NEWS FOR 2/11/2015 Wednesday February 11th 2015

DAILY USA PATRIOT NEWS STORY OF THE DAY

(If you like this idea, please comment on this post or email me with feedback)

In 2009, Bill Bowen released a trailer for a documentary film he was producing exposing the corruption within Child Protection Services across the United States. The film is called Innocence Destroyed. Bill Bowen died unexpectedly the next year, in 2010, reportedly from a heart attack, before he was able to finish the film.

The segments that were completed are now on YouTube, in three different videos. See below.

WARNING: Videos contain graphic content not suitable for children! For adults only.

Here is some information about Bill Bowen, including some quotes directly attributed to him, that we were able to find on the Internet. [CONTINUED IN THE ARTICLE]

(Black listed news, feb 11th)

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Filmmaker_Was_Documenting_Abuses_in_CPS_and_Children_Murdered_under_State_Custody_Before_He_Died/41741/0/38/38/Y/M.html




POLICE STATE_________________


Shock Video: Police Execute Man With His Hands Up

Victim gunned down for refusing to comply

Shocking video shows a man being gunned down by police as he attempts to flee with his hands up.

(infowars, feb 11th)

http://www.infowars.com/shock-video-police-execute-man-with-his-hands-up/




Family Asks Cops To Check In On Sick Veteran; Cops Break Into House, Kill Him

74-year-old man was recovering from heart surgery; Police forced their way in at Midnight

A family in North Carolina asked police officers to check on the welfare of an elderly relative, a Korean war veteran, who was recovering from surgery. In response to the request, the cops went to the man’s house at midnight, broke in, and then shot him dead.

Clearly the family were under the impression that police officers can still be relied upon to perform such helpful community duties, but they were tragically wrong.

WSOCTV reports that while the family asked the officers to check on 74-year-old James Howard Allen on Saturday afternoon, the police opted to visit the man’s home very late in the evening.

When there was no answer, firefighters were called out to force open the door. On entering the building, police saw Mr Allen, who had just undergone heart surgery, pointing a gun toward them, prompting one officer to unload his own weapon at Allen.

(Infowars, feb 11th)

http://www.infowars.com/family-asks-cops-to-check-in-on-sick-veteran-cops-break-into-house-kill-him/




School Principal Calls FBI After 8th Grader Throws ‘Made In China’ Flag Out Of Window, Wants federal charges brought against child

A school principal in New Mexico is attempting to contact the government and have federal charges brought against a 14-year-old student who threw a small American flag on a stick out of a window.

Robert Archuleta wants the boy expelled, and presumably arrested, following the incident during which four students were misbehaving, also throwing other items such as workbooks out of the classroom window into snow.

The principal initially called the school police officer with Rio Arriba County, but because he told them he wished to report a federal offense, the cops referred him to the FBI.

(Infowars, feb 11th)

http://www.infowars.com/school-principal-calls-fbi-after-8th-grader-throws-made-in-china-flag-out-of-window/



Jails Have Become Warehouses for the Poor, Ill and Addicted, a Report Says

Jails across the country have become vast warehouses made up primarily of people too poor to post bail or too ill with mental health or drug problems to adequately care for themselves, according to a report issued Wednesday.

The study, “Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America,” found that the majority of those incarcerated in local and county jails are there for minor violations, including driving with suspended licenses, shoplifting or evading subway fares, and have been jailed for longer periods of time over the past 30 years because they are unable to pay court-imposed costs.
(NYT, feb 11th)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/us/jails-have-become-warehouses-for-the-poor-ill-and-addicted-a-report-says.html



Man cuffed for refusing to share video with police

A Lakeside Walmart customer pulled out his cell phone in front of the store on Monday evening to capture video of Lakeside Police arresting a man suspected of shoplifting. The man shooting the video, Chris Hoover, didn't expect he'd end up in handcuffs, too.

The video shows two police officers wrestling a man on the ground. When they get the man in cuffs one officer realizes there is a camera. During the commotion the officer points at the camera and says "that phone is evidence. I want it." Hoover then says "it's mine."

"So he snatched it out of my hand... I wasn't going to resist. He grabbed my wrist, and then he put me in cuffs," Hoover said.

Lakeside police would not go on camera, citing an ongoing investigation. However, they did say they stand by their officers. They say police have a right to detain someone if they have video of a crime.

(9news, feb 11th)

http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/02/11/man-cuffed-for-refusing-to-share-video-with-police/23265283/




England bans smoking in cars with children

Drivers in England will be banned from smoking in their cars if they are carrying children as passengers.

The move, which will become law on 1 October, follows a similar ban in Wales and aims to protect young people under 18 from second-hand smoke. Scotland is also considering introducing a ban.

Anyone found flouting the law in England could be fined £50.

(BBC, feb 11th)

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31310685




GLOBAL CONFLICTS________________



Last week, Politico and USA Today reported about a secret 2008 Pentagon study which concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s defining characteristic is…autism. The Office of Net Assessment’s Body Leads project asserted that scrutinizing hours of Putin footage revealed “that the Russian President carries a neurological abnormality…identified by leading neuroscientists as Asperger’s Syndrome, an autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions.”

Putin’s spokesman dismissed the claim as “stupidity not worthy of comment.” But it was far from the first time the intelligence community has tried to diagnose foreign leaders from afar on behalf of American politicians and diplomats. The CIA has a long history of crafting psychological and political profiles of international figures, with varying degrees of depth and accuracy.

(Mother jones, feb 11th)

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/cia-psychological-profiles-hitler-castro-putin-saddam




NORAD Head Says Russia Increasing Arctic Long Range Air Patrols

While Russian military aircraft have stepped up their activity everywhere from the North Sea to the Baltic to the Black Sea in the last year they have also been spotted more frequently closer to the U.S. territory in the Arctic, the head of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told USNI News on Tuesday.

In particular – flights of Tupolev Tu-95 Bear ‘H’ Bombers have increased recently NORTHCOM’s Adm. Bill Gortney said.

“They’ve been very aggressive – under my NORAD hat – for us in the Arctic,” he said to USNI News following a keynote address at the WEST 2015 conference.

“Aggressive in the amount of flights, not aggressive in how they fly.”

(USNI.org, feb 10th)

http://news.usni.org/2015/02/10/west-norad-head-says-russia-increasing-arctic-long-range-air-patrols




Ukrainians Dodging Draft in Soros-Fueled Conflict

Citizens refuse to take arms against fellow countrymen

Victor, just like an unknown number of other Ukrainians of military age, is on the run.

As the Ukraine-Russia conflict rages on, a 49-year-old engineer received a mobilization invitation ten days ago to report to the Ukrainian Army. He left his home and now spends nights at a friend’s house, struggling with a difficult choice.

“It is my biggest dilemma,” he said today, almost whispering in one of many coffee shops in Kiev downtown. “On one hand, I think I need to defend my country, which is being attacked, but on the other, I am frightened I will die for this corrupt regime. For what?”

(ABC, feb 11th)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/draft-dodging-growing-concern-ukraine-ongoing-russia-conflict/story?id=28893759




President Barack Obama has said the reality of “American leadership” at times entails “twisting the arms” of states which “don’t do what we need them to do,” and that the US relied on its military strength and other leverage to achieve its goals.

In a broad-ranging interview with Vox, which Obama himself described as a venue “for the brainiac-nerd types,” the US president both denied the efficacy of a purely “realist” foreign policy but also arguing that at times the US, which has a defense budget that exceeds the next 10 countries combined, needed to rely on its military muscle and other levers of power.

Lauding the rule-based system to emerge in the post-World War II era, Obama admitted it wasn’t perfect, but argued “the UN, the IMF, and a whole host of treaties and rules and norms that were established really helped to stabilize the world in ways that it wouldn’t otherwise be.”

(russia today, feb 11th)

http://rt.com/news/231279-obama-foreign-policy-power/



Saudi Arabia has ‘no problem’ with Muslim Brotherhood, says Foreign Minister

Remarks are seen by some as signalling a policy shift under the new king

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister has said publicly that Riyadh has “no problem with the Muslim Brotherhood,” in the wake of the accession of a new Saudi king expected to be more tolerant towards the group than his predecessor.

Saud bin Faisal made the comments during a two-hour interview with veteran Saudi journalist Samar al-Mogren, who was personally requested to interview Faisal.

“We do not have a problem with the Muslim Brotherhood; our problem is with a small group affiliated to this organisation,” said the world’s longest-serving Foreign Minister, who is recovering in the US after successful spinal surgery last month.

(middle east eye, feb 11th)

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-foreign-minister-no-problem-muslim-brotherhood-230201904



The U.S. and other Western nations closed their embassies here, as demonstrations swelled on the Yemeni capital’s streets on Wednesday amid mounting political tensions and fears of violence.

Thousands demonstrated both for and against the Houthi rebels who dissolved Yemen’s parliament and took over the government on Friday after their militants overran the capital in September. Protests spread to other cities and provinces, including the major central city of Taiz, said organizers.

In San’a, Houthi militants dispersed protesters opposing them and closed four squares that have drawn demonstrations in the past, said anti-Houthi protest organizers, who belong to a broad political coalition. These people said Houthi militants attacked and injured at least 40 protestors and detained dozens of them, taking them to an undisclosed location.

(WSJ, feb 11th)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-shuts-embassy-in-yemen-as-security-concerns-mount-1423635705




A 13-year-old boy killed in Yemen last month by a CIA drone strike had told the Guardian just months earlier that he lived in constant fear of the “death machines” in the sky that had already killed his father and brother.

“I see them every day and we are scared of them,” said Mohammed Tuaiman, speaking from al-Zur village in Marib province, where he died two weeks ago.

“A lot of the kids in this area wake up from sleeping because of nightmares from them and some now have mental problems. They turned our area into hell and continuous horror, day and night, we even dream of them in our sleep.”

Much of Mohammed’s life was spent living in fear of drone strikes. In 2011 an unmanned combat drone killed his father and teenage brother as they were out herding the family’s camels.

The drone that would kill Mohammed struck on 26 January in Hareeb, about an hour from his home. The drone hit the car carrying the teenager, his brother-in-law Abdullah Khalid al-Zindani and a third man.

(guardian, feb 10th)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/drones-dream-yemeni-teenager-mohammed-tuaiman-death-cia-strike



Iranian officers working with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization are fighting their way closer to Israel’s northern border with Syria and could soon be in control of the Syrian side of the armistice line.

