APRIL 2015

Monday - April 27, 2015 - Today in History:

1805 - A force led by U.S. Marines captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli.
1813 - Americans under Gen. Pike capture York (present day Toronto) the seat of government in Ontario.
1861 - U.S. President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
1861 - West Virginia seceded from Virginia after Virginia seceded from the Union during the American Civil War.
1863 - The Army of the Potomac began marching on Chancellorsville.
1865 - In the U.S. the Sultana exploded while carrying 2,300 Union POWs. Between 1,400 - 2,000 were killed.
1938 - Geraldine Apponyi married King Zog of Albania. She was the first American woman to become a queen.
1953 - The U.S. offered $50,000 and political asylum to any Communist pilot that delivered a MIG jet.
1953 - Five people were killed and 60 injured when Mt. Aso erupted on the island of Kyushu.
1965 - "Pampers" were patented by R.C. Duncan.
1975 - Saigon was encircled by North Vietnamese troops.
1982 - The trial of John W. Hinckley Jr. began in which he later was acquitted by reason of insanity for the shooting of President Reagan and 3 others.
1989 - Student protestors took over Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
2005 - The A380, the world's largest jetliner, completed its maiden flight. The passenger capability was 840.
2005 - Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first Kremlin leader to visit Israel.
2006 - Construction began on a 1,776-foot Freedom Tower on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
2011 - President Barack Obama produced a detailed Hawaii birth certificate in an extraordinary attempt to bury the issue of where he was born.

Obama Exempted CIA From Drone Strikes Restrictions in Pakistan says Reports
Sputnik News - According to the Wall Street Journal, Barack Obama obliged the CIA to confirm that militants targeted in Yemen and Somalia posed an “imminent threat” before carrying out drone strikes, but allowed the agency to waive the same requirement for strikes in Pakistan. If the "imminent threat" requirement had been extended to Pakistan, the CIA might have not launched a January 15 strike which killed US and Italian citizens held hostage by al-Qaeda militants, the newspaper reported.

MH17: Berlin Knew Ukraine Flight Risks Before Crash - Media
Sputnik News - The German authorities knew the risks of flying over war-torn east Ukraine before Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot out of the sky last year but did not inform the airlines, local media reported Monday. A diplomatic cable by Germany's foreign ministry a few days prior to the crash warned the situation in eastern Ukraine was "worrying," and that a transport plane was shot down in the same area at more than 6,000 meters altitude, but never notified the Transport Ministry and the airlines, Zuddeutsche Zeitung reported. The foreign ministry report quoted aviation experts as saying that it took a special type of weaponry to shoot down a plane flying that high.

UPDATE: Nepal Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 3,700, Over 6,500 Injured
Sputnik News - At least 3,726 people have been killed in Saturday's earthquake, including 1,302 in the Kathmandu Valley alone, Nepalese police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said Monday.... Among victims of the disaster are tourists from the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and India.
* Related: Avalanche ripping through Everest camp captured by climbers (VIDEO)

Fighting rages in Yemen's 3rd-largest city, strikes continue
(AP) - Deadly street battles raged in Yemen's third-largest city on Sunday, as airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels struck targets in several cities, security officials said. The fighting in Taiz between government forces and rebels was heaviest around government and security buildings in the city center, killing some 20 civilians and wounding dozens more, they said, adding that indiscriminately fired mortar rounds hit several private residences and landed near a hospital at one point.

The "War On Cash" Migrates To Switzerland
Zero Hedge - It is undoubtedly a huge red flag when in one of the countries considered to be a member of the “highest economic freedom in the world” club, commercial banks are suddenly refusing their customers access to their cash. This money doesn’t belong to the banks, and it doesn’t belong to the central bank either.

Capital Controls Arrive: Greece Begins Confiscating Deposits Of "Small Debtors"
Zero Hedge - "Soft" capital controls arrived in Greece last week with the state decree requiring local governments to transfer reserves to Athens. Now, Kathimerini reports that debtors are seeing their accounts frozen in an indication that "hard" capital controls are set to be instituted amid a deepening cash crunch.... Greek debtors are having their deposits seized in lieu of payment.

Major Greek bank says to wipe debts of poorest clients
(AFP) - One of Greece's largest banks says it will wipe away the debts of clients who owe up to 20,000 euros ($21,600) in a one-off gesture to ease the burden on its crisis-hit customers. The Bank of Piraeus decided to write off or restructure debts in response to the "humanitarian crisis" through which its poorest clients were living, the company said in a statement. Debts of up to 20,000 euros linked to credit cards and consumer loans would be written off completely, it said, while mortagage payments would be frozen and any associated interest forgiven.

Nepal 7.9 Quake: Death toll passes 2,500 as aftershocks hinder rescue efforts
The Guardian - A strong aftershock has caused panic and frustrated frantic efforts to reach possible survivors of Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal, with the death toll rising to more than 2,500. More than 5,000 people were injured after the magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck late on Saturday morning. Local authorities said all but a few dozen of the deaths occurred in Nepal, and that at least 721 people had died in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu alone.
* Related: Devastating 7.9-magnitude quake strikes Nepal, India LIVE UPDATES

2000x Normal Radiation Found In Tokyo Playground, Officials Deny Any Link To Fukushima
Zero Hedge - When a specially-designed robot dies within 3 hours of being exposed to Fukushima's radiation, it is clear something is not quite as propagandized in Japan; and today, as SCMP reports, extremely high levels of radiation have been discovered in a children's playground in Tokyo. While two hours of exposure to a child would be equivalent to the maximum does allowable in a year, Japanese officials say they do not think it is connected to the disaster at Fukushima.

Australia: everyone must get vaccinated, except the Prime Minister's daughters
Jon Rappoport's Blog - We’re talking about Tony Abbott, who just ruled from on high that there are no more exemptions from vaccines in Australia. No more conscientious objections, no more religious exemptions. Only the rare medical exemption, permitted by a doctor. And suddenly, every family who refuses vaccinations for their children will lose up to $15,000 per year, per child, in federal support money… Back in 2006, Tony was singing a very different tune concerning his own daughters.

11 Explosive Clinton Cash Facts That The Mainstream Media Confirm are Accurate
Breitbart - Perhaps the most surprising thing about the forthcoming book rocking Washington right now is the number of stunning facts liberal media outlets have already confirmed and verified are accurate. Here, then, are 11 facts that mainstream media say are true, verified, and facts from the upcoming blockbuster, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.
* Related: Clinton Foundation admits making mistakes on taxes

Un-Pax Americana: Where One Can Find US Special Ops Around The Globe
Zero Hedge - Over the past year, they have landed in 81 countries, most of them training local commandos to fight so American troops don’t have to. From Honduras to Mongolia, Estonia to Djibouti, U.S. special operators teach local soldiers diplomatic skills to shield their countries against extremist ideologies, as well as combat skills to fight militants who break through.... The budget for Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., which dispatches elite troops around the world, jumped to $10 billion in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, from $2.2 billion in 2001. Congress has doubled the command to nearly 70,000 people this year, from 33,000 in fiscal 2001. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force provide further funding.

#BlackLivesMatter ‘Protesters’ Attack Innocent Diners, Sports Fans, Smash Up Restaurants, Loot In Baltimore
Steve Watson - Baltimore descended into chaos Saturday night as hundreds of people engaged in wanton violence and looting, prompting a police crackdown and ruining any chance of real or meaningful protest against police brutality in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray. Rioters smashed up local businesses and parked cars, and attacked patrons.
* Related: Unrest in Baltimore as thousands protest Freddie Gray’s death

California Orange County CPS Sued for Kidnapping More than 5,000 Children
Health Impact News - Attorney Shawn McMillan is continuing his fight against the corrupt Child and Protective Services in California, and has now filed a class action lawsuit against Orange County California for allegedly seizing more 5000 children in State-sponsored kidnappings. This follows his December 2014 class action lawsuit against CPS in Riverside County in California, which is also accused of kidnapping “thousands” of children without cause.

Local Police Refuse to Allow Newly Elected Mayor to Take Office
Daily Sheeple - On April 7th, Betty McCray was elected mayor of the town of Kinloch, just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. However, after she was sworn in earlier this week, she headed toward city hall to start her term, when she was stopped by nearly two dozen police officers in front of the building (I should add that there are over 50 members of the police department for this town of 300 residents). They claimed that she had been suspended and served impeachment papers for voter fraud. But in reality, there are a few holes in this story.
* Related Video: Newly elected Mayor prevented from entering city hall. Impeached by Mail!

Why Is JP Morgan Accumulating The Biggest Stockpile Of Physical Silver In History?
Economic Collapse - Why in the world has JP Morgan accumulated more than 55 million ounces of physical silver? Since early 2012, JP Morgan’s stockpile has grown from less than 5 million ounces of physical silver to more than 55 million ounces of physical silver. Clearly, someone over at JP Morgan is convinced that physical silver is a great investment. But in recent times, the price of silver has actually fallen quite a bit. As I write this, it is sitting at the ridiculously low price of $15.66 an ounce. So up to this point, JP Morgan’s investment in silver has definitely not paid off. But it will pay off in a big way if we will soon be entering a time of great financial turmoil.

Congress Wants to Put Artisanal Soap Makers Out of Business for Your Safety - Action Alert!
Daily Sheeple - What! You mean to tell me you don’t use Dial or Zest to get clean? You use HANDMADE SOAP? The government is VERY concerned about this. VERY... Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) love getting kickbacks from corporations that make cancer-causing products love you and want you to rub toxins on your body to be safe. Therefore, for your protection, they have created the Personal Care Products Safety Act (S. 1014). This act will create requirements for fees, licenses, and inspections that will make it impossible for small businesses to continue running. Cottage industries will, quite simply, be regulated right out of business. While the economy crashes, these senators and their idiotic bills will take away any possibility of self-employment.

US to launch blitz of gas exports, eyes global energy dominance
The Telegraph - The United States is poised to flood world markets with once-unthinkable quantities of liquefied natural gas as soon as this year, profoundly changing the geo-politics of global energy and posing a major threat to Russian gas dominance in Europe. "We anticipate becoming big players, and I think we'll have a big impact," said the Ernest Moniz, the US Energy Secretary. "We're going to influence the whole global LNG market."

Bill to ban fining Californians who let lawns go brown in drought
(Reuters) - Californians who let their lawns go brown to save water during the state's prolonged drought would no longer face fines from municipalities for failing to maintain their properties under a bill passed Thursday in the state assembly. The bill, which passed unanimously, was filed after residents of several cities said they were cited for blight after cutting back on watering. "It is completely irresponsible for a municipality to penalize its residents [as high as $500] for conserving water," said Democratic Assembly member Cheryl R. Brown of San Bernardino, the bill's author.

HPV Vaccines and Their Devastating Legacies
Activist Post - One group of vaccine safety advocates, SaneVax, is dedicated to tracking, documenting, and exposing the harms HPV vaccines have done not only in the USA, but in other countries of the world. Their website has an amazing array of information, but the most remarkable first-glance information is the “HPV Vaccine VAERS Reports Up to Mar 2015,” which blasts very unsettling statistics regarding only HPV vaccines...
* Related: First They Came for the Anti-Vaxxers

Jon Rappoport’s Interview of an Ex-vaccine Researcher
Vaccination Liberation - Great interview of a former pharma employee who is now retired...speaking out after realizing the ramifications of FORCED vaccination.

Diet Pepsi to Drop Aspartame, But Picks Poor Replacement
Natural Blaze - Associated Press has just reported PepsiCo's announcement to drop the artificial sweetener aspartame from its Diet Pepsi in response to customer feedback. If that were all to the story, than it would be great news, as aspartame has been outed as a dangerous excitotoxin with shady beginnings that involve both Monsanto and Donald Rumsfeld.... Unfortunately, Pepsi has chosen to replace aspartame with sucralose, which is no up-trade at all. Sucralose is better known as Splenda and is another lab created sweetener with questionable human-health effects.

Is Your Middle Aged Dog at Risk for This Complex Condition That Requires Medical Treatment?
Dr. Becker - Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (IMT) is a condition in which the body’s immune system destroys its own blood platelets. IMT is primarily a disease of middle-aged dogs, and while any breed can be affected, Poodles, Cocker Spaniels, and Old English Sheepdogs are predisposed. The disease is quite rare in cats. What most holistic veterinarians agree on is that while the exact cause of IMT may not yet be identified, the condition can be triggered or exacerbated by vaccines -- particularly bacterins like the leptospirosis and Lyme vaccines -- as well as killed vaccines that contain very strong immune-stimulating adjuvants, for example, the rabies vaccine.
 

Friday - April 24, 2015 - Today in History:

1800 - The Library of Congress was established with a $5,000 allocation.
1805 - The U.S. Marines attacked and captured the town of Derna in Tripoli.
1877 - Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
1877 - In the U.S., federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans. This was the end to the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.
1897 - William Price became the first to be named White House news reporter.
1898 - Spain declared war on the U.S., rejecting America's ultimatum for Spain to withdraw from Cuba.
1915 - During World War I, the Ottoman Turkish Empire began the mass deportation of Armenians.
1916 - Irish nationalist launched the Easter Rebellion against British occupation forces. They were overtaken several days later.
1944 - The first B-29 arrived in China, over the Hump of the Himalayas.
1961 - U.S. President Kennedy accepted "sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
1967 - Soviet astronaut Vladimir Komarov died when his craft crashed with a tangled parachute.
1989 - Thousands of students began striking in Beijing.
1990 - The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL. It was carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.
1997 - The U.S. Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. The global treaty banned the development, production, storage and use of chemical weapons.
2003 - A U.S. official reported the North Korea had claimed to have nuclear weapons.
2005 - Pope Benedict XVI was installed as leader of the Roman Catholic Church in ceremonies at the Vatican.

