to slide against the dollar for the first time since 1986.”.. Saudi Arabia, which entered 2015 with virtually no debt and an FX reserve war chest that amounted to around three quarters of a trillion dollars, is now viewed as less creditworthy than a country where a coalition of socialists, left-wingers, and communists just overthrew the government.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Obama blasts ‘imaginary fiction’ of taking away guns
Fox News - President Barack Obama rejected the "imaginary fiction" that he wanted to take away the guns of law-abiding Americans during a town hall meeting on his gun policies aired on CNN Thursday night. "The way it is described, is that we are trying to take away everybody's guns," Obama said, charging that his opponents had twisted his plans on gun safety measures. "Our position is consistently mischaracterized," Obama said. "If you listen to the rhetoric, it is so over-the-top, it is so overheated."

Rape Survivor Asks Obama: Why Can’t You See Gun Restrictions Make My Kids and I Less Safe? (VIDEO)
Gateway Pundit - Rape survivor Kimberly Weeks Corban attended President Obama’s Gun Control Town Hall tonight on CNN. Kimberly was raped by a man who broke into her apartment. Tonight Kimberly asked the president why he wanted to make her children less safe. “As a survivor of rape and now a mother of two small children it seems like being able to purchase a firearm of my choosing and being able to carry that wherever me and my family are. My basic responsibility is as of a parent at this point. I have been unspeakably victimized once already. I refuse to let that happen again to myself or my kids. So why can’t your administration see that these restrictions you’re putting to make it harder for me to own a gun or make it harder for me to take that where I need to be is actually making my kids and I less safe.” Kimberly Weeks Corban wrote a chilling essay about her rape on Revealing Politics in 2013, arguing against a ban on concealed carry on college campuses that would disarm victims like her.

75 Times Obama Broke Law During Presidency
Kit Daniels - Here’s a list of at least 75 times President Obama violated the Constitution and/or broke federal law during his presidency, which also doubles as a list of at least 75 reasons why Congress must impeach the president now...

Marine Corps Ordered to Make Job Titles Gender Neutral
Adan Salazar - The US Marine Corps is under orders to integrate both male and female recruits at boot camp training and must alter job titles to adopt a more gender-neutral tone by April. The mandate, announced in a January 1st memo from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, asks the department to submit a “detailed implementation plan that addresses the gender integration of officer and enlisted basic training.”... Additionally, Marine Corps officials have been asked to review job titles and eliminate the word “man” wherever possible.

DEA Hired TSA Informant to Confiscate Travelers’ Cash
Mikael Thalen - An investigative summary released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday reveals that Drug Enforcement Agnecy (DEA) paid a Security Screener with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to alert them to travelers carrying large sums of cash. The report, released by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), summarizes whether the DEA acted accordingly in registering a TSA employee as a paid Confidential Source (CS).... The DEA is reported to have offered the TSA agent a cut of any confiscated cash in exchange for his assistance, raising serious ethical questions about the agency’s practice.

House Republicans want refugee bill fast-tracked in Senate
McClatchy - Republicans in the House of Representatives who quickly pushed through a bill late last year to temporarily halt Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entering the United States want the Senate majority leader to bring up the measure for a vote soon after the upper body reconvenes Monday. The bill – written by Reps. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas – would put pressure on federal security and intelligence officials to change the vetting process for all refugees entering the country. It would require additional reporting of such security measures and would mandate that senior-level security officials personally sign off on each refugee’s admittance.

Clinton email-investigation results forwarded to judges
WND - 'Judicial Watch wants to know the facts behind [the] purposeful thwarting of FOIA'. The results of an inspector general’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server already are being forwarded to judges handling several court fights over the content of the communications because it concluded the front-runner for the Democratic nod for president “exploited a loophole” in the Freedom of Information Act processes. The announcement comes from officials with Judicial Watch, the Washington watchdog group that has been fighting in and out of court for access to those formal government communications.

Oregon occupation leader rejects sheriff's bid to end standoff
Reuters - The leader of a group of armed protesters occupying the headquarters of a federal wildlife refuge in southeastern Oregon met briefly with a local sheriff on Thursday but rejected the lawman's offer of safe passage out of the state to end the standoff. Ammon Bundy and other occupiers left the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in two vehicles and traveled to a neutral location along a remote Oregon roadside to meet for about five minutes with Harney County Sheriff David Ward. During that meeting, which was attended by two Reuters reporters, Ward told Bundy that he was seeking a peaceful resolution to the nearly week-long standoff and offered to escort the occupiers out of Oregon. But Bundy, saying that the sheriff had not addressed the occupiers' grievances, declined.

Cop Arrested Twice for Assaulting Women, Stayed a Cop and Was Just Arrested a Third Time
The Free Thought Project - Philadelphia Police Officer Deric Lewis was recently arrested for the third time, after being arrested on two other occasions and losing his job as a result. In his two previous arrests, Lewis was charged with assault and reckless endangerment, and was reported as being violent in both situations. As a result of the first two arrests, he lost his job. However, shortly after, he was rehired, only to be arrested again.

Common Core Creator: Don't Help With Math
The Daily Caller - One of the chief creators of the Common Core math standards is warning America’s parents to stop teaching their own children basic math because, he says, public school teachers are well-trained experts who understand rudimentary arithmetic far better. The directive to leave children submerged in confusion as they try to do homework comes from Jason Zimba, who was part of a trio that originally wrote the Common Core math standards. “The math instruction on the part of parents should be low. The teacher is there to explain the curriculum,” Zimba told The Hechinger Report, an education journalism website published by Columbia University’s Teachers College.

Economy & Business

Stock Market Crash 2016: This Is The Worst Start To A Year For Stocks Ever
Economic Collapse - We have never had a year start the way that 2016 has started. In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have both posted their worst four-day starts to a year ever. Canadian stocks are now down 21 percent since September, and it has been an absolute bloodbath in Europe over the past four days. Of course the primary catalyst for all of this is what has been going on in China. There has been an emergency suspension of trading in China two times within the past four days, and nobody is quite certain what is going to happen next. Eventually this wave of panic selling will settle down, but that won’t mean that this crisis will be over. In fact, what is coming is going to be much worse than what we have already seen.

Election News

Trump Accused Of “Blackmailing” UK By Vowing To Pull Investments If Government Bans Him
Steve Watson - GOP frontrunner Donald Trump has said he will pull £700 million in investment from Scotland if he is officially barred from the UK by the government. Trump has £200 million unvested in a resort in South Ayrshire and £500 million more in a golf course in Aberdeen. A statement from Trump’s camp notes that “Any action to restrict travel would force the Trump Organization to immediately end these and all future investments we are currently contemplating in the United Kingdom.” “Westminster would create a dangerous precedent and send a terrible message to the world that the United Kingdom opposes free speech and has no interest in attracting inward investment.” the statement continues. “Many people now agree with Mr Trump that there is a serious problem that must be resolved. This can only be achieved if we are willing discuss these tough issues openly and honestly.” the Trump statement concludes. The British Parliament will debate the issue of Trump being barred from the country on January 18th, following a petition signed by around half a million people, which called for banning Trump over comments he made about stemming Muslim immigration in the US.

Energy & Environment

Geoengineering Watch Legal Team Moves Forward With Washington D.C. Public Relations Firm
Dane Wigington - Over the last six months the tireless effort to organize solid legal action for the purpose of exposing and halting global geoengineering programs has progressed behind the scenes. Many dedicated attorneys and environmental experts have donated their time and energies to this all important effort. The current legal team includes 8 attorneys from the US, 3 attorneys from Canada. After countless conference calls, emails, and other extensive evidence and information organizing efforts, the team is moving solidly forward in preparation for legal action as we enter 2016.

Multiple 4.0+ magnitude earthquakes hit Northwest Oklahoma
RT - The US Geological Survey reported three earthquakes striking Northwest Oklahoma overnight. Fracking is blamed for the ever more common series of temblors in the state, which has already experienced 27 tremors in 2016. A magnitude-4.7 quake hit an area 20 miles northwest of Fairview, Oklahoma around 10:27 p.m. About thirty seconds later, a magnitude-4.8 earthquake struck half a mile away. A magnitude-4.0 earthquake hit the area around 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning.... Oklahoma’s recent trend of earthquake clusters has been linked to the oil and gas exploration that uses hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

Science & Technology

Here is the test scientists use to see if you might be a conspiracy theorist
Tech Insider - Take the test - 15 questions to determine whether or not people are likely to subscribe to conspiracy theories.

Confirmed: How to stop Windows 10 forcing itself onto your PC
The Register - If you're using a PC running Windows 7 or 8 you may be getting a little sick of endless popup screens telling you to upgrade to version 10, and worried about inadvertently installing the upgrade as part of a security update. Microsoft will start pushing out the upgrade as a recommended, virtually mandatory, update very soon (it's right now only an optional download). Some people are tempted to turn off Windows Update completely to avoid getting the new operating system – don't. It'll leave your computer vulnerable to attack as you'll no longer get security patches. It's actually rather easy to turn off the Windows 10 upgrade function without losing vital regular software updates. Microsoft even has an official document explaining how to do it.

“The Creepy Study” – Surveillance Cameras Analyze Emotions
Activist Post -Tucked into the white ceiling tiles, the ceiling camera he (Bill Hedgcock, Associate Professor of Marketing) had installed at the Pappajohn Business Building at the University of Iowa scans the faces of all who pass under it and instantly calculates their moods — collecting readings for joy, frustration, confusion, fear, anger and sadness. Hedgcock believes the University of Iowa is the world’s only business school with this kind of real-time software that converts images of people’s faces into readings for different moods. If it works, experts see huge potential for facial encoding in the worlds of marketing, advertising and political campaigns. (emphasis added)

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

A Tree Fell In This Woman’s Yard. What They Transform It Into? Amazing!
Sun Gazing - If you live in your own home, and are lucky enough to have beautiful trees on your property, you have lived through the heartbreak of losing them in large storms. Some may be hundreds of years old, or you may have lovingly planted them and watched them grow, year after year. Sometimes it isn’t a storm that’s the culprit, rather precarious distance to your home may require removal, for safety’s sake. Tree removal people eliminate the problem, but more often than not leave an unsightly stump. In the case of the homeowner in the following video that you are about to watch, they were lucky enough to call Lueb Popoff. Who, may you ask, is Lueb Popoff? He is a man who could cut down her tree, but rather than leaving the dreaded ugly stump in front of her house, watch what he does!!

Health

FDA will ban three chemicals linked to cancer from food packaging
Digital Journal - The FDA announced on Monday it was publishing its final rule banning three grease-resistant chemical substances used in many pizza boxes and other kinds of food packaging. The three specific perfluoroalkyl ethyl types have been linked to birth defects and cancer... EWG [Environmental Working Group] President Ken Cook was quoted by EcoWatch: “Industrial chemicals that pollute people’s blood clearly have no place in food packaging. But it’s taken the FDA more than 10 years to figure that out and it’s banning only three chemicals that aren’t even made anymore.".... Now it should act on our petition to ban the seven other chemicals we believe — and government agencies such as the toxicology program at the National Institutes of Health have found — cause cancer," [The director of the National Resources Defense Council] Erik Olson said

6 “One-Spoonful” Hacks to Lose Weight Effectively
Natural News Blogs - If you want to lose weight fast, forget these diet pills, the secret is just in your kitchen. Many common ingredients will help you lose extra pounds and provide your body with essential nutrients as well. Here are some highly recommended one spoonful hacks to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Herbal Oil: 12 Remarkable Peppermint Oil Fixes
Natural News Blogs - Extracted from the herb by steam distillation, the oil of peppermint is clear with a slight tinge of yellow. Its main constituent is menthol, which imparts the famous heady, minty aroma and the remarkable “cooling sensation,” when tasted or touched. Peppermint oil comprises vitamins A and C, omega-3 fatty acids, and minerals including potassium, manganese, iron, magnesium, calcium, and copper. The numerous health benefits of peppermint oil include its ability to treat several health problems.