A government source from Syria’s Ministry of Information confirmed to WND a report Tuesday from a U.K.-based human rights organization which stated Hezbollah and Iranian forces were leading a counterinsurgency targeting rebel strongholds in Quneitra, just on the other side of Israel’s border with Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Hezbollah-Iran axis is also leading battles against Islamist insurgents in Daraa, at the Jordan-Israel border and along the southwest of Damascus province.

(WND, feb 11th)

http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/iranian-forces-advance-toward-israel/


The Islamic State has expanded its presence in the failed state of Libya, and if not confronted, the terror group may be able to gain strategic territory in its quest to form an Islamic Caliphate, according to the Washington Institute’s Andrew Engel. While the United States and its allies are focused on Syria and Iraq, IS (commonly referred to as ISIL or ISIS) has its eyes beyond that fight.

The report, titled The Islamic State’s Expansion in Libya, says Libya’s ex-ambassador to the Emirates Aref Ali Nayed is worried that if Washington does not act, IS will use Libya to threaten Europe. The IS has increased its physical and media presence in the last three months. A local terrorist organization, the Islamic Youth Shura Council (IYSC), has pledged its loyalty to IS.

“ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi recognized the Libyan ‘provinces’ of Barqa (Cyrenaica), Tripolitania, and Fezzan as belonging to his self-styled ‘caliphate,’” Engel said.

(free beacon, feb 11th)

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/islamic-state-advances-in-libya/




IMMIGRATION_______________



Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security Representative Michael McCaul said that about 5,000 of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda terrorist group members were Westerners, many of whom are able to travel into the United States without obtaining a visa.

(sputnik news, feb 12th)

http://sputniknews.com/us/20150212/1018143281.html




Two Immigrants For Every New Job Since 2000

The United States has accepted two new immigrants for each additional job created since 2000, according to federal data

(Daily caller, feb 11th)

http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/10/two-immigrants-for-every-new-job-since-2000/




Feds build bureaucracy to deal with Obama amnesty application onslaught

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services expects 800,000 applications at outset

The government expects so many applications for President Obama’s new deportation amnesty that it’s seeking a contractor just to open the new mail and enter the forms into the system, with plans to operate two shifts from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. every workday to keep up with the anticipated workload.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency charged with approving the applications, expects more than 800,000 applications in just the first two and a half months, or a 70 percent surge compared to last year’s total intake for the entire agency. Over the first 18 or so months, the agency will process more than 4 million pieces of mail related to the larger part of the new amnesty, according to contracting documents.

All applications must be opened in the presence of two workers, one with “secret” security clearance, in order to maintain integrity of the applications, and mail may need to be X-rayed for security reasons, the documents show.

(washington times, feb 10th)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/10/obama-amnesty-has-feds-bracing-for-illegal-immigra/




Driver's licenses for immigrants spur debate in New Mexico

For years, New Mexico led in handing out driver's licenses to people suspected of being in the country illegally. Now, legislation to stop the practice is gaining traction despite a trend sweeping through several states to offer driving privileges to everyone regardless of their status.

Fresh off a political power shift, the Republican-led House of Representatives is poised to pass a measure repealing a 2003 law that made New Mexico one of the first states to offer licenses to immigrants regardless of status. However, the momentum may not matter since Senate Democrats have vowed to fight the legislation.

The battle comes in a state with the nation's highest percentage of Latinos and the only Latina governor.

Proponents of the bill say polling indicates most New Mexicans want to reverse course and repeal the law. They argue it would help prevent fraud and bring the state into compliance with federal identification requirements.

Those who want to keep the law argue that working families stand to get hurt if it's repealed. They say other states that dole out licenses are not running afoul of federal laws.

California this year began issuing driver's licenses to immigrants who are in the country illegally, bringing the number of states that do so to 10. California expects 1.4 million people to apply for the licenses in the next three years.

(AP, feb 11th)

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2015/Bucking-US-trend-New-Mexico-House-poised-to-pass-bill-repealing-migrant-driver-s-license-law/id-c50d737b33af443fab0d583a43d35b2d




Swiss government proposes draft law to curb immigration from EU

- The Swiss government on Wednesday proposed a draft law to limit immigration from the European Union following a referendum, but said it was seeking talks with the EU in order not to violate other treaties including on the free movement of people.

The proposed law follows a successful referendum launched by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) to impose strict quotas on immigration. The measure was strongly opposed by the government as well as Swiss banks, drugmakers and other industries that rely heavily on skilled workers from the EU.

Switzerland risks violating bilateral treaties including on the free movement of labour between it and the EU.

The government plans to set yearly limits for the number of people allowed to move to Switzerland to work, President Simonetta Sommaruga said, without giving details.

Employers would be required to favour Swiss nationals when hiring staff, according to the draft, although there should be exceptions in certain jobs that have proved difficult to fill.

(Reuters, feb 11th)

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/swiss-government-proposes-draft-law-curb-immigration-eu-150531183--finance.html





U.S. AND WORLD ECONOMY___________________


The outgoing head of the Dallas Federal Reserve called Wednesday for major changes to the central bank’s power structure, arguing that current policies fuel perceptions that big banks have too much influence with regulators.

During a fiery speech to the Economic Club of New York, President Richard Fisher criticized the current structure, arguing that authority should be more equally distributed between the Fed’s 12 regional banks.

Meanwhile, Fisher urged steps to take away power from the New York Federal Reserve, which has long been seen as a dominant Fed force, in part because of its proximity to Wall Street.

(the hill, feb 11th)

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/232524-dallas-fed-chief-urges-power-shift-at-central-bank




Today we have Senator Elizabeth Warren trying to sound supportive of transparency but proclaiming that she opposes Rand Paul’s “Audit The Fed” Bill because it promotes “congressional meddling in the Fed’s monetary policy decisions.”

(zero hedge, feb 11th)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-10/warren-opposes-congressional-meddling-audit-fed-bill




Over the past decade, there has been only one other time when the value of the U.S. dollar has increased by so much in such a short period of time.  That was in mid-2008 – just before the greatest financial crash since the Great Depression.  A surging U.S. dollar also greatly contributed to the Latin American debt crisis of the early 1980s and the Asian financial crisis of 1997.  Today, the globe is more interconnected than ever.  Most global trade is conducted in U.S. dollars, and much of the borrowing done by emerging markets all over the planet is denominated in U.S. dollars.  When the U.S. dollar goes up dramatically, this can put a tremendous amount of financial stress on economies all around the world.  It also has the potential to greatly threaten the stability of the 65 trillion dollars in derivatives that are directly tied to the value of the U.S. dollar.  The global financial system is more vulnerable to currency movements than ever before, and history tells us that when the U.S. dollar soars the global economy tends to experience a contraction.  So the fact that the U.S. dollar has been skyrocketing lately is a very, very bad sign.

Unfortunately, most Americans have absolutely no idea how important all of this is.  In recent years, growing economies all over the world have borrowed gigantic piles of very cheap U.S. dollars.  But now they are faced with the prospect of repaying those debts and making interest payments using much more expensive U.S. dollars.

Investors are starting to get nervous.  At one time, investors couldn’t wait to pour money into emerging markets, but now this process is beginning to reverse.  If this turns into a panic, we are going to have one giant financial mess on our hands.

(Economic collapse, feb 11th)

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/guess-happened-last-time-u-s-dollar-skyrocketed-value-like




90% Of Big Pharma Spent More On Marketing Than Research In 2013...

....Oftentimes more than double the spending

(Natural society, feb 11th)

http://naturalsociety.com/90-big-pharma-spent-marketing-research-2013-alone/




BoA helped hedge fund clients dodge taxes

Federally-insured banking unit of BoA financed billions of dollars in such trades, according to WSJ report

(Al jazeera, feb 11th)

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/11/wsj-boa-helped-fund-tax-avoidance-with-government-secured-deposits.html




Investor Steve Ricchiuto stunned CNBC hosts when he launched into a breathless rant about how there is no real economic recovery and that the Federal Reserve’s forecasts are pie in the sky.

Ricchiuto, Managing Director of Mizuho Securities USA, left anchors Simon Hobbs and Sara Eisen scrambling for words as he reeled off a barrage of factors as to why there is no acceleration in economic activity.

The highlights;

    “There is no acceleration in underlying economic activity.”

    “There’s this wrong concept that I keep on hearing about in the financial press about the acceleration in economic growth… It isn’t happening!”

    “We had a horrible retail sales number, we had a horrible durable goods number, we’re likely to have a very disappointing retail sales number coming forward, this month we have a strong payroll number we say everything’s great – it’s not great….it’s been the same thing for the last five years, there’s no improvement in the economy!”

    “After a string of dismal data on durable goods, retail spending, and inventories, we get a good jobs number and everyone saying the economy’s good – it’s not good!”

“And we can keep on going,” Ricchiuto responded when Hobbs interrupted him.

According to Zero Hedge, the clip was also edited to remove host Eisen’s glib response to Ricchiuto’s sobering reality check on the real economic figures.

“But the key is that’s not what The Fed is telling us,” she stated.

So according to the financial “experts” at CNBC, actual economic numbers are less important than placing blind faith what the Federal Reserve claims is happening in its press releases.

(Infowars, feb 11th)

http://www.infowars.com/cnbc-anchors-stunned-there-is-no-economic-growth/



Unemployment 'a cause of 45,000 suicides each year'

A new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry finds that between 2000 and 2011, unemployment was the cause of approximately 45,000 deaths by suicide around the globe each year, and it accounted for around nine times as many suicides as the recession, which first hit in 2008.

(medical news today, feb 11th)

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289234.php




Apple is now worth more than Microsoft and Google combined

Ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching! Apple’s stock price has been on a tear lately and the company’s shares closed trading on Wednesday at a new high of $124.88. This gives Apple an absolutely massive market cap of $716.7 billion, which once again makes Apple the single most valuable American company ever just one day after it broke through the $700 billion barrier for the first time.

However, Wednesday’s closing number was remarkable for another reason: Apple’s total market cap is now more than the combined market caps of Google and Microsoft. You read that correctly: If you add Google’s market cap of $365.46 billion with Microsoft’s market cap of $349.89 billion, you get $715.35 billion, or $1 billion less than Apple’s market cap at the end of trading Wednesday.

(yahoo, feb 11th)

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/apple-now-worth-more-microsoft-google-combined-215524370.html




Obamacare Insurance is 'Unaffordable' for 105 Million Americans

Given that the authors of Obamacare had a very specific idea in mind for what constitutes affordable insurance, the American Health Policy Institute is out with a new study that asks a very interesting question: Does Obamacare meet its own standards for affordability? The answer is no. Here are a couple of the key findings from AHPI's study:

    Even now, under the Affordable Care Act’s own definition, over 105 million Americans will find plans in the ACA’s [Affordable Care Act's] public exchanges to be “unaffordable” when both premiums and deductibles are taken into account.