Back to old tactics: US envoy tweets ‘Russian BUKs in Ukraine’ with pic of Moscow show
RT - US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has claimed that Russia’s military is continuing to expand its presence in eastern Ukraine. As for proof, Pyatt posted a two-year-old picture of an air defense system from an air show near Moscow. This is the highest concentration of Russia air defense systems in eastern Ukraine since August,” the ambassador tweeted, attaching a picture of BUK-M2 missile defense system apparently taken at the International Aviation and Space Show MAKS-2013, which actually took place just outside Moscow.

US Fails to Verify Number of 'Russian Troops' in Ukraine
Sputnik News - The United States lacks precise figures and is unable to confirm the number of Russian military units reportedly stationed in eastern Ukraine, US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf stated at a press briefing. “It is really hard to get precise information about Russian troop numbers specifically, but we know there is a substantial Russian presence,” Harf said on Thursday.... On Wednesday, the US State Department accused Russia of violating the Minsk agreement by sending weapons and forces and conducting joint training exercises with pro-Russian “separatists” in eastern Ukraine.

Obama regrets drone strike that killed hostages but hails US for transparency
The Guardian - The White House was forced to concede on Thursday that it killed two innocent hostages – one American, one Italian – in a drone strike that targeted an al-Qaida compound despite officials not knowing precisely who was in the vicinity. The deaths of Dr Warren Weinstein, a US government aid worker, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian aid worker, who were being held captive in the Afghanistan and Pakistan border region, have placed unprecedented pressure on Barack Obama’s secret program of targeted drone killings.

Puerto Rico officials warn government shutdown imminent
(Reuters) - In a letter to leading lawmakers, including Governor Alejandro Padilla, the officials said a financing deal that could potentially salvage the government’s finances currently looked unlikely to succeed. It warned of laying off government employees and reducing public services. “A government shutdown is very probable in the next three months due to the absence of liquidity to operate,” the officials said. “The likelihood of completing a market transaction to finance the government’s operations and keep the government open is currently remote.”

Russia and Argentina Sign $5 Billion in Energy Deals
Sputnik News - Russia and Argentina signed a total of nearly $5 billion in deals on developing hydroelectric, nuclear and fossil-based energy, as well as to consider using each other's currencies in trade.... Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the two sides agreed to conduct thorough consultations on using national currencies in trade calculations instead of US dollars. A $2 billion deal was signed to build a new hydroelectric dam and will consider switching to national currencies for mutual deals. Russia's VEB bank will provide $1.2 billion of the total investments needed, 35 percent of which will be used to pay Argentine subcontractors. In addition, Russia will provide Argentina with access to Russian nuclear power technology.

Fearless Guardian: US Teaches Ukraine to Shoot Soviet-Era Grenade Launcher
Sputnik News - While Ukraine continues to claim that its officers will mostly learn “the skills, not weapons” the US military is using in operations worldwide, videos and pictures reveal quite the opposite: instead of these skills, it is the weapons the US paratroopers are teaching Ukrainians to use. Interestingly enough, they are mostly Russian-made guns.

No man left behind? US citizens fleeing Yemen tell RT of abandonment (VIDEO)
RT - With the threat of violence continuing to loom over Yemen, Russia sent two more planes to evacuate people. They carried some 197 refugees, including 13 citizens of Russia, 80 people from the former Soviet republics like Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Kazakhstan and 104 people from countries including Cuba, Serbia, Columbia and Lebanon. Also among them were about 20 American citizens, who became stranded in Yemen when the US government announced it had no plans to organize an evacuation.

N. Korea could have up to 20 nuclear warheads – Chinese sources
RT - North Korea could already possess up to 20 nuclear warheads and have a capacity to double its arsenal by next year, according to Chinese nuclear experts, the Wall Street Journal reports. Previous US estimates had put the total between 10 and 16. In April, the head of the US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, Admiral William Gortney, said the US military believes Pyongyang is capable of launching an ICBM with a nuclear warhead from a hard-to-track mobile launcher at the US West Coast.

Deutsche Bank hit with record $2.5bn fine for Libor manipulation
RT - Germany’s biggest lender has been fined $2.5 billion by US and UK regulators for manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the benchmark for interest rates on trillions of dollars of financial contracts. This is the biggest fine to date over Libor rigging. The fixing of the interest rates by Deutsche Bank employees in London and Frankfurt from 2005 to 2009 was deliberate, and the employees were aware that it was wrong, the New York State Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin M. Lawsky said on Thursday.

Bastrop County, Texas Residents Oppose Jade Helm
Statesman - Officials with JADE HELM 15, as the training is called, will lay out details of their months-long training to commissioners at their Monday, April 27 Commissioner Court meeting. Officials say the training, which will be held in Bastrop County from July 15 to Sept. 15, will develop techniques and tactics needed by the military to defend U.S. interests around the globe.

Baltimore protests: 2 arrested as Maryland gov. sends state troopers
RT - Baltimore residents and police clashed as people marched downtown to protest the mysterious death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he will send 32 state troopers to the city in order to oversee demonstrations. No concrete numbers are in, but hundreds of protesters took to the streets of downtown Baltimore, rallying in front of City Hall and the US Courthouse while calling for justice in Gray’s death. The 25-year-old African-American man died as a result of a severe spinal cord injury, though it’s unclear exactly how or when he was hurt. His funeral is set for Monday.

Legislation that Fines Cops $15,000 for Interfering with Citizens who Film Them, Passes House
The Free Thought Project - A recently proposed bill in Colorado imposing legal penalties on police officers who interfere with citizens filming them could soon become law. The state’s House Of Representatives passed the bill this week, and it will now move on to vote in the Senate. If it becomes law, the bill would reportedly require police officers to have someone’s consent or a warrant to physically take or destroy a persons camera or footage. If an officer violates this law, the victim would then be able to seek damages up to $15,000 plus attorney fees. This would also be the first law in the country that would guarantee civil damages to people who have their recording rights violated by police.

Teacher Sues School Over ‘Surprise’ Active-Shooter Drill
Counter Current News - McLean, 56, and other teachers at Pine Eagle Charter School in Halfway, Oregon, were subjected to psychological cruelty at the hands of the school administrators back in April 2013. The newly filed federal lawsuit by McLean says that they were never warned that all of this was a just drill. As this happened only four months after the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, she had no reason to imagine it was anything other than very real. McLean is suing the school district, the principal, several members of the school board and Alpine Alarm Communications and Construction LLC as well as Shawn Thatcher, the school’s safety supervisor, who pointed the gun at her head.

VIDEO: Marines Conduct Riot Control Drill
Paul Joseph Watson - Video footage has emerged of Marines conducting riot control exercises at the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Virginia during which angry protesters are kept at bay by armed troops. The Marines, “Conducted an operational readiness exercise, which evaluates the team’s ability to perform riot control,” according to a description which accompanies the video. “The ORE determines of the marines are ready to take their final step in pre-deployment training. After completing and meeting the requirements of the ORE evaluation the Marines will go to Quantico, Virginia for their final phase of pre-deployment training.”

9 Members of Idaho Legislature Block International Child Support Treaty
AllGov - An international agreement to make it easier to enforce child support orders throughout the world is in danger of not being ratified in the U.S. because of nine conservative lawmakers in Idaho. Republican Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll led the opposition to the measure, testifying that it would subject Idaho to Sharia law. Nuxoll previously has boycotted a Hindu prayer in the Idaho senate, saying that Hindus worship false gods, and compared a proposed state health insurance exchange to the Holocaust.

VIDEO: Here’s An Actual Ad For A New DC ‘Abortion Spa’
Western Journalism - Okay. Firstly, yes this is a real ad. No, it’s not from SNL or Comedy Central. At first, I thought that it was a joke. I mean, it had to be. Until I went to the Carafem website and saw that they were genuinely presenting an abortion procedure to be as relaxed as a day at the spa. Watch the video for context first.

Houston Cop and Former “Officer of the Year” Indicted for Trafficking Weapons for Los Zetas Drug Cartel
Michael Krieger - What’s so shocking about the story below is not that a 20-year veteran of the Houston police force, who was previously named one of the “Officers of the Year” by the Officers Union, was trafficking weapons for drug cartels. What’s shocking is that he was actually indicted and faces life in prison. He should’ve worked for a federal agency like the DEA or TSA, in which case he might not have even been fired.

McDonald’s to Close 700 Stores
Kit Daniels - The struggling fast food giant recently announced it was closing 350 poorly performing stores this year, but on Wednesday McDonald’s admitted it had closed a previously unannounced 350 stores in the U.S., Japan and China. “Earlier on Wednesday, McDonald’s reported an 11% decrease in revenue and a 30% drop in profit for the first three months of year, a continuation of its troubles in the last two years as it has struggled to compete with new U.S. competitors, a tough economy in Europe and a food safety scare in Asia,” Fortune reported.

Food workers, janitors walk out on U.S. Senate
(CNN) About 40 contracted workers from the United States Senate walked off their jobs Wednesday morning and joined more than 1,000 labor activists at a rally calling on President Barack Obama and Congress to require federal contractors to pay their workers more. The Senate workers -- employed at the upper chamber's cafeteria, on janitorial duty and in other food service jobs -- along with other federal contracted employees, are calling on the President to sign a "Model Employer Executive Order" that would give federal contracting preferences to companies that can pay their workers $15 an hour. Related: I am a cook in the US Senate but I still need food stamps to feed my children

Propaganda Works: A Significant Majority Of Americans Think The Economy Is Good… And Only Getting Better
Mac Slavo - Americans’ perception of President Obama’s economic policies are on the mend according to a new report from CNN. “For the first time since President Obama took office,” says journalist Matt Egan, “a significant majority of Americans give the economy two thumbs up.” The findings are based on a poll conducted by CNN/ORC. According to the poll 52% of Americans described the economy as “very or somewhat good.” By CNN standards this is considered a “significant majority.” So significant, in fact, that the network contends it is great news from Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign because it shows how successful Democratic programs have been.
Energy & Environment

Man-made earthquakes increasing in central and eastern U.S., study finds
LA Times - For the first time, the U.S. Geological Survey has unveiled a map of earthquakes thought to be triggered by human activity in the eastern and central United States. Oklahoma is by far the worst-hit state recently, according to the USGS study released Thursday. The state last year had more earthquakes magnitude 3 or higher than California, part of a huge increase recorded in recent years. Seismic activity in Texas near the Dallas-Fort Worth area has also increased substantially recently. Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Ohio have all experienced more frequent quakes in the last year.

Dirty electricity in the home threatens human health
(NaturalHealth365) These frequencies are known as ‘High Frequency Voltage Transients.’ The problem is these high frequencies are believed to cause a number of serious health problems. This has earned them the name ‘dirty electricity’.... Dave Stetzer, a leading expert on dirty electricity, and other scientists, have found that these high frequency voltages come from our computers, printers, copiers, TVs, game consoles, tube fluorescent lights, compact florescent light bulbs, dimmer light switches, variable speed motors, treadmills, vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, wind turbines, solar energy inverters, smart meters, and other electronic devices. Many modern electronic devices add high frequency transients to our home electrical wiring. [Stetzer Filters are available through The Pour Hour Mall.]

How Can Homeopathy Be Both a Useless Placebo and Dangerous at the Same Time?
Health Impact News - The FDA wrapped up a two-day hearing this week on whether or not homeopathic remedies should be regulated like drugs. Listening to critics of homeopathy try to justify why they don't think the American public should have free access to homeopathic remedies is rather comical. The two dominant criticisms are antithetical to each other, and both of them cannot be true. Critics complain that due to a lack of regulation homeopathic remedies are dangerous, but then they turn around and say that homeopathic remedies are simply sugar pills, and no better than a placebo. Both cannot be true. Is this the new standard of scientific scrutiny that federal agencies are using to supposedly protect the public?

FDA Database: 93% of Food Additives Aren’t Properly Studied
Natural Society - Today, thousands of different food additives are allowed by the FDA, although a 2013 study found that almost 80% of them lack the relevant information needed to estimate the amount that consumers can safely eat. In the FDA’s own database, 93% of food additives lack reproductive or developmental toxicity data. Of the totality of FDA-regulated additives, both directly and indirectly allowed in food, almost two-thirds don’t have publicly available feeding data. The report concluded that in the absence of toxicology data on the majority of chemicals added to food, their safety in humans may be questioned. To explain the FDA’s negligence, some cite a decades-old loophole that allows companies to confer GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status to the additives they plan to use, without any FDA oversight.

How Vitamin Studies Deceive the Public into Big Pharma Profits
Natural Society - Some studies claim that vitamins are doing more harm than good, but the researchers are not telling you it is actually synthetic vitamins that are harmful.... Let’s examine just one of the leading vitamin brands, the highly popular Flintstones Vitamins. Not only is this the number one selling brand of multivitamins for children, but many adults are taking these as well. As noted researcher and analyst Sayer Ji documents on his foundation website GreenMedInfo, Flinstones Vitamins are known to contain the following substances...
 