Oldschool Lavender Lemonade: The Secret Recipe for Anxiety and Headaches
Natural Blaze - It is estimated that nearly half the U.S. population is afflicted with headaches yearly, while anxiety affects nearly 20% of the population. Anxiety and headaches lead to lost productivity, stressed relationships and, of course, the horrendous physical pain that leads people to try dangerous over-the-counter medications and prescriptions to “just make it go away.” Well, here is a gift from the heavens that I stumbled across many years ago and has got me through some very trying moments.

Pet News

Are our pets in the crosshairs of Big Pharma?
Health Nut News - Our poor pets are in the midst of an epidemic similar to the one we find ourselves in; chronic ill health has become the norm- from itchy, scabby skin, regular bouts of vomit and diarrhea, allergies, epilepsy, and even arthritis. What’s the cause? Well, Dr. Jean W. Dodds, an eminent vet and researcher, believes that allergic and autoimmune diseases (where the body attacks itself) are on the rise because of modified live virus vaccines. We the People Report reports in the article that the uptick in behavioral problems in dogs, is due, largely, to over-vaccination and the terrible processed pet food that people are feeding their pets. We’ve got to start saying no. Another option is to demand your vet use a cheap test called Vacci Check to measure your pet’s titers.


Thursday - January 7, 2016 - Today in History:

1782 - The Bank of North America opened in Philadelphia. It was the first commercial bank in the United States.
1789 - Americans voted for the electors that would choose George Washington to be the first U.S. president.
1904 - The distress signal "CQD" was established. Two years later "SOS" became the radio distress signal because it was quicker to send by wireless radio.
1927 - Transatlantic telephone service began between New York and London. 31 calls were made on this first day.
1927 - In Hinckley IL, the Harlem Globetrotters played their first game.
1942 - The World War II siege of Bataan began.
1949 - The announcement of the first photograph of genes was shown at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
1953 - U.S. President Harry Truman announced the development of the hydrogen bomb.
1959 - The United States recognized Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba.
1979 - Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government.
1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed legislation that authorized $1.5 billion in loans for the bail out of Chrysler Corp.
1996 - One of the biggest blizzards in U.S. history hit the eastern states. More than 100 deaths were later blamed on the severe weather.
1998 - Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky signed an affidavit denying that she had an affair with U.S. President Clinton.
1999 - U.S. President Clinton went on trial before the Senate. It was only the second time in U.S. history that an impeached president had gone to trial. Clinton was later acquitted of perjury and obstruction of justice charges.
2009 - Russia shut off all gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin publicly endorsed the move and urged greater international involvement in the energy dispute.

World News

China turmoil sends oil, stocks sliding
Reuters - Global shares tumbled for a sixth day on Thursday and oil prices slid to levels not seen since the early 2000s, after China guided the yuan lower and Shanghai shares tumbled by 7 percent, igniting fears of competitive devaluations across Asia. Less than half an hour after the market opened, Chinese stock trading was suspended for a second time this week. Brent crude prices skidded over 5 percent to an almost-12-year-low of $32.16 LCOc1, with worries over weaker demand from China adding to a persistent drag on prices caused by oversupply and near-record output levels.

Nuclear Armed States Throw Tizzy Over Kim’s Dubious Hydro Nuke
Kurt Nimmo - The United States, Russia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea have condemned North Korea’s announcement it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. “We absolutely cannot allow this,” said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “The North Korean nuclear program and the repeated nuclear tests are (a) serious threats to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and an attack on the worldwide nonproliferation regime,” said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Hua Chunying, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said his country remains “steadfast in its position that the Korean Peninsula should be denuclearized.” “We have consistently made it clear that we will not accept (North Korea) as a nuclear state,” said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price. “We will continue to protect and defend our allies in the region.” Despite the round condemnation there is no solid evidence North Korea has developed a hydrogen bomb.

Obama Calls on Turkey to Withdraw Unauthorized Forces in Iraq - White House
Sputnik News - US President Barack Obama called on Turkey to withdraw any military forces not authorized by the Iraqi government during his call with Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi of Iraq, the White House announced in a statement. The US president’s remarks come after Turkey, in early December, deployed some 150 troops and 25 tanks to a base in the Iraqi Nineveh province, without Baghdad’s approval. Iraq regards the deployment as illegal. Turkish authorities however, said that their troops had entered Iraq to ensure the security of Turkish instructors deployed to the base to train local militias, fighting against the Islamic State terrorist group (known as Daesh in Arabic and prohibited in a range of countries, including Russia).

Britain and Italy Occupy Libya. . . Again
Brandon Turbeville - As time passes over the foreign policy of Western nations, the façade of promoting “freedom” and “democracy” passes with it. Even with well-established propaganda mechanisms in place to convince the Western public that NATO involvement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) serves a noble purpose, there are breaks in the wall of nonsense that passes for official explanations and mainstream media reporting that document the NATO march of terror across the world that is currently underway. In this case, the lie is that a direct Western presence in Libya is anything other than a return to open colonialism by the very powers who perpetrated it in years past on the very same territory.

Mayor of Cologne Slammed For Telling Women To Keep Rapists at “Arms Length”
Paul Joseph Watson - The Mayor of Cologne is coming under increasing pressure after she said that women should follow a “code of conduct” to avoid sexual attacks by Muslim migrants by keeping potential rapists at “arms length”. The comments were made after a crisis meeting was called in response to a mass molestation of women near Cologne train station on New Years Eve. The perpetrators were Arab and North African migrants, setting off a firestorm of debate about Germany’s open door refugee program. Mayor Henriette Reker reacted to the incident by asserting that it had nothing to do with Germany’s refugee program despite the fact that a wave of sexual assaults have been reported in and around migrant camps in the country for the past six months.... Reker also asked Germans to follow this “code of conduct” at Cologne’s upcoming festival so as to avoid confusing migrants “from other cultures”. There was no discussion of the fact that Germany is importing potentially millions of people from a culture and a religion that treats women little better than animals.
* Related: Police: Most of Cologne Sex Attackers Were Newly Arrived Syrian Refugees

‘Israeli war criminals must be put on UK govt watch-list’ – Labour MP
RT - Israeli war criminals, who detain and mistreat Palestinian children, must be kept on a “watch-list” in case they attempt to enter Britain, a Labour MP has said. While addressing MPs in Westminster Hall on Wednesday during a 90-minute debate, Labour MP Sarah Champion urged the government to create a list for “all known war crime suspects” who enter or attempt to enter Britain. She said the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is guilty of the “collective punishment” of Palestinians in order to protect Israeli settlers in the West Bank. She then criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinian child detainees.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Oregon occupiers: Not quite time to go home yet
Reuters - "There is a time to go home, we recognize that. We don't feel it's quite time yet," protest leader Ammon Bundy told a news conference at the refuge on Wednesday. "We feel like we need to make sure the Hammonds are out of prison, or well on their way. We need to make sure there is some teeth in these land transfers. And also that those who have committed crimes, those are exposed as well." Bundy said the group was compiling evidence to clear the Hammonds, who began longer prison terms this week for setting fires that spread to federal land. Bundy said witnesses told them the blazes were started by federal agents. "We believe we have enough of this to exonerate the Hammonds," he said. "If that is the only thing that is accomplished, then it will be well worth our effort."

Paul Craig Roberts: The Rule Of Law No Longer Exists In Western Civilization
Zero Hedge - American justice is a joke. It does not exist. The USA is a lawless country. By that we do not mean what conservative Republicans mean, which is, if we understand them, that racial minorities violate law with something close to impunity. What we mean is that only the mega-banks and the One Percent have legal protection, and that is because these people control the government. For everyone else law is a weapon in the hands of the government to be used against the American people.

Americans Skeptical of “Global Warming” Can Lose Gun Rights Due to Executive Order
Kit Daniels - Americans skeptical of so-called “man-made climate change” could lose their Second Amendment rights under Obama’s latest executive order considering that psychologists have said “global warming” skeptics were “mentally ill.” Over the past several years, various psychologists and media personalities have suggested “climate denial” is a “dangerous” mental disorder which threatens the lives of billions of people. For example, in 2009 the the University of West England hosted a major conference on “climate change denial” but shockingly, the conference was organized by psychotherapists and psychologists. And the University of Oregon’s Kari Norgaard suggested skeptics “must be recognized and treated” for their aberrant sociological behavior.

Guns Don't Cause Suicide
Zero Hedge - Homicide rates in the United States have been declining for 20 years as the number of privately-held guns in the US has increased substantially. In some states, such as New Hampshire and Oregon, which have very weak gun laws, homicide rates are remarkably low, and these states are among the safest places on earth. As homicide rates have declined, however, and gun-related homicides with them, gun-control advocates have attempted to create a new category of "gun violence" by blaming suicides on access to guns.... The Washington Post which casts suicide as indistinguishable from homicide, and goes on to point out that there were as many firearm related deaths in 2014 as there were deaths that resulted from automobile accidents. The article rightly notes that thanks to medical science and safety features on automobiles, deaths from car accidents have gone into steep decline in recent years. The article then notes that suicides have been increasing over the same period, but then attempts to connect this rise with access to firearms.

Chipotle faces criminal probe over norovirus outbreak
CBS News - The restaurant chain said Wednesday it has been served with a federal grand jury subpoena as part of a criminal investigation tied to a norovirus outbreak this summer at one of its restaurants in California. The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.... Chipotle sales have plunged following reports of customers getting ill. The company, which says in the filing that the contaminated food outbreaks will affect its financial results, expects sales for the fourth quarter to be down 14.6 percent, which would mark the first decline since the company went public in 2006. Shares of the company, which have fallen sharply since October, were down 1.7 percent to $440.88 in early trading.

Election News

Law Enforcement Officials, Medical Professionals: There’s Something Seriously Wrong With Hillary Clinton’s Health
Breitbart - Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s disappearance from the debate stage last month left people speculating that the former First Lady took a long bathroom break, but now a law-enforcement source with inside connections is alleging that Clinton was missing from the stage due to health issues stemming from a previous brain injury. These long-lasting symptoms stemming from a concussion and blood clot, according to a neurologist, suggest Clinton is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, which can severely impact her cognitive abilities.... Cardillo, who previously worked as an officer who provided VIP security details for the New York Police Department (NYPD), told Breitbart News that he knows of two additional sources who have commented about Clinton’s health problems, which have even impacted her ability to walk to her car after delivering a speech.

Gary Johnson announces 2016 presidential bid for Libertarian Party nomination
RT - The 2012 Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson has formally entered the 2016 campaign trail, hoping to be “the voice of reason” against the two major parties. The former governor of New Mexico bills himself as a “classic liberal.” ... Last election cycle, Johnson appeared on the presidential ballot in 48 states, garnering 1,275,971 votes, just shy of one percent. It had been three election cycles since a third party candidate, Ralph Nader with the Green Party, had that strong of a showing.