    Over 13 million employees with employer based coverage – 3.0 million with individual coverage, and 10.4 million with family plans – are now facing the prospect of “unaffordable” health care.

(weekly standard, feb 10th)

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obamacare-insurance-unaffordable-105-million-americans_847059.html



Brazilians hoard water, prepare for possible drastic rationing

 Brazilians are hoarding water in their apartments, drilling homemade wells and taking other emergency measures to prepare for forced rationing that appears likely and could leave taps dry for up to five days a week because of a drought.

In São Paulo, the country's largest city with a metropolitan area of 20 million people, the main reservoir is at just 6 percent of capacity with the peak of the rainy season now past.

Other cities in Brazil's heavily populated southeast such as Rio de Janeiro face less dire shortages but could also see rationing.

Uncertainty over the drought and its consequences on jobs, public health and overall quality of life have further darkened Brazilians' mood at a time when the economy is struggling and President Dilma Rousseff's popularity is at an all-time low.

After January rains disappointed, and incentives to cut consumption fell short, São Paulo officials warned their next step could be to shut off customers' water supply for as many as five days a week - a measure that would likely last until the next rainy season starts in October, if not longer.

(Reuters, feb 11th)

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/brazilians-hoard-water-prepare-possible-drastic-rationing-164505818--business.html





FIRST AMENDMENT AND MEDIA_______________



The Myth of Jon Stewart’s ‘Millennial’ Following

As of 2013, The Daily Show was bringing in approximately 2 million nightly viewers. And according to an exhaustive Pew Survey from 2012, 39 percent of The Daily Show’s regular viewers are between the ages of 18 and 29. That means that approximately 780,000 millennials are regular Daily Show watchers. In the United States, there are 53 million people between the ages of 18 and 29. That means that a whopping 1.5 percent of millennials watch the Daily Show regularly! Let’s be generous and assume that, say, 5 million people watch The Daily Show even occasionally. That would still mean a paltry 1.95 million out of 53 million millennials are Stewart fans.

(weekly standard, feb 11th)

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/myth-jon-stewart-s-millennial-following_848151.html




Rich Obama Donor Wants to Give Jon Stewart $100 Million Per Year to Keep His Show

Democratic politicians are lamenting the news of Jon Stewart’s retirement from the Daily Show, but one rich Obama donor isn’t ready to go quietly into that good night. Digital media mogul Ross Levinsohn, whose only political donations are to President Obama and the Democratic Party, wrote a groveling Facebook post imploring Stewart to stay on the air, saying he would pay Stewart $100 million a year plus equity to do a new version of the Daily Show in a direct-to-consumer format.

The post, which reads like a teenage girl’s love letter to Justin Bieber, appears to have been deleted. However, Business Insider has preserved it here: [CONTINUED IN ARTICLE]

(Free beacon, feb 11th)

http://freebeacon.com/blog/rich-obama-donor-wants-to-give-jon-stewart-100-million-per-year-to-keep-his-show/




Claiming that thousands of public comments condemning “dark money” in politics can’t be ignored, the Democrat-chaired Federal Election Commission on Wednesday appeared ready to open the door to new regulations on donors, bloggers and others who use the Internet to influence policy and campaigns.

During a broad FEC hearing to discuss a recent Supreme Court decision that eliminated some donor limits, proponents encouraged the agency to draw up new funding disclosure rules and require even third-party internet-based groups to reveal donors, a move that would extinguish a 2006 decision to keep the agency’s hands off the Internet.

Noting the 32,000 public comments that came into the FEC in advance of the hearing, Democratic Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub said, “75 percent thought that we need to do more about money in politics, particularly in the area of disclosure. And I think that’s something that we can’t ignore.”

But a former Republican FEC chairman said in his testimony that if the agency moves to regulate the Internet, including news voices like the Drudge Report as GOP commissioners have warned, many thousands more comments will flood in in opposition of regulation.

(Washington examiner, feb 11th)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dems-on-fec-open-to-new-regs-on-donors-internet/article/2560099




Police Officers Can Sue Newspaper For Publishing Descriptive Info, Raising Serious First Amendment Issues

It seems likely that this particular ruling is now likely to be cited against reporters quite a lot

We just recently wrote about a troubling case in the 9th Circuit in which a court tried to “balance” free speech rights against state publicity rights. Now, over in the 7th Circuit, there’s a troubling ruling that seems to suggest a particular privacy law might similarly override the First Amendment. The writeup at the Columbia Journalism Review is a really great overview of the case, or you can read the ruling itself.

(tech dirt, feb 11th)

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150210/18074829981/police-officers-can-sue-newspaper-publishing-descriptive-info-raising-serious-first-amendment-issues.shtml





EXCLUSIVE: How This Left-Wing Activist Manipulates the Media to Spread His Message

'Jetsetting terrorist' Peter Young tells us how he gets malleable bloggers and lazy journalists to generate outrage and attention for him

Tell us how and why you decided to make this something the media would pounce on? What did you do? How did it work? How much traffic /attention did it get?

The Jetsetting Terrorist was launched with the stated goal of going mainstream within two weeks. It took about eight hours. The specific end-goal was The Alex Jones Show. While culturally considered fringe, he has a larger platform than most websites and TV shows. And he hates the TSA. (Spoiler alert: Alex has yet to call me.)

My blueprint—straight from your Trust Me, I’m Lying playbook—was as follows:

    -Set up an anonymous burner email account.
    -Identify people (leftist/libertarian-leaning celebrities and public figures) with large Twitter followings, get their personal email addresses.
    -Email them a link to the site and a two-line email about how this is the best site ever and how “surprised” I am they haven’t tweeted it yet. Pretty simple.
    -Trade it up the chain until hitting something big.
    -Leverage my anonymity to offer Alex Jones the exclusive on my identity reveal, for an interview.

Why Twitter? Better credibility-to-ease-of-penetration ratio. Here’s what I mean:

Writing a blog post is a time investment. Bloggers are selective of what they dedicate a post to. A prolific blogger might post once or twice a day. A Tweet is copy, paste, done. A prolific Twitter user might post on Twitter 20-plus times a day. But for the purpose of leveraging mentions to receive larger mentions, they are the same: A single tweet has a unique URL that can be sent to larger platforms needing some social proof before running a story. In short, baiting John Cusack into tweeting a link is lower-effort, higher-yield than coverage on a low-level libertarian blog.

(Observer, feb 11th)

http://observer.com/2015/02/exclusive-how-this-left-wing-activist-manipulates-the-media-to-spread-his-message/



FCC Commissioner: ‘Unprecedented Involvement Of Executive Branch In Our Decision-Making’

(daily caller, feb 10th)

http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/10/fcc-commissioner-unprecedented-involvement-of-executive-branch-in-our-decision-making/




PRIVACY AND THE SPY GRID_____________



If you’ve been remiss in cleaning out your email in-box, here’s some incentive: The federal government can read any emails that are more than six months old without a warrant.

Little known to most Americans, ambiguous language in a communications law passed in 1986 extends Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure only to electronic communications sent or received fewer than 180 days ago.

The language, known as the “180-day rule,” allows government officials to treat any emails, text messages or documents stored on remote servers – popularly known as the cloud – as “abandoned” and therefore accessible using administrative subpoena power, a tactic that critics say circumvents due process.

As you rush to purge your Gmail and Dropbox accounts, however, be forewarned that even deleted files still could be fair game as long as copies exist on a third-party server somewhere.

(McClatchy, feb 11th)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/02/11/256304/government-wonders-whats-in-your.html



US court tosses out mass surveillance case against NSA, AT&T

A longstanding case against the NSA – filed before the Snowden revelations were made public – has suffered a setback as the judge rules the plaintiff is unable to demonstrate she was placed under illegal surveillance.

(russia today, feb 11th)

http://rt.com/usa/231307-nsa-surveillance-att-court/




On a crisp winter’s day, a tethered blimp almost as big as a football field slowly rises into the blue Maryland sky, casting its radar eye over greater Washington and well beyond.

The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Elevated Netted Sensor System, better known as JLENS, is intended to spot low-flying cruise missiles amid thousands of aircraft in this corner of the US east coast.

“This balloon is a radar that covers, oh, (a radius of) 300 miles (485 kilometers) — about the size of Texas — to allow us to see threats at a further distance out,” said Colonel Frank Rice, commander of air defense operations for the US capital region.

(AFP, feb 11th)

http://news.yahoo.com/big-us-defense-blimp-stirs-privacy-jitters-074839767.html




Parents are alleging that a New Hampshire school district with a history of willful disregard for parental authority has been wiretapping students on school buses for four years in violation of state law and its own policies.

The Gilford School District in Gilford, New Hampshire, contracts with a private company to operate its school-bus service with oversight by the superintendent’s office.

Cameras with video and audio-recording ability have been installed in buses at least since 2011, recording every word and action of every student riding the buses.

Chapter 570-A of New Hampshire’s Wiretapping and Eavesdropping statute forbids secret wiretapping but gives a list of exceptions for law enforcement and public safety.

One exception is for school buses. However, to qualify for the exception, the entity in charge of the buses must have “a sign informing the occupants of such recording prominently displayed on the school bus.”

No such signs were posted on the Gilford buses until this week, says Josh Youssef, a local business owner and former Republican candidate for state Senate who is representing the parents.

(WND, feb 11th)

http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/parents-schools-illegally-wiretapped-our-kids-for-years/




After the Internal Revenue Service’s inspector general recovered some 80,000 emails to and from former agency executive Lois Lerner, lawmakers began asking why the IRS had previously claimed most of those emails were permanently lost.

In a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen Tuesday, Sen. Ron Johnson demanded details about the agency’s attempts to produce the emails before its watchdog, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, succeeded in doing so.

The Wisconsin Republican cited a November report from the Washington Examiner that revealed TIGTA’s discovery of an estimated 30,000 emails on disaster recovery tapes.

But TIGTA officials informed Johnson’s staff last week that it had ultimately extracted 80,000 from the tapes, raising questions about whether the IRS truly went to “great lengths” and made “extraordinary efforts” to find the lost emails, as Koskinen testified last year.

(Fox news, feb 11th)

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/11/johnson-asks-how-80000-lost-lerner-emails-were-recovered-by-irs-watchdog/




Jeb Bush Basically Just Doxxed Thousands of Floridians

Florida governor Jeb Bush bills himself as a tech-savvy politician, but he just made a major email etiquette mistake: Bush has published over 250,000 emails people sent to him as governor, easily searchable by date— and he hasn't redacted email addresses or the content of messages, meaning anyone who reached out to the governor now has their messages completely out in the open.