Thursday - April 23, 2015 - Today in History:

1789 - U.S. President George Washington moved into Franklin House, New York. It was the first executive mansion.
1861 - Arkansas troops seized Fort Smith.
1908 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.
1915 - The A.C.A. became the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA).
1924 - The U.S. Senate passed the Soldiers Bonus Bill.
1945 - The Soviet Army fought its way into Berlin.
1968 - The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form the United Methodist Church.
1985 - The Coca-Cola Company announced that it was changing its 99-year-old secret formula. New Coke was not successful, which resulted in the resumption of selling the original version.
1985 - The U.S. House rejected $14 million in aid to Nicaragua.
1988 - A U.S. federal law took effect that banned smoking on flights that were under two hours.
1988 - In Martinez, CA, a drain valve was left open at the Shell Marsh. More than 10,000 barrels of oil poured into the marsh adjoining Peyton Slough.
1996 - An auction of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' possessions began at Sotheby's in New York City. The sale brought in #34.5 million.
1999 - In Washington, DC, the heads of state and government of the 19 NATO nations celebrated the organization's 50th anniversary.
2003 - U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation that authorized the design change of the 5-cent coin (nickel) for release in 2004. It was the first change to the coin in 65 years. The change, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, was planned to run for only two years before returning to the previous design.
2004 - U.S. President George W. Bush eased sanctions against Libya in return for Moammar Gadhafi's agreement to give up weapons of mass destruction.
2005 - The first video was uploaded to YouTube.com.
2007 - Boris Yeltsin, the first freely elected Russian president, died at age 76.
2010 - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation's toughest illegal immigration measure into law.

US Moves to Counter Gazprom’s Gas Line Offer to Greece
Sputnik News - The United States has moved to counter the Russian energy giant Gazprom's proposal to Athens to invest in the Greek leg of a gas pipeline that will bring Russian natural gas to Europe, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said.

Russia Sends Humanitarian Convoy to Donbass With Gifts for WWII Veterans
Sputnik News - Russia's 25th humanitarian aid convoy has departed for southeastern Ukraine (Donbass), carrying food and medicine for the residents of the crisis-hit region, as well as presents for World War II veterans in Donetsk and Luhansk, a representative of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told RIA Novosti on Thursday.... Donbass residents are on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe because of the military operation that Kiev launched in southeastern Ukraine in April, 2014, to suppress local independence supporters who refused to recognize the new coup-imposed Ukrainian government.

Chile’s Calbuco Volcano Erupts Second Time, Red Alert in Force
Sputnik News - Southern Chile’s Calbuco Volcano erupted for a second time in a day, after being inactive for 40 years, the state’s national geological service reported. “The second eruption of Calbuco Volcano was recorded, red alert level remains in force,” Chile's National Geology and Mining Service (SERNAGEOMIN) wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Mission Dis-Accomplished? Saudis Resume Bombing Yemen
Zero Hedge - Less than 24 hours after Yemen announced an end to Operation Decisive Storm and its airstrikes on Yemen - in hopes of initiating Operation New Hope aimed at resuming a political process - The NY Times reports, warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition conducted airstrikes in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz on Wednesday. Mission Dis-accomplished or Operation 'Empire Strikes Back'?

Saudi Prince Promises Bentleys to Pilots as Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Yemen
Kurt Nimmo - As Saudi officials announced the country has ceased its bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, a Saudi prince promised to give pilots free expensive luxury cars. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is the Saudi King Abdullah’s nephew. He has a $300 million stake in the social media company Twitter and is reportedly worth nearly $40 billion. “To recognize the one hundred participating Saudi pilots I am pleased to present them with 100 Bentley cars,” bin Talal said in a tweet. The Saudi bombing campaign, dubbed Decisive Storm, commenced on March 26 against Shia Houthis. So far, the raids have killed nearly a thousand Yemenis and wounded 3,487.

Inside Fighting: Athens Faces Local Opposition Over Council Cash Transfers
Sputnik News - Earlier this week an emergency presidential decree was issued, calling for 1,500 local government bodies to send their excess cash reserves to the Bank of Greece, as the country struggles to meet planned debt and pension payments for April. However, mayors and district municipality officials have so far refused to cooperate with the government's requests, with Giorgis Kaminis, the mayor of Athens, saying he would fight what he believed was an "unconstitutional" confiscation law, which does not require parliamentary ratification.

EU Commission proposes GM opt-out for member states
RT - The European Commission has proposed a new law which would allow individual EU countries to restrict or prohibit imported genetically modified (GM) crops – even if they have been approved by the bloc as a whole. The US says the move is "not constructive." According to EU Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, the plan would "grant member states a greater say as regards the use of EU-authorized GMOs in food and feed on their respective territories."... The proposal – which covers human food and animal feed – comes as a knock to the US, which wants Europe to fully accept its GM crops as part of an EU-US free trade deal.

Canadian Scientists Claim Successful Ebola Vaccine Trial
Sputnik News - Scientists from Vancouver-based Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation claimed the first successful treatment for the current outbreak of the deadly Ebolavirus as three macaques recovered after receiving a new vaccine, the Australian reported Wednesday. Following the successful trial of the new Ebola vaccine, dubbed TKM-Ebola-Guinea, human treatments in ­Sierra Leone have began, conducted by a group of scientists headed by professor Thomas Geisbert from the University of Texas.

Trade bill key to Pacific pact clears Senate panel
(Reuters) - Legislation to give the White House "fast track" authority to nail down a Pacific trade pact cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday as a committee backed the bill and sent it to the full Senate for consideration. Approved by the Senate Finance Committee on a 20 to 6 vote, the legislation would prohibit Congress from amending trade deals, instead allowing for just up-or-down votes. It is vital to closing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement that would link a dozen economies and cover a third of global trade. TPP is central to President Barack Obama's strategic shift toward Asia.
* Related: Protesters Rally in Washington Against US Free-Trade Authority Legislation

Clintons Failed to Disclose $2.35M Donation from Russian-Owned Uranium Corp
Breitbart - The headline in Pravda trumpeted President Vladimir V. Putin’s latest coup, its nationalistic fervor recalling an era when the newspaper served as the official mouthpiece of the Kremlin: “Russian Nuclear Energy Conquers the World.” The article, in January 2013, detailed how the Russian atomic energy agency, Rosatom, had taken over a Canadian company with uranium-mining stakes stretching from Central Asia to the American West. The deal made Rosatom one of the world’s largest uranium producers and brought Mr. Putin closer to his goal of controlling much of the global uranium supply chain.

Elizabeth Warren Fires Back at Obama: If You Want a Trade Deal, 'Let Us See It'
Mediaite - Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has been one of the loudest opponents to the Obama administration’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which earned her a presidential rebuke on Hardball last night. Warren fired back on her website this morning, calling for the White House to release details of the trade deal before Congress grants Obama fast track authority. “If the American people would be opposed to a trade agreement if they saw it, then that agreement should not become the law of the United States,” she wrote Wednesday.

VIDEO: Census: Record 51 million immigrants in 8 years, will account for 82% of U.S. growth
Washington Examiner - A report from the Center for Immigration Studies that analyzed the statistics said that by 2023, one in seven U.S. residents will be an immigrant, rising to one in five by 2060 when the immigrant population totals 78 million.... The surge in immigrant population, both legal and illegal, threatens to slam into the presidential campaign as GOP candidates move to figure out what their position is and the president tries to use executive powers to exempt some 5 million illegals from deportation.

Pharma fascism: California Senate committee approves school children vaccine bill
ABC News - The Senate Education Committee voted 7-2 Wednesday on the bill by Sen. Richard Pan, a Democratic pediatrician from Sacramento, with votes from both Democrats and Republicans. The proposal would eliminate California's personal-belief and religious exemptions so unvaccinated children would not be able to attend public or private schools. Medical waivers would only be available for children who have health problems.... Hundreds of opponents again filled the committee room for Wednesday's vote. The bill now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing next week.

Sacramento Bee: Concealed Permit Holders’ Information Should Be Public
Breitbart - The information is currently public, but Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) introduced legislation on April 21–AB 1154–to make it private. According to the Bee, Gray suggested concealed permit holders’ names and “contact information” are currently at risk of exposure. He “wants to remove all addresses and phone numbers from the public record, as is done now for prosecutors, judges and other public officials.” Gray cited the example of New York’s The Journal News to show that information about concealed permit holders can go wrong when publicly available.

Supreme Court: Cops can’t hold suspects to wait for drug-sniffing dog
XrepublicTV - The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that the Constitution forbids police from holding a suspect without probable cause, even for fewer than 10 extra minutes. Writing on behalf of the court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declared that the constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure prevent police from extending an otherwise completed traffic stop to allow for a drug-sniffing dog to arrive. “We hold that a police stop exceeding the time needed to handle the matter for which the stop was made violates the Constitution’s shield against unreasonable seizures,” she ruled.

Taxpayers to Pay $650,000 to Suspected Horse Thief Who Was Beaten By Police
Ben Swann - Earlier this month, BenSwann.com reported on an April 9 incident, depicted in CNN‘s above-embedded video coverage, in which a group of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies were caught on camera by NBC Los Angeles‘ news helicopter as they appeared to savagely beat a surrendering horse theft suspect who had evaded police. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that, less than two weeks after the incident, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has agreed to pay the victim of the beating, 30-year-old Francis Pusok, a $650,000 settlement.

KS and AZ File SCOTUS Petition in Effort to Stop Non-Citizens from Registering and Voting
Breitbart - The States of Kansas and Arizona, and the Secretaries of State from those respective states filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court Tuesday asking the Court to hear a case involving the issue of noncitizens illegally registering to vote in elections in the United States.

Report: VA’s Office Colluding with FBI, ATF to Disarm Vets
Adan Salazar - The Department of Veterans Affairs is colluding with the FBI to conduct a backdoor gun confiscation program targeting America’s veterans, according to a report from The Daily Caller. The process typically starts when a veteran visits a VA hospital seeking treatment. Information regarding mental health and/or financial status garnered from VA hospitals is shared with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), documents obtained by The Caller reveal. Flagged veterans are added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), preventing them from being able to purchase registered firearms. The sudden change in status also leads to unexpected home raids resulting in gun confiscation.

Why Are Oil & Gas Workers Mysteriously Dying Across America?
Zero Hedge - Over the past several years, oil & gas workers in North Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Montana, and Oklahoma have mysteriously died while conducting routine checks of oil levels at tank batteries. In many cases, the fatalities were ruled to have been the result of natural causes. Now, it appears the real culprit has been found. The question is: how much did the industry know and why was the problem not addressed?... As far as the oil & gas industry’s position on the dangers of manual tank gauging is concerned, there appear to be two possibilities: either they did not realize that opening a hatch on top of an oil tank and looking inside might expose workers to dangerous fumes, or they did realize this and chose not to do anything about it.

ExxonMobil to pay $5 million to government over Mayflower oil spill
RT - In a consent decree filed before a federal court, subsidiaries of Exxon Mobil have agreed to pay almost $5 million to state and federal governments over the 2013 pipeline breach that spilled crude oil into the streets of Mayflower, Arkansas.

US Senators Introduce Legislation to Block Atlantic Offshore Drilling
Sputnik News - The US Senate introduced legislation to prohibit drilling for oil or natural gas off the US Atlantic coast, US Senators announced in a press conference on Wednesday. "We’re here to tell big oil that America’s coastline is not for sale, not now and not ever," Senator Bob Menendez said. Menendez added that the bill delivers “a clear and simple message to big oil: the Atlantic Ocean is off limits.”

Wednesday - April 22, 2015 - Today in History:

1792 - U.S. President George Washington proclaimed American neutrality in the war in Europe.
1861 - Robert E. Lee was named commander of Virginia forces.
1864 - The U.S. Congress passed legislation that allowed the inscription "In God We Trust" to be included on one-cent and two-cent coins.
1876 - The first official National League (NL) baseball game took place. Boston beat Philadelphia 6-5.
1889 - At noon, the Oklahoma land rush officially started as thousands of Americans raced for new, unclaimed land.
1898 - The first shot of the Spanish-American war occurred when the USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship.
1914 - Babe Ruth made his pitching debut with the Baltimore Orioles.
1930 - The U.S., Britain and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.
1952 - An atomic test conducted in Nevada was the first nuclear explosion shown on live network television.
1970 - The first "Earth Day" was observed by millions of Americans.
1976 - Barbara Walters became first female nightly network news anchor.
1993 - The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, DC.
2000 - Elian Gonzalez was reunited with his father. He had to be taken from his Miami relatives by U.S. agents in a predawn raid.
2002 - Filippino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a state of emergency in the city of General Santos in response to a series of bombing attacks the day before. The attacks were blamed on Muslim extremists.
2010 - The Boeing X-37 began its first orbital mission. It successfully returned to Earth on December 3, 2010.

ISIL Expanding Into N Africa, Middle East - US Assistant Defense Secretary
Sputnik News - ISIL is expanding into North Africa and the Middle East as greater government instability grows in the regions, US Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Lumpkin told the US Senate Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.

EU charges Gazprom with abusing market position in Central & Eastern Europe
RT - Russia’s biggest gas utility, Gazprom, was hit with an antitrust case by European Union regulators for “abusing” its dominant position and overcharging customers for gas supplies. The investigation against the Gazprom has been ongoing for 2 years. "We find that it (Gazprom) may have built artificial barriers preventing gas from flowing from certain Central Eastern European countries to others, hindering cross-border competition," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

Operation 'Decisive Storm' in Yemen has ended, new phase under way - Saudi-led forces
RT - The Saudi-led military coalition has completed operation "Decisive Storm" against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen, a statement by Saudi military command cited by local media, says. All goals set by the "Decisive Storm" operation have been achieved. These included the destruction of ballistic missiles the Houthis had taken control of. The decision to end the offensive comes following a request by the Yemeni government, according to the Saudi-led coalition spokesman. The anti-Houthi campaign is now switching into a new phase codenamed "Restoring Hope", the statement said, as cited by Saudi-owned Arabiya TV. The Saudi Defense Ministry says it is going to focus on anti-terrorism, security and finding a political solution to the crisis. This does not, however, mean a ceasefire will be declared.
* Related: Oil Tumbles After Saudis Declare End To Yemen Aerial Bombing Campaign

Sabre-Rattling Soars: Poland Buys US Patriot Air Defense System, Gold Pops
Zero Hedge - Just days after Russia lifts sanctions on Iran and prepares to send its S-300 missile defense system, it appears Washington has retaliated. As TASS reports, Poland - on Russia's doorstep - has decided to buy the US Patriot air-defense system (made by Raytheon) for a total cost of around $9bn: "The US proposal has been found to be more profitable from the viewpoint of Poland’s security and implementation of commitments within NATO framework." Washington, keen to ensure Warsaw signed up with Raytheon, has decided to loan Poland a battery of Patriots until the deal is signed.