Gallup Explains Trump: "A Staggering 75% Of Americans Believe In Widespread Government Corruption"
Zero Hedge - What explains America's revulsion with the existing system? The answer comes from the latest Gallup article: "Explaining Trump: Widespread Government Corruption" in which it finds that once the silent majority of the population can identify the object of their distrust and anger - in this case Congress and the political status quo - and once they can subsequently identify an object that represents its opposite, the latter object's distance to the Oval Office becomes considerably shorter.

Economy & Business

Top 10 States That Rely Most on Federal Aid
CNS News - A new report by the Tax Foundation shows what percentage of each state’s revenue comes from the federal government through federal grants-in-aid, a sum that in total has reached $600 billion a year. Federal grants-in-aid to state and local governments include payments for Medicaid, education funding assistance, infrastructure project support, housing grants, and other payments, according to the Tax Foundation. For fiscal year 2013, which is the latest year for complete data, the Tax Foundation found that Mississippi got 42.9% of its general revenue from the federal government, and Louisiana came in second with 41.9% of its revenue from the U.S. Treasury.

Monsanto announces 1,000 job cuts after first-quarter losses
RT - Agrotech giant Monsanto said that it will eliminate 1,000 jobs as part of a bid to cut costs in the wake of lower profits. The cuts are the latest in a longer series of downsizing measures. Monsanto said that its income has been been hurt by a drop in major crop prices that has curbed farmers’ incomes and subsequent spending, as well as its continued trouble with countries’ monetary policies internationally.... The company, which sells agricultural chemicals and genetically engineered seeds, says that the most recent planned cuts will generate between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, up from previous estimates of $850 million to $900 million.

Macy’s Plans to Slash Jobs After Sales Tumble More Than Forecast
Bloomberg - Macy’s Inc. will fire or relocate about 3,000 workers and explore options for its real estate after the largest U.S. department-store company suffered a worse holiday period than it expected. The company is cutting staffing levels and shrinking its store count to match the lower sales volume, part of a plan to shave $400 million in annual expenses, according to a statement on Wednesday. The changes will affect three to four workers at each of about 770 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores — about 2 percent of its total workforce — though half of those employees are expected to be offered other jobs. It’s also shutting 40 Macy’s locations, following through on an announcement in September. The moves pleased investors, sending the shares up as much as 5.8 percent to $38.25 in late trading. Macy’s stock tumbled 47 percent last year.

Energy & Environment

California governor declares gas leak a state of emergency
Las Vegas Sun - California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Wednesday over a massive natural-gas leak that has been spewing fumes into a Los Angeles neighborhood for months. In a statement, Brown said he acted based on the requests of local residents in the community of Porter Ranch and the "prolonged and continuing" nature of the gas blowout at the underground storage facility. The well, owned by Southern California Gas Co., has been gushing up to 1,200 tons of methane daily, along with other gases. The utility is paying to relocate thousands of households after residents complained that the gases were making them sick. They say they have suffered nosebleeds, nausea, headaches and other ailments.

Keystone XL company takes legal action after Obama 'overstepped authority'
The Guardian - The company behind the rejected Keystone XL pipeline fired off two legal challenges on Wednesday, accusing Barack Obama of overstepping his authority and violating the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). TransCanada Corporation said it was looking to recover an estimated $15bn it spent over many years trying to win approval for the pipeline before Obama rejected the project last November.... The twin legal challenges – a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Texas on Wednesday and notice of intent to sue under provisions of the Nafta treaty – threaten to revive the longest-running environmental and political dispute of Obama’s administration.

Science & Technology

New iPhone Feature Unknowingly Driving Phone Bill Into Thousands For Some
(CBSMiami) - Data overages can lead to big phone bills. One family, however, was shocked when they got a bill for more than two thousand dollars. The big bill was because of a new feature on Apple iPhones that you may not be aware of. Like many teens, Ashton Feingold didn’t think much about the text message from AT&T which warned that he was nearing his data limit. “It just said maybe 65 percent of your data has been used,” said Feingold. Then the bill came.... “It’s usually $250 a month and this was $2,000!” said Ashton’s father Jeff. The difference? A new feature on Ashton’s iPhone called “WiFi Assist” which is standard with the new iOS 9.1 operating system.... “It comes by default, it is switched on,” said Campbell. “That’s why there’s an uproar.” Apple had no comment. To turn off WiFi Assist, go to settings, then cellular, then down at the bottom users can switch off the feature.

Intel Launches X-ray-like Glasses that Allow Wearers to ‘see inside’ Objects
The Guardian - Intel has launched a set of glasses built into a helmet that give x-ray-like vision using its RealSense 3D camera. The glasses-cum-hardhat was unveiled at CES in Las Vegas and has been co-developed with augmented reality company Daqri using Intel’s latest processor and camera technology. It has taken concepts – like those of Microsoft’s Hololens – and produced a real product. Unlike devices such as HoloLens or Google Glass, which have been marketed as consumer devices, the Daqri Smart Helmet is designed with industrial use in mind. It will allow the wearer to effectively peer into the workings of objects using real-time overlay of information, such as wiring diagrams, schematics and problem areas that need fixing.

Health

FDA To Approve Cannabis-Based Pharmaceutical For Multiple Health Conditions
Natural Society - GW Pharmaceuticals is expected to be given a green light for a cannabidiol drug (marijuana-based medicine) which has shown promise in the treatment of epileptic children, cutting epileptic attacks down by as much as 100% (45% average). When will the Feds admit cannabis is a medical miracle? In one breath the mainstream medical system has been telling us that ‘cannabis has no medicinal value,’ while the U.S. government has stealthily patented cannabinoid-based medicine which obviously shows that our government officials are well aware that cannabis can be extremely valuable from a medicinal standpoint. The FDA will soon grant a license to GW Pharmaceuticals for treating patients with multiple sclerosis with a drug called Epidiolex. That’s odd, since the FDA has repeatedly said that marijuana is not ‘safe and effective’ for treating anything.

Yeast Is A Cause of Cancer And Turmeric Can Kill Both, Research Confirms
Green Med Info - Titled, "Curcumin and its promise as an anticancer drug: An analysis of its anticancer and antifungal effects in cancer and associated complications from invasive fungal infections," the new study addressed the concerning problem of invasive fungal infections, as a major cause of both morbidity and mortality, in cancer patients. According to the study, "Effective anti-infection therapy is necessary to inhibit significant deterioration from these infections. However, they are difficult to treat, and increasing antifungal drug resistance often leads to a relapse." The authors suggest curcumin might offer an ideal natural alternative.... The study went on to explain that conventional therapies often result in collateral damage to the patient's immune system, which contributes to fungal overgrowth.... Moreover, conventional cancer treatments only target one aspect of cancer, focusing on a single pathway or molecule on a cancer cell.

Home Detox: How to Rid Your Environment of the Sources of Chronic Illness
Natural Blaze - Did you ever wonder why our country seems to be getting sicker by the year? Given the huge leaps in medical technology and the scientific discoveries made over the past decades, doesn’t it seem as though people in civilized countries would be leading longer, healthier lives?... What’s causing all of this illness? It’s possible that the overwhelming amount of sickness in the country is due to nearly constant exposure to unhealthy chemicals in our water, our food, our personal care products, our cleaning products, and our environments. Our homes are full of things that make us sick, and all of it is approved for sale in our country. Following is a brief synopsis of just a few of the possible culprits you may be unwittingly exposed to....

How To Make Home-made Vaseline? Natural & Non-Petroleum Jelly!
Natural News Blogs - As you are probably aware, Vaseline has a petroleum base and petroleum is the same substance that gasoline is made from.... The European country has banned many petroleum jelly products because they could be linked to cancer. Women with breast cancer have twice the levels of hydrocarbons (substances found in petroleum jelly) in their breasts than women who haven’t had breast cancer. Home-made Vaseline is perfect for dry and sensitive skin. Perhaps skin ointments and creams are a good way out. But for those who want the perfect remedy for skin that is losing its moisture and natural oils, this recipe for home-made Vaseline is the best option.

Pet News

Diet Related Hyperthyroidism
Susan Thixton - Hyperthyroidism has been linked to pet foods that include the thyroid glands of slaughtered animals. Because pet food consumers are not informed of what portions of slaughtered animals are used in pet food, knowing the symptoms of hyperthyroidism could be important to protect your pet’s health.... It is significant to note that the thyroid gland is banned from human consumption (ground in hamburger meat) – thus we know it ends up in pet food. But again, consumers are not told which pet foods include the thyroid gland that could put our pets at risk. The few pieces of science published on this issue all discuss raw pet foods as the risk of diet related hyperthyroidism. It is assumed this is because raw pet foods contain more meat than typical kibble or canned pet foods (thus could contain more thyroid tissue). But…it is my guess that raw pet foods are not the only risk. Any pet food that contains large levels of thyroid glands of slaughtered animals could pose a risk to the pets consuming them.

The Scary Truth About “Free to a Good Home” Dog Classifieds
Dogington Post - Every responsible dog owner or pet parent knows that getting a dog is a life-long commitment. From the moment you open your heart and home to a loyal dog, you’re in it for the long haul, through sickness and health, ups and downs, good and bad, through snuggles on the couch to picking up the pieces of yet another pair of shredded shoes.... Still, even responsible dog owners can sometimes find themselves searching for a good home for their beloved pet.... Because our rescues and shelters are packed full, responsible pet owners have an increasingly tough time finding a good home for their pets and are turning to direct-to-consumer classified ads, like Craigslist or the local newspaper... If, for some reason (and it better be a good one), you must re-home your pet, there are some steps you can take to ensure he goes to a good home. Pet-Abuse.com offers up some wonderful tips for pet owners facing this challenging dilemma.
 



Wednesday - January 6, 2016 - Today in History:

1720 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble published its findings.
1759 - George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married.
1838 - Samuel Morse publicly demonstrated the telegraph for the first time.
1912 - New Mexico became the 47th U.S. state.
1930 - The first diesel-engine automobile trip was completed after a run of 792 miles from Indianapolis, IN, to New York City, NY.
1942 - The first commercial around-the-world airline flight took place. Pan American Airlines was the company that made history with the feat.
1945 - The Battle of the Bulge ended with 130,000 German and 77,000 Allied casualties.
1967 - U.S. and South Vietnamese forces launched a major offensive, known as Operation "Deckhouse V", in the Mekong River delta.
1982 - William G. Bonin was convicted in Los Angeles, CA, of being the "freeway killer" who had murdered 14 young men and boys.
1987 - After a 29-year lapse, the Ford Thunderbird was presented with the Motor Trend Car of the Year Award. It was the first occurrence of a repeat winner of the award.
1994 - Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg by an assailant at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI. Four men were later sentenced to prison for the attack, including Tonya Harding's ex-husband.
1998 - The spacecraft Lunar Prospect was launched into orbit around the moon. The craft was crashed into the moon, in an effort to find water under the lunar surface, on July 31, 1999.
1999 - The 106th U.S. Congress opened. The first item on the agenda was the impeachment proceedings of U.S. President Bill Clinton. The trial was set to begin January 7, 1999.
2001 - With the vanquished Vice President Al Gore presiding, Congress certified Republican George W. Bush the winner of the close and bitterly contested 2000 presidential election.
2005 - Former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was arrested 41 years after three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi. (Killen was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 60 years in prison.)