(Gizmodo, feb 11th)

http://gizmodo.com/jeb-bush-basically-just-doxxed-thousands-of-floridians-1684920622





TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY_______________



Robot with empathy will add ability to learn from IBM's 'Watson'

 Japanese mobile carrier Softbank said Tuesday it will incorporate artificial intelligence technology from IBM into its empathetic robot Pepper that will be available to Japanese consumers around midyear.

The AI engine "Watson" is already used in health care, travel and insurance services in English, but an adaptation was needed to make it work and think in Japanese, said Steve Gold, Vice President, IBM Watson Group.

Unlike other cognitive technology that responds rather mechanically, Watson can learn over time like a human brain, and understands the concept of probability, which makes it sophisticated and more human-like for applications, according to IBM.

(Mercury news, feb 10th)

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_27497495/robot-empathy-will-add-ability-learn-from-ibms



Europe on Wednesday said it successfully launched and brought back to Earth a prototype space plane in a strategy to join an elite club of space powers.

In a 100-minute operation, the European Space Agency (ESA) took a wedge-shaped wingless robot craft on a sub-orbital flight to test re-entry technologies.

It marks the first step in an effort to emulate the United States, Russia and China in mastering the skill of not just launching a spacecraft but also bringing it home intact.

"The mission has come to an end according to plan... it couldn't have been better," ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said in a live webcast.

(AFP, feb 11th)

http://news.yahoo.com/europe-set-launch-space-plane-prototype-104552925.html



Navy Building Terrifying Humanoid Robots to Fight Fires

The US Navy has begun to test the firefighting abilities of a humanoid robot it has been developing for several years. The Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR) walks on two legs, operates a fire hose, and even wears a track suit. The Navy is hoping SAFFiR can one day supplement its traditional human firefighting teams.

“This is a program that’s been going on for about five years basically to develop a humanoid capable of fire suppression,” Thomas McKenna said in an Office of Naval Research (ONR) video about the project. “There’s substantial losses incurred when you have a major fire and you can’t suppress it at an early stage.”

John Farley of the Naval Research Laboratory said that he sees the robot’s quick learning curve as a likely lifesaver.

“Sometimes it’s hard to keep the sailors up to the latest as far as training is concerned,” Farley said. “Sometimes they could create an environment and make it worse.”

“Now, the robot could be trained and constantly updated to make sure that conditions are not as bad as what a human could make it.”

Tests of the firefighting robot have gone well thus far with SAFFiR being able to hold and operate a fire hose while putting out a fire. However, there are plenty of problems to address before SAFFiR can become deployed on Navy ships. For one, the robot is not yet waterproof or fireproof.

(free beacon, feb 11th)

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/navy-building-terrifying-humanoid-robots-to-fight-fires/




This Incredible Hospital Robot Is Saving Lives. Also, I Hate It

The robot, I’m told, is on its way. Any minute now you’ll see it. We can track them, you know. There’s quite a few of them, so it’s only a matter of time. Any minute now.

Ah, and here it is.

Far down the hospital hall, double doors part to reveal the automaton. There’s no dramatic fog or lighting—which I jot down as “disappointing”—only a white, rectangular machine about four feet tall. It waits for the doors to fully part, then cautiously begins to roll toward us, going about as fast as a casual walk, emitting a soft beep every so often to let the humans around it know it’s on a very important quest. It’s not traveling on a track. It’s unleashed. It’s free.

The robot, known as a Tug, edges closer and closer to me at the elbow of the L-shaped corridor and stops. It turns its wheels before accelerating through the turn, then suddenly halts once again. Josh, the photographer I’d brought along, is blocking its path, and by way of its sensors, the robot knows it. Tug, it seems, is programmed to avoid breaking knees.

This hospital—the University of California, San Francisco’s Mission Bay wing—had opened four days before our visit. From the start, a fleet of Tugs has been shuffling around the halls. They deliver drugs and clean linens and meals while carting away medical waste and soiled sheets and trash. And by the time the fleet spins up to 25 robots on March 1, it’ll be the largest swarm of Tug medical automatons in the world, with each robot traveling an admirable average of 12 miles a day.

The whole circus is, in a word, bewildering. The staff still seems unsure what to make of Tug. Reactions I witness range from daaawing over its cuteness (the gentle bleeping, the slow-going, the politeness of stopping before pancaking people) to an unconvincingly restrained horror that the machines had suddenly become sentient. I grew up in Silicon Valley and write for WIRED and even I’m confused about it. The whole thing is just weird.

It’s really weird. And I’m not sure I like it much.

(wired, feb 10th)

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/incredible-hospital-robot-saving-lives-also-hate/



HILARIOUS NEWS (BECAUSE WE ALL COULD USE A GOOD LAUGH)



Ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who denies charges of pimping, has told a court in northern France that he took part in only a few rare sex parties.

He said prosecutors had greatly exaggerated the frequency of his "licentious evenings". There had only been 12 in three years, he said.

Mr Strauss-Kahn is accused of helping procure sex workers for a prostitution ring based at a hotel in Lille.

He has argued that he did not know the women were prostitutes.

Although using prostitutes is not illegal in France, supplying them or assisting in supplying them is. Prosecutors have been quoted as saying Mr Strauss-Kahn, 65, played a pivotal role in facilitating the orgies, describing him as the "party king".

(BBC, feb 10th)

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31318120



Japanese revolutionaries to '"crush St Valentine's Day" ..... "Oppressive chocolate capitalists"

(telegraph, feb 11th)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11405651/Japanese-revolutionaries-plot-to-crush-St-Valentines-Day.html




LA Health Officials Take Action After Local Supermarket Sells Raccoons As Food

nspectors from the LA County Health Department visited the Metro Supermarket in Temple City on Tuesday, after being informed that the market was selling raccoons as food.

Employees at the market declined to appear on camera, but did show entire raccoons, frozen, bagged, and selling for $9.99 per pound. The employees say raccoon is considered a delicacy in China.

Customer Christina Dow was at the market, and upon seeing the frozen raccoons, filmed the scene on her cell phone. She shared the video on social media.

“The way it’s packaged in the store, it’s so real, and it’s so fresh, and you don’t see chickens with their feathers and blood all over them, and their expression, with their tongue hanging out,” Dow said.

Dow also went on to contact the LA County Health Department, who says that selling raccoons as food may indeed be perfectly legal, depending on the origins of the meat.

The market has ceased selling raccoons, since the department’s visit, until it and be reviewed and officially approved.

(CBS LA, feb 10th)

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/02/10/la-health-department-takes-action-after-local-supermarket-sells-raccoons-as-food/




A Pennsylvania school district is under fire after middle school children were given “Fifty Shades of Grey” themed word search puzzles.

Based on the popular erotic romance novel and upcoming film, the puzzle includes such sexual terms as “bondage,” “handcuffs,” “leather cuffs” and “spanking.”

According to numerous news outlets, the issue became known after parents approached educators at a Tuesday evening school board meeting.

School officials with the Monessen School District reportedly began an investigation into the matter the day prior, asserting that no solid information had been gathered as of Wednesday.

Infowars reached out to district officials and was unable to learn any additional information regarding who provided the worksheets to students.

A parent speaking with CBS Pittsburgh stated that several administrators including the school’s principal refused to answer questions when an audio recording device was present.

Other Pennsylvania parents took to social media to voice their concern over what they saw as a lack of oversight.

“This is what you get when our society no longer has any kind of moral compass,” one parent said.

(Infowars, feb 11th)

http://www.infowars.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-word-search-puzzles-given-to-middle-school-students/




A Muslim Brotherhood member who recently was hosted at the State Department along with several of the Islamist group’s key allies now claims that a White House official also was present in that meeting, according to recent remarks.

Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardery, a Brotherhood member and former Egyptian parliamentarian, was in the United States late last month along with a delegation of fellow Brotherhood leaders and allies.

The Brotherhood-aligned delegation caused an international stir after the Washington Free Beacon revealed that it had been hosted for a meeting with several State Department officials.

Another member of the group, a Brotherhood-aligned judge in Egypt, posed for a picture while at Foggy Bottom in which he held up the Islamic group’s notorious four-finger Rabia symbol.

While the State Department initially misled reporters about the meeting, it was eventually forced to admit that several Obama administration officials—including a deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor—and State Department officials met with the delegation.

Al-Dardery now claims that in addition to these State Department representatives, a member of the White House also participated in the sit-down.

(free beacon, feb 10th)

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/muslim-brotherhood-white-house-official-met-us-at-state-department/




It’s Hard To Know Where Gluten Sensitivity Stops And The Placebo Effect Begins

Thirty percent of Americans say they’re trying to reduce or eliminate gluten in their diets. But only about 1 percent of the population has an autoimmune response to gluten. Somewhere in that gap, a diet fad is thriving.

There are two groups of people who should definitely avoid gluten: those diagnosed with wheat allergies and those who have celiac disease. The latter is more common, affecting about 1 percent of the population. The former affects perhaps 0.1 percent of people and is more common in children, who often grow out of it.

What is less clear is whether there is another group of individuals whose digestive systems have some “gluten sensitivity” and who would, therefore, benefit from avoiding gluten. The people who think they’re sensitive to gluten are filling the gap between those who should avoid gluten and those who are doing it anyway. But how many people really are sensitive?

(Fivethirtyeight, feb 11th)

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/its-hard-to-know-where-gluten-sensitivity-stops-and-the-placebo-effect-begins/

NEWS FOR 2/10/2015 Tuesday February 10th 2015

THE ELITE 1%____________________

Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a French court on Tuesday he did not know the women at "festive and playful" sex parties he attended were prostitutes, saying that would have been too risky given his then-role as head of the IMF.

(Reuters, feb 10th)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/10/us-france-strausskahn-idUSKBN0LD2JG20150210?utm_source=twitter



Are we on the verge of a major worldwide economic downturn?  Well, if recent warnings from prominent bankers all over the world are to be believed, that may be precisely what we are facing in the months ahead.  As you will read about below, the big banks are warning that the price of oil could soon drop as low as 20 dollars a barrel, that a Greek exit from the eurozone could push the EUR/USD down to 0.90, and that the global economy could shrink by more than 2 trillion dollars in 2015.  Most of the time, very few people ever actually read the things that the big banks write for their clients.  But in recent months, a lot of these bankers are issuing such ominous warnings that you would think that they have started to write for The Economic Collapse Blog.  Of course we have seen this happen before.  Just before the financial crisis of 2008, a lot of people at the big banks started to get spooked, and now we are beginning to see an atmosphere of fear spread on Wall Street once again.  Nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next, but an increasing number of experts are starting to agree that it won’t be good.

