Today's News: April 12, 2019

Top Headlines
Julian Assange Threatened With Expulsion from Embassy
Black Agenda Report – Ecuador’s president appears to be using Assange as a bargaining chip for debt relief.
“If Assange is expelled from the embassy, he will most likely then be extradited to the US to face trial in a kangaroo court.”
The President of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, is threatening to expel whistleblower and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been for the last nine years, “within hours or days” . Moreno has accused Assange of leaking photos of the president and his family, along with intercepted private calls and correspondences. Moreno claimed on national radio that there were even “photos of my bedroom,” but has provided no evidence to substantiate his claims. This threat of expulsion is an assault on freedom of expression and should be resisted.
In truth, Moreno is calling to oust Assange in order to divert attention away from a corruption scandal he is currently embroiled in, which has led to a congressional investigation that could impeach him. The private correspondence that Assange is accused of leaking relates to the INA Papers, a dossier of files documenting the deposit of $18 million by the Chinese company Sinohydro into an offshore account connected to the president’s brother: Edwin Moreno Garces. These files implicate Moreno and his family in charges of money laundering, perjury and corruption. However, former Consul of Ecuador, Fidel Navarez says “not a single document, referring to INA Papers or the president’s family, has ever been leaked or published by WikiLeaks, let alone by Julian Assange.” Assange’s lawyer confirmed that his client was not responsible for publications anymore as “WikiLeaks has an internal organization and Mr. Assange is no longer the editor.”
“Moreno is calling to oust Assange in order to divert attention away from a corruption scandal he is currently embroiled in.”
Chelsea Manning’s FBI Files Are Central to Ongoing Criminal Proceedings, Bureau Claims
Gizmodo – The Federal Bureau of Investigation is refusing to make public any records it has amassed on whistleblower Chelsea Manning, even though the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst waived her rights under the Privacy Act and requested in a letter that her more-than-8,000 page file be released.
In response to a Freedom of Information/Privacy Act request, the FBI stated the records were considered exempt from disclosure because their release could reasonably be expected to interfere with ongoing law enforcement proceedings.
While the bureau’s explanation for withholding the records offers no other details about the investigation to which they apparently pertain, it suggests that Manning’s files may be central to the U.S. government investigation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been charged under seal by prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Heartbeat bill: Ohio lawmakers pass one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans
USA Today – Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Ohio House passed one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans Wednesday afternoon.
Senate Bill 23 would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected and prosecute doctors who perform them anyway. It passed the Ohio House of Representatives, 56-40.
As lawmakers debated the “heartbeat bill,” dueling groups of demonstrators chanted outside the House chamber so loudly they could be heard on the other side of the Statehouse. One side yelled “stop the bans” and “my body, my choice” while the other chanted “Jesus” repeatedly.
There were tears and prayers.
Under the bill, doctors would face a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison for performing an abortion after detecting a heartbeat. The bill has an exception to save the life of the woman but no exception for rape or incest – in line with current state law.
Medical police state cuts off research funding from scientist who found that vaccines cause autism
NaturalNews – When it comes to the Religion of Vaccination, there’s one area of research that’s completely off-limits, and it encompasses looking into vaccine safety and effectiveness independently, and with an open mind. The reason for this, of course, is that every time a scientist dares to do this, he or she typically discovers that vaccines aren’t nearly as safe or effective as the medical police state claims – which instantly makes said scientist a target of the medical establishment, which has no qualms about doing almost anything in order to silence the truth.
One recent and prominent example of this type of medical tyranny involves Professor Chris Exley of Keele University in the United Kingdom, whose focused research into aluminum toxicity led him to conclude that childhood vaccines, many of which contain neurotoxic aluminum, can, in fact, cause autism – a discovery that, if you’ve been following independent vaccine science for any considerable period of time, is inherently “controversial” and a recipe for trouble.
Like Dr. Andrew Wakefield before him, Prof. Exley merely reported his findings in the interest of public health, as any good scientist would do. And in the process, he’s made himself enemy number one of the Vaccine Mafia, which is now trying to destroy his career and life by barring him from raising any further funding for his research endeavors.
