1/28/2015 January 28th 2015

THE 1% ELITE__________________

This is either the most interesting case of coincidental deaths or one of the most evil plots in modern history.

Western bankers are dropping dead all over the place - most of them youngish and in good health. There appear to be an unusual number of suicides and "unexplained" deaths.

Last year, 36 bankers died. There have been 3 already this year, including the latest - a Dutch financier who worked for Amro bank.

(American Thinker, jan 25th)

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/01/who_is_killing_the_great_bankers_of_europe.html



Davos economist Robert Johnson, who made headlines this week for revealing that the wealthy are buying secret hideaways as a hedge against global instability, warned in a subsequent interview that the elite are also afraid of more riots in the mould of Ferguson, Missouri.

(infowars, jan 28th)

http://www.infowars.com/davos-economist-elite-are-afraid-of-ferguson-style-riots/




INTERNET____________________



President Francois Hollande said Tuesday in Paris the government will present a draft law next month that makes Internet operators “accomplices” of hate-speech offenses if they host extremist messages. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he will travel to the U.S. to seek help from the heads of Twitter Inc. (TWTR) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) as well as Google and Facebook. Spokesmen for the companies did not immediately return requests for comment.

(Tech dirt, jan 27th)

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150127/10302029829/france-announces-plans-to-hold-internet-responsible-terrorism.shtml




Facebook recently announced that it would be adding a new feature allowing users to flag fake news stories.

If enough people flag a post, it’s not deleted but it’s algorithm is set so it appears far less frequently in people’s feeds, effectively killing any chance of the post going viral.

But here’s what they’re not telling you; This isn’t just about flagging fake news stories.

When utilizing the new flagging feature, users are presented with a series of options which also allow them to flag posts or memes which “annoy” them, posts which they find “distasteful”, posts which go against their religious or political views, or make fun of their beliefs.

This of course means Facebook can now be completely gamed by agenda-driven political sub-groups, governments or corporations to unfairly suppress information which challenges their position.

Note how this new system will allow Facebook to totally escape the backlash it would have otherwise received for censoring free speech by deleting posts. The posts are not deleted, they are merely relegated so that hardly anyone sees them. This negates the ‘Streisand effect’ – where the act of removing or censoring content only makes it more likely to receive attention elsewhere. Now you won’t even know if your post has been targeted for censorship, so you won’t be able to do anything about it.
(Infowars, jan 27th)

http://www.infowars.com/facebooks-new-feature-is-a-chilling-development-for-free-speech/




Two weeks after Zuckerberg said ‘je suis Charlie,’ Facebook begins censoring images of prophet Muhammad

(washington post, jan 27th)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/01/27/two-weeks-after-zuckerberg-said-je-suis-charlie-facebook-begins-censoring-images-of-prophet-muhammad/?tid=sm_tw




Tons of AT&T and Verizon customers may no longer have “broadband” tomorrow...

...25Mbps minimum would leave 19% of US homes without broadband access.

(ARS technica, jan 28th)

http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/tons-of-att-and-verizon-customers-may-no-longer-have-broadband-tomorrow/



BLOGGING IS DEAD???

(Free beacon, jan 28th)

http://freebeacon.com/blog/blogging-is-dead/



Canada's electronic spy agency sifts through millions of videos and documents downloaded online every day by people around the world, as part of a sweeping bid to find extremist plots and suspects, CBC News has learned.

Details of the Communications Security Establishment project dubbed "Levitation" are revealed in a document obtained by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and recently released to CBC News.

Under Levitation, analysts with the electronic eavesdropping service can access information on about 10 to 15 million uploads and downloads of files from free websites each day, the document says.
(CBC, jan 27th)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cse-tracks-millions-of-downloads-daily-snowden-documents-1.2930120




TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY________


It has been the holy grail of science fiction – an interface that allows us to plug our brain into a computer.

Now, researchers at MIT have revealed new fibres less than a width of a hair that could make it a reality.

They say their system that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.

‘We’re building neural interfaces that will interact with tissues in a more organic way than devices that have been used previously,’ said MIT’s Polina Anikeeva, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering.
(daily mail, jan 27th)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2927410/The-real-life-Matrix-MIT-researchers-reveal-interface-allow-computer-plug-brain.html




Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, will cut its massive workforce, the company told Reuters, as the Apple Inc supplier faces declining revenue growth and rising wages in China.

Under its flagship unit Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd <2317.TW>, the group currently employs about 1.3 million people during peak production times, making it one of the largest private employers in the world.

Special assistant to the chairman and group spokesman Louis Woo did not specify a timeframe or target for the reduction, but noted that labor costs had more than doubled since 2010, when the company faced intense media scrutiny following a spate of worker suicides.