(economic collapse blog, feb 10th)

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/listen-carefully-bankers-actually-telling-us-going-happen-next



Fed mobilizes against Rand Paul’s audit legislation

“This is about interfering with the making of monetary policy. I respect the gentleman from Kentucky, but he’s wrong,” said Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher on Fox Business Monday evening.

Fisher was one of several Fed officials to speak out Monday against Paul’s bill to have the Government Accountability Office audit the Fed’s monetary policy deliberations and report to Congress.

In a separate appearance on Fox Business, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said the Fed audit is “scary” because it would mean that “you are going to have political interference in the short term to try to influence and shape policy decisions” that should be left to the independent central bank.

(washington examiner, feb 10th)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/fed-mobilizes-against-rand-pauls-audit-legislation/article/2560022




CORRUPTION AND SCANDALS________________



More cities are trying to follow in the footsteps of D.C.-area jurisdictions to give non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections.

Though many of these proposals have failed, the Washington Post notes that activists in Amherst, Massachusetts, Madison, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Vermont are also clamoring to give voting rights to non-citizens. In New York, as Breitbart News has noted, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he would like to “continue the conversation” this year on giving voting rights to non-citizens.

Six Maryland jurisdictions and Chicago allow non-citizens to vote in some local elections.

(breitbart, feb 10th)]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/10/more-cities-following-d-c-area-lead-debating-non-citizen-voting-rights/




Despite its importance, the broadcast news networks’ morning and evening shows dedicated only three minutes, 38 seconds of coverage to these potential regulations over the Internet since Obama’s announcement November 10, 2014 through February 9, 2015. Moreover, none of the stories included any critics of the plan. By way of contrast, the networks spent 67 minutes, 49 seconds covering the "Deflategate" scandal during less than one week in January, nearly 19 times more than net neutrality over a period of almost three months.

Phil Kerpen, President of American Commitment, told MRC Business, "There has been almost no coverage of the president strong-arming what is supposed to be an independent agency, or the highly questionable policy he has proposed that would reverse the past two decades of Internet policy and install a heavy-handed regulate-and-tax alternative."

When they did cover the issue, the networks were almost entirely uncritical in their reporting. On November 11, CBS's "This Morning" co-host Gayle King echoed the White House’s talking points, saying that Obama wanted the FCC "to adopt tough rules to protect a free and open internet."

Gayle said that "broadband service providers want to charge higher fees" for Internet access, which could "result in the blocking or slowing down of content for some." Yet, she failed to explain how the president’s proposal would improve this situation or describe the plan’s potential costs.

(newsbusters.org, feb 9th)

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/joseph-rossell/2015/02/09/nets-barely-cover-obamas-internet-regulations#sthash.l15GhOq1.dpuf




Farcical 9/11 “Trial” Halted Again As It Is Revealed Translator Is A CIA Torture Agent

The trial of five detainees accused of aiding the 9/11 plot has been delayed once again after two of them claimed that a translator they had been appointed as part of their defense team was a CIA agent who worked at a secret torture prison.

“The problem is I cannot trust him because he was working at the black site with the CIA, and we know him from there,” defendant Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh said the moment the hearing started on Monday, according to the Miami Herald.

Another of the defendants, Walid bin Attash, verified the identity of the CIA agent. His attorney told those gathered that bin Attash was “visibly shaken” on seeing the CIA operative.

“My client relayed to me this morning that there is somebody in this courtroom who was participating in his illegal torture,” attorney Cheryl Bormann told Army Col. James L. Pohl, who is overseeing the trial at Guantanamo Bay.

Bormann further told the court that the presence of the alleged CIA agent was either “the biggest coincidence ever” or “part of the pattern of the infiltration of defense teams” by the US Government.

(Infowars, feb 10th)
http://www.infowars.com/farcical-911-trial-halted-again-as-it-is-revealed-translator-is-a-cia-torture-agent/



The Obama administration is refusing to publicly release more than 500 documents on the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party groups.

Twenty months after the IRS scandal broke, there are still many unanswered questions about who was spearheading the agency’s scrutiny of conservative-leaning organizations.

The Hill sought access to government documents that might provide a glimpse of the decision-making through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The Hill asked for 2013 emails and other correspondence between the IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The request specifically sought emails from former IRS official Lois Lerner and Treasury officials, including Secretary Jack Lew, while the inspector general was working on its explosive May 2013 report that the IRS used “inappropriate criteria” to review the political activities of tax-exempt groups.

TIGTA opted not to release any of the 512 documents covered by the request, citing various exemptions in the law. The Hill recently appealed the FOIA decision, but TIGTA denied the appeal. TIGTA also declined to comment for this article.

(the hill, feb 10th)

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/232249-feds-wont-release-irs-targeting-documents



At Grammys, Obama Promotes ‘Partnership’ With Soros-Funded Group

President pushes campaign sponsored by White House and Center for American Progress

CBS gave 1 minute, 12 seconds at the music awards to play a pre-recorded video with President Barack Obama, during which he promoted the “It’s On Us” campaign against sexual violence.

The White House website noted that the campaign is done in “partnership” with the far-left Center for American Progress (CAP), a group funded by liberal donors George Soros, Jonathan Soros, and Tom Steyer. The White House billed the effort as an attempt “to root out sexual violence wherever it exists,” in a fact sheet released Sept. 19, 2014. Nowhere in the PSA did Obama mention that the campaign was also sponsored by CAP.

Obama urged viewers to “join our campaign to stop this violence” by visiting the campaign’s website and signing a petition. He asked the artists at the Grammys to enlist the support of their fans as well.

As the parent organization of Think Progress, CAP has provided a platform for far-left voices that are often echoed by larger, more prominent media outlets. The Huffington Post called CAP “the mothership” for “Obama’s 2012 Campaign Cavalry,” a moniker which CAP proudly accepted in its 2013 annual report.

Liberal billionaire George Soros has given CAP $10,117,186 since 2000.

(Media Research Center, feb 10th)

http://www.mrc.org/articles/grammys-obama-promotes-partnership-soros-funded-group?




Jeb Bush’s eye-popping event: $100k per ticket

ormer Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will raise money on Wall Street on Wednesday at an eye-popping $100,000 per-ticket Park Avenue event hosted by private equity mogul Henry Kravis and his wife.

The price of admission to the event, which will raise funds for Bush’s “Right to Rise” super PAC, surprised even Wall Street veterans used to high-dollar fundraisers.

The event comes as Bush continues a shock and awe approach to early 2016 fundraising that people close to the campaign say could eventually see the former governor reach a total of between $50 million and $100 million between the super PAC, a traditional political action committee and an eventual presidential campaign.

Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell declined to comment on the price of the Kravis fundraiser, the second event the private equity titan has held for Bush.

“We don’t detail info on private finance events,” she said in an email. But two people familiar with the event confirmed the $100,000 amount.

“I shook my head when I heard the number,” one senior Wall Street executive who is not attending the event said on Tuesday. Another said the event would likely draw a significant crowd and would put Bush well on a path to raise over $50 million for the super PAC alone.

(Politico, feb 10th)

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/jeb-bush-fundraiser-100k-per-ticket-115086.html




Media Matters Founder Resigns From Hillary PAC

David Brock on Monday abruptly resigned from the board of the super PAC Priorities USA Action, revealing rifts that threaten the big-money juggernaut being built to support Hillary Clinton’s expected presidential campaign.

In a resignation letter obtained by POLITICO, Brock, a close Clinton ally, accused Priorities officials of planting “an orchestrated political hit job” against his own pro-Clinton groups, American Bridge and Media Matters.

Those groups — along with another pro-Clinton group, the super PAC Ready for Hillary — had their fundraising practices called into question last week by a New York Times report. It pointed out that veteran Democratic fundraiser Mary Pat Bonner got a 12.5 percent commission on funds she raised for Brock’s groups and a smaller percentage commission on cash she raised for Ready for Hillary.

(Politico, feb 10th)

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/david-brock-resigns-priorities-usa-action-115028.html




The ABC7 I-Team reveals the mobile technology that hackers can use to steal credit and debit numbers from you while you're in public. The cards at risk are enabled with radio technology that allows you to "wave and pay."

It may be convenient, but there are also remote tools that thieves can use to steal information from those cards. The I-Team tested a device that can "secretly swipe" while you are standing in line to pay, on an escalator, or in a crowded spot.

The equipment is easily found online but only works on cards with this wireless symbol or cards enabled with "Radio Frequency ID" , "Near Field Communications", "Blink" or "Paypass" technology. As you can see, the device only has to get within 6 inches of the card. Shoppers found it unsettling.

"I don't know what to say, I am speechless," said Kay Bragg, a shopper.

"I'm shocked," said shopper Susan Sherman. " I think that's how some people picked up my debit card number."

And we did it again, attaching the equipment to a laptop.

"From a distance away, I can still read your card right through the wallet," Bryan said. "I have all of your numbers."

Spokespeople representing the Near Field Communications System and MasterCard say that the 3-digit code on the back of the card is usually needed for purchases, and that code can't be read by the device.

But other fraud experts tell the I-Team that there are other devices which can put card numbers and expiration dates on another "dummy" card which can be used at stores without that 3-digit code, and that some internet and phone transactions may not require it.

"So you don't have to worry about having the CVV or other pieces of information," Bryan said.

Then we used it on my CTA Ventra card, which can also be activated as a debit card. Our security expert accessed my account number and expiration date.

"And the last four is 7995," Bryan said.

A CTA spokesperson said that the numbers can't be used to ride the transit system, and also pointed out that the gadget can't get your 3 digit debit card code on the back. And they said that a Ventra card "has the same industry-standard security protections that millions of credit and debit bank cards across the country (have) to prevent fraud."

To fight back, you can buy special wallets and even cheap sleeves that block the radio frequency. You can also use foil.

(ABC chicago, feb 9th)

http://abc7chicago.com/technology/secretly-swiped-your-account-numbers-taken-out-of-thin-air/510920/




The British government has somewhat spilled the beans on their intelligence activities, with the Home Office publishing a set of draft guidelines into hacking and bugging undertaken by security services.

The draft report, Equipment Interference draft code of practice, details the guidelines that the UK’s security and intelligence agencies follow when operating both in Britain and abroad.

The release of the report is seen as an interesting move by UK authorities, with the British government rarely disclosing information in regards to what actions and guidelines its intelligence agencies follow, let alone admitting that such actions take place.