In essence, Prof. Exley has officially blown the lid off the highly-destructive nature of aluminum in vaccines, indicating that this common chemical adjuvant has the potential to cause “severe and disabling” autism in children who are injected with it. And for violating the medical establishment’s never-to-be-challenged doctrine of “all vaccines are safe and effective,” Prof. Exley is now having to endure the ire of the priests and priestesses of the Cult of Vaccination, which are now out for blood.
Prof. Exley was one of the underwriters for an eye-opening 2017 study published in EBioMedicine, a journal associated with The Lancet, which found that underarm cosmetic products – mainly antiperspirant deodorants that contain aluminum – increase users’ risk of developing breast cancer.
He’s also studied other areas of aluminum toxicity similarly unrelated to vaccines – though vaccines eventually became a natural next-step for his particular area of focus. And rather than censor the progressive course of his research endeavors, Prof. Exley stuck true to science – and for doing this, he’s now paying a big price.
The good news, though, is that many people are on Prof. Exley’s side, and are working hard to get him funding from other sources. Some of his most ardently faithful followers have actually set up a GoFundMe page to help raise financial support for his continued research endeavors.
World News
Chinese Government Offers a $1,500 Bounty to Informants Who Identify Leaders of Christian House Churches

Edward Griffin – The Guangzhou Department of Ethnic and Religious Affairs is offering $1,500, equal to an average two-month’s income, to neighbors who turn in leaders of illegal house churches. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is going after Muslims and Christians with great zeal, views religion as a threat from foreign countries to infiltrate and undermine the government’s power. [He is wrong about foreign powers but right in that religion does, in fact, undermine government power, because it allows people to turn to spiritual leaders and to each other for guidance and help. Totalitarian governments cannot allow that to happen

China’s Next Naval Target Is the Internet’s Underwater Cables
Bloomberg – As the West considers the threat posed by China’s naval ambitions, there is a natural tendency to place overarching attention on the South China Sea. This is understandable: Consolidating it would provide Beijing with a huge windfall of oil and natural gas, and a potential chokehold over up to 40 percent of the world’s shipping.
US declassifies Argentina coup files in largest ever handover
France24 – The United States handed thousands of documents Friday to Argentina on disappearances by the former US-backed military dictatorship, completing Washington’s biggest-ever transfer of documents to another government.
With a ceremony at the National Archives, the grand Greco-Roman building in central Washington that is home to the US Constitution and other founding documents, the United States fulfilled a pledge made three years ago by then president Barack Obama when he honored the victims of the 1976-1983 military regime on a visit to Buenos Aires.
Receiving the files from the archivist of the United States, Argentina’s Justice Minister German Garavano said the documents “will be fundamental to justice.”
“This is good news for the Argentine people to learn from the past and not repeat this in the future,” he said.
In an accompanying letter to his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri, President Donald Trump said the declassification “demonstrates our shared commitment to promoting open and transparent government.”
Ex-Venezuelan Head of Military Intel Detained in Madrid at US Request – Police
Sputnik – The former head of the Venezuelan military intelligence and a member of the country’s National Assembly, Hugo Carvajal, was arrested in Madrid on Friday at the request of the United States.
CBP to send officers from Canada border, airports to Mexican border, including El Paso
El Paso Times – U.S. customs officers from the Canadian border and airports will be sent to El Paso and other cities amid growing frustration over lengthy border-crossing wait times.
Two weeks ago, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reassigned 750 officers from ports of entry on the Mexican border to help the Border Patrol deal with large numbers of Central American migrants arriving in El Paso and other areas.
The port of entry staffing shifts closed lanes, caused 12-hour delays of cargo shipments, snarled traffic in Mexico and tested the patience of cross-border commuters.
U.S. and Mexican business, manufacturing and political leaders said that extensive delays threaten commerce, industry and tourism far from the border.
Selected CBP officers from airports and the northern border “will be replacing the CBP officers currently assigned to support the Border Patrol along the Southwest border,” a CBP official said Thursday.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
Trump says he is considering putting migrants in sanctuary cities
The Hill – President Trump said Friday his administration is “giving strong considerations” to a controversial plan that would release migrants into so-called sanctuary cities, even though officials said the idea was never seriously considered.