Grexit: Remaining In The Eurozone Is No Longer ‘The Base Case’ For Greece
Economic Collapse - According to the Wall Street Journal, Greece staying in the eurozone is no longer “the base case” for European officials, and one even told the Journal that “literally nothing has been achieved” in negotiations with the new Greek government since the Greek election almost three months ago. In other words, you can take all of that stuff you heard about how the Greek crisis was fixed and throw it out the window. Over the next few months, a big chunk of Greek government bonds held by the IMF and the European Central Bank will mature. Unless negotiations produce a load of new cash for Greece, there will be a default...

ISIS Video ‘Execution’ of Ethiopians in Libya Appears Fake
21st Century Wire - A newly released ISIS video allegedly depicts some 30 Ethiopians being ‘executed’ in two separate locations in Libya. However, one should take note, that this highly produced propaganda video – fails to provide any conclusive, or remotely credible evidence of a crime scene. The terror installment said to have been carried out by ISIS militants entitled, “Until There Came to Them Clear Evidence,” was reportedly released by Al-Furqan Media, a media arm linked to the notorious Al-Hayat Media Center, the official media outlet for all sanctioned ISIS propaganda.

Pumps at Fukushima plant halted, toxic water leaking into ocean - TEPCO
RT - All the eight water transfer pumps at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power station have been shut down due to a power outage, leading to a leak of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said. okyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) reported a power outage on Tuesday, according to Kyodo news agency. It follows the line of the toxic leaks that were reported in February, when at one point around 100 tons of highly radioactive water leaked from one the plant’s tanks.

DEA chief quits after losing lawmakers’ confidence
RT - Last week, the committee grilled Leonhart over reports by the DOJ’s Inspector General, which indicated that DEA agents had been involved in a series of sex parties with prostitutes in Colombia and at other locations, dating as far back as 2001. These were paid for by the very drug cartels they were sent to suppress. Following the hearing, Leonhart claimed 10-day suspensions were the most severe punishments she could have doled out to the rogue agents, due to civil service regulations. The committee issued a statement expressing no confidence in Leonhart’s leadership and called for her resignation.
* Related Video: DEA Head Resigns: What They Are Not Telling You

Thousands March in Baltimore After Black Man's Death in Police Custody
Sputnik News - Protests broke out in Baltimore, Maryland on Tuesday night, over the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, at the hands of white police officers. Activists are demanding that police hand over any footage pertaining to Gray's custody. "We are in close contact with local organizers in West Baltimore and will be of support," Linda Sarsour, Co-Chair of the advocacy group March2Justice, told Sputnik. "TheThy are organizing a vigil tonight, will be demanding transparency and release of footage while Gray was in custody."

TPP allows for 'free flow of workers' between countries to create cheap labor pool for corporations --'Unrestricted immigration' created by TPP
CLG News - Monday, political commentator Dick Morris said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) fast track being supported by many Republicans has a provision that allows for the "free flow of workers" between countries, essentially creating a backdoor to "unrestricted immigration." Morris said, "I don't think that people understand that in this deal which is a trade agreement among Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Chile, there's a provision for free flow of workers, just like in the European Union. What It means is unrestricted immigration. It means literally that Congress would not have the authority to restrict immigration because a treaty supersedes a statute under our constitution."

Texas Senate Passes $811 Million Border Security Measure
Breitbart - Members of the Texas Senate passed a border security measure that significantly raises the level of spending in the state’s effort to secure the Texas border with Mexico. The bill (SB 3) by Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) passed with massive bipartisan support in a vote of 26-4.... “In the absence of the federal government’s constitutionally-mandated duty, the state of Texas has shouldered the burden of stopping human trafficking, illegal drug and weapon smuggling, and an influx of dangerous criminals and potential terrorists,” said Sen. Birdwell.

Justice Dept. Opens Investigation Into Death of Freddie Gray
NY Times - The Justice Department said Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who was rushed to the hospital with a severed spinal cord after being chased and arrested by the police. The investigation, announced by a department spokeswoman, Dena Iverson, will look for possible civil rights violations by the officers involved.

Mysterious Walmart Store Closings Due to Labor Activism
Kurt Nimmo - Recent Walmart store closings are not due to plumbing issues or even military exercises as some have speculated. According to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the closure of five stores is a response to labor activism at a store in Los Angeles. The union has filed a claim with the National Labor Relations Board and wants to the government to force the corporation to rehire employees laid off during the closings. “Walmart has targeted this store because the associates have been among the most active associates around the country to improve working conditions,” the union claim states, according to The New York Times. Walmart, however, is sticking to the plumbing story.

Texas Rep Proposes Bill to Boot Lobbyists Out of Classrooms
Breitbart - Texas State Representative Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) recently introduced House Bill 3219, legislation that would begin to boot the special interests out of public school classrooms. It will do so by barring school districts and local government from using taxpayer dollars to fund lobbying or pay the “unions” that lobby for them to do so in Austin. Governor Greg Abbott called on the 84th Legislature to “dedicate this session to ethics reform” in his Blueprint for the Future of Texas. It was one of his must-haves. Although, it appears the House is already dragging its feet on some of the wine and dine anti-lobbying initiatives proposed under HB 585 and HB 586.

College Students Forced to Take Feminist ‘Re-Education’ Course to Enroll
Paul Joseph Watson - College students in America are being forced to undergo three hour feminist re-education courses before they are even allowed to enroll in their classes.... The course is provided by a for-profit company called We End Violence, which says its mission is based on “50 years of feminist anti-violence work” and is designed to “challenge….men and masculinity”.

Without Warrant, Cops Block Cannabis Oil Activist Shona Banda from Entering Her Own Home (Video)
BenSwann - Cannabis oil activist and Crohn's disease survivor Shona Banda captured video of the moment that she arrived at her home to find police officers and bureaucrats from the Kansas Department for Children and Families searching throughout her front and back yards. Officers on the scene, who at that time lacked a warrant, denied Banda the right to enter her own home, despite the fact that a child in her care needed diabetes medication that was located inside the home.

Slippery Slope? US Army Cadets Ordered to Walk a Mile in Heels
Sputnik News - An event where male-identifying individuals strapped on high heels to raise awareness about rape, sexual assault, and gender-based violence was held on Monday at Arizona State University. Few would deny the event’s good intentions, but some are not too pleased by the ROTC’s alleged mandatory involvement.

Major Setback for Jerry Brown’s Water Conservation Plan?
Breitbart - A California state appellate court struck down a tiered water rate plan used by the city of San Juan Capistrano as unconstitutional on Monday. The ruling that could represent a major setback for the state's recently amended water conservation plan, backed by Gov. Jerry Brown as an answer to California's crippling, historic drought. The 4th District Court of Appeals found that the city’s water rate structure, in which customers are charged a sliding price based on the amount of water they use, violated voter-approved Proposition 218, which forbids government agencies from charging customers any more for a service than what it costs, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Facebook Changes News Feed Algorithm to Affect ‘Media Content’
Mikael Thalen - Facebook announced its plan to alter users’ news feeds yet again Tuesday in a move that will allegedly provide “the right mix of updates” from friends and news pages. In a post entitled, “News Feed FYI: Balancing Content from Friends and Pages,” Facebook Product Manager Max Eulenstein and User Experience Researcher Lauren Scissors lay out how “media content” will be altered under the site’s newest algorithm.

Tuesday - April 21, 2015 - Today in History:

1789 - John Adams was sworn in as the first U.S. Vice President.
1836 - General Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. This battle decided the independence of Texas.
1865 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train left Washington.
1892 - The first Buffalo was born in Golden Gate Park.
1898 - The Spanish-American War began.
1914 - U.S. Marines occupied Vera Cruz, Mexico. The troops stayed for six months.
1943 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt announced that several Doolittle pilots had been executed by the Japanese.
1967 - Svetlana Alliluyeva (Svetlana Stalina) defected in New York City. She was the daughter of Joseph Stalin.
1967 - In Athens, Army colonels took over the government and installed Constantine Kollias as premier.
1972 - Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.
1998 - Astronomers announced in Washington that they had discovered possible signs of a new family of planets orbiting a star 220 light-years away.
2000 - North Carolina researchers announced that the heart of a 66 million-year-old dinosaur was more like a mammal or bird than that of a reptile.
2000 - The 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act went into effect.
2003 - North and South Korea agreed to hold Cabinet-level talks the following week.
2009 - UNESCO launched The World Digital Library. The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress.

US to give Ukraine $17.7mn extra in humanitarian aid – White House
RT - The US government has agreed to give Ukraine millions of dollars in aid, including food, shelter and water, the White House confirmed. This follows a discussion between US Vice-President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. “The vice-president informed President Poroshenko that the US will offer [an] additional $17.7 million,” the White House said in a statement. The declaration clarified that the money will be set aside for medical needs, foodstuffs and drinkable water. Biden also told Poroshenko during their meeting on Monday that the US is ready to give Ukraine some loan guarantees worth $1 billion as part of its financial support in 2015.

US Warship Heads to Yemeni Waters; Could Block Iranian Weapons
AP - In a stepped-up response to Iranian backing of Shiite rebels in Yemen, the Navy aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, is steaming toward the waters off Yemen to beef up security and join other American ships that are prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels. The deployment comes after a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last week imposed an arms embargo on the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels. The resolution passed in a 14-0 vote with Russia abstaining.

America's Waning Influence: Beijing To Invest $46 Billion In Energy, Infrastructure For US "Ally"
Zero Hedge - China is looking to succeed where the United States has failed. Beijing — which, as a reminder, has claimed it will not use its regional infrastructure development initiatives as a tool of foreign policy — is now set to facilitate the construction of nearly $50 billion in power plants, roads, and railways in neighboring Pakistan. The proposal, which will give China access to the Indian Ocean via the Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea, is part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious “Silk Road” Economic Belt, a plan announced last year that aims to connect China with Europe via a series of infrastructure projects.

Stunned Greeks React To Initial Capital Controls And The "Decree To Confiscate Reserves", And They Are Not Happy
Zero Hedge - Several hours after the Greek government decreed the confiscation of local government reserves, this order has finally percolated among the population, and the response to what even ordinary Greeks realize is now the endgame, is less than exuberant. Bloomberg reports, that "as Greece struggles to find cash to stay afloat, local authorities say they oppose a government decision to use their reserves for short-term financing." “The government’s decision to seize our reserves not only raises legal and constitutional issues, but also a moral one,”…

Venezuela Strikes Oil-for-Food Deal with Uruguay, as Caracas Tries to Restock Empty Shelves
GovSlaves - Uruguay has offered to give Venezuela food in exchange for oil, the Uruguayan government reported on Thursday, after Vice President Raúl Sendic met in Montevideo with his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza… As a result, Montevideo is to offer exports of rice, dairy products, and chicken in exchange for Venezuelan petroleum… The declarations made by Sendic would appear to contradict the statement made by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2015 that “Venezuela has enough money for the country to continue as normal.”

VIDEO: 6 Baltimore police officers suspended in Freddie Gray case
WBALTV - This has become a national story, another case in which an encounter with police has led to a death, raising questions about police conduct. "We are a community on the edge right now," Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said during a news conference Monday afternoon. Baltimore City police have since suspended six officers involved. During a news conference Monday afternoon, police showed video from one CCTV camera near the scene.

Video: Armed National Guard Troops Conduct Exercise Near Children’s Playground
Paul Joseph Watson - Video footage sent to Infowars by a listener in Staunton, Virginia shows armed National Guard troops carrying out maneuvers near a public playground yesterday morning. “This was a Sunday morning exercise. They appeared to be heading to carry out PT (physical training) at some other location,” the man who shot the video tells us. “This was in a city park and people were walking, jogging, and enjoying the playground with their children.”

Texas Governor to Sign Open Carry Bill Shortly
The New American - With passage of a bill allowing open carry by the Texas House of Representatives on Friday, 96-35, Texas will shortly join the lengthening list of states allowing its citizens to do so, while reducing to just five those states that don’t. Governor Greg Abbott said he would sign any bill “that expands Second Amendment rights.”

Ohio Police Officer Refuses to Shoot Man Attempting Suicide By Cop
Ben Swann - On Thursday, body camera video captured the moment New Richmond, OH Police Officer and Iraq War veteran Jesse Kidder exercised restraint, refusing to shoot at and gaining control of a double murder suspect who had charged at him, begging to be shot.

Police Raid Activist’s Home, Confiscate Son After In-school, Pro-marijuana Comments
Adan Salazar - The State of Kansas is threatening to confiscate a marijuana activist’s son after the child reportedly disputed the teachings of one of his instructors during a drug education lesson. Last month, 37-year-old author and cannabis oil activist Shona Banda’s Garden City home was targeted for a police raid after her 11-year-old son made in-school comments suggesting he favored the marijuana plant as a medicinal treatment. Banda has reportedly been using the oil as a therapy for Crohn’s disease since the early 2000s.