Guidelines detailed in the report include proper rules and procedures for “electronic interference” (hacking) of phones, PCs, laptops and routers, while it also mentions that the UK intercepts and bugs various gadgets that it wants to spy on, similar to practices undertaken by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States.

Additionally, the report also deals with when hacking warrants can be issued, what needs to be done when an innocent person is spied on, and also provides guidelines on who information should be shared with, and how it should eventually be stored or destroyed.

James Brokenshire, minister for Immigration and Security, said that the government was trying to be as “open as it can” in providing hacking guidelines, without releasing secret information.

(Sputnik, feb 10th)

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150210/1018049023.html





UKRAINE CRISIS__________________


Report: White House Preparing Military Response If Diplomacy With Russia Fails

The world is now on the cusp of total war. This is the claim made by former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts in arecent editorial. And though doom predictions are quite popular given what’s going on in the world as of late, to disregard Roberts’ assessment as fear-mongering or hype would be short-sighted and dangerous. No, this time is not different, and if political leaders around the world, especially in the United States, Russia and Europe, don’t come to an agreement on the future of Ukraine then it is only a matter of time before we eventually cross the line into a scenario from which there is no return – for all we know, we may have already crossed it at this point.

While the American media has generally ignored the broader implications of what’s happening in Ukraine, often dismissing it as Europe’s problem and one that has no long-term ramifications for the U.S., the fact is that the United States is directly involved in not only the political machinations behind the scenes of Ukraine’s new government, but military operations as evidenced by recent videos showing armed American-English speaking personnel on the ground during the recent artillery shelling of the city of Mariupol.

(shtfplan, feb 10th)

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/report-white-house-preparing-military-response-if-diplomacy-with-russia-fails-lethal-defensive-weapons-and-other-options-being-examined_02092015





Russia Warns U.S. Arming Ukraine Will Be Considered an Act of War. Russia will respond in Ukraine and elsewhere if Obama arms Kiev regime

On Monday Obama said the United States is considering sending armaments and lethal aid to the regime in Ukraine. Obama had previously opposed sending arms.

“It is true that if in fact diplomacy fails, what I’ve asked my team to do is look at all options,” Obama said. “The possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that’s being examined.”

Obama made this comment as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande push a peace plan to resolve the crisis. Merkel and Hollande met with Putin and Ukrainian leaders last week and announced a summit to be held in Minsk on Wednesday.

As Obama vacillates and a bipartisan group in Congress demand the U.S. arm the Kiev regime under the terms of the Budapest Memorandum, the Russians warn military aid to Ukraine will result in “all-out-war.”

Alexei Pushkov, a leading Russian MP and an ally of President Vladimir Putin, told the European Parliament the delivery of arms to Ukraine is the first step in what will become larger participation in the conflict by the United States. He said sending armaments was one of the first steps in U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

“First they sent weapons, then they sent military advisers, then troops to protect military advisers, then troops to fight the Vietnamese.”

He warned the United States against following “an extremely dangerous path” and characterized U.S. Republican Senator John McCain as “trigger-happy.”

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday the plan to arm the regime in Kiev is “aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.”

Evgeny Buzhinsky, a military expert at the Moscow-based PIR Center and a former lieutenant general in the Russian Army, told The Moscow Times “Russia would reasonably consider the U.S. to be a direct participant in the conflict” if it sends arms and will act accordingly.

Buzhinsky added that Russia would not only up the stakes in eastern Ukraine, but will “also respond asymmetrically against Washington or its allies on other fronts.”

“Moscow will not just sit by calmly and see what happens, it will counteract,” said Maxim Shepovalenko, an analyst at the Moscow-based Center for the Analysis of Strategy and Technology. “It would become tit-for-tat.”

Additionally, the Russians would consider U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine a violation of international law.

“If the U.S., following a request from the Ukrainian government, starts supplying weapons to Kiev, it will violate a number of international documents,” said Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. “The U.S. has repeatedly chosen a graded approach to rules of international law.”

(Infowars, feb 10th)

http://www.infowars.com/russia-warns-u-s-arming-ukraine-will-be-considered-an-act-of-war/



GREECE AUSTERITY___________



Did Europe just fold?

Moments ago Bloomberg blasted a headline which has to be validated by other members of the European Commission as well as Merkel and the other Germans (and may well be refuted, considering this is Europe), which said that:

So did Greece just win the first round of its stand off with Brussels? It remains to be confirmed, but congratulations to Greece if indeed it caused Merkel and the ECB to fold.

B What emerged as the biggest point of leverage overnight was the following threat reported hours ago by Reuters, citing the Greek defense minister Kammenos, who essentially threatened to go to Russia and/or China if Europe decline to cooperate. Per Reuters:

    Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said that if Greece failed to get a new debt agreement with the euro zone, it could always look elsewhere for help.

     “What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal – hopefully (there will be) – and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to Plan B. Plan B is to get funding from another source,” he told Greek television show that ran in to early Tuesday. “It could the United States at best, it could be Russia, it could be China or other countries,” he said.

(zero hedge, feb 10th)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-10/europe-propose-6-month-extension-after-greece-warns-it-may-get-funds-russia-or-china




Less than twelve hours after receiving notice of the European Central Bank to cut funding to Greek banks, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras answered vehemently in a post that seems directed at Mario Draghi but also to all those that put sticks on wheels: “Greece will no longer accept more orders, especially orders received by email,” he asserted from the Greek Parliament in the first session of the SYRIZA parliamentary group.

The Greek Prime Minister has insisted that he will “put an end once and for all” to the austerity policies of the EU and negotiate a new agreement for Greece.“It is time to move on, not only in Greece but in Europe,” proclaimed the Greek president. In Athens, before the deputies of SYRIZA and after a tour of several European capitals, Tsipras said his government will not back down on its promises and that voters will not be fooled again: “Everyone can be sure that this Government will do what it says.“Tsipras has given a strong speech applauded by all his fellow ‘soldiers’. “Greece is no longer the unfortunate pal that listens to do its homework. Greece has its own voice,” Tsipras defended.The Greek president remains optimistic regarding the negotiations with European partners on debt and the rescue. “In one week we won allies who had not joined during the last five years of crisis,” he added.

The ECB announced last night that it will no longer accept Greek government debt as collateral, which de facto means cutting funding for the country and pressing for a new rescue.

The governing body led by Mario Draghi has made the financing option lines more expensive and restrictive. These liquidity has been used by three major Greek banks.

After the ECB decision, the number of investors rejecting Greek debt has soared. The interest given to Greek sovereign securities increased Thursday morning, with 10-year bonds and, above all,  two-year bonds being the most affected.

European shares have started to decline, especially Madrid and Milan with a fall of around 0.6% in the Ibex.

Given the financial turmoil, the Greek prime minister has tried to dispel bad omens on the Greek economy: “We guarantee a stop to austerity, but also the country’s future in Europe, we ensure that deposits in Greek banks are fully guaranteed“, said Tsipras.

(Sleuth Journal, feb 10th)

http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/tsipras-defies-troika-greece-will-no-longer-take-orders/




The REAL Greek Negotiations: Situation Is “Berserk”, “There Is No Plan”, “Greeks Digging Own Graves”

Forget any conciliation: what is going on behind the scenes a day ahead of the Eurogroup meeting is nothing short of disaster. 

“The Greeks are digging their own graves,” warns one EU official, according to MNI, with another exclaiming the Greek plan as “hopeless” and added “how can you have a plan when you make no payment obligation till the autumn and then you probably scrap that.” Simply put, speaking on condition of anonymity, an EU official described the situation as “berserk” adding “there is no plan.”

As MNI reports, EU officials are “infuriated” by ‘wildly misleading’ Greek claims…

    The carefully orchestrated dance between the new Greek government and its European creditors appeared to crack Tuesday, with top Brussels officials infuriated by what they see as wildly misleading claims coming from Athens.

    A senior European official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the situation as “berserk” and said, “there is no plan.”

    “The Greeks are digging their own graves,” the EU official said.

    At the start of the Tuesday, Greece floated its latest funding plan via press leaks, including to the Kathimerini newspaper,  proposing a bridge financing programme that would lead to a “new deal” with creditors from September onwards.

    There were reportedly four parts to the new deal: 30% of the existing memorandum with the Troika will be cancelled and replaced with 10 new reforms agreed with the OECD; Greece’s primary surplus target would be cut from 3% of GDP this year to 1.49%; Greek debt would be reduced via an already announced swap plan; and the “humanitarian crisis” would be alleviated via policies announced by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Sunday.

    The first official described the plan as “hopeless” and added “how can you have a plan when you make no payment obligation till the autumn and then you probably scrap that.”

(zero hedge, feb 10th)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-10/truth-behind-greek-negotiations-situation-%E2%80%9Cberserk-there-no-plan-greeks-digging-own-


GLOBAL CONFLICTS_________________


Hawaiian Independence Movement Attracts Chinese Interest

China has suggested arming Hawaii’s independence activists in retaliation for U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and recently threatened to challenge American sovereignty by making legal claims to the Pacific islands as its territory.

Chinese threats to back several groups of Hawaiian independence activists who want to restore the islands’ constitutional monarchy, ousted in a U.S.-backed coup over a century ago, has raised concerns that military facilities on the strategic central Pacific archipelago are threatened at a time when the Obama administration is engaged in a major shift toward Asia as part of its military and diplomatic rebalance.
(Free beacon, feb 10th)

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/hawaiian-independence-movement-attracts-chinese-interest/




Obama’s War Authorization Limits Ground Forces

Administration would be free to expand the war to other countries

President Barack Obama will soon give Congress his proposal for a new authorization for the use of military force against Islamic State fighters, and it will place strict limits on the types of U.S. ground forces that can be deployed, according to congressional sources.

Almost six months after the president began using force against the Islamic State advance in Iraq and then in Syria, the White House is ready to ask Congress for formal permission to continue the effort. Until now, the administration has maintained it has enough authority to wage war through the 2001 AUMF on al-Qaeda, the 2002 AUMF regarding Iraq and Article II of the Constitution. But under pressure from Capitol Hill, the White House has now completed the text of a new authorization and could send it to lawmakers as early as Wednesday.

If enacted, the president’s AUMF could effectively constrain the next president from waging a ground war against the Islamic State group until at least 2018. Aides warned that the White House may tweak the final details before releasing the document publicly.

In advance of the release, top White House and State Department officials have been briefing lawmakers and Congressional staffers about their proposed legislation. Two senior Congressional aides relayed the details to me.