World News

Footing the Bill: Poland Wants ‘to Leave Dirty Work’ of Defense Spending to Washington
Sputnik News - By creating and fueling the idea of the Russian threat, the new Polish government is trying to make NATO members, particularly the United States, station their troops in Poland at their own expense, said Doug Bandow, a senior research fellow at the Cato Institute, according to the National Interest. Currently, the chances of Russia invading Central and Eastern Europe are virtually non-existent.... The problem is that Washington also wants to be in charge in Europe, so Europeans use it to slash their own military spending, knowing that if push comes to shove and there is a real possibility a military confrontation, the United States would always be there to provide their security. In other words, both European nations and US leaders in Washington like the current system. Everyone is happy, except US citizens, whose tax dollars are spent to provide security to Eastern and Central European nations against a non-existent threat, Bandow explained.

North Korea claims fully successful ‘miniaturized hydrogen bomb’ test
RT - North Korea has announced it has successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb following an “artificial seismic event” that has likely become the country’s fourth known nuclear test. In a “special and important” announcement at noon, North Korean TV claimed that the country has successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test at 10:00am local time.... The announcement followed the USGS detection of a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in the vicinity of a known Pyongyang nuclear site.... The “unusual” seismic activity near a “known” North Korean nuclear site seems to be of artificial origin and was a clear sign of a nuclear test, South Korean News agency Yonhap reported.

Swiss General Urges Citizens to Arm Themselves in Response to Social Unrest and Economic Decline
Kurt Nimmo - Prior to the mass rape by Arab and North African migrants on New Year’s Eve, a Swiss Army general warned unchecked immigration, social dislocation and a crumbling economy will ultimately pitch Europe into civil war. “The threat of terror is rising, hybrid wars are being fought around the globe; the economic outlook is gloomy and the resulting migration flows of displaced persons and refugees have assumed unforeseen dimensions,” Lieutenant-General André Blattmann told Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten last week. Blattmann said public discourse is “dangerously aggressive” and “social unrest can not be ruled out.” The general also said Swiss prosperity will be “called into question” as the European Union’s economy continues to disintegrate. Analysts believe migration from the Middle East and Africa will destroy the borderless Schengen Agreement and lead to the disintegration of the European Union.

Oil falls to 11-year low, Saudi-Iran row seen making output restraint unlikely
Reuters - Oil fell to its lowest in more than 11 years on Wednesday, down around 2 percent, as the row between Saudi Arabia and Iran was seen extinguishing any chance of major producers cooperating to cut production in the face of mounting global over supply. The furor over Saudi Arabia's execution of a Shi'ite cleric has depressed the market as it put an end to speculation that OPEC members could agree on production cuts to lift prices.... Global Brent crude benchmarks LCOc1 were at $35.75 a barrel at 0856 GMT (3.56 a.m. ET), down 67 cents or 1.9 percent from their previous settlement, their lowest since 2004.

Leaked Memo Proves Saudis Knew Executions Would Spark Unrest
Sputnik News - Saudi Arabia’s mass execution of 47 people on Saturday sparked an international outcry. According to a leaked memo obtained by The Independent, Riyadh was fully aware of this possibility, ordering security services to cancel holiday plans to be on full alert.... According to leaked letter obtained by The Independent, the Saudi government was fully aware of the repercussions of its actions, but followed through with the executions anyway. The letter, issued by the head of the government’s security forces, was sent to regional chiefs in the areas where the executions took place, and was marked "very urgent." It orders employees to cancel holiday plans and exercise "maximum precaution." The document was obtained by human rights group Reprieve, who says that the letter proves the political nature behind the deaths.

Yemen center for blind hit by Saudi-led coalition airstrike – locals
RT - A center for the blind in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa was hit in an airstrike that was presumably carried out by a Saudi-led coalition targeting Houthi forces, locals told media. Residents said the air-strikes targeting Houthi forces intensified on Tuesday before a care center for the blind was hit, Reuters reports. The third floor of the Noor Center for the Blind in the Safiah district was damaged in the 1 a.m. incident, according to the Middle East Eye. No casualties in the bombing were reported. Noor Center is one-of-a-kind in Yemen, receiving funding from one of the World Bank’s projects in the country. After the airstrike, the center’s deputy manager, Mohammed Daylami, blamed Saudi Arabia and its allies for “having no clue about the rules and ethics of war."

Germany In Shock After "Monstrous" Attacks, Rape By 1,000 Men "Of Arab Or North African Origin"
Zero Hedge - According to BBC, "the scale of the attacks on women at the city's central railway station has shocked Germany." About 1,000 drunk and aggressive young men were involved. The initial shock will quickly transform to furious anger, because more important in this specific case was the origin of the 1,000 drunk assailants, who split into groups, and attacked women in the square. Citing the police chief Wolfgang Albers, BBC notes that the men were of "Arab or North African region", adding that they were mostly between 18 and 35 years old. He added that the attack was a "completely new dimension of crime". BBC adds that what is particularly disturbing is that the attacks appear to have been organised. Around 1,000 young men arrived in large groups, seemingly with the specific intention of carrying out attacks on women. Fearing a public backlash, Cologne mayor Henriette Reker said there was no reason to believe that people involved in the attacks were refugees.
* Related: Locals voice fears, minister vows punishment after 'Arab' crowd blamed for sex assaults in Cologne

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Congress Could Quickly End Obama’s Gun Grab
Breitbart - Left out of any Republican statements, however, was any promise to cut funding for Obama’s actions. No matter what the White House may propose, Congress still exercises the power of the purse.... While the House Budget Committee doesn’t actually appropriate tax dollars, it does set overall parameters for how the government spends money.... Rep. Tom Price noted that President Obama’s actions went beyond his executive constitutional authority. He did not, however, promise to block the federal government from spending money to pursue Obama’s directives.

URGENT Warning on OR Standoff: Military Special OP Assets Have Been Assigned for Standoff. Get All Children Out of There Immediately
Stewart Rhodes - Oath Keepers has received very credible information from an active duty source within the special operations community that at least one SOD-X (Reserve/National Guard Special Operations Detachment) unit under the command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) has been tasked for this standoff at the Malheur Wildlife Reserve and moved to the area. Given this, we should expect that other special operations assets, such as Delta Force, will also be involved if the Obama Administration decides to give the green light on a military raid/strike. And we should expect the presence of the infamous FBI HRT (which were present at both Ruby Ridge and Waco).
* Related: Bundy Militia Barricades Oregon Federal Building As Potential FBI Raid Looms

Breaking: Terrorists Occupy a Federal Building (Pic)
By Anthony Freda

Report: RNC Will Consider Obama Impeachment Proceedings
Steve Watson - Reports circling online are suggesting that the Republican National Committee is to consider a resolution drafted for the impeachment of President Barack Obama. The resolution, which seems to have been drafted by the North American Law Center, is to be weighed up at a January 13th meeting of the RNC, reports Brandon Hall of West Michigan Politics blog. The document is titled, “Articles of Impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama,” it begins, “Resolved, That Barack Hussein Obama, acting President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment to be exhibited to the Senate.” “Please contact your RNC members and ask them to support Michigan’s RNC National Committeeman – Dave Agema’s resolution as currently suba Facebook statement concerning the resolution reads.... Agema told The Daily Wire in an interviemitted for discussion at their January 13 – 15, 2016 meetings,” w that he will introduce the resolution, which consists of 48 criminal charges in total.

Obama wipes away tears as he calls for new gun measures
Politico - President Barack Obama wept openly Tuesday as he delivered a forceful defense of new executive actions on gun violence, a set of modest proposals to tighten loopholes that likely face quick legal challenges and could be vulnerable to reversal by a Republican White House. The president ran through a list of mass shootings that have happened during his time in office, and teared up as he recalled the schoolchildren gunned down in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.

Americans With “Alternative Views” Could be Labeled Crazy, Have Guns Taken
Paul Joseph Watson - Second Amendment advocates are warning that Americans who hold “alternative views” could be declared mentally ill and have their firearms seized as President Obama announced a raft of new gun control measures. Columnist Jeff Edwards notes that, “American citizens, through mere suspicion by the government, could be denied a constitutional right.” Highlighting California’s already stringent gun laws, under which a judge can order cops to seize someone’s firearms on mere suspicion alone, Edwards fears that Obama’s new control push could lead to Americans with divergent political beliefs being disarmed.

Notoriously Corrupt Democrat Harry Reid Wants to Use Slush Fund Money for Retirement
Kurt Nimmo - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wants the Federal Election Commission to make an exception and allow him to pocket over $600,000 for retirement from a slush fund. FEC guidelines prohibit personal use of unspent PAC and campaign money. Punishment for violating the prohibition on personal use ranges from hefty fines to possible imprisonment. The money can be used as a contribution to charity or donated to the national party committee. Democrat FEC Chairwoman Ann Ravel believes Reid has a right to the money due to his status as a “historic” and “important figure and public official.”

Govt Pays Millions in Reparations to 57 Victims of Worst Cop in History – Who Still Receives a Pension
The Free Thought Project - Responsible for torturing more than 200 people to obtain false confessions, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge has cost the city and Cook County over $100 million in legal fees and settlements. On Monday, the city of Chicago paid out $5.5 million in reparations to 57 of Burge’s victims, while the corrupt former police commander continues to receive his $4,000 monthly pension from the city.

The Top 7 Reasons Why You Need a Second Passport
Activist Post - Before World War I, you didn’t need a passport for international travel. People simply went wherever they wanted. In many cases, they didn’t need any kind of permission from a government agency. Obviously, that’s not how it works today. Today, governments use passports to document and control their citizens. In my view, the world would be better off without them. Of course, passports are not going away. You will continue to need one to travel. This is why you’re better having more than one. A second passport keeps the government from locking you in. Without it, the government in your home country can effectively place you under house arrest by taking back your passport. Among other things, having a second passport allows you to invest, bank, travel, live, and do business in places you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

Some Chipotle Fans Suspect Bioterrorism Behind 2015 Outbreaks
Natural Society - No one can argue that 2015 was a rough year for Chipotle. Five outbreaks of foodborne illness have struck the Mexican restaurant franchise since October, giving a bad reputation to a food chain that is going the route of healthy and GMO-free (at least on the surface). Here’s a timeline of Chipotle’s nightmare...

Election News

Donald Trump: Ted Cruz’s Birthplace ‘Very Precarious’ Issue
Breitbart - GOP frontrunner Donald Trump said that fellow GOP presidential candidate Sen. Sen. Ted Cruz’s birthplace would be a “very precarious” problem if Cruz were chosen as the Republican nominee, as he was born in Canada, according to the Washington Post. “Republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question: ‘Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years?’ That’d be a big problem,” the frontrunner questioned. “It’d be a very precarious one for Republicans, because he’d be running and the courts may take a long time to make a decision. You don’t want to be running and have that kind of thing over your head.”

Clinton takes credit for Obama gun plans
Patriot Rising - Hillary Clinton praised Obama’s proposed executive action on gun control, claiming that his plans were influenced by her own proposals. “I am very proud of President Obama’s announcement today,” Clinton said of the president’s series of executive actions. ” In fact I feel really good because I called for some of those measures a few months ago.”

Economy & Business

Shares of Gun Stock Companies Rocket on Obama's Gun Regulation Executive Order
Economic Policy Journal - Gun stocks rallied for a second day on Tuesday, as investors again bet that new restrictions rolled out by President Barack Obama not only wouldn’t deter sales but would propel them, reports MarketWatch. Smith & Wesson shares surged as much as 14% and Sturm, Ruger & Co. climbed as much as 9%. The moves also comes as Smith & Wesson raised its profit guidance for the April-ending fiscal year. Smith & Wesson shares have surged 180% in the last 12 months, and Sturm, Ruger is up 89%.