St. Louis prosecutors drop charges before spy tool used in arrests is revealed in court
RT - An officer with the St. Louis Police Department’s Intelligence Unit had been scheduled to deliver a deposition under oath on April 9 concerning tactics that authorities relied on to identify and ultimately charge four suspects with 14 counts of first-degree robbery and armed criminal action regarding a 2013 crime spree… Yet charges against the three men were all dropped on April 8, the Post-Dispatch reported, presumably in lieu of having the cop be asked about Stingray on the stand.

FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades
The Washington Post - The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000… The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison, the groups said under an agreement with the government to release results after the review of the first 200 convictions.

Automakers Want to Outlaw Gearheads From Working on Their Own Cars
Kit Daniels - Car companies seek copyright restrictions to stop car enthusiasts, home mechanics. Claiming that modern vehicles are “too complex” for home mechanics to fix, automakers are seeking copyright restrictions to prevent gearheads from working on their own cars. The Association of Global Automakers, a lobbying firm for 12 manufacturers, is asking the U.S. Copyright Office to prevent car owners from accessing “computer programs that control the functioning of a motorized land vehicle, including personal automobiles, commercial motor vehicles, and agricultural machinery, for purposes of lawful diagnosis and repair, or aftermarket personalization, modification, or other improvement.”

Texas Deputies Punch Pregnant War Veteran Woman While CPS Takes Her Child
Health Impact News - Deanna Robinson-Katsuki is a decorated Air Force Veteran, who once received the Airman’s Medal for helping drag soldiers from a burning plane in Iraq. Yet Deanna recently came under an investigation by Texas Child Protection Services, who arrived at Deanna's parents' home with Sheriff deputies from Hunt County. Deanna is also 9 months pregnant. What followed was partially recorded by a home security camera, which showed Sheriff deputies repeatedly punching her in the stomach, because she did not want them to remove her 18 month old son.... Friends and family have setup a Facebook Page to support Deanna: They are requesting that people sign a petition to Recall Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks. Here is their call to action....

The Bankster War on Cash; JPMorganChase Begins to Prohibit the Storage of Cash in Its Safety Deposit Boxes
EPJ - Professor Joseph Salerno of the Mises Institute writes: As of March, Chase began restricting the use of cash in selected markets, including Greater Cleveland. The new policy restricts borrowers from using cash to make payments on credit cards, mortgages, equity lines, and auto loans. Chase even goes as far as to prohibit the storage of cash in its safe deposit boxes . In a letter to its customers dated April 1, 2015 pertaining to its “Updated Safe Deposit Box Lease Agreement,” one of the highlighted items reads: “You agree not to store any cash or coins other than those found to have a collectible value.” Just last week, Citigroup's top economist, Willem Buiter, wrote a report calling for the abolishment of cash as a sound policy.

JP Morgan Making Millions Off Unregulated Prison Debit Cards
GovSlaves - Unlike consumer debit cards, prison-issued cards are completely unregulated when it comes to the fees that can be charged. The result is high transaction and maintenance fees that bear little relation to the actual costs of the services provided… The cost of issuing and managing the cards is paid for solely by the exorbitant fees former inmates must pay, fees that quickly deplete their already meager balances.

California Lays Out Second Draft of Statewide Water Cutback Plan
Breitbart - In response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order mandating a 25 percent cut in statewide water use this year, the Board had prepared an initial plan earlier this month that created four tiers of reduction rates, with cutbacks ordered increased or decreased based on communities’ track record of water conservation… The Board said the new rules would better take into account factors that the previous outline had not addressed.

FOIA Request finds only 11 Consumer Complaints Beneful Dog Food — What's going on?
Susan Thixton - A Freedom of Information Act request sent to FDA provided results of only 11 Consumer Complaints for Beneful Dog Food over a two year period (March 18, 2013 through March 24, 2015). Two lawsuits against Beneful and thousands of complaints online against the pet food, but FDA only provides 11 consumer complaints?

Monday - April 20, 2015 - Today in History:

1775 - American troops began the siege of British-held Boston.
1792 - France declared war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia. It was the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1832 - Hot Springs National Park was established by an act of the U.S. Congress. It was the first national park in the U.S.
1836 - The U.S. territory of Wisconsin was created by the U.S. Congress.
1861 - Robert E. Lee resigned from U.S. Army.
1865 - Safety matches were first advertised.
1902 - Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.
1912 - Fenway Park opened as the home of the Boston Red Sox.
1916 - Wrigley Field held its first Cubs game with the first National League game at the ballpark. The Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings.
1945 - During World War II, Allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
1951 - General MacArthur addressed the joint session of Congress after being relieved by U.S. President Truman.
1953 - Operation Little Switch began in Korea. It was the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war. Thirty Americans were freed.
1962 - The New Orleans Citizens' Council offered a free one-way ride for blacks to move to northern states.
1967 - U.S. planes bombed Haiphong for first time during the Vietnam War.
1971 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
1972 - The manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.
1981 - A spokesman for the U.S. Nave announced that the U.S. was accepting full responsibility for the sinking of the Nissho Maru on April 9.
1988 - The U.S. Air Forces' Stealth (B-2 bomber) was officially unveiled.
1998 - Kenyan runner Moses Tanui, 32, won the Boston Marathon for the second time. He also registered the third fastest time with 2 hours 7 minutes and 34 seconds.

US Planes Ferry Arms to ISIL – Iranian General
Sputnik News - The top commander of the Iranian Armed Forces said the US military planes are making regular flights to and from ISIL-controlled cities in Iraq to supply the terrorist group with weapons, money and food. “We have received reports that the US planes visit the ISIL(-controlled) airports,” Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi told reporters on the sidelines of military parades held in Tehran on Saturday morning to mark the Army Day, Fars news agency reported.”The US shouldn’t supply weapons and money to ISIL and then apologize and say that it has made a mistake. The Americans say that they want to confront the ISIL (but) we haven’t seen any practical steps, only reconnaissance and surveillance operations,” he added.

Houthis vow resistance as Saudis claim 80% of priority targets in Yemen destroyed
RT - Yemeni people have a full right to resist “Saudi aggression” and a planned occupation by “all means and options,” the Houthi rebel leader said, as Riyadh wraps-up the “first phase” of an operation that saw more than 2,300 airstrikes in less than a month.... As part of the ongoing operation Decisive Storm, Saudis carried out more than 106 strikes on Saturday and Sunday alone, knocking out the central communication command of the Houthis, Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri told the Al Arabiya television channel. Through more than 2,300 strikes to date, the Saudi-led coalition has destroyed majority of the Houthi’s weapons storage facilities, he claimed.

IRCS blast Saudi Arabia for preventing Iran's aids to Yemen
IRAB - The IRCS humanitarian aid consignments are ready to be dispatched to Yemen, but unfortunately Saudi Arabia prevents their delivery to Yemen," Shahabeddin Mohammadi Araqi, IRCS deputy managing director for international and humanitarian affairs, announced on Sunday.

Germany is the Tell-Tale Heart of America’s Drone War
The Intercept - A TOP-SECRET U.S. intelligence document obtained by The Intercept confirms that the sprawling U.S. military base in Ramstein, Germany serves as the high-tech heart of America’s drone program. Ramstein is the site of a satellite relay station that enables drone operators in the American Southwest to communicate with their remote aircraft in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and other targeted countries. The top-secret slide deck, dated July 2012, provides the most detailed blueprint seen to date of the technical architecture used to conduct strikes with Predator and Reaper drones.

VIDEO: Iranian ship convoy moves toward Yemen, alarming US officials
The Hill - U.S. military officials are concerned that Iran's support for Houthi rebels in Yemen could spark a confrontation with Saudi Arabia and plunge the region into sectarian war. Iran is sending an armada of seven to nine ships — some with weapons — toward Yemen in a potential attempt to resupply the Shia Houthi rebels, according to two U.S. defense officials. Officials fear the move could lead to a showdown with the U.S. or other members of a Saudi-led coalition, which is enforcing a naval blockade of Yemen and is conducting its fourth week of airstrikes against the Houthis.

ISIS releases video showing execution of 30 Christians in Libya
RT - A new video released by the so-called Islamic State's affiliates in Libya purports to show the killing of two groups of Ethiopian Christians. The 29-minute video shows two groups of captives held by the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS/ISIL), described by onscreen text as "followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church." It says one group is being held by an ISIS affiliate in eastern Libya and the other in the south of the country. Each group has about 15 captives. A spokesman for the Ethiopian government said he cannot confirm his country's citizens were the ones killed in the video.

European central banks urge ditching Greek assets, as default fears mount - media
RT - Some European central banks have reportedly called on Greek bank subsidiaries operating in their jurisdiction to cut their exposure to Greek assets to avoid fallout should the country go into default. The central banks of Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have demanded Greek banks’ subsidiaries minimize their exposure to Greek bonds, loans, treasury bills, and deposits, should the talks between Athens and its international creditors fail, reports the Greek newspaper Kathimerini.

Mysterious disease that kills patients within 24 hours leaves at least 18 dead in Nigeria
ABC News - "Seventeen people have died of the mysterious disease since it broke out early this week in Ode-Irele town," said Ondo state government spokesman Kayode Akinmade. The disease, symptoms of which include headache, weight loss, blurred vision and loss of consciousness, killed the victims within 24 hours of their falling ill, he said. Laboratory tests have so far ruled out Ebola or any other virus, Mr Akinmade added. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had information on 14 cases with at least 12 dead. "Common symptoms were sudden blurred vision, headache, loss of consciousness followed by death, occurring within 24 hours," spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said.

Congress is Attempting to Reauthorize Key Patriot Act Provisions by Sneaking it Into "USA Freedom Act"
Liberty Blitzkrieg - Yet with Section 215’s lifespan now stretching to a matter of weeks, supporters of broad surveillance powers have yet to put forth a bill for their preservation – evidence, opponents believe, that the votes for reauthorization do not exist, particularly not in the House of Representatives. More likely, according to a multiple Hill sources, is a different option under consideration: making the major NSA reform bill of the last Congress the point of departure for reauthorizing 215 in the current one.

“Scary”: Big Spring Residents Report Tanks, Helicopters Arriving Before Jade Helm
Paul Joseph Watson - Residents of Big Spring, Texas are reporting the “scary” sight of helicopters and tanks arriving in advance of Jade Helm, a military exercise that has prompted concerns amongst some that U.S. troops are preparing for civil unrest in America. “I saw a train carrying all sorts of military equipment heading into Big Spring,” said one resident, adding, “There were also about 14 helicopters flying over the [Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle] Airport last night and a tank getting driven through that open field [near the airport]. It’s scary seeing that and not knowing what in the world is going on.” Officials refused to acknowledge whether or not any troops had already arrived in the area or how many are scheduled to arrive and when residents can expect to see them.

Conspiracy Theorists, Bloggers Compared To ISIS During Congressional Hearing
Paul Joseph Watson - The hearing, hosted by the House Foreign Relations Committee, was titled “Confronting Russia’s Weaponization of Information,” and accused Russian state broadcaster RT of weaponizing “conspiracy theories” to spread propaganda. One of the speakers giving testimony was former RT host Liz Wahl, who made a public spectacle of quitting Russian state media last year in an incidentstage-managed by neo-con James Kirchick, himself a former employee of Radio Free Europe – a state media outlet. Remarking that the Internet provided a platform for “fringe voices and extremists,” Wahl characterized people who challenge establishment narratives as a “cult”.

DC Mayor moves to exempt body camera footage from FOIA requests
WTOP - Bowser says she included language in her budget that would exempt the videos recorded by police body cameras from Freedom of Information Act requests in order to protect the privacy of ordinary citizens interacting with D.C. police and captured in those videos. She says the government doesn’t have the resources or staff to look at every hour of footage picked up by body cameras, redact personal information and release it to the general public. And she doesn’t want the program to become swamped by “voluminous” public information requests.

Baltimore Man Dies From Broken Back Incurred During Arrest (Video)
Sputnik News - Freddie Gray, the Baltimore man who was severely injured while being arrested last week, died today in what many are calling yet another example of police brutality. Freddie Gray was stopped by Baltimore officers the morning of April 12 but tried to run. He was caught and placed in the prisoner wagon shortly later and transported to the Western District police station. More than an hour later, an ambulance was called to the station to treat him. Cell phone video of the arrest shows an incapacitated Gray being dragged away by police officers while handcuffed. A voice can be heard warning the officers that he appears critically injured.

Veteran Loses Over $60,000 to Police, Despite Lack of Criminal Charges
Forbes - Mark Brewer is a decorated Air Force veteran who fought in the global war on terror. But last month, he became a casualty in the drug war. In late March, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government could take more than $60,000 of Brewer’s cash with civil forfeiture, even though he was never charged with a crime. The decision lets many Midwestern states continue to take property from people who have done nothing wrong.

Student Debt Accounts For Nearly Half Of US Government "Assets"
Zero Hedge - Student debt now comprises 45 percent of federally owned financial assets. Of course, that doesn’t include assets owned by the Federal Reserve, and it doesn’t include real assets like land. Still, it’s a startling figure. This trend worries me. Why? Because when the government owns student loans, it has every incentive not to fix the country’s student-debt problem. Consider the sheer size of the revenue that the government earns from student-loan interest payments. In 2013, it was $51 billion -- almost 2 percent of total federal revenue for that year. That’s more than two-thirds of the lifetime cost of the entire F-22 fighter jet program! With that kind of money on the table, it’s going to be hard to get the government to take strong action for debt relief.