In a pair of tweets, Trump accused Democrats of being “unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws” and suggested they should feel the consequences of what he has called the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
….The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019
Trump’s comments breathed new life into the proposal, which could further rile lawmakers in Washington who say the president is going too far in his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
The Washington Post reported Thursday night that White House officials proposed the idea on at least two occasions as a way to retaliate against Democrats who opposed the president’s hardline immigration policies.
Transgender Rights: Judge Warns Girls Have No Right to ‘Visual Bodily Privacy’
What Really Happened – A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit against transgender facilities in a school district to proceed, but warned the student-plaintiffs that, if the government allows boys who claim to be female to use the girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, then the girls have no right to “visual bodily privacy.”
Judge Jorge Alonso of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division is allowing a lawsuit to proceed against the school district that adopted the Obama-era transgender policy permitting boys claiming to be female to use the girls’ bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms.
However, the judge informed the girls, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), that, “[s]o far, the right not to be seen unclothed by the opposite sex is not on the Supreme Court’s list.”
Economy & Business
As cashless stores grow, so does the backlash
AP – Hembert Figueroa just wanted a taco.
So he was surprised to learn the dollar bills in his pocket were no good at Dos Toros Taqueria in Manhattan, one of a small but growing number of establishments across the U.S. where customers can only pay by card or smartphone.
Cash-free stores are generating a backlash among some activists and liberal-leaning policymakers who say the practice discriminates against people like Figueroa, who either lack bank accounts or rely on cash for many transactions.
Figueroa, an ironworker, had to stand to the side, holding his taco, until a sympathetic cashier helped him find another customer willing to pay for his meal with a card in exchange for cash.
“I had money and I couldn’t pay,” he said.
The issue got some high-profile attention this week when retail giant Amazon bowed to pressure from activists and agreed to accept cash at more than 30 cashless stores, including its Amazon Go convenience stores, which have no cashiers, and its book shops. Amazon declined to say when the change would happen.
There is no federal law that requires stores to accept cash, so lawmakers are working on the issue at the state and city level.
Earlier this year, Philadelphia became the first city to ban cashless stores, despite efforts by Amazon to dissuade it. New Jersey passed a statewide ban soon after, and a similar ban is working its way through the New York City Council. Before this year there was only one jurisdiction that required businesses to accept cash: Massachusetts, which passed a law nearly 40 years ago.
China STEALS $600 Billion in American Intellectual Property Every Year
Investmentwatchblog – “Consumers are paying the price” for President Trump’s tariffs, CNN claims. Millions will feel the pinch; many thousands will lose their jobs.
What CNN fails to mention is that millions of Americans already feel the pinch, and millions more have already lost their jobs. Why? Chinese consumers won’t pay the price for American exports: China steals up to $600 billion in American intellectual property (IP) every year.
Trump understands that tariffs are a powerful political tool that can — and should — be used to force China to pay for their crimes.
Most Americans have only a fuzzy understanding of what constitutes IP. Basically, IP are ideas; the products of human creativity such as art, branding or inventions that can be owned and legally protected by registering copyrights, trademarks or patents. Examples of IP include Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, the [National Economics Editorial’s] logo, and Tesla’s battery designs. Needless to say, IP is incredibly valuable — and incredibly easy to steal.
A 2017 report from the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property estimates that IP theft costs American individuals and businesses between $225 and $600 billion annually. Most of this loss is caused by the theft of American trade secrets ($540 billion), although software piracy ($18 billion) and counterfeiting ($41 billion) are likewise significant drains.
Energy & Environment
EPA caught burying data describing the release of toxic substances into the environment… PROOF the EPA is colluding with polluters and lying to America
NaturalNews – The Acting Inspector General of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has boldly stepped forward to warn Americans that the government department for which he works isn’t being honest with the public about the true level of toxic releases coming from publicly-owned waste treatment facilities.