Industry, Universities Hide Workforce of Extra100,000 Foreign White-Collar H-1B Employees
Breitbart - The journalists–and Americans—have been kept in the dark while universities and many allied name-brand companies have quietly imported an extra workforce of at least 100,000 lower-wage foreign professionals in place of higher-wage American graduates, above the supposed annual cap of 85,000 new H-1Bs. Less than one-sixth of these extra 100,000 outsourced hires are the so-called “high-tech” computer experts that dominate media coverage of the contentious H-1B private-sector outsourcing debate. Instead, the universities’ off-the-books H-1B hires include 21,754 professors, lecturers and instructors, 20,566 doctors, clinicians and therapists, 25,175 researchers, post-docs and biologists, plus 30,000 financial planners, p.r. experts, writers, editors, sports coaches, designers, accountants, economists, statisticians, lawyers, architects, computer experts and much else. The universities have zero legal obligation to recruit Americans for these jobs.

Energy & Environment

The Shale Defaults Begin Here: Banks Quietly Shrink These 25 Companies' Credit Facilities
Zero Hedge - Here are 25 deeply distressed companies, whose banks we found have quietly shrunk the borrowing base of their credit facilities anywhere from 6% in the case of Black Ridge Oil and Gas to a whopping 51% for soon to be insolvent New Source Energy Partners.

Alabama Uses BP Oil Spill Money to Repair a Governor’s Mansion
AllGov - An Alabama governor’s mansion that has sat abandoned and boarded up for nearly 20 years is getting renovated thanks to money from the BP oil spill. The mansion, built in the 1960s near the Gulf coast, was damaged in 1997 by Hurricane Danny. From that point it sat unused and vacant because succeeding gubernatorial administrations were reluctant to spend taxpayer money on repairing the two-story, 7,500-square-foot home. But the administration of Governor Robert Bentley figured it could fix the mansion with money from the settlement BP paid after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The state expects to spend upwards of $1.8 million of the BP funds on the construction.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Bananas as We Know Them May Be Disappearing
ANH-USA - When most people speak of bananas, they’re thinking of a single variety—the yellow Cavendish banana found in almost all grocery stores. But the popularity of this banana has made it susceptible to a fungal disease known as Tropical Race 4 (TR4), which is quickly spreading across the globe and is likely to hit South America, where 80% of Cavendish bananas are grown.... Fortunately, other banana varieties still exist and are often much more flavorful than the Cavendish. Keep in mind also that in nature, flavor is often closely associated with nutritional value. It is no coincidence that the Cavendish, selected for ease of transport and sale, not taste, is often both tasteless and low in nutrition. But rather than re-introducing some of the older, more flavorful bananas that fortunately survived monoculture mania, fruit companies are planning to make the Cavendish even more artificial and tasteless by genetically engineering it to be resistant to TR4.

Off-Grid, Salt-Free Alternatives To Chemical Deicers
Off the Grid News - The most common way to deice driveways and sidewalks is to use rock salt. Although cheap and easy to use, rock salt is concentrated and very corrosive. It affects plants, pets, water and even paint. Rock salt can be found in nature, but it is spread out, unlike how we use it in our neighborhoods. Because the salt dissolves in water, it can flow and absorb into all sorts of ground and water areas. The effect of this salt on your grass and other surrounding plants is simple: rock salt = dead plants. It will ruin your lawn because it limits the growth of plants. And it can drain into the ground water. nimals that drink the salty water or eat the salty grass often develop health problems. The most dangerous issue is salt poisoning. If you have to walk your dog on the salty city sidewalks, you have probably noticed how raw or inflamed the dog’s (or any animal’s) foot pads get from the salt.

How to Store Carrots Under Straw for Winter
Mother Earth News - Not being a fan of frozen or canned carrots, I began to wonder if there was a way to enjoy organic carrots throughout the winter.... After the markets were done for the year and winter was threatening, I gathered garden straw from a local farmer. It is important that you know that straw for the garden has not come from crops treated with herbicides to control broad-leafed weeds. The herbicides can leech into the soil making difficult growing conditions for the future.

Survival/Preparedness

Oven Canning for Long Term Storage
The Prepper Project - Dried goods make great emergency food if stored properly. But it’s no fun opening a box of pancake mix to find meal worms making a meal of your precious food (unless you like the extra protein). You can stock up on survival foods specially prepared to last for years, but it can get pretty pricey. If you want to save some dough and do it yourself, oven canning is the way to go. So let’s get started on this simple and easy method of prepping your dried goods for long term storage.

Health

25 possible adverse reactions to vaccines according to CDC and big pharma
(NaturalHealth365) As we witness the ever growing agenda for maintaining and increasing immunizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works to create what it calls “lasting, effective immunization delivery systems.” Yet, the CDC also admits – on the same area of its website – that there is a long list of adverse, sometimes deadly, reactions to vaccines.

12 Flowers You Didn't Know Heal The Body
April McCarthy - Flowers are not only beautiful, but they can be used as essential ingredients in a food and medicine. Many edible flowers are rich in phenolics and have excellent antioxidant capacity. They can be added to your food or in teas to prevent chronic disease.
 



Tuesday - January 5, 2016 - Today in History:

1781 - Richmond, VA, was burned by a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold.
1885 - The Long Island Railroad Company became the first to offer piggy-back rail service which was the transportation of farm wagons on trains.
1896 - It was reported by The Austrian newspaper that Wilhelm Roentgen had discovered the type of radiation that became known as X-rays.
1914 - Ford Motor Company announced that there would be a new daily minimum wage of $5 and an eight-hour workday.
1925 - Mrs. Nellie Taylor Ross was sworn in as the governor of Wyoming She was the first female governor in the U.S.
1933 - In California, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began.
1940 - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got its very first demonstration of FM radio.
1972 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon ordered the development of the space shuttle.
1993 - The state of Washington executed Westley Allan Dodd. It was America's first legal hanging since 1965. Dodd was an admitted child sex killer.
1998 - U.S. Representative Sonny Bono died in skiing accident.
2002 - A 15 year-old student pilot, Charles Bishop, crashed a small plane into a building in Tampa, FL. Bishop was about to begin a flying lesson when he took off without permission and without an instructor.
2004 - After 14 years of denials, Pete Rose publicly admitted that he'd bet on baseball while manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
2011 - Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was elected speaker as Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives on the 1st day of the new Congress.

World News

On the Brink of Catastrophe: These 10 Conflicts Could Escalate Into a Major War
Sputnik News - Ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, as well as tensions in the South China Sea and violence in the Lake Chad basin could escalate into major wars, which – if unresolved – would spell catastrophe for the region, if not the world, former French diplomat Jean-Marie Guéhenno asserted.

Norway: Oslo Police — “We Have Lost the City”
Pamela Geller - “Grønland is more Muslim than Morocco.” And Europe is bringing in millions more.... It’s not Norway or Europe anymore, except when there is welfare money to be collected. The police have largely given up. Early in 2010 Aftenposten stated that there are sharia patrols in this area, and gay couples are assaulted and chased away. “Immigrant Fatima Tetouani says that ‘Grønland is more Muslim than Morocco.’”

Stocks Resume Rout After Massive Chinese Intervention Fails To Lift Shanghai, Calm Traders
Zero Hedge - After yesterday's historic first-day rout in the Shanghai Composite, which saw the first marketwide circuit breaker trading halt applied to Chinese stocks, many were wondering if the Chinese government would intervene in both the once again imploding stock market, as well as China's plunging and rapidly devaluing currency. And, after the SHCOMP opened down -3%, the government did not disappoint and promptly intervened in both the Yuan as well as the stock market, however with very mixed results which global stocks took a bad sign and have resumed selling for a second consecutive day.

US Rules Out Mediation Role in Easing Saudi-Iran Tensions - State Dep't
Sputnik news - The United States does not plan to mediate in the latest diplomatic row between Saudi Arabia and Iran over Riyadh’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr and 46 other Shiite Muslims, US Department of State spokesperson John Kirby said during a press briefing on Monday… Kirby noted that the United States would like to see "tensions decreased" and "engagement continue," but that those would be issues that "these countries have got to work out for themselves."

After Saudi Arabia's Execution, Russia Steps In To 'Mediate'
The Daily Caller - While the U.S. Department of State has sat on the sidelines and urged “diplomatic engagement and direct conversations,” Russia has offered to step in and mediate the dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which resulted from the latter’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, The Daily Star reports. U.S. inaction has infuriated the Saudis. One Saudi source told The Washington Post, “Enough is enough. Tehran has thumbed its nose at the West again and again, continuing to sponsor terrorism and launch ballistic missiles and no one is doing anything about it.”

1,000 crack British troops deployed to Libyan oil fields to 'halt the advance of ISIS'
RT - Approximately 6,000 European and US soldiers, including 1,000 British troops, will be involved in a number of offensives set up to halt the advance of the jihadist terror group. The operation will be led by Italian forces and supported mainly by Britain and France… IS has seized several revenue-boosting oil fields in Libya and is eager to win more control over the country, as the land could provide them with millions of dollars to fund terror attacks. The terrorist network is now targeting the Marsa al Brega oil refinery, the biggest in North Africa. If jihadists successfully capture the oil refinery, located between Sirte and Benghazi, they would gain full control of the country’s oil.

German Anger Boils Over: Shots Fired At German Refugee Home; One Asylum Seeker Hit
Zero Hedge - According to AP early on Monday, gun shots were fired at a home for asylum seekers in western Germany and one resident was lightly injured, police said. The shots were fired at a window of the building in the town of Dreieich at around 2.30 a.m (0130 GMT), and one hit a 23-year-old asylum seeker who was sleeping, according to police in Offenbach, near Frankfurt. He was taken to a hospital, but was able to leave shortly afterward. AP adds that it wasn't immediately clear who was responsible for the incident or what the motive was. However, Darmstadt prosecutors' spokeswoman Nina Reininger told news agency dpa: "If someone shoots at housing which has people inside, I assume that it is a targeted attack."

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Doctors Can Report Some Mentally Ill Patients To FBI Under New Gun Control Rule
Politico - Delivering on its promise to deliver “common sense” gun control, the Obama administration on Monday finalized a rule that enables health care providers to report the names of mentally ill patients to an FBI firearms background check system. The action was one of a series of steps that President Barack Obama had called for in January 2013 in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings to curb gun violence, but the rule was not published until today. While the 1993 Brady law prohibits gun ownership by individuals who have been involuntarily committed, found incompetent to stand trial or otherwise deemed by a court to be a danger to themselves or others, federal health care privacy rules prohibited doctors and other providers from sharing information without the consent of their patients. Under the rule, which takes effect next month, for the first time health providers can disclose the information to the background check system without legal repercussions.

Obama’s Executive Gun Control: No Minimum Threshold Before Private Gun Sales Require Background Checks
Breitbart - On January 4, the White House released a fact sheet which previews the executive gun control Obama will announce Tuesday, and it reveals there is no numerical threshold of sales that a private seller has to cross before being considered “engaged in the business of dealing in firearms.” In other words, previous hints that there would be a “trigger”—a certain number of guns that a private seller had to sell before being considered “engaged in the business”—are now out the window. Figures like those reported by NBC News, wherein they quoted sources saying, “the administration has considered 50 or 100 guns a year as the threshold to trigger these requirements,” have been discarded. A more fluid system—whereby any private seller can be considered “engaged in the business of dealing in firearms” regardless of the number of guns he sells or the frequency by which he sells them—seems to be what Obama has in mind.