Precious waste: 300 tons of gold end up in landfills in 2014
RT - A dangerous amount of toxic waste, 1,000 tons of silver and 300 tons of gold were dumped across the world in 2014 due to inadequate recycling - says a recent United Nations University study. Precious metals are used as components for household appliances and electronic gadgets. Almost 42 million tons of such 'e-waste' were simply thrown away in 2014. The UNU study estimates the potential value of the globally wasted resources at about $50 billion. The volume of gold alone is more than 10 percent of what is mined every year.

Oil Platform has been Leaking into Gulf of Mexico for more than 10 Years
AllGov - When Hurricane Ivan moved through the Gulf in September 2004, it caused a landslide that buried wells owned by Taylor Energy Co. Ever since then, those wells have been steadily sending a ribbon of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. While Taylor has claimed the leak has released as little as 4 gallons of crude a day into the Gulf, and the Coast Guard has spotted sheens averaging 84 gallons a day, some estimates of the total leak are far larger, running as high as 900 gallons a day.

Smart meter opt-out fees rescinded in Arizona, commissioners fearing liability
Activist Post - At a meeting last Monday, and after spending an hour in “executive session” privately discussing the issue with their lawyers, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) rescinded the decision they made last December to allow APS to charge an extortion fee to people who refuse a “smart” meter. Last December the ACC had approved a $50 up-front fee for those not “grandfathered in” with an existing analog meter, and $5 per month to avoid the harm inherent in “smart” meters. That misguided, illegal and ill-considered ACC decision was appealed both by Pat Ferre of Payson, Arizona and I in separate appeals. In rescinding their previous decision, the slow-learners at the ACC decided to still allow APS to continue trespassing via their bio-toxic surveillance devices, AKA “smart” meters.

FDA Warns of Illness and Death in Pets exposed to Topical Pain Meds
Susan Thixton - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting pet owners, veterinarians, health care providers and pharmacists that pets are at risk of illness and death when exposed to topical pain medications containing the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) flurbiprofen. People using these medications, should use care when applying them in a household with pets, as even very small amounts could be dangerous to these animals.
 

Friday - April 17, 2015 - Today in History:

1629 - Horses were first imported into the colonies by the American Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1808 - Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France ordered the seizure of U.S. ships.
1860 - New Yorkers learned of a new law that required fire escapes to be provided for tenement houses.
1861 - Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union.
1864 - U.S. Civil War General Grant banned the trading of prisoners.
1865 - Mary Surratt was arrested as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination.
1917 - A bill in Congress to establish Daylight Saving Time was defeated. It was passed a couple of months later.
1941 - The office of Price Administration was established in the U.S. to handle rationing.
1964 - The Ford Motor Company unveiled its new Mustang model.
1969 - In Los Angeles, Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of assassinating U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
1975 - Khmer Rouge forces capture the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. It was the end of the five-year war.
1985 - In Lebanon, the cabinet resigned as Shiites took W. Beirut.
1993 - A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King. Two other officers were acquitted.
1996 - Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing their parents.
2002 - At the National Maritime Museum in London, the exhibit "Skin Deep - A History of Tattooing" opened.

About 300 US Paratroopers Arrive in Ukraine to Train Kiev Forces
Sputnik News - The training mission is funded by a US Global Contingency Security Fund, approved by the Congress. "The 173rd Airborne Brigade is here to train with Ukrainian forces. We will be conducting classes on war-fighting functions, as well as training to sustain and increase the professionalism and proficiency of military staffs," Maj. Jose Mendez, a brigade operations officer said in the statement published Thursday.

Donetsk Fears Arrival of US Military in Ukraine Can Escalate Crisis
Sputnik News - The eastern Ukrainian self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic believes the arrival of US military instructors to Ukraine is an attempt to escalate the conflict in the eastern regions, DPR negotiator Denis Pushilin said Friday.... The DPR negotiator also raised fears that after the US-Ukrainian exercises end, the equipment would remain in the country. Earlier on Friday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced that joint military training would begin on April 20 in the Lviv region in the country’s west.

Where is Iridium? Police Find Stolen Van, but Its Radioactive Cargo is Gone
Sputnik News - A truck with materials for industrial radiography, was stolen in the city of Cardenas in the southeastern state of Tabasco on Monday. An alert by federal authorities throughout southern Mexico remains valid.... The truck, containing materials for industrial radiography, was stolen in the city of Cardenas in the southeastern state of Tabasco on Monday after employees parked it near a local mall.

1,000 British soldiers given psychiatric help after consuming ‘zombie drug’ – new figures
RT - The British military is accused of failing to protect its soldier’s mental health. Figures show nearly 1,000 have sought psychiatric treatment after being given the MoD’s budget price anti-malarial drug Lariam. A Freedom of Information (FoI) request revealed the figure is much higher than previously thought, with 994 service personnel being admitted to mental health clinics or psychiatric hospitals since 2008. The figures only go back to 2007, so the true number may be much higher, as Lariam, also known as mefloquine, has been in use for much longer. The MoD has consistently defended the drug, which is one of several it issues to troops, amid concerns that Lariam is contributing to an Armed Forces mental health epidemic. This is despite growing pressure from senior military figures, campaigners and relatives of those affected.

After Rescuing Ukraine, US Taxpayers To Bail Out Iraq Next
Zero Hedge - Having generously (if not obliviously) stepped up to the plate to bail out Ukraine (with open-ended bond guarantees), US taxpayers are opening their wallets again - this time for Iraq. As Reuters reports, cheap oil has ravage Iraq's state finances just as the government faces rising military spending from the war it is waging against ISIS; and so it has decided to issue $5 billion in international bonds. However, Iraq is considering other ways to cover its budget deficit, including asking the IMF (i.e. US taxpayers) for relief funding and also requesting the controversial U.S. Export-Import Bank (US Taxpayers) finance the purchase of 10 planes from Boeing Co, which cost the government $500 million.

Iran urges India, China & Russia to counter NATO missile system
RT - Iran has announced its readiness to cooperate with Russia, China and India on the issue of NATO’s missile shield and related threats from the military bloc, the head of its defense ministry said in Moscow. Hours later Dehghan was cited by RIA Novosti as saying that Russia, China and Iran may hold tri-party defense talks.

VIDEO: Japan: Drone captures TONNES of nuclear waste being stored at Fukushima
Ruptly TV - Millions of tonnes of radioactive soil and debris, filmed by drone footage, can be seen packed in black bags in a temporary storage site at Tomioka, Fukushima prefecture, Thursday. The Japanese government is planning to move the contaminated waste to new radioactive waste storage facilities in Okuma and Futaba. The new facilities at a size of 16 square km (6.2 square miles) are set to hold 30 million tonnes of radioactive debris for up to 30 years, at which time it is planned to be moved outside of Fukushima prefecture.

Gary Franchi Covers The Oregon Mining Dispute (Video)
Oath Keepers - Gary Franchi, of the Next News Network, did a video piece on the Sugar Pine Mine, in which he interviewed Stewart Rhodes, and Mary Emerick, the Public Information Officer of the Josephine County Chapter of Oath Keepers.

VIDEO: Oregon Mine Owner In BLM Dispute Talks To Local Media
Oath Keepers - Rick Barclay, one of the owners of the Sugar Pine Mine, in Oregon, spoke with KDRV, a local TV station, concerning their dispute with the BLM.

Josephine County sheriff will not enforce new Oregon gun control law
Oath Keepers - Joining the current trend of sheriffs refusing to cooperate with laws they believe are unconstitutional or frivolous, Oregon’s Josephine County sheriff’s department will not enforce (soon to become) a new state law that mandates firearms purchasers to undergo background checks for private sales, according to sources in Oregon on Tuesday. Day before, on Monday, April 13, 2015 at 9 AM Josephine County Oathkeepers spearheaded by Coordinator Joseph Rice a veteran of Afghanistan set up a picket in front of the Sheriff’s office because Sheriff Dave Daniel did not answer Oathkeepers e-mail demanding to know his stance on SB911.

Signs That 'The Elites' Are Feverishly Preparing For Something Big
Zero Hedge - What in the world are the elite up to? In recent days, we have learned that the New York Fed is moving a lot of operations to Chicago because of concerns about what a “natural disaster” could do, the federal government is buying 62 million rounds of ammunition commonly used in AR-15 semi-automatic rifles for “training” purposes, and NORAD is moving back into Cheyenne Mountain because it is “EMP-hardened”. In addition, government authorities have scheduled a whole host of unusual “training exercises” all over the nation. So are the elite doing all of this in order to prepare for something really BIG, or should we just chalk up all of this strange activity to rampant government paranoia?

Oath Keepers Rally in Oregon to Prevent 139-Year-Old Gold Mines from Being Seized by BLM (Video)
Ben Swann - Oath Keepers from around the country have begun to set up camp in the Galice Mining District near Merlin, OR in preparation for what could become a standoff between local miners and the Bureau of Land Management after BLM officials ordered the miners to evacuate the premises by April 25.... As armed Oath Keepers began to gather at the site on Tuesday, SWAT vehicles were seen staging nearby, raising fears that a Bundy ranch style standoff might take place.

Trey Gowdy: Benghazi Committee Lacks Authority To Subpoena Hillary’s Private Server
Ben Swann - On March 31, the Benghazi Committee formally requested a transcribed interview with Clinton. The interview would include questions over Clinton’s use of private email for government business, along with questions on why Clinton chose to delete all of the emails on her server, after she was aware that they had been subpoenaed by the Committee. While Gowdy’s request said that the Committee was willing to schedule the interview at a time that was convenient for Clinton, it gave a deadline of May 1. Politico reported that a spokesperson for the Committee said that Clinton has yet to answer the request for either the interview about the emails, or a public hearing on the 2012 attack in Benghazi.

VIDEO: Armed National Guard Troops Patrol Residential Streets in California
Paul Joseph Watson - The video, which was shot this past weekend, features Guard troops marching in formation while chanting a military cadence. Troops also take turns to practice blocking traffic. The troops, followed by a humvee, marched close to an elementary school and single family homes.

Sen. Bob Graham Says FBI went beyond 9/11 Cover-Up to “Aggressive Deception”
Ben Swann - Florida Senator Bob Graham claims that Saudi Arabia funded the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and in an interview with the New York Times, Graham won’t stop until the truth is out. “Number one, I think the American people deserve to know the truth of what has happened in their name. Number 2 is justice for these family members who have suffered such loss and thus far have been frustrated largely by the U.S. government in their efforts to get some compensation,” said the former head of the Senate Intelligence Committee to the Times.
* Related: Best under 5 minute 911 video ever

Chicago Will Pay $5.5 Million in "Reparations" to Victims of Police Torture
Nick Gillespie - Whenever Chicago Police commander Jon Burge needed a confession, he would walk into the interrogation room and set down a little black box, his alleged victims would later tell prosecutors. The box had two wires and a crank. Burge, they alleged, would attach one wire to the suspect’s handcuffed ankles and the other to his manacled hands. Then, they said, Burge would place a plastic bag over the suspect’s head. Finally, he would crank his little black box and listen to the screams of pain as electricity coursed through the suspect’s body.

Seattle Police to Train Avoiding Excessive Use of Force
Sputnik News - The Seattle Police Department (SPD) will undergo a tactical de-escalation skills training to improve community policing, the US Justice Department said in a statement. “All 1,300 sworn officers of the SPD will be trained in tactical de-escalation skills and strategies through the newly approved program,” the statement, issued on Thursday, said. The police officers will learn how to subdue conflict situations with minimal force or no force at all, according to the Justice Department.

San Antonio Woman Fined $2000 For Feeding The Homeless
Zero Hedge - ...the completely innocuous act of feeding the homeless, with a permit, which as San Antonio philanthropist Joan Cheever, founder of the nonprofit food truck, the Chow Train, discovered last week was enough to get her ticketed and fined $2000 for feeding the homeless. ...for the past 10 years, Cheever has devoted her Tuesday nights to providing hot, restaurant-quality meals to homeless people in the downtown area. SAPD officers would routinely pass by and wave. Often, she jokingly asked if they planned to arrest her, and they laughed. She was profiled on Rachel Ray's cooking show for her charitable efforts. But everything changed last Tuesday when he got a citation which carries a fine up to $2000 issued by four San Antonio Police Department bike-patrol officers.

Average Fine For Noncompliance With ObamaCare Is $1130
EPJ - As millions of Americans scramble to file their tax returns, many are shocked by the full cost of ObamaCare’s individual mandate. “Those who failed to obtain minimum essential health insurance coverage last year will have had to send the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a check for $1,130, on average,” Doug Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified today before a congressional hearing.

VIDEO: Frustration continues with aggressive tax-refund seizures
CBS News - Over the last year, CBS News has contacted a dozen taxpayers who say Social Security has taken their tax refunds because a relative had been overpaid in benefits.... Social Security declined to speak on camera. In court filings, it said it has the legal authority to go after the relatives of people overpaid in benefits. However, the agency has repeatedly denied it has ever done so. In January the agency told Congress: "We did not...[collect] any...debt that was incurred by a parent or another family member."

Food Chain Catastrophe: Emergency Shut Down Of West Coast Fisheries: “Populations Have Crashed 91 Percent”
Mac Slavo - Earlier this week Michael Snyder warned that the bottom of our food chain is going through a catastrophic collapse with sea creatures dying in absolutely massive numbers. The cause of the problem is a mystery to scientists who claim that they can’t pinpoint how or why it’s happening. What’s worse, the collapse of sea life in the Pacific Ocean isn’t something that will affect us several decades into the future. The implications are being seen right now, as evidenced by an emergency closure of fisheries along the West coast this week.