In an emergency memorandum entitled, “Management Alert: Certain Toxic Release Inventory Data Disclosed to the Public Are Inaccurate,” Charles J. Sheehan revealed that, upon conducting the Audit of the Impact of Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Late Reporters on the EPA’s Annual TRI National Analysis, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) came to the conclusion that what the EPA is telling the public about toxic releases, and what’s actually occurring, don’t exactly align.
The EPA’s published TRI data, Sheehan warns, is wholly “inaccurate,” and doesn’t reflect the true level of hazardous substances release coming from Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW). As a result, Sheehan says, “the public is not receiving complete and timely information about environmental conditions affecting human health.”
You can read Sheehan’s full emergency memorandum at this link.
Indonesian island rocked by 6.8 mag quake…
Mirror – The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck 174 miles south of the province of Gorontalo, just months after more than 4,000 died in a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.
Science & Technology
Elon Musk’s SpaceX sends world’s most powerful rocket on first commercial flight
Reuters – The most powerful operational rocket in the world, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, launched its first commercial mission on Thursday from Florida in a key demonstration for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space company in the race to grasp lucrative military launch contracts.
Senate bill would require tech companies to police their algorithms for bias
CNET – Automated decision systems would have to be tested for accuracy, fairness, discrimination, privacy and security under the bill.
US lawmakers on Wednesday proposed a bill that would require large tech companies to review and correct any discriminatory biases detected in their algorithms.
Dubbed the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019, the bill would authorize the Federal Trade Commission to create regulations requiring companies to assess their automated decision-making systems for accuracy, fairness, bias, discrimination, privacy and security. The regulations would apply only to companies with an annual revenue of more than $50 billion already under the FTC’s supervision.
“Computers are increasingly involved in the most important decisions affecting Americans’ lives — whether or not someone can buy a home, get a job or even go to jail,” Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said in a statement. “But instead of eliminating bias, too often these algorithms depend on biased assumptions or data that can actually reinforce discrimination against women and people of color.”
The proposal comes as large tech companies grapple with accusations of racial, gender and political bias. It also underscores the growing bipartisan concern in Washington of large tech companies’ size and influence.
Canadian government says it’s considering regulating Facebook and other tech giants
The Star – The Canadian government is “actively considering” regulating social media giants and believes that self-regulation of the platforms has failed.
Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould told the Star and BuzzFeed News that “all options are on the table” when it comes to applying domestic rules to international social media and tech giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Twitter.
New species of tiny frogs discovered in Madagascar
Fox – Five new species of frogs were recently discovered in the rain forests of Madagascar, all of them so small they could easily fit on the tip of your finger.
The frogs belong to a family called Microhylidae, which translates to “narrow–mouthed frogs”. One of the species, dubbed Mini mum, is one of the smallest frogs in existence, with adult males and females measuring 9.7 and 11.3 millimeters, respectively.
According to the study’s lead author, Dr. Mark Scherz, finding new species of miniaturized frogs in their habitat is pretty easy– as long as you know where to look.
“In Madagascar, for example, we described 26 new species of dwarf frogs in the genus Stumpffia in 2017, all discovered within the last 20 years,” he told Fox News. “On some expeditions, especially those to previously unexplored bits of rainforest in Madagascar, there is a really good chance that you will find at least one, perhaps even more undescribed species of dwarf frogs–but being sure that what you have is new is quite a difficult thing.”
Aside from Madagascar, the frogs are found in New Guinea, and parts of South-East Asia and South America.
A new genus, Mini, was established for three of the new species. The smallest of the three, the aforementioned Mini mum, was discovered in eastern Madagascar. The next smallest is Mini scule, found in Sainte Luce and the largest of the genus is Mini ature, discovered in southeast Madagascar.
Health
They just banned this chemical in Europe, but it’s still used on American food.
Foodbabe – Just last week, Europe banned the most popular fungicide used on American farms (chlorothalonil) due to human health and environmental concerns.
They banned it after a scientific review found it possibly causes DNA damage (which can lead to cancer) and also to steep declines in bumblebees. This fungicide is used on wheat and barley crops, as well as some fruits and vegetables. The USDA has found residues primarily on cucumbers, celery, summer squash, peaches, and berries in recent years (wheat and barley haven’t been tested for chlorothalonil).