CNN Declares Oregon Occupiers Domestic Terrorists
Kurt Nimmo - Juliette Kayyem, billed as a CNN National Security Analyst, has defined Ammon Bundy and the other people occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as domestic terrorists. “Let’s begin with what to call the Oregon anti-government protesters who have taken over a federal building. The men, heavily armed, urging others to come support their cause, and claiming somehow that, while peaceful, they will ‘defend’ themselves whatever it takes, are—by any definition—domestic terrorists.” By any definition? Here is the dictionary definition of terrorism: The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. Bundy and his compatriots have so far not threatened violence against the government. They have said, however, if the government uses violence they will respond in kind. Is trespassing terrorism? Is self-defense terrorism? Is trespassing intimidation and coercion? It seems CNN thinks so.

Oregon Sheriff Pleads with Armed Protesters to ‘Leave Our Community’’
Infowars - The sheriff of the county at the heart of a militia dispute in Oregon is asking armed protesters who came to the aid of two ranchers to turn back and go home. “The Hammonds have turned themselves in today at 1:37PM ET in accordance with the law, and are currently in custody in a federal correctional institution in California,” Harney County Sheriff David Ward said at a press conference earlier today.

The Absurdly Harsh Penalties That Sparked the Oregon Rancher Protest
Reason - … the armed men who are occupying an office building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon broke off from a demonstration protesting the sentences received by two ranchers, 73-year-old Dwight Hammond and his 46-year-old son Steven, who in 2001 and 2006 set fires on their own property that spread to public land… In 2012 they were… convicted under 18 USC 844(f)(1), which prescribes a five-year mandatory minimum sentence… U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan instead imposed a three-month sentence on Dwight Hammond, who was convicted of one count, and two concurrent one-year sentences on Steven Hammond, who was convicted of two counts… Last year the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, responding to a government appeal, disagreed with Hogan, saying he had no choice but to impose five-year sentences on both men… In other words, since even worse miscarriages of justice have passed constitutional muster, this one must be OK too.

Sheriff: If you break into a home in my county, expect to be shot
Adan Salazar - A sheriff in Florida recently upheld the right of homeowners to shoot burglars, in yet another pro-gun story you will not see covered by the mainstream media. During the early morning hours of Saturday, an armed intruder made the mistake of breaking into an armed residence in Lakewood. 24-year-old Chevez Antwann Faison “fired shots at two people inside,” according to My News 13.com. “He was then shot and killed by the homeowner.” Following the incident, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd expressed strong support for the right of homeowners to defend their property, and discouraged future home invaders by warning they will be shot. “Forcing your way into an occupied residence is a bold and foolish decision,” Judd reportedly said in a press release. “If you are foolish enough to break into someone’s home, you can expect to be shot in Polk County.”

IRS Identity Fraud Prevention Specialist Arrested For Identity Fraud, Filing Fraudulent Tax Returns
Techdirt - A federal grand jury earlier this month indicted Nakeisha Hall, Jimmie Goodman and Abdulla Coleman for their involvement in a 2008 to 2011 scheme operated out of Birmingham that involved stealing personal identity information from the Internal Revenue Service to create fraudulent tax returns and collecting the stolen refunds… Hall, having access to taxpayer information as an IRS employee, apparently orchestrated the scheme. Fraudulent tax refunds were routed to prepaid debit cards. These cards were then sent to a variety of fake home addresses set up by the three conspirators -- one of which is already doing time on an unrelated charge.

Government Named Top U.S. Problem for Second Straight Year
Gallup - For the second consecutive year, dissatisfaction with government edged out the economy as the problem more Americans identified as the nation's top problem in 2015. According to Gallup's monthly measure of the most important problem facing the U.S., an average of 16% of Americans in 2015 mentioned some aspect of government, including President Barack Obama, Congress or political conflict, as the country's chief problem. The economy came in second with 13% mentioning it, while unemployment and immigration tied for third at 8%... 2015 marks only the second time since 2001 that no single issue averaged 20% or more for the year. However, 34% of Americans named at least one of several specific economic issues -- including the economy, unemployment, the budget deficit, inflation and others.

Election News

Trump: Hillary Clinton Should Disarm Her Bodyguards If She Really Believes 'Guns Don't Keep You Safe'
Breitbart - On December 19 Breitbart News reported that Clinton reacted to the surge in gun sales that followed the San Bernardino terror attack by saying, “Guns, in and of themselves…will not make Americans safer.” She then listed the number of gun-related deaths each year in a way that appeared to suggest guns actually make America less safe. On January 3 Trump responded with: “Hillary said that guns don’t keep you safe. If she really believes that she should demand that her heavily armed bodyguards quickly disarm!”

Paul Warns ‘Hillary Will Take Us Back To War’
Steve Watson - Appearing on NBC’s ‘Meet The Press’, Paul urged viewers to realise that Hillary Clinton has historically supported forced regime change and arming extremists. “The difference is President Obama and Hillary Clinton both supported arming the Syrian rebels, the Islamic rebels against [Syrian President Bashar] Assad. I wouldn’t have done that,” Paul said. “They also supported toppling [Muammar] Gaddafi in Libya.” “The interesting thing is while Obama gets blamed for not intervening enough, he’s actually intervened quite a bit in the Middle East and not to our benefit,” Paul added.

Economy & Business

"It's Coming To A Head In 2016" - Why Bank of America Thinks The Probability Of A Chinese Crisis Is 100%
Zero Hedge - "It seems to us that the government’s policy options are rapidly narrowing – one only needs to look at how difficult it has been for the government to hold up GDP growth since mid-2014. A slow-down in economic growth is typically a prelude to financial sector instability. Putting it all together, it seems to us that many of these conflicts may come to a head in 2016."

US Government Discovers 10 Years Of "Processing Errors" In Construction Spending Data Slamming GDP
Zero Hedge - … one sector that was seen as immune from the malaise gripping US manufacturing and was outperforming the overall growth rate of the US economy, was housing, and specifically spending on private and public construction: a direct input into the GDP model. That all changed today when the US Census released its latest, November, construction spending data, which not only missed expectations of a 0.6% increase, but tumbled -0.4%, the most since June of 2014, while all the recent changes were mysteriously revised lower… And then the source of the mystery was revealed: in the fine print of the release, the government made a rare admission: all the construction spending data for the past 10 years had been "erroneous."… The result is that the October Y/Y% change of 10.5%, and declining, is not only the lowest increase since April, but matches the level first reported in December 2013. In other words, contrary to the previous narrative suggesting construction spending was solid and supporting a growing economy, it has in fact been declining since June!

Energy & Environment

Attorneys: SoCalGas could have prevented Porter Ranch gas leak with right safety measures
LA Times - About 1,200 tons of methane are estimated to be spewing into the air each day, according to the California Air Resources Board... A class-action lawsuit, amended Dec. 29, alleges that SoCal Gas did not follow laws protecting the community when it decided to inject the well. It also alleges that a safety valve was either removed or failed, resulting in the massive leak of natural gas mixed with other chemicals such as benzene and gases such as hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and methane. At a Dec. 29 meeting with the Porter Ranch Community Advisory Committee, SoCal Gas admitted that new and replacement wells do not have safety valves, said environmentalist lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr., in a statement. The admission came about five years after the gas company requested regulatory permission to increase rates to replace the leaking valves at one of the largest storage facilities in the nation, he said.

Fracking Wastewater Is Cancer-Causing, New Study Confirms
Green Med Info - A new study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology titled, "Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water," is the first study of its kind to confirm widely held suspicions concerning the carcinogenicity of fracking pollution The new collaborative study was conducted by scientists at esteemed institutions in both the U.S. and China and found that so-called "flow back" fracking wastewater induced malignant changes in human bronchial epithelial cells consistent with the cancerous phenotype.... The implications of the data presented above are truly harrowing. Pennsylvania, alone, has over 7,700 active wells in use at present. Over 4,000 violations have been reported, and over 6 million in fines paid out thus far. The operation of these Pennsylvania wells require about 42 billion gallons of water, and according to the figures above, would together produce between 1.4 and 6 billion gallons of flow back wastewater.

Health

Video: Long-Time Cancer Nurse Quits After Discovering Nutrition and Natural Therapy Heals Cancer
Joe Battaglia - After 17 years, Valerie Warwick took a huge risk and walked away from a lucrative income as an oncology nurse because she could not be a part of the conventional cancer industry anymore. Today she is a health coach and advocate for healing with nutrition and natural non-toxic therapies. n the interview Valerie shares her story and insider information about the industry, as well as vital resources that every cancer patient should consider.

Conquer Chronic Inflammation with These 18 Foods and Beverages
Dr. Mercola - The running thread linking obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease is chronic inflammation. Control that and you're on your way to reversing and preventing disease and living a long, healthy life. Include these 18 superfoods and drinks that can help...

Onion Power!
Dr. Mercola - Rich in vitamin C, sulphuric compounds, flavonoids, and other phytochemicals, an onion a day may help keep the doctor away. Onions are surprisingly high in beneficial polyphenols, which play an important role in preventing and reducing the progression of diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Polyphenols also play an important role as a prebiotic, increasing the ratio of beneficial bacteria in your gut, which is important for health, weight management, and disease prevention. Onions contain more polyphenols than even garlic or leeks, and are one of the best sources of a type of polyphenol called flavonoids, especially the flavonoid quercetin.

Pet News

10 Behaviors That Stress Your Cat Like Crazy... Some May Surprise You
Dr. Becker - You have the best intentions driven by love. But certain actions send a completely different message to your cat. Even when you lovingly pick up your cat, her stress levels may shoot for the moon.
 



Monday - January 4, 2016 - Today in History:

1850 - The first American ice-skating club was organized in Philadelphia, PA.
1885 - Dr. William Grant performed the first successful appendectomy. The patient was Mary Gartside.
1896 - Utah became the 45th U.S. state.
1935 - Bob Hope was heard for the first time on network radio as part of "The Intimate Revue."
1936 - The first pop music chart based on national sales was published by "Billboard" magazine.
1951 - During the Korean conflict, North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul.
1958 - The Soviet satellite Sputknik I fell to the earth from its orbit. The craft had been launched on October 4, 1957.
1962 - New York City introduced a train that operated without conductors and motormen.
1965 - The Fender Guitar Company was sold to CBS for $13 million.
1965 - In his State of the Union address, U.S. President Johnson proclaimed the building of the "Great Society."
1974 - U.S. President Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1991 - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
1997 - The Greek Cypriot government signed an agreement to buy S-300 surface-to-air missiles from Russia.
1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as Minnesota's 37th governor.
2006 - Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first woman to hold the position.
2010 - In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower) opened as the world's tallest tower at 2,625 feet.

World News

Bahrain Cuts Diplomatic Relations With Iran
Sputnik News - Bahrain calls for Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours. Bahrain has severed diplomatic relations with Tehran following storming of Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran, state news agency BNA reported.... On Saturday, demonstrators protesting in Iran against the execution of Sheikh al-Nimr by Riyadh attacked the Saudi embassy in capital Tehran and the consulate in the city of Mashhad. The protests continued on Sunday. Iranian diplomats were ordered to leave the country within 48 hours, while 47 of Saudi diplomatic mission staff have safely returned to their homeland with the help of the United Arab Emirates.