Feds Push For Total Control of Property Rights: “Government is Named as the Owner of ALL the Water”
Jeremiah Johnson - Editor’s Note: The following research and commentary shows just how far the federal government is willing to go. With the help of the EPA and State legislators they are aggressively chipping away at private property rights in America and as you’ll see from Jeremiah Johnson’s report below, they are starting with our most precious resource – water. That includes the creek in your backyard, the well under your house and even the rain that falls on your roof.

Brain-Damaged Victims of Swine Flu Vaccine Win $63 Million Lawsuit
Natural Society - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is in the news again making headlines after having to settle another major lawsuit bringing the latest total to over $9.1 billion since 2003. This time, it is due to GSK’s product Pandemrix, which was the swine flu vaccine forced upon the public during the pandemic of 2009 (which is argued by some to have been fake). As the victims are being compensated in the U.K., the same neurological mechanisms that damaged the children in the lawsuit are still potentially at work in the confirmed excitotoxicity that takes place after many vaccine injections.

Shakedown of Unvaccinated Students Begins in Spokane, Washington
Natural Blaze - Spokane public schools in Washington state began to audit the vaccine records of students this week to identify those who are not in compliance with the recommended required vaccine schedule. Once identified, the students will be detained along with their parents to be re-educated about vaccines, as well as to receive free jabs to get in compliance with vaccine schedules. Presumably, parents will also be provided with the proper waivers to opt out of this medical fascism, but most of those will have to jump through more hoops like getting a 'health care professional' to sign the waiver.

Gardasil Vaccine Now Promoted To 12-Year Old Boys For Mouth and Throat Cancers To Double The Market
Dave Mihalovic - What's the best way to attract new patients for a vaccine heavily marketed to only girls? Why open up the market to boys of course. The HPV vaccine is possibly the biggest vaccine hoax in the last century being nothing more than a worldwide exercise in profiteering at the expense of children's health. Another massively flawed study (basically routine for the HPV vaccine) will give Gardasil manufacturer, Merck & Co., the green light to once again create a vaccine awareness campaign on the pretext that it prevents mouth and throat cancers.
 

Thursday - April 16, 2015 - Today in History:

1818 - The U.S. Senate ratified Rush-Bagot amendment to form an unarmed U.S.-Canada border.
1862 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis approved conscription act for white males between 18 and 35.
1862 - In the U.S., slavery was abolished by law in the District of Columbia.
1900 - The first book of postage stamps was issued. The two-cent stamps were available in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps.
1905 - Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000,000 of personal money to set up the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
1912 - Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
1922 - Annie Oakley shot 100 clay targets in a row, to set a women's record.
1944 - The destroyer USS Laffey survived immense damage from attacks by 22 Japanese aircraft off Okinawa.
1945 - American troops entered Nuremberg, Germany.
1968 - The Pentagon announced that troops would begin coming home from Vietnam.
1972 - Two giants pandas arrived in the U.S. from China.
1975 - The Khmer Rouge Rebels won control of Cambodia after a five years of civil war. They renamed the country Kampuchea and began a reign of terror.
1982 - Queen Elizabeth proclaimed Canada's new constitution in effect. The act severed the last colonial links with Britain.
1983 - China shelled the Vietnam border in retaliation for raids.
1987 - The U.S. Patent Office began allowing the patenting of new animals created by genetic engineering.
1992 - The House ethics committee listed 303 current and former lawmakers who had overdrawn their House bank accounts.
2002 - The U.S. Supreme Court overturned major parts of a 1996 child pornography law based on rights to free speech.
2007 - In Blacksburg, VA, a student killed 33 people at Virginia Tech before killing himself.

NATO Simulating War Against Russia During Drills - Russian General Staff
Sputnik News - Russian General Staff head said that the number of NATO exercises had almost doubled in 2014. "While in previous years the issues of crisis settlement and counteraction to terrorism were central at drills, today the priority is military action against a simulated enemy, which could easily be guessed as the Russian Federation," Gerasimov said. NATO accuses Russia of aggressive foreign policy to justify its own existence and expansion, head of the Russian General Staff said.

Series of ‘bizarre suicides’ & murders: Former Ukrainian MP shot dead in Kiev
RT - A former Ukrainian MP and active anti-Maidan activist, Oleg Kalashnikov, has been killed in his flat in Kiev. His killing is the latest in a series of odd deaths plaguing former government officials and ex-President Yanukovich’s party members.

‘Why do they keep shooting?’ Violence spikes in E. Ukraine, OSCE blames Kiev forces
RT - The latest OSCE mission report on the Ukrainian conflict has recorded a spike in violence, with monitors largely blaming Kiev. However, RT’s correspondent says the shooting pales in comparison to what locals went through before the Minsk deal.... Military action between the Ukrainian troops and the self-defense fighters has renewed in the vicinity of Shirokino, following intense strikes from Kiev’s military, the daily report by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated on Tuesday.

‘No end to sanctions, no agreement’: Iran sticks to nuclear deal demands
RT - There’ll be no deal on Tehran’s nuclear program without the simultaneous lifting of all sanctions against Iran, President Hassan Rouhani stressed, echoing an earlier statement by Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "If there is no end to sanctions, there will not be an agreement," Rouhani said in a televised speech in the northern Iranian city of Rasht. "The end of these negotiations and a signed deal must include a declaration of cancelling the oppressive sanctions on the great nation of Iran."

Europe Will Be Very Angry When It Learns Greece Is About To Buy Russian Anti-Aircraft Missiles
Zero Hedge - Just days after Russia lifted sanctions on providing anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, Reuters reports that The Greeks are in talks with Russia to purchase missiles for the S-300 defense system. Greece, a NATO member, has been in possession of the advanced Russian-made systems since the late 1990s and in a defiant show of independence towards Troika, is now negotiating with Russia for the purchase of additional missiles and for their maintenance.

China Takes Aim At Dollar Reserve Status: Promotes Yuan In Investment Bank
Zero Hedge - The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will establish an AIIB currency basket with China set to push for the yuan to take a prominent role and for “special currency funds” to be established in order to issue yuan-denominated loans through the fund. "The AIIB's grand vision for infrastructure investment [comes] with challenges but China should do its best to establish the yuan as a currency for settlement and denomination," one analyst says.

9 of the 11 Ebola Treatment Centers Built by Americans Have Never Seen a Single Ebola Patient
Vox - “Only 28 Ebola patients have been treated at the 11 treatment units built by the United States military, American officials now say. Nine centers have never had a single Ebola patient.” So: the United States built 11 treatment units in Liberia, drawing from the $1.4 billion allotted for the Ebola mission. Eighty percent of those units have never seen a single Ebola patient.

Military Bulletin Labels Patriot Groups, Militia ‘Domestic Terrorists’
Kit Daniels - A military bulletin called patriot groups and the militia “domestic extremists” who may launch terrorist attacks, a claim which follows a trend by the government to demonize libertarians and constitutionalists.... “Members of the patriot and militia movements, sovereign citizens and white supremacists recall April 19th as the date that the battles of Lexington and Concord started the American Revolution,” the bulletin read. “Citing (incorrectly) Title 10 USC references to the ‘unorganized militias’ and the constitutional right to bear arms, these groups believe that they are legally obligated to oppose the government should it become tyrannical.”

Progressives Take Stand as Fast Track Fight Kicks into High Gear on Capitol Hill
Common Dreams - With legislation to speed up congressional approval of the Trans Pacific Partnership and other corporate-friendly trade deals on the verge of being introduced in Congress, a coalition of elected officials, labor unions, and environmental groups gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to voice their vehement opposition to such a bill.... "The voices of workers will be in the halls of Congress and at our rally to declare U.S. trade deals have been nothing more than broken promises of lost jobs and closed factories that are wiping out middle class American families," said United Steelworkers president Leo W. Gerard.

Lawsuit: Police Give Lawyer Hard Drive Infected with Surveillance Malware
Mikael Thalen -A lawyer representing multiple law enforcement whistleblowers in Arkansas discovered surveillance malware after receiving an external hard drive from his clients’ department. After requesting internal emails for the case, North Little Rock lawyer Matthew Campbell became suspicious when the Fort Smith Police Department decided to place the files on a hard drive and send them through Federal Express. Campbell, who normally receives files via email, told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette that the department’s decision immediately raised red flags.... After carefully inspecting the hard drive, security consultant Geoff Mueller discovered well known malware capable of implanting backdoors and logging passwords.

Are You Scared Now? Congress Declares US is Losing Media War with Russia
Sputnik News - Frustrated with the growing popularity of international media outlets, such as RT and Sputnik, the US Congress held the latest in a long list of hearings, trying to figure out why more and more Americans – and people around the world – turn to alternative news sources and abandon the mainstream media. However, Congress wouldn’t be Congress without a bit of fearmongering, adding a sense of urgency and importance to the subject. Therefore, a hearing organized by the House Foreign Relations Committee was titled “Confronting Russia’s Weaponization of Information.” Listening to speakers invited to testify at the hearing, one could indeed fall under the impression that they are talking about combat actions or war games rather than TV and radio programming.

DHS to Purchase 62 Million More Rounds of AR-15 Ammo
Paul Joseph Watson - The Department of Homeland Security is set to purchase over 62 million rounds of ammo typically used in AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, just weeks after the ATF was forced to back down on a ban on M855 bullets. A posting on FedBizOpps.gov this week reveals that the DHS is looking to contract with a company to provide 12.6 million rounds of .223 Remington ammunition per year for a period of five years – totaling 62.5 million bullets. The solicitation explains that the purchase is intended, “to achieve price savings over the current .223 Rem duty ammunition.” The bullets will be used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents nationwide for “training” purposes.

Inaccurate police drug testing kits are a 'secret'
MassPrivateI - The following excerpts are taken from the NHTSA report "Field Test of On-Site Drug Detection Devices". "We will be evaluating the accuracy of the devices against the most accurate laboratory standard available - GC/MS testing. However, perhaps the key distinguishing feature of this project is that it is a field test. NHTSA and the Center for Human Toxicology have already conducted a thorough laboratory test of the leading on-site drug screening devices. The goal of this project is to assess how well these devices perform when placed in the hands of trained law enforcement personnel as they conduct their routine duties. Techniques that perform well in the laboratory may falter when brought into the "real world" of law enforcement. The research will evaluate how law enforcement officers can use these screening devices as supporting evidence in the detection of drugs in the driving population."

All Hail Hillary: Students Locked In Classrooms As Clinton Visits "Everyday Iowans"
Zero Hedge - Yesterday we were told about Hillary's "Everyday Americans" and exposed the ugly reality of just who stands behind her. Today she meets with some "Everyday Iowans" but as you will read... the attendees were carefully selected and students were locked inside classrooms to avoid any embarrassing questions being asked... We wonder if Wall Street employees are locked in their offices when she visits the executives suites. Somehow, I doubt it.

The VA Hospital that Cost $1.7 Billion to Build…So Far
AllGov - A new veterans’ hospital in Colorado is on track to become one of the most expensive medical centers in the world with a price tag so far of $1.7 billion. Like so many other things associated with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the hospital in Aurora has been plagued by bad decisions that are proving very costly. The facility was originally budgeted at $328 million. The VA says it will now need another $830 million to finish the project, which is going to take another five years.

Huge Trouble Is Percolating Just Under The Surface Of The Global Economy
Economic Collapse - Did you know that the number of publicly traded companies declaring bankruptcy has reached a five year high? And did you know that Chinese exports are absolutely collapsing and that Chinese economic growth in 2014 was the weakest in over 20 years? Even though things may seem to be okay on the surface for the global economy at the moment, that does not mean that big trouble is not percolating just under the surface. On Wednesday, investors cheered as stocks soared to new highs, but almost all of the economic news coming in from around the planet has been bad.

The Collapse Of The Petrodollar: Oil Exporters Are Dumping US Assets At A Record Pace
Zero Hedge - Back in November we chronicled the (quiet) death of the Petrodollar, the system that has buttressed USD hegemony for decades by ensuring that oil producers recycled their dollar proceeds into still more USD assets creating a very convenient (if your printing press mints dollars) self-fulfilling prophecy that has effectively underwritten the dollar’s reserve status in the post WWII era. Now, with oil prices still in the doldrums, oil producers are selling off their USD assets in a frenzy threatening the viability of petrocurrency mercantilism and effectively extracting billions in liquidity from the system just as the Fed prepares to hike rates.

Look at how many pages are in the federal tax code
Washington Examiner - As they rush to file their taxes by April 15, Americans are rightfully frustrated with the complexity of the 74,608-page-long federal tax code. The federal tax code is 187 times longer than it was a century ago, according to Wolters Kluwer, CCH, which has analyzed the federal tax code since 1913.

Thousands demand higher wages during #Fightfor15 rallies
RT - Thousands of fast food restaurant employees walked off the job on Wednesday in order to rally for higher wages as part of a coordinated series of demonstrations held across the United States and the world. As sit-ins and other acts of civil disobedience continue from coast to coast, local reports from mid-Wednesday suggested that planned protests had so far been largely well attended in cities including New York, Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles. Demonstrators had announced previously that they’d be rallying across the US on Wednesday, April 15, to push for increasing the nationwide minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The owner of a credit card processing business in Seattle is raising his employees' minimum wage to $70,000 by cutting his own salary
Refreshing News - The idea began percolating, said Dan Price, the founder of Gravity Payments, after he read an article on happiness. It showed that, for people who earn less than about $70,000, extra money makes a big difference in their lives. His idea bubbled into reality on Monday afternoon, when Mr. Price surprised his 120-pers staff by announcing that he planned over the next three years to raise the salary of even the lowest-paid clerk, customer service representative and salesman to a minimum of $70,000.