Automation will be key to keeping labor costs under control in the long-term, Woo said, as the company pushes to have robotic arms complete mundane tasks currently done by workers.

But Woo noted that company chairman Terry Gou's previously stated goal of 1 million robots was "a generic concept" rather than a firm target.

(Reuters, jan 27th)

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-apple-supplier-foxconn-shrink-workforce-sales-growth-102032643--finance.html


ECONOMY______________________


The Dow is now down 360 points on the day – its biggest point drop in 19 months. Perhaps more notable is that since the End of QE3, The Dow is now down 0.4% – but the fundamentals we hear you cry… The Nasdaq is today’s biggest loser, down over 2.2%

(Zero Hedge, jan 27th)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-27/dow-plunges-360-points-erases-all-post-qe-gains




U.S. stocks slumped Tuesday after some of the market’s largest companies reported disappointing earnings, taking investors on a turbulent ride that deepened the losses for the year.

The companies that rattled the market included Microsoft, Caterpillar and Procter & Gamble. Some also forecast weaker results in months ahead.

(seattle times, jan 27th)

http://seattletimes.com/html/stockmarket/2025551808_apxfinancialmarkets.html?syndication=rss




American Small Business Is Literally Dying

According to Gallup, the United States now ranks 12th in the world in business startup activity. Italy, one of the weaker countries in the Eurozone, has a higher rate of business startups than the US. This isn’t a statistical quirk. Entrepreneurship, the special sauce that launches new business, is in steep decline here for the first time ever.

“When small and medium-sized businesses are dying faster than they’re being born, so is free enterprise,” writes Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup. “And when free enterprise dies, America dies with it.”

For six years, the number of small businesses closing has exceeded the number of businesses starting. The number of business deaths exceeded births in 2008 for the first time in US history and has gotten worse in the ensuing years. Since 2010, the rate of small business closures has increased.
(Breitbart, jan 28th)

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/28/american-small-business-is-literally-dying/




CBO Director Predicts Unsustainable Debt, ‘Heightening the Risk of Fiscal Crisis'

CBO Director Douglas Elmdorf testified that debt will exceed 100% of GDP within 25 years and continue to rise, a “trend that could not be sustained” and would eventually heighten “the risk of a fiscal crisis” before the House Budget Committee on Tuesday.

(brietbart, jan 27th)

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/01/27/cbo-director-predicts-unsustainable-debt-heightening-the-risk-of-fiscal-crisis/




The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released their annual Budget and Economic Outlook which sets the budget baselines and estimates for the whole year.

Buried in Appendix B of the report is CBO's attempt to provide an updated score of Obamacare. But that's not what they did.  They only scored the "coverage provisions" of the law, ignoring some fifteen tax increases which are also a part of Obamacare and its cost to taxpayers.
(ATR.org, jan 27th)

http://www.atr.org/cbo-still-refuses-score-obamacare-ignores-15-tax-hikes-healthcare-law#ixzz3QA9uADn6



U.S. GOVERNMENT_________________________


Americans hate the federal government now more than ever

According to a report released Tuesday by the American Customer Satisfaction Index http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/customer-satisfaction-reports/reports-2014/acsi-federal-government-report-2014, our satisfaction with the federal government has hit an all-time low (at least since the company began collecting data for this index in 2007). The federal government now scores a 64.4 out of 100 in terms of satisfaction (the average across all industries is 75 out 100). This is the lowest score across the 40 different industries – including industries like airlines, cable companies and others — that the ACSI measures, with the exception of Internet service providers.
(Market watch, jan 27th)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-hate-the-federal-government-now-more-than-ever-2015-01-27




Democratic members of Congress apparently aren’t going to be satisfied until American citizens are completely and utterly defenseless.

Representative Mike Honda (D-CA) has introduced a bill for consideration of the new Congress which would prohibit the ownership of certain types of body armor for civilians.

H.R. 378 would make it a crime to own Type III body armor which would be punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Yeah, 10 years in prison.

Of course, there are carve outs in the bill for state/federal employees and agencies. The bill does also include a grandfather clause for people who currently own this type of armor.
(Guns Saves Lives, jan 27th)

http://gunssavelives.net/blog/gun-laws/federal-bill-would-make-owning-body-armor-a-crime-punishable-by-10-years-in-prison/



How Bureaucracy and Big Government Ruined American Health Care
(Reason, jan 26th)

http://reason.com/archives/2015/01/26/how-bureaucracy-and-big-government-ruine




Obama Demands New Regulations After Drunken Fed Crashes Drone on White House Lawn

President Barack Obama called for increased regulation on unmanned aerial vehicles Tuesday after a drunken federal employee crashed a small drone on White House grounds.