China Halts Stock Trading For Day After Entire Market Crashes
Zero Hedge - Following the initial halt in CSI-300 Futures at the 5% limit down level, the afternoon session opened to more carnage and amid the worst 'first day of the year' in at least 15 years, Chinese stocks collapsed further to a 7% crash. At 1334 local time, stock trading was halted for the rest of the day across all exchanges (at least two hours early). Dow futures are now down over 150 points from NYE close, Gold and Treasuries are bid, and offshore Yuan has plunged most since the August devaluation.

Saudi Arabia Breaks Off Diplomatic Relations With Iran
Sputnik News - According to the Al Arabiya news channel, Riyadh announced cutting ties with Tehran and decided to evict Iranian diplomatic mission from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a news conference that Iran's diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia had been given 48 hours to leave… Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia soured following the execution Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, an outspoken critic of the Saudi monarchy, along with 46 other people convicted of terrorism. On Saturday, demonstrators protesting in Iran against the execution of Sheikh al-Nimr by Riyadh attacked the Saudi embassy in capital Tehran and the consulate in the city of Mashhad. The protests continued on Sunday.
* Related: Saudi-Iranian Conflict Threatens to Explode Into Region-Wide Sectarian War

Egypt Sends Ambassador to Israel After 3-Year Break in Relations
Sputnik News - Israel has received its first ambassador from Egypt in over three years, local media reported on Sunday. The previous ambassador was removed in 2012 by Egypt's then-President Muhammad Morsi, who took power after protests which brought down long-time leader Hosni Mubarak. Morsi removed the Egyptian ambassador in protest of an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip… Since Morsi's ousting, Egypt has maintained tense relations with the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, which had been politically allied with Morsi. The smuggling of weapons across the border between Egypt and Gaza is seen as a security issue by both Egypt and Israel. Egypt has been conducting a military campaign against Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula, adjacent to Israel, since 2013.

Israel Indicts Jewish Extremists in Deadly Arson Attack
The Epoch Times - Israel on Sunday indicted two Jewish extremists suspected in a July arson attack on a Palestinian home that killed a toddler and his parents—a case that has been unsolved for months and helped fuel the current wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The long-awaited indictment follows months of investigations into a web of Jewish extremists operating in the West Bank. The indictment named Amiram Ben-Uliel, a 21-year-old West Bank settler, as the main suspect in the attack. A minor was charged as an accessory. Yinon Reuveni, 20, and another minor were charged for other violence against Palestinians. All four were charged with belonging to a terrorist organization. The arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, while his mother, Riham, and father, Saad, later died of their wounds. Ali’s 4-year-old brother Ahmad survived.

Putin names United States among threats in new Russian security strategy
Yahoo News - A new appraisal names the United States as one of the threats to Russia's national security for the first time, a sign of how relations with the west have deteriorated in recent years. The document, "About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation", was signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year's Eve… It says Russia has managed to heighten its role in solving global problems and international conflicts. That heightened role has caused a reaction by the West, it says… Relations between Russia and the West reached a low after Russian forces annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014, after protests in Ukraine forced its pro-Moscow president to flee to Russia.

European Court Stops Ireland Deporting Islamic State-Linked Man, Even If He Threatens National Security
Breitbart - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has overruled the decision of an Irish court, preventing the nation from deporting a man alleged to be a prolific recruiter for the Islamic State terror group. The Dublin court had ruled that an unnamed 52-year-old man was the “foremost organizer and facilitator of travel by extremists prepared to undertake violent action on behalf of Daesh [IS]” and subsequently decided that he should be removed from Ireland… The lawyers used Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees absolute protection from torture or inhumane or degrading treatment. The man did not show up for court this Wednesday, claiming health reasons.

Migrant Crisis Sees Europe Reinstate Borders
he Epoch Times - “It’s basically every country for itself now,” said Mark Rhinard, an expert on the European Union at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Citing exceptional national circumstances related to security, terrorism, and public order, several European countries have suspended EU rules that required them to keep their borders open to each other. It’s a significant development that strikes at the very heart of the EU project—the free movement of goods and people across borders… The crisis underlines structural flaws in the EU, showing how it has implemented common rules that it just can’t enforce once the external pressures become too great, said Karl Lallerstedt, co-founder of Black Market Watch, a Switzerland-based nonprofit group focusing on cross-border smuggling.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Police State America has invaded churches and places of worship in America
MassPrivateI - Churches now join private companies, schools, colleges, sports stadiums, malls and hospitals that are conducting active shooter drills. For more information, read my December article titled: 'Hospitals and private companies are conducting mass shooter drills with police.' In Alabama, a Presbyterian church wanted to hire its own police for protection. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been holding specialized training for congregations for active shooter incidents. Police across the country are speaking at places of worship, drumming up fear and telling churches to have greeters (security) welcome worshippers and look for anything that might be out of the ordinary. On a FEMA webinar last Wednesday on protecting houses of worship, the chief security executive at The Potter’s House, the Rev. TD Jakes’ megachurch in Dallas, gave tips about behavior that should raise concern, such as a congregant arriving in a long coat in hot weather. If needed, church greeters could give a hug and feel for weapons, said the executive, Sean Smith. “I call it the Holy Ghost pat-down,” Smith said.

US Repeals Country-of-Origin Meat Labeling Law After Trade Rulings Against It
CNS News - It's now harder to find out where your beef or pork was born, raised and slaughtered. After more than a decade of wrangling, Congress repealed a labeling law last month that required retailers to include the animal's country of origin on packages of red meat. It's a major victory for the meat industry, which had fought the law in Congress and the courts since the early 2000s. Lawmakers said they had no choice but to get rid of the labels after the World Trade Organization repeatedly ruled against them. The WTO recently authorized Canada and Mexico, which had challenged the law, to begin more than $1 billion in economic retaliation against the United States.

FBI Frames Mentally Ill Ex-Con in New Year's Eve ISIS Attack
Kurt Nimmo - NBC News reported on Thursday Emanuel Lutchman was in contact with a member of the Islamic State in Syria who urged him to attack diners at a restaurant in Rochester, New York, with a machete. It turns out Lutchman was instead in contact with an FBI informant who received thousands of dollars from the agency. He didn’t have money to buy masks, zip-ties, knives, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves that were allegedly supposed to be used in the attack, so the FBI picked up the tab, according to NBC... “New years [sic] is here soon. Do operations and kill some kuffar,” the informant told Lutchman, an ex-con with mental problems who had recently attempted suicide. Beverley Carridice, Lutchman’s grandmother, said he had suffered from psychiatric problems since childhood and was not taking his psychiatric medications when she saw him in August.

Obama To Unveil “Multiple Gun Control” Executive Actions Next Week
Zero Hedge - Without a Democratic majority in Congress, and faced with a GOP that is firmly against any form of gun control measures, Obama has repeatedly warned that he would act on his own. Next week he will do just that, and his “gun confiscation” mandate will get a substantial boost on Monday, when according to the WSJ Obama will meet with US Attorney General Loretta Lynch “to consider measures aimed at reducing gun violence, a conversation that comes as he prepares to announce new executive actions in the coming days.” The president has directed administration officials to explore any steps he could take on guns without lawmakers’ help, and he said in his weekly address that he would sit down with Ms. Lynch on Monday “to discuss our options.” Once he has Lynch’s “blessing”, the WSJ adds that Obama “could lay out multiple executive actions as soon as next week, and administration officials have confirmed that recommendations for the president are nearing completion.”

Texas Governor Challenges Obama on Gun Control: ‘Come and Take It’
Adan Salazar - On New Year’s Day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott had a strong message for President Obama regarding his upcoming plan to unilaterally enact gun control legislation: “Come and take it.” “Obama wants to impose more gun control,” Abbott tweeted Friday. “My response? COME & TAKE IT.”... Meanwhile, Governor Abbott has made a strong show of support for Texans’ Second Amendment rights. On Friday a new law came into effect allowing licensed citizens of the Lone Star State to openly carry holstered pistols.

Armed militia, incl. Bundy bros, occupy forest reserve HQ in Oregon, call ‘US patriots’ to arms
RT - Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s three sons and “about 150” militiamen have occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge HQ to protest the pending imprisonment of two Oregon ranchers accused of arson, arguing the federal government has no authority in local cases. “We’re going to be freeing these lands up, and getting ranchers back to ranching, getting the loggers back to logging, getting the miners back to mining where they could do it under the protection of the people and not be afraid of this tyranny that’s been set upon them,” Ammon Bundy, who appears to be the leader of the group, said in a Facebook video posted by Sarah Dee Spurlock on Saturday.
* Related: Full Story on What's Going on In Oregon - Militia Take Over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge In Protest to Hammond Family Persecution

'It's the only reason I'm here now': Son awakens from 'brain-dead' state after gun-toting dad engages in three-hour armed standoff with police to block doctors from pulling the plug life-support
Daily Mail - A father took a gun into hospital to stop doctors taking his son off life support - and during the three-hour stand-off the young man squeezed his hand.The sign that he wasn't brain dead meant he was kept alive - and he is now recovering and doing well. His father, 59-year-old George Pickering II, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after marching into Tomball Regional Medical Center in Texas with a gun. His 27-year-old son, George III, had been declared brain dead after suffering a massive stroke in January. After doctors declared there was no more hope for him, they ordered a 'terminal wean' - whereby life support is slowly withdrawn to end a life.... But Pickering Sr told KPRC: 'They were moving too fast. The hospital, the nurses, the doctors. I knew if I had three or four hours that night that I would know whether George was brain-dead.... ' The charges against Pickering were eventually reduced and he was released earlier this month.

Election News

Hillary Clinton LASHES OUT at Rape Survivor at NH Town Hall – After Questions About Husband Bill (Video)
Gateway Pundit - During the event State Rep. Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien (R) repeatedly asked three times about her husband’s past sexual misconduct. After the third attempt Hillary LASHED OUT at the questioner. Rep. Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien (R) told reporters she is concerned about the issue because she is a rape survivor.

News Orgs Report SOLELY On Trump Mention In Terror Recruitment Video, But CENSORS That Hillary Is In It TOO
Pamela Geller - The media’s latest stunt in their desperate and unhinged campaign to save their Muslim victimhood narrative and blame-America-for-jihad is their headlines blaring that Trump is featured in a newly released Islamic savage video. But the fact is that Hillary is in this video as well.

Trump: I Will Veto Obama Actions On Guns
The Hill - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump told supporters Saturday that he will veto President Obama’s actions on guns if elected to the White House. “The Second Amendment, it’s so great to me,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Biloxi, Miss. “We’re not changing the Second Amendment.”

Seven Gun Controls Hillary Clinton Proposed At NH Town Hall
Breitbart - On December 29, Democrat presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton responded to a question on guns by outlining seven specific new gun control laws she wants to institute if elected.... “I’m going to do everything I can do, and I’m never going to stop trying.” She talked of how many people she believes are killed annually because of guns, then said, “I think we need to pass some laws that I have been advocating for.” She then listed those laws...

Trump Pummels Media, Opponents Before Record Crowd in Mississippi
Breitbart - On a chilly January evening, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump addressed an overflowing crowd at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum – at a rally billed as the largest presidential campaign event in Mississippi history. Trump’s wide-ranging speech touched on topics from “Trojan horse” Syrian refugees and trade deals to Common Core, the Iran nuclear deal, illegal immigration and ISIS.... Detractors have suggested the real estate billionaire would fare poorly in a head-to-head match-up with Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, but Trump insisted her campaign doesn’t want that match-up. “Just in case you have any question, the last person Hillary Clinton wants to run against is me,” he said.