The good news? This fungicide is NOT used on organic crops and the USDA hasn’t found residues of it on organic foods tested.
This is yet another reminder why organic food is a safer choice… We may not have a choice as to what chemicals farmers are allowed to use, but WE DO have a choice in what food we are willing to buy.
A Breast Milk Ingredient Is the Hot New Health Supplement for Adults
Bloomberg – Mother’s milk isn’t just for babies anymore.
Global chemical giants DowDuPont Inc. and BASF SE are investing millions to ramp up production of an indigestible sugar found naturally in breast milk. Infant formula makers like Nestle SA can’t get enough of the synthetic ingredient. Now the companies are eyeing a potentially bigger customer: adults. DuPont estimates the annual market could reach $1 billion.
Human milk oligosaccharide is the third most common solid in breast milk, after lactose and fat. HMO escapes digestion, allowing it to reach the colon where it feeds beneficial bacteria. HMOs may explain why breast-fed babies tend to fare better than formula-fed, said Rachael Buck, who leads HMO research at Similac formula-maker Abbott Laboratories.
Abbott Laboratories in 2016 was the first to add HMO to infant formula in its Similac brand.
Source: Abbot Labs
“It’s just been a fascinating treasure trove of benefits that we’ve uncovered,’’ Buck said.
In babies, HMOs strengthen the developing immune system, helping fight infection and inflammation while aiding brain development, according to early research. New studies show those benefits may extend to people of all ages, fitting neatly into consumers’ growing fascination with probiotics — the “good” bacteria that can help keep a human body healthy.
Can this rare earth metal be the future of treating fatty liver disease?
NaturalNews – Rare earth metals are rarely associated with health and medicinal uses. Strontium is one of the few chemical elements to have been documented for use in the medical field. Though its applications in medicine have mainly concerned bone health, researchers from China explored the effects of strontium on fatty livers and determined these mechanisms may improve nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Their findings were published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.
NAFLD is the buildup of excess fat in liver cells that is caused by factors other than alcohol. While your liver does contain some fat, you can develop fatty liver (steatosis) if more than five to 10 percent of your liver’s weight is all fat.
Chinese researchers evaluated how strontium affects the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) pathways in a fatty liver. They used both in vitro and in vivo models. For the in vitro model of NAFLD, the researchers used human hepatocyte cell line (L02) treated with 0.2 mM palmitic acid. For the in vivo model of NAFLD, they fed Sprague-Dawley rats with a high-fat diet (HFD).
The researchers then determined the total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and lipid deposition in L02 cells and liver tissues.
They observed that strontium treatment suppressed intracellular TC and TG levels and lipid accumulation in L02 cells. This effect was more pronounced when using high concentrations of strontium.
Strontium also significantly reduced the mRNA and protein expression of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1), SREBP cleavage activator protein (SCAP), sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), and SREBP-2 in L02 cells.
California Tried To Ban 20 Questionable Ingredients From Cosmetics — & Failed
Refinery29 – In California, a proposed bill to make the use of makeup and personal-care products safer for consumers has failed to proceed.
The number of chemicals banned or restricted from use in beauty and personal-care products in the European Union stands at around 1,400. In the United States, that number is roughly 11. Despite that staggering fact, when the time came for a vote on the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act within the state’s Environment, Safety, and Toxic Materials Committee this week, the bill — which was set to be discussed on April 23 — stalled without enough votes to move to the Assembly Health Committee. Now, it’s likely the bill won’t be considered again for another year.
The bill targeted a list of 20 different potentially harmful ingredients — including asbestos, lead, mercury, formaldehyde, and some parabens and phthalates — to prohibit their use in cosmetics and personal-care products. According to the Los Angeles Times, backers of the bill hoped that, because of California’s size and influence, passing the law would motivate the rest of the country when it comes to eliminating potentially dangerous ingredients in these products.
However, the $70 billion cosmetics industry has been fighting hard against the bill, arguing that there isn’t enough scientific evidence to ban those particular chemicals — which have been coined “the toxic 20” — and even offered free cosmetic samples to legislative staffers around the State Capitol.