Off-duty at the time of the incident, the unnamed National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency employee reportedly lost control of the drone while intoxicated near the White House Monday.
(infowars, jan 27th)

http://www.infowars.com/obama-demands-new-regulations-after-drunken-fed-crashes-drone-on-white-house-lawn/




Muslim Brotherhood-Aligned Leaders Hosted at State Department

The State Department hosted a delegation of Muslim Brotherhood-aligned leaders this week for a meeting about their ongoing efforts to oppose the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, who rose to power following the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the Brotherhood, in 2013.

(free beacon, jan 28th)

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/muslim-brotherhood-leaders-hosted-at-state-department/




A campaign to send letters to House GOP members urging them to find another House speaker because of John Boehner’s decision to give in to Barack Obama’s demand for amnesty and Obamacare funding moved above 575,000 just as Boehner, himself, was conceding that there were mistakes in the handling of those issues.

The “Dump Boehner Now” letter writing campaign allows voters to reach every single Republican House member with hard copy letters with FedEx delivery guaranteed.

The letter points out that the House had every power it needed – the power of the purse – to halt Obama’s plans to give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens already in the country, and to at least delay and chip away at Obamacare, after the huge GOP sweep of election results in November.

Then, voters gave the GOP an increased majority in the U.S. House and control of the U.S. Senate.

But Boehner compromised with Obama to carry on funding into 2015 for both Obamacare and amnesty.

(WND, jan 27th)

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/575000-letters-as-boehner-admits-amnesty-goofs/#0HPhWJfIlRCy4twx.99




New Attorney General Loretta Lynch defends amnesty, dodges IRS corruption

(WND, jan 28th)

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/01/ag-nominee-defends-amnesty-dodges-irs-corruption/#70itUl2RpAkqpyXJ.99




Feds to border agents: 'Inform' illegals about amnesty...

...Also ordered to ID jailed aliens who 'qualify' for release
(AP, jan 28th)

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150128/us--immigration_overload-a135fed8ce.html


HEALTH____________________



POLICY/MANDATE NOW BECOMES LAW:

A California school district will release 66 students from a Riverside County high school by the end of the school day because they have not received immunization for measles. The move comes after a suspected case of measles at the school earlier this week.

The Palm Desert High School students cannot return to school until Feb. 9 or with confirmation that they've been immunized or proof of resistance as determined by a Titer test.

(usa today, jan 28th)

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/28/california-measles-unvaccinated-students-sent-home/22479001/




Disabled beneficiaries have increased 49.7 percent from a decade ago in 2003 when there were 6,830,714 beneficiaries; and the number is up 14.3 percent from the 8,945,376 beneficiaries in 2009, the year President Obama took office.

One in three, or 35.2 percent, of people getting federal disability insurance benefits have been diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to the latest data from the Social Security Administration (SSA).

(CNS news, jan 27th)

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/1-3-disability-have-mental-disorder-429-dc



Food Babe Victory: Major Beer Brand Removes Caramel Coloring

Newcastle, a UK brand, confessed to using what I would consider one of the most controversial food additives. Toasted barley is usually what gives beer its golden or deep brown color, however in this case, Newcastle beer is also colored artificially with caramel color. This caramel coloring is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creating carcinogenic compounds. If beer companies were required by law to list the ingredients, Newcastle would likely have to have a cancer warning label under California law because it is a carcinogen proven to cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice”.

(Food Babe, jan 27th)

http://foodbabe.com/2015/01/26/breaking-news-major-beer-brand-removes-caramel-coloring/




Researchers from the Australian National Drug and Alcohol centre found that patients with chronic pain who used the drug said it eased their symptoms better opioid medications, which are highly addictive and can cause accidental overdoses.

The study analysed 1,500 patients, aged in their late 40s and early 50s, who suffered from conditions including back pain, migraines and arthritis, and were being prescribed with heavy-duty opioid medications, such as morphine and oxycodone.
(Independent, jan 27th)

http://www.infowars.com/cannabis-eases-chronic-pain-better-than-commonly-prescribed-opioids-study-suggests/



Girls who consume a lot of sugary drinks may enter puberty earlier than girls who don’t, Harvard researchers report.

Among nearly 5,600 girls aged 9 to 14 who were followed between 1996 and 2001, the researchers found that those who drank more than 1.5 servings of sugary drinks a day had their first period 2.7 months earlier than those who drank two or fewer of these drinks a week.

This finding was independent of the girls’ body mass index (a height-weight ratio that measures body fat), how much food they ate, or whether they exercised or not, the researchers noted.

“Starting periods early is a risk factor for depression during adolescence and breast cancer during adulthood. Thus, our findings have implications beyond just starting menstruation early,” said study first author Jenny Carwile, a postdoctoral associate at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston.