The president’s AUMF for the fight against Islamic State would restrict the use of ground troops through a prohibition on “enduring offensive ground operations,” but provide several exemptions. First, all existing ground troops, including the 3,000 U.S. military personnel now on the ground in Iraq, would be explicitly excluded from the restrictions. After that, the president would be allowed to deploy new military personnel in several specific roles: advisers, special operations forces, Joint Terminal Attack Controllers to assist U.S. air strikes and Combat Search and Rescue personnel.

(bloomgberg, feb 10th)

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-10/obama-s-islamic-state-war-authorization-limits-u-s-ground-forces



U.S. AND WORLD ECONOMY______________


Exactly where are those job openings? Except for State and Local Goverment jobs, they’re mostly in the low pay service sectors. 61% of the job openings were in sectors that pay the lowest wages in the US economy.

These sectors also had the largest year to year percentage gains. The next largest sector was Manufacturing at 6% of the total. No other employment group had more than 4% of the jobs total.

Maybe that’s why new hires in December hit an all time record low as a percentage of job openings since the JOLTS survey began in 2000.

Let’s delve into how Bloomberg reported the story. First, there weren’t 5 million job openings. That number is made up via the spurious method of extrapolating annualized fictitious monthly seasonally adjusted data. If the monthly data is off, which it always is, just multiply the error by 12. That way you can make the annualized number even more spectacular.

The number of actual job openings was 4.43 million per the BLS. It was the biggest December on record so there really was no need to exaggerate.

(wall street examiner, feb 10th)

http://wallstreetexaminer.com/2015/02/us-has-a-pantload-of-openings-for-jobs-that-nobody-wants/




More robots coming to U.S. factories

Manufacturers will significantly accelerate their use of robots in U.S. factories over the next decade as they become cheaper and perform more tasks, constraining payroll growth, according to a study out Tuesday.

The development is expected to dramatically boost productivity and slow the long-standing migration of factories across the globe to take advantage of low-cost labor, says the Boston Consulting Group report.

"Advanced robotics are changing the calculus of manufacturing," says Harold Sirkin, a senior partner at the management consulting firm.

A handful of nations, including the U.S. and China, are poised to reap the biggest benefits of the automation wave.

About 1.2 million additional advanced robots are expected to be deployed in the U.S. by 2025, BCG says. Four industries will lead the shift — computer and electronics products; electrical equipment and appliances; transportation; and machinery — largely because more of their tasks can be automated and they deliver the biggest cost savings.

About 10% of all manufacturing functions are automated, a share that will rise to nearly 25% in a decade as robotic vision sensors and gripping systems improve, BCG says.

(usa today, feb 9th)

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/02/09/bcg-report-on-factory-robots/23143259/




Food Stamp Beneficiaries Exceed 46,000,000 for 39 Straight Months

he number of beneficiaries on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, has topped 46,000,000 for 39 straight months, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In November 2014, the latest month reported, there were 46,271,508 Americans on food stamps. Food stamp recipients have exceeded 46 million since September 2011.

(CNS news, feb 9th)

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/food-stamp-beneficiaries-exceed-46000000-39-straight-months




US Charges Iowa Widow Over How She Deposited Husband's Cash

An Iowa widow is charged with a crime and had nearly $19,000 seized from her bank after depositing her late husband's legally earned money in a way that evaded federal reporting requirements.

Janet Malone, 68, of Dubuque, is facing civil and criminal proceedings under a law intended to help investigators track large sums of cash tied to criminal activity such as drug trafficking and terrorism. But some members of Congress and libertarian groups have complained that the IRS and federal prosecutors are unfairly using it against ordinary people who deposit lawfully obtained money in increments below $10,000.

At issue is a law requiring banks to report deposits of more than $10,000 cash to the federal government. Anyone who breaks deposits into increments below that level to avoid the requirement is committing a crime known as "structuring" — whether their money is legal or not.

The IRS has increasingly used civil forfeiture proceedings to seize money from individuals and small businesses suspected of structuring violations, according to a review by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian group. The agency seized $242 million in 2,500 cases from 2005 to 2012 — a third of which arose from nothing more than cash transactions under $10,000. Nearly half was returned after owners challenged the action, often a year later.

(AP, feb 10th)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-charges-iowa-widow-deposited-husbands-cash-28866427




llegal immigrants squeeze school budgets

Washington-area schools are facing budget crises as a result of an influx of immigrant students, according to a recent report.

Since the 2005-06 school year, the percent of students enrolled in English proficiency classes has increased by an average of nearly 70 percent across seven school districts in the D.C. metro area, according to a report by the advocacy group, Federation for American Immigration Reform, which promotes tighter border security, an end to illegal immigration and reduced levels of legal immigration.

Those classes cost an average of about one quarter of each district’s budget, and the chunk is getting larger as new students, many of them illegal immigrants or children of illegal immigrants, enroll in English-as-a-second-language classes.

“Education programs are being cut,” said the report’s author, Eric Ruark. “We’re not saying that [English proficiency classes] are the cause, but it’s certainly taking money away from them.”

(washington examiner, feb 10th)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/illegal-immigrants-squeeze-school-budgets/article/2560018




POLICE STATE_____________________



If you’ve ever filed a public records request with your local police department to learn more about how cell-site simulators are used in your community—chances are good that the FBI knows about it. And the FBI will attempt to “prevent disclosure” of such information.

Not only can these devices, commonly known as "stingrays," be used to determine a phone’s location, but they can also intercept calls and text messages. During the act of locating a phone, stingrays also sweep up information about nearby phones. Last fall, Ars reported on how a handful of cities across America are currently upgrading to new hardware that can target 4G LTE phones.

The newest revelation about the FBI comes from a June 2012 letter written by the law enforcement agency to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It was first acquired and published by the Minneapolis Star Tribune in December 2014—similar language likely exists between the FBI and other local authorities that use stingrays.

(ARS technica, feb 10th)

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/02/fbi-really-doesnt-want-anyone-to-know-about-stingray-use-by-local-cops/




TSA Demands Internal Passport for Domestic Travel

Over the Christmas season, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quietly announced that America was walking down that path. By 2016, all domestic air travel will require either a traditional passport or a federally-compliant ID card called “Real ID.” State driver’s licenses will no longer allow Americans access to domestic flights, as they do now. Real ID will constitute an internal passport. (The drop-date date is commonly reported as January.)

An internal passport refers to an identity document that people must produce to move from place to place within national borders. It allows a government to monitor the movement of its own people and to control that movement by granting or denying ID. In the past, governments have used internal passports to isolate ‘undesirables’, to regulate economic opportunities, to reap personal data, to intimidate and command obedience, and to segregate categories of people (like Jews) for political purposes. It allows a government to bind anyone it chooses to his or her place of birth.

The upcoming Real ID requirement targets only air travel. But that’s how it begins – with airports.

After people became numb to years of ID demands, questioning and searches at airports, those tactics spread to train stations and subways. Then highway check-points were established in areas that lay within 100 miles from an “external boundary,” including coasts. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents now have the authority to stop a traveller if they have “reasonable suspicion” of an immigration violation or other crime. Although the agents do not currently have authority to demand ID from American citizens, they often do so.

(safe haven, feb 10th)

http://safehaven.com/article/36645/tsa-demands-internal-passport-for-domestic-travel




After a 17-year-old shot three people at the Monroeville Mall, CBL and Associates, the mall owner, said it will card and eject unaccompanied minors from the mall on Fridays and Saturdays after 6 p.m. beginning on Feb. 27.

“We’ve examined a lot of our incidences over the past year and found that a lot of the problems that have occurred have been a result of unsupervised youth,” Stacey Keating, CBL’s corporate marketing specialist, told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Monday.

“They’ve instituted this in about 25 of their malls, and it’s a very successful policy,” noted Monroeville mayor Gregory Erosenko who supports this Youth Escort Policy. “We’re certainly going to put our arms around it.”

Implementing this will require security guards to check anyone who looks under 18.

“Security officers are going to be prepared to ask for identification if a person’s age cannot be easily determined and they appear to be under the age of 18,” added Keating.

The carding may occur at mall entrances or within the mall — with minors required to have a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or guardian with them.

Older siblings don’t count, and it’s one adult for every three children.

(CBS pittsburgh, feb 9th)

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/02/09/monroeville-mall-hopeful-new-youth-policy-will-bring-positive-change/




A new robot designed for the US Army by Google fits the criteria of a 2008 Pentagon request for the development of a system which could detect and track “non-cooperative” humans in “pursuit/evasion scenarios”.

Spot is the latest military robot developed by Boston Dynamics, which was bought by Google last year. The robot is far more agile than its larger predecessor, Big Dog, and can run around at high speed both outside and indoors.

Video footage of the new robot shows its ability to recover from being kicked, even on icy surfaces.

The fact that Spot can operate indoors is somewhat ominous given a 2008 Pentagon request for contractors to build, “A software and sensor package to enable a team of robots to search for and detect human presence in an indoor environment.”

The proposal called for the development of robots, “to search for and detect a non-cooperative human subject” during “pursuit/evasion scenarios,” directing that they have the ability to “intelligently and autonomously search”.

The New Scientist’s Paul Marks responded to the story by asking, “How long before we see packs of droids hunting down pesky demonstrators with paralysing weapons? Or could the packs even be lethally armed?”

Steve Wright, an expert on police and military technologies from Leeds Metropolitan University, also warned that such robots would eventually be armed.

(Infowars, feb 10th)

http://www.infowars.com/will-googles-new-robot-be-used-to-hunt-non-cooperative-humans/





Video: Cops Attack Man For Trying To Record Altercation

Police Chief insinuates the phone could have been a weapon

he disturbing trend of police cracking down on the use of cell phones to record their actions continues with a report out of New Jersey, where a man was jumped on and attacked by several officers for attempting to film an altercation.

Aaron Bland says he was walking down a main road in Atlantic City with a co-worker, minding his own business, when a police officer pulled up beside them in a vehicle and ordered the pair to stop and answer some questions.

Bland says he politely refused and continued walking down the street, prompting officer Juliann Schewenger to jump out of the vehicle and get in Bland’s face. The cop told Bland that he looked like a suspect and demanded some ID.

Bland then began to fear for his well being and took out his phone to begin recording. The scene that followed looked like this:

(Infowars, feb 10th)

http://www.infowars.com/video-cops-attack-man-for-trying-to-record-altercation/




Cop Points Gun at 14-yo Boy Playing on Balcony, ‘Accidentally’ Pulls Trigger, Shoots Him

A Baltimore County police officer shot a 14-year-old boy Monday night while moonlighting as an apartment complex security guard.

Police said two security guards were working off-duty at the Woodridge apartment complex who were investigating reports of people inside apartments that were under construction.