Shakeup in Ben Carson campaign as campaign manager, other top aides quit
CNN - Ben Carson's presidential campaign manager Barry Bennett, deputy campaign manager Lisa Coen and communications director Doug Watts all resigned Thursday, as the retired neurosurgeon continues to struggle in the polls. Carson was rivaling Donald Trump for the lead in the Republican presidential race in mid-October, but he has since fallen to 10% in the latest CNN/ORC poll, which ties him for a distant third place with Marco Rubio, behind Trump and Ted Cruz.

Economy & Business

What Really Happened In 2015, And What Is Coming In 2016…
Economic Collapse - A lot of people were expecting some really big things to happen in 2015, and most of them did not happen. But what did happen? It is my contention that a global financial crisis began during the second half of 2015, and it threatens to greatly accelerate as we enter 2016. During the last six months of the year that just ended, financial markets all over the planet crashed, trillions of dollars of global wealth was wiped out, and some of the largest economies in the world plunged into recession. Here in the United States, 2015 was the worst year for stocks since 2008, nearly 70 percent of all investors lost money last year, and it is being projected that the final numbers will show that close to 1,000 hedge funds permanently shut down within the last 12 months. This is what the early stages of a financial crisis look like, and the worst is yet to come.

America's Largest Utility Hikes Rates Most In 9 Years Despite NatGas Price Crash
Zero Hedge - America’s largest electric utility and the second largest gas utility by number of customers… has announced a very special New Year’s resolution. It will hike natural gas rates for the average residential customer by 4.0% and electricity rates by a stunning 8.5%, for a combined rate increase of 7%, the steepest since 2006. The average small business is going to get whacked by a combined rate increase of 5.1%. That’s on top of the 6% rate increase it had successfully inflicted on its customers a year ago… Much of the power PG&E distributes is generated by natural gas. And all of the natural gas it distributes is, well, the same natural gas whose price has plunged to historic lows… In fact, in its third quarter financial statement, PG&E admits as much: its cost of electricity over the first nine months of 2015 dropped 8.8% year-over-year, and its cost of natural gas plunged 36%! The thing is, despite the juicy rate increases imposed at the beginning of 2015, operating revenues have fallen about 1% so far in 2015, as Californians use less energy from their beloved utilities.

Energy & Environment

Portions of Land at San Onofre Nuclear Plant 'May Be Contaminated' - Navy
NBC 7 - Letters from the United States Navy to Southern California Edison show portions of the land around the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station "may be contaminated [radioactive] from activities conducted during SCE's occupancy and use." NBC 7 Investigates previously reported about secret negotiations happening between the Navy, SCE and San Diego Gas and Electric to discuss the condition of the land where the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) sits...Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspection Reports from the 1980s, obtained by NBC 7 Investigates through the FOIA, show what former NRC employee and longtime nuclear expert Joe Hopenfeld calls "sloppy" handling of radioactive materials at SONGS. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the meetings have been going on for almost two years and involve all the players with a stake in the prime coastal property.

EPA orders barrier installed to protect nuclear waste from underground fire near St. Louis
LA Times - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the installation of an isolation barrier to make sure that an underground fire does not reach buried nuclear waste at a suburban St. Louis landfill. Mark Hague, EPA regional administrator, who announced the move Thursday, said the plan for West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton also calls for additional engineering steps, such as cooling loops. The barrier will consist of an underground wall. Nuclear waste dating to the Manhattan Project was dumped at West Lake in 1973. An underground fire has been smoldering for years and is now within 1,200 feet.

Mississippi River flooding to threaten more levees, homes after leaving St. Louis area submerged
AccuWeather - Deadly flooding is expected to surge farther south along the Mississippi River over the coming days, putting many more levees at risk for failing and more homes and highways under water. Communities along the Mississippi River in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana should be prepared for flood issues over the coming weeks as the copious amount of water travels farther south. Water levels will continue to rise in Memphis, Tennessee, and Greenville, Mississippi, as well as Baton Rouge, Louisiana, through the second week of January. Levees will be forced to hold back the rising water, but in some cases may fail, as has been seen in the past week. Residents in these areas will want to be prepared for potentially historic flooding.
* Related: Missouri assesses flood damage, at least 31 people killed

Senate Votes to Phase out Plastic, Environmentally-Destructive Microbeads in 2017
Natural Blaze - The U.S. Senate unanimously voted recently to phase out the use of plastic microbeads in soaps, body washes, and other personal care products starting in 2017. The Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 was approved following House approval last week and is now headed to President Barack Obama’s desk. The bill was created to protect fish and wildlife that are ingesting the microbeads after they are rinsed down the drain and are eventually dumped into lakes and rivers.... Microbeads have the potential to absorb pesticides and chemicals once they’re washed down the drain, worries Marcus Eriksen, a science educator and research director of the environmental group 5 Gyres. “By the time the plastic gets downstream towards the ocean, they become these toxic pills,” he said, adding that he believes that many water treatment plants lack the ability to filter out microbeads, allowing them to flow into waterways where they are mistakenly eaten by fish.

Science & Technology

NYC Plans to Turn 7,500 Payphones Into WiFi Hot Spots Despite Health and Privacy Risks
Activist Post - The city already has erected one 9-foot-tall structure that is an indication of the rollout of 7,500 WiFi hot spots, which are slated to go online early in 2016. It is part of the LinkNYC program which proclaims to become “the fastest and largest municipal WiFi network in the world.” Even if you don’t believe having a permanent WiFi signal radiating across the city is a danger to your health, another aspect of pervasive WiFi may be of concern: privacy and surveillance. For example, it was a major news story when Seattle was discovered to have put in a secret WiFi mesh network funded by Homeland Security. The discovery led the ACLU to document the ways that residents and visitors could be spied upon while having their movements fully tracked. s a side note, there is also new WiFi tracking technology being developed that does not even need a connected device to home in on individuals or groups of people.

 Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Californian Native American Tribe Bans GM Crops and GM Animals
Sustainable Pulse - The Yurok Tribe, which is currently the largest group of Native Americans in California, has announced that they are putting a full ban on the cultivation of GM crops and the release of GM animals in the Tribe’s territory.... The Tribal GEO Ordinance prohibits the propagation, raising, growing, spawning, incubating, or releasing genetically engineered organisms (such as growing GMO crops or releasing genetically engineered salmon) within the Tribe’s territory and declares the Yurok Reservation to be a GMO-free zone. While other Tribes, such as the Dine’ (Navajo) Nation, have declared GMO-free zones by resolution, this ordinance appears to be the first of its kind in the nation.

Michigan DNR Forces Closure of Family-run Heritage Hog Farm
Health Impact News - Mark and Jill Baker of Bakers Green Acres have announced they are closing and selling their 80 acre family farm in Northern Michigan. Their markets for their Mangalitsa Hogs have been "roadblocked at every corner," according to Mark. Mark says, There are entities that are working behind the scene that are destroying our market and really running very negative campaigns against us. We’re just a family farm. They’re spending far more money to do it than we would ever make. Now Mark, a retired U.S. veteran, must seek other means of income and way of life for his family of eleven.

Health

Hemp Seed Could Have Anti-Alzheimer's Benefits, New Study Reveals
Green Med Info - Hemp seeds are gaining increased recognition as a delicious and nutritious food, but few still know they have significant medicinal value as well. ... A recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry summarized its nutritional properties as follows: Hemp seed has high levels of fatty acids, protein, insoluble fiber, and a rich set of minerals and vitamins. It is considered to be perfectly balanced with regard to the ratio (3:1) of two essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for human nutrition, linoleic (ω-6) and α-linolenic acids (ALA) (ω-3)."/// In addition to its nutritional value, hemp seed demonstrated positive health benefits, including alleviating constipation, lowering cholesterol, cardiovascular health benefits, immunomodulatory effects, and dermatological disease amelioration effects.Hemp seed extracts showed also strong antioxidant and antiaging effects and the potential to improve the impaired learning and memory induced by chemical drugs in mice."

Keep Orange Peels Out Of The Trash
Karen Foster - Citrus fruit peels hold some amazing nutrient properties and they don't belong anywhere near a garbage can. Whenever trying to use the peels of any citrus fruit such as oranges, try to buy organically-grown, especially if you plan to eat the peels or use them on your body. Here are 8 incredible health benefits of orange peels.

How and Why You Should Freeze Your Lemons
Natural News Blogs - Out of ALL the citruses you can eat, lemons are one of the best to choose from. First off, they can help prevent kidney stones, by raising citrus levels in the urine. This helps to prevent calcium from building up in the kidneys. Secondly, they help in weight loss.... Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to do this, since lemons are usually in season 2 times a year. Once in late winter to early summer from the coastal region of California, and again in fall and early winter, but this doesn’t mean that everyone can enjoy them fresh! Lemons are a really nice fruit to freeze because they stand up to the freezing process. When frozen, you can still use all the parts of the lemon, such as the rind, and the fruit itself.

The Best Fruits You Can Eat to Combat Cancer
Natural News Blogs - Despite many medical advances in this past century, cancer remains a leading killer not only in the United States but around the globe. Treatment still revolves largely around conventional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy – all of which come with risks and/or unwanted side effects. No wonder it is such a worry for people who are concerned about their health! However, there are ways to help lower the risk for cancer naturally – and one of these ways appears to be eating certain fruits. Below, some of the best-performing fruits for this are discussed, along with recommendations as to how to add more of them to the daily diet.

Pet News

Humane Society Aids Missouri Pets in Distress, Opens Emergency Trailers
Dogington Post - The Humane Society of Missouri has opened emergency trailers to house pets in distress at two St. Louis-area locations affected by historic flooding that has forced many to flee their homes. “We want those animals to be safe so everyone can be brought back together once the danger has passed,” Debbie Hill told KSDK News. Hill is vice president of operations for the Humane Society. “We don’t want any member of your family left behind,” said Hill. “That includes your cat, your dog, your turtle and your bird.”
* Related: Cat Floating In Litter Box Saved by HSMO Rescuers

An Almost Sure Way to Be Rejected by Your Dog
Dr. Becker - Many experts and organizations in a position to know (for example, animal behaviorists, dog trainers, and rescue professionals), discourage dog guardians from acquiring puppy litter-mates. In fact, many shelters and breeders simply refuse to place siblings together. The reason, according to certified professional dog trainer Jeff Stallings, writing for The Bark: “Anecdotal evidence suggests that behavioral issues may arise during key development periods because the two puppies’ deep bond impedes their individual ability to absorb and grasp the nuances of human and canine communication.” In other words, canine siblings can be so closely bonded on a primal level, that if they go on to share the same home and family, that deep connection can inhibit their ability to learn how to communicate with their humans and interact with other dogs.

 Miscellaneous

Video: Happy New Year! Charlie Daniels Does My Beautiful America
Oath Keepers - Let’s spread around a little bit of old-fashioned Americanism to wrap up the waning year. Oath Keepers wants to say “Thank You!” to all our patriotic members and supporters who have stood with us across 2015 and stoked the fires of liberty and freedom as protected by the written word and will of the American people — the Constitution for the united States of America. Enjoy this presentation by Charlie Daniels, a true country music patriot. Blessings to ye all, and Happy New Year!

 



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