(US news, jan 27th)

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2015/01/27/soda-habit-may-prompt-early-puberty-in-girls-study-suggests




GLOBAL CONFLICTS_____________________


‘I Don’t Trust U.S.’: Fidel Castro Breaks Silence on Cuba-America Reconciliation

The 88-year-old Castro does not “trust the US, nor have I exchanged any words with them,” he wrote in a letter addressed to the student federation at the University of Havana and printed in the Communist Party newspaper Granma.

However, “it does not mean I reject a pacific resolution to the conflicts,” Castro continues. “We will always defend cooperation and friendship with all the people of the world, including our political adversaries.”
(Russia Today, jan 27th)

http://rt.com/news/226547-castro-letter-trust-us/




The body of Veracruz journalist José Moisés Sánchez Cerezo, missing since Jan. 2, has been found on the outskirts of Medellín de Bravo, Mexico, state prosecutor Luís Angel Bravo announced on Sunday. A former police officer confessed to participating in the murder, according to Bravo, at the behest of Medellín de Bravo Mayor Omar Cruz Reyes.

Sánchez Cerezo owned and edited a weekly community newspaper called La Unión. He was a vocal critic of Cruz Reyes, and posted several condemnations of the mayor on his Facebook page in the days prior to his disappearance.

On Jan. 2, a group of armed men charged Sánchez Cerezo’s home and removed the journalist by force as his son looked on. The men confiscated a cell phone, a camera and a computer.
(Latin Dispatch, jan 27th)

http://latindispatch.com/2015/01/26/missing-mexican-journalist-found-dead-mayor-accused-of-orchestrating-his-death/




Libyan Luxury Hotel Attacked in the Name of Intelligence Operative Abu Anas al-Libi

Left unmentioned in the reportage on the death of al-Libi is his linkage to western intelligence. He was connected to another prominent intelligence asset, Ali Mohamed, and was paid to assassinate Libyan leader Colonel Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi.

Al-Libi was allowed to live openly in Britain until 2000. He was associated with MI6 asset L’Houssaine Kherchtou, an al-Qaeda member who later turned witness for a U.S. trial and was trained in surveillance techniques in Pakistan by CIA operative Mohamed in 1992.

The Tripoli Province of the Islamic State is connected to the CIA and Saudi effort to topple the al-Assad government in Syria.

The group “has been bolstered by the return to Libya from Syria and Iraq of up to 300 Libyan jihadists who were part of ISIS’ al Battar Brigade — deployed at first in Deir Ezzor in Syria and then Mosul in Iraq. These fighters supported the Shura Council for the Youth of Islam in Derna, a pro-ISIS faction,” CNN reported in November.

In June, it was reported that members of ISIS were trained in 2012 by U.S. instructors working at a secret base in Jordan.
(Infowars, jan 27th)

http://www.infowars.com/libyan-luxury-hotel-attacked-in-the-name-of-intelligence-operative-abu-anas-al-libi/



The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck Syrian army artillery targets late on Tuesday night in response to an earlier rocket attack carried out on the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon.
(jpost, jan 28th)

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IDF-confirms-additional-strike-on-Syrian-army-targets-389194




CORRUPTION AND SCANDALS_________



More Prisoners Were Found Wrongfully Convicted in 2014 Than Ever Before
(MIC, jan 27th)

http://mic.com/articles/109286/more-prisoners-were-found-innocent-in-2014-than-ever-before-and-we-re-barely-even-looking?utm_source=policymicTWTR&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=social




Foreign Firm Funding U.S. Green Groups Tied to State-Owned Russian Oil Company

Executives at a Bermudan firm funneling money to U.S. environmentalists run investment funds with Russian tycoon

(Free beacon, jan 27th)

http://freebeacon.com/issues/foreign-firm-funding-u-s-green-groups-tied-to-state-owned-russian-oil-company/



Spanish judge charges 10 Catholic priests with child sexual abuse

(reuters, jan 27th)

http://news.yahoo.com/spanish-judge-charges-10-catholic-priests-child-sexual-171645018.html;_ylt=AwrBJR5fycdUr1AAfmjQtDMD



TurboTax knows your secrets:

Intuit (INTU), the company that makes TurboTax, maintains a database containing users’ Social Security numbers, names and other personal data — even for customers using the desktop version of the software who save their files on their own hard drives.

(usa today, jan 27th)

http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2015/01/27/turbotaxs-database-knows-your-secrets/



Phone Company ‘Outraged’ By Fraud, Abuse In ‘Obamaphone’ Program

(CBS denver, jan 26th)

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/01/26/phone-company-outraged-by-fraud-abuse-in-obamaphone-program/