The officer who shot the teen told police that he saw someone come out on a balcony. He said he was pointing his weapon at the balcony, and it simply went off.

The officer “was pointing the weapon in the direction of the balcony” when “his weapon discharged accidentally,” the department said in a statement.

(free thought project, feb 10th)

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/breaking-cop-points-gun-14-yo-boy-playing-balcony-accidentally-pulls-trigger-shoots/




HEALTH__________________________



In 1948, the first widely used vaccine was introduced; it was made by killing the pertussis bacterium with an antiseptic and injecting it into the body. The whole-cell vaccine, as it came to be called, was loaded with several thousand proteins, including toxins, that fired up the immune system and clamped down on the disease.

In the decades that followed, whooping cough deaths and cases dropped dramatically. But the vaccine also caused side effects, including pain at the injection site, fevers and persistent crying in some children, and in rare cases seizures.

The 1982 NBC News documentary "DPT: Vaccine Roulette" went further, claiming the pertussis vaccine could cause permanent brain damage, said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and a professor of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Another claim was by Klein who was the lead author of a 2013 study in the journal Pediatrics comparing the effectiveness of the older and newer vaccines in a 2010-'11 pertussis outbreak in California. It showed that teenagers who got four doses of the newer vaccine were nearly six times more likely to get pertussis than teens who got four doses of the older vaccine.


In 2012, Darr was driving along a country road when she began coughing so violently that she passed out.

"I knew I needed to pull over," said Darr, 44, who lives in Pittsville. "I woke up in the woods."

She said she suffered a broken rib and some contusions, and had to climb out the back door because the car was in trees.

She had to stop driving for nearly two months until her coughing went away. Darr, who was working as a substitute teacher at the time, contracted whooping cough at her school even though she had been vaccinated as a child.

She has since gotten an adult booster shot.

"There is a tendency to think of vaccines as essentially making us bulletproof against the pathogen," Rohani said. A person can get whooping cough as a child, then get it again as an adult.


Even those, like Camille Petersons, who still get whooping cough after being vaccinated are much more likely to have a milder case than if they had not been vaccinated at all, said James Cherry, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the UCLA School of Medicine.

That may have been what happened to 5-year-old Annie Matkom last November.

She was taken to the doctor on a Saturday and the next day the family was called. Though she had received all of her vaccinations, she tested positive for pertussis, her mother said, admitting, "I was shocked."

Both Annie and her family had to go on a five-day course of antibiotics so they would not spread the illness.

"I really don't know how or why she got it," her mother said.

(Journal Sentinel, jan 31st)

http://www.jsonline.com/news/health/once-almost-eradicated-whooping-cough-surges-back-b99433928z1-290458001.html




9 MIN VIDEO REPORT:

Can a measles outbreak START with a twice vaccinated person?

If a person develops measles from an MMR vaccine, can it be transmitted to others?

The pharmaceutical industry, and the media it owns, pretend those aren’t possible and scapegoat the unvaccinated as the threat.

But little known outbreaks tell us otherwise.

Whistleblowers in the industry reveal there is a deliberate effort to overstate the effectiveness of the vaccines, while the safety risks are downplayed.

Are the pharmaceutical industry, the media and the government telling you the truth about risk percentages or are they only concerned about profits?

(Infowars, feb 10th)

http://www.infowars.com/revealed-measles-facts-they-dont-want-you-see/




81 Percent of Dollar Store Products Tested Contain Chemicals Linked To Learning Disabilities, Cancer and Serious Illnesses

164 dollar store products contained at least one hazardous chemical above levels of concern

(prevent disease, feb 10th)

http://preventdisease.com/news/15/020915_81-Percent-Dollar-Store-Products-Chemicals-Linked-Learning-Disabilities-Cancer.shtml



Power napping really IS good for you: A 30-minute snooze can repair the damage caused by a lack of sleep, study finds

    -Naps help relieve stress and bolster the immune system, study finds
    -Scientists hope findings will help shift workers and insomnia sufferers
    -Sleep deprivation increases risk of obesity, diabetes and depression
    -New research found 30-minute nap helps repair damage of too little sleep

(daily mail, feb 10th)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2947999/Power-napping-really-good-Just-half-hour-snooze-repair-damage-caused-lack-sleep-study-finds.html




2ND AMENDMENT_____________



Town Posts Signs Warning Criminals: ‘This Is Not A Gun Free Zone’

Pennsylvania town wants criminals to know residents pack heat

A community in Pennsylvania is hoping an investment in road signs will pay off by deterring criminal activity.

Conoy Township officials approved signs warning would-be criminals, “This Is Not A Gun Free Zone,” to be placed along roads leading into the community.

The township, with a population of about 3,300 people, appropriated $500 to purchase 16 roadside signs that both welcome visitors and warn crooks they’re entering a pro-gun zone.

The town reportedly took into consideration results of a Justice Department study, compiled by Gun Owners of America, showing that “3/5 of felons polled agreed that ‘a criminal is not going to mess around with a victim he knows is armed with a gun.’”

Additionally, “74% of felons polled agreed that ‘one reason burglars avoid houses when people are at home is that they fear being shot during the crime,” and “57% of felons polled agreed that ‘criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police.’”

Of course, the effectiveness of touting a town’s pro-gun laws is best exemplified by the town of Kennesaw, Georgia, where the crime rate virtually ceased after a 1982 law required every household to possess a firearm.

(infowars, feb 10th)

http://www.infowars.com/town-posts-signs-warning-criminals-this-is-not-a-gun-free-zone/



Open carry gun advocates join rally outside Oregon Capitol

Several demonstrators carrying semi-automatic rifles joined a rally outside the Oregon Capitol Monday organized by opponents of legislation they say would limit their constitutional rights.

The Heirs of Patrick Henry, Northwest organized the rally and urged activists to lobby legislators afterwards.

“We’re just trying to send a message to the Legislative assembly that we won’t tolerate any encroachment on our liberties,” said Casey Runyan, an organizer with the group.

In advance of the rally, the Oregon State Police set up checkpoints at the entrance to screen people for weapons upon entering the Capitol. Large signs outside reminded demonstrators that only people with concealed handgun licenses can carry firearms into the Capitol.

(Oregon Live, feb 10th)

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2015/02/open_carry_gun_advocates_join.html



MISC. NEWS________________



100 ancient 'sex cult' sites found in Israel: Mysterious 8,000 year old stone circles filled with phallic carvings discovered in mountains

    -Sites in the Eilat mountains contain phallic stone structures
    -Contained stone circles with phallic carvings pointing to the centre
    -Researchers believe hundreds more sites may exist in the region

(daily mail, feb 10th)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2948229/100-sex-cult-sites-Israel-Mysterious-8-000-year-old-stone-circles-filled-phallic-carvings-mountains.html




New research by the website Quartz goes some way to confirming a three-year-old study that showed people in south-east Asia were more likely to claim to be Facebook-users than internet-users.

That research from Helani Galpaya in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Burma, saw her then boss at the LIRNEasia thinktank remark: “It seemed that in their minds, the internet did not exist; only Facebook.”

(Indepedent, feb 10th)

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/people-using-facebook-dont-realise-theyre-on-the-internet--xJA_uIE42e




Hitachi High Technologies, a subsidiary of ovens-to-trains conglomerate Hitachi, says its new happiness measuring device will let bosses know if they run a happy office -- or if their employees are secretly bored at work.

The company has developed a credit-card size wearable device loaded with sensors that determine where the wearer is and whether he or she is sitting, standing, typing or nodding.

It also records who is talking to whom and for how long, among other activities.

The data is then sent back to a base unit, which calculates the happiness of the group as a whole by comparing the patterns of activity with pre-determined patterns from groups who report being... well, happy.

(hindu stan times, feb 10th)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/gadgets-updates/in-japan-happiness-is-wearable-sensors/article1-1315527.aspx




While politicians are focused on all the foreigners who want to become Americans, perhaps they should consider all the Americans who are becoming foreigners.

According to the latest data from the Treasury Department, spotted by Andrew Mitchel at the International Tax Blog, a record 3,415 Americans renounced their citizenship in 2014. That was up from the 2,999 in 2013 and more than triple the number for 2012.

(CNBC, feb 10th)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102413492



Pacific Typhoon Higos has formed in the tropical West Pacific. What makes this storm unusual is that it has formed at the least likely time of year, climatologically speaking.

North Pacific typhoons have formed in all calendar months, but a Japanese analysis of the dates they form suggests that Feb. 11 is the least likely date. This date can be considered the beginning (or end) of the typhoon season.

So, Typhoon Higos might be considered the latest north Pacific typhoon on record. Or maybe it’s the earliest (there was a Feb. 15, 1965 typhoon that had been considered the earliest). It all depends upon when you decide the start/end date of typhoon season is.

One thing for sure is that a typhoon in mid-February is rare, indeed. According to this historical list going back 65 years, no typhoons have ever formed during the week of 8-14 February.

(DR roy spencer, feb 10th)

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2015/02/rare-pacific-typhoon-forms-in-mid-february/




Record Snow Blankets Massachusetts; New Storm Expected to Hit Thursday

Six feet of snow in the last month and counting.

Bostonians have had it up to their eyeballs with the winter of 2015.

“I can’t believe this is my neighborhood. It’s wild,” Amy McHugh of Weymouth, Massachusetts, told CNN affiliate WCVB-TV. “I keep telling the kids, ‘You’re going to be telling your kids about this.’ It’s unimaginable.”

Not only unimaginable, but record-setting.

“It’s only been 14 days, and we’ve gotten 70 to 80 inches of snow around the commonwealth,” Gov. Charlie Baker said. “This is pretty much unprecedented.

(KTLA, feb 10th)

http://ktla.com/2015/02/10/record-snow-hits-massachusetts-buries-buildings-causes-school-closures/




The school where snow is BANNED: Primary banned pupils from going outside and closed blinds so they couldn't watch it fall

    -Teachers ordered eight and nine-year-olds inside when it began snowing
    -Message on school website said staff took decision for 'safety' reasons
    -Angry parents said children were barred from even touching snow

(Daily mail, feb 9th)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943854/That-s-snow-fun-Killjoy-teachers-ordered-children-playground-moment-white-stuff-started-falling-unsafe-pulled-blinds-couldn-t-it.html



Jenner Speculation Comes at Key Time for Transgender Rights

Whether or not Olympic legend Bruce Jenner becomes its new champion, the transgender-rights movement is making remarkable strides on many fronts — ranging from mass-media visibility to legal protections.
(ABC news, feb 10th)

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/jenner-speculation-key-time-transgender-rights-28859735