Powassan Virus: ‘Ticks Now Carrying Virus Worse than Lyme Disease’
Natural Society - Powassan virus has been described by the medical authorities as a virus “that produces symptoms similar to Lyme disease, but more severe, and there’s no cure.” The following excerpt clearly explains why Powassan is considered to be a significantly more serious infection than Lyme disease. “The disease can lead to encephalitis and meningitis, and give you permanent neurological issues afterward. And it can act much more quickly than Lyme disease, giving you symptoms within hours of being bitten by a tick, according to Fox News. About 10% of cases that lead to encephalitis are fatal.”

Americans Spent $374 Billion on Big Pharma Drugs Last Year
Natural Society - The latest figure, which comes from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics as reported by AP, is the highest jump we’ve seen since 2001 — and even 13% higher than 2013. The astronomical $374 billion figure contributed to record-shattering numbers of prescription drugs being purchased from pleasantly surprised pharmacies around the nation. More than 4.3 billion prescriptions were dispensed in 2014, with Medicaid covering around 17% and pushing heavily on the total increase.

This Allergy Can Make Your Dog Downright Miserable - And May Horrify You...
Dr. Becker - Many pet guardians are shocked to learn their dog or cat is allergic to them. But since humans can be sensitive to pet dander, it makes sense that some pets are also allergic to us. According to Dr. Tom Lewis, a veterinary dermatologist in Phoenix, when pets are allergic to humans, "It's never an obvious and direct reaction. They'll scratch and get a lot of secondary infections. Some of these dogs just are miserable". And because it takes time and repeated exposure to human dander for an allergy to develop, the average dog is 2 to 5 years old before he begins to react.
 

Wednesday - April 15, 2015 - Today in History:

1794 - "Courrier Francais" became the first French daily newspaper to be published in the U.S.
1813 - U.S. troops under James Wilkinson attacked the Spanish-held city of Mobile that would be in the future state of Alabama.
1817 - The first American school for the deaf was opened in Hartford, CT.
1850 - The city of San Francisco was incorporated.
1861 - U.S. President Lincoln mobilized the Federal army.
1865 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln died from injuries inflicted by John Wilkes Booth.
1871 - "Wild Bill" Hickok became the marshal of Abilene, Kansas.
1892 - The General Electric Company was organized.
1912 - The ocean liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg the evening before. 1,517 people died and more than 700 people survived.
1923 - Insulin became generally available for people suffering with diabetes.
1945 - During World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
1952 - U.S. President Harry Truman signed the official Japanese peace treaty.
1952 - The first B-52 prototype was tested in the air.
1956 - The worlds’ first, all-color TV station was dedicated. It was WNBQ-TV in Chicago and is now WMAQ-TV.
1959 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro began a U.S. goodwill tour.
1986 - U.S. F-111 warplanes attacked Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5, 1986.
1989 - Students in Beijing launched a series of pro democracy protests upon the death of former Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang. The protests led to the Tienanmen Square massacre.
1989 - In Sheffield, England, 96 people were killed and hundreds were injured at a soccer game at Hillsborough Stadium when a crowd surged into an overcrowded standing area. Ninety-four died on the day of the incident and two more later died from their injuries.
2000 - 600 anti-IMF (International Monetary Fund) protesters were arrested in Washington, DC, for demonstrating without a permit.

Saudi Arabia signs up Egypt for ‘major military maneuver’
RT - Riyadh continues to strengthen ties with powerful regional armies amid an ongoing air campaign against Houthi fighters in Yemen. It has signed up Egypt for a joint planning of a “major military maneuver” with other Gulf states in Saudi Arabia. During the visit of the Saudi Defense Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Cairo to discuss military campaign in Yemen, both countries agreed to form a joint military committee to discuss the “implementation of a major strategic maneuver in the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, the Egyptian President's office said in a statement. The statement gave no further details on the planned military exercise.

Australian Chief of Defense Sends Troops to Iraq But Can’t Name ISIL Leader
Sputnik News - Australian Defense Minister has been caught by surprise when asked to give a name of the Islamic State (IS) leader; the chief of defense seems to be genuinely unaware whom the Australian contingent he is sending to Iraq is going to fight with.... Interestingly enough, the interview happened on the same day when the country’s Cabinet announced that about 330 more Australian troops will begin heading to the Middle East as early as Wednesday as part of a boosted contingent in the fight against the IS group.

UN sanctions Houthis in Yemen, ignores Russian calls for all-inclusive arms embargo
RT - The UN Security Council has imposed an arms embargo against the Houthi rebels in Yemen and blacklisted the son of Yemen's former president and a Houthi leader. Fourteen members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, Russia being the only abstention. The Russian representative explained the move by saying that not all of Moscow’s proposals had been included in the final text drafted by Jordan and Gulf Arab states. "The co-sponsors refused to include the requirements insisted upon by Russia addressed to all sides to the conflict to swiftly halt fire and to begin peace talks," Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council after the vote.

Impunity, Death, and Blowback: Report Exposes Illegal US Drone War in Yemen
RINF - The study by the Open Society Justice Foundation comes as Yemeni civilians, already under siege, face even greater threat from international “counterterrorism” efforts as a U.S.-backed attack on that country has killed an estimated 364 civilians, including at least 84 children and 25 women.

Saudi Arabia’s Alleged Involvement in the 9/11 Attacks. “Red-Herring”, Propaganda Ploy
Global Research - The key figure behind this new wave of propaganda is former Senator Bob Graham, who led the joint inquiry of the Senate and the House intelligence committees together with Rep. Porter Goss, a career CIA official who was subsequently appointed Director of National Intelligence (DNI) by the Bush administration. Graham coordinated the drafting and editing of the report including the 28 classified pages on Saudi Arabia.

Russia officially joins $50bn China-led infrastructure bank
RT - On Tuesday Russia officially becomes a founder of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). It means Russian companies can take part in infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region, and could attract foreign investment into Russia. Russia applied for membership as a founding member of the AIIB 2 weeks ago, along with another 52 countries. The founding members have the right to establish the rules guiding the bank’s activities. China reportedly had rejected requests from North Korea and Taiwan to join the AIIB. The final list of the bank’s founding members will be announced on April 15.

‘Historic step towards nuclear-free Japan’: Maverick judge forbids restart of 2 nuclear reactors
RT - A local judge has placed an injunction on the re-opening of two nuclear reactors at Japan’s Takahama plant, even though it had passed the country’s new post-Fukushima safety checks. “The new regulations are not reasonable, therefore there is no need to study whether the Takahama plant satisfies them,” said judge Hideaki Higuchi in his ruling. “There is little rational basis for saying that an earthquake with a magnitude that exceeds the safety standard will not occur. It is an optimistic view.”

Pentagon drafting thousands of ‘cyber forces’ in prep for cyber emergency
RT - The Pentagon intends to draft personnel for its cyber reserve force from civilians as well as the National Guard in the event of a network emergency, a top military official told the Senate Armed Forces committee on Tuesday.... The Pentagon is building the Cyber Mission Force under its offensive and defensive Cyber Command, which, when fully equipped in 2018, will have 133 teams and nearly 6,200 military and civilian personnel. Part of the force will be the “surge force,” with “up to 2,000 Reserve and National Guard personnel.” So far, the department is half staffed.

#ShutDownA14: Protesters against police brutality barricade Brooklyn Bridge
RT - Protesters gathered in New York City and around the United States to rally against police brutality and a peak in officers killing unarmed black men. Organizers spread the message on social media using the #ShutDownA14 hashtag.... Protests are occurring in more than 30 cities in 18 states. Tuesday’s nationwide event was organized by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network.\

ISIS Camp a Few Miles from Texas, Mexican Authorities Confirm
Judicial Watch - ISIS is operating a camp just a few miles from El Paso, Texas, according to Judicial Watch sources that include a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police Inspector. The exact location where the terrorist group has established its base is around eight miles from the U.S. border in an area known as “Anapra” situated just west of Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Another ISIS cell to the west of Ciudad Juárez, in Puerto Palomas, targets the New Mexico towns of Columbus and Deming for easy access to the United States, the same knowledgeable sources confirm.
* Related: ISIS Has Camps On The U.S. Border, But Obama Says ‘Right-Wing Extremists’ Are The Greatest Terror Threat

Potential BLM Fight Brewing In Southern Oregon
Oath Keepers - Investigating information received last night the Shasta Lantern has been following a potential standoff building between BLM and a group of miners located near Grants Pass, Oregon. The property in question, the Sugar Pine Mining Claim, has existed as a rightful claim since 1876 and is one of the oldest claims in the country. Reportedly late this week, BLM officials accompanied by deputies of Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel issued a Cease and Desist order to the mine and it’s owners. The order has given the miners until April 25th to remove all equipment, buildings and supplies from the mine. It has been reported local BLM officials have threatened to burn the buildings down if they are not removed by the date.
* Related: “I Have Some Issues With The Constitution” – BLM Contract Deputy Sheriff Jason Stanton

Weird Nationwide Walmart Closures Spark Conspiracy Theories
Paul Joseph Watson - Theories are flying after Walmart stores around the country suddenly announced that they were closing down for six months to deal with “plumbing” issues. Five different stores suddenly announced they were shutting up shop all for the same reason. Walmarts in Pico Rivera, California, Livingston, Texas, Midland, Texas, Brandon, Florida, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, all made the announcement. The news sparked wild conspiracy theories, with some linking the closures to Jade Helm, the upcoming military exercise which some fear is a dry run for martial law.

Oklahoma deputy charged with manslaughter in fatal Tulsa shooting
(Reuters) - Oklahoma prosecutors charged a sheriff's reserve deputy with second-degree manslaughter on Monday in the fatal shooting of a black man this month in Tulsa, the most recent in a series of U.S. cases that have raised questions about race relations and policing. Reserve deputy Robert Bates, 73 and white, fatally shot Eric Harris, 44, an African-American, on April 2. Bates thought he was using a Taser instead of his gun, the Tulsa Sheriff's office said of the incident seen in a video released over the weekend.

Chris Christie's big presidential idea: torch Social Security
LA Times - Chris Christie, trying desperately to keep his presidential hopes alive, wants to look bold, and he's not above throwing millions of elderly Americans under his campaign bus to do so. That's the only conceivable explanation for the New Jersey Republican governor's misinformed and dangerous proposals to "fix" Social Security. In his big campaign speech delivered Tuesday in New Hampshire, Christie showed that he doesn't understand what Social Security is for, why it exists, how it's funded, or who gets benefits and why.

Clinton to spend $37.92 for every vote in $2.5b campaign
The Washington Examiner - Hillary Rodham Clinton and her support groups are opening a massive fundraising effort to collect an historically-high $2.5 billion to win the White House, according to reports. That amounts to $37.92 per vote in the general election for the Democrat, more than ever spent in a national campaign. The math is based on the votes received by President Obama in his reelection, 65,915,796. Obama spent $1.1 billion, then a record, so Clinton's will be more than double.

More than 2 MILLION of Hillary Clinton's Twitter followers are fake or never tweet – and she's already under fire for 'buying' fake Facebook fans
Daily Mail - Although Hillary Clinton boasts a robust 3.6 million Twitter followers, not even a vast right-wing conspiracy would be able to interact with 2 million of them. According to two popular online measuring tools, no more than 44 per cent of her Twitter fan base consists of real people who are active in using the social media platform. And at least 15 per cent – more than 544,000 – are completely fake.

Central bankers gather privately in Washington this Friday to discuss gold
Chris Powell - Attention, mainstream financial journalists! Here's something else important for you to ignore this week, thanks to the diligent eye of gold researcher and GATA consultant Ronan Manly. It's a breakfast meeting to be held Friday in Washington for "a select group of central banks and other official-sector institutions," sponsored by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum and the World Gold Council, to discuss "gold, the renminbi, and the multicurrency system," convened in conjunction with the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, a United Nations agency...

The Fortune 500 companies that didn't pay a PENNY in 2014 income tax despite being worth BILLIONS
Daily Mail - At least 15 Fortune 500 companies, many of them worth north of a $1 billion, paid zero income taxes in 2014, says a report out last week from the Citizens for Tax Justice. According to the report, household names like CBS, General Electric and Mattel all successfully manipulated the U.S. tax code to avoid paying taxes on their massive profits. Even more shocking: some of them even received tax rebates in the tens or even hundreds of millions.

Cash Banned in Louisiana at Garage Sales, Flea Markets etc.
EPJ - With the passage of House Bill 195 into law, the State of Louisiana has banned the use of cash in all transactions involving secondhand goods. State representative Ricky Hardy, a co-author of the bill, claims that the bill targets criminals who traffic in stolen goods. According to Hardy, “It’s a mechanism to be used so the police department has something to go on and have a lead.” The bill prohibits cash transactions by "secondhand dealers," defined to include garage sales, flea markets, resellers of specialty items, and even non-profit resellers like Goodwill. Curiously, it specifically exempts pawnbrokers from the ban.

Nestle Still Bottling 80 Million Gallons of Water Amid CA's Crisis Drought
Natural Society - Nestlé has continued its water bottling practices even while California has struggled though its worst drought in history, gaining not only the negative attention of residents, but also of an enraged nation. Activists have taken the matter into their own hands, picketing the corporation that guzzles over 80 million gallons of water form Sacramento aquifers every year – only to sell that water back to the public.... Last week, activists physically blocked the entrance to one of Nestlé’s water bottling plants in Sacramento, holding pitchforks and plastic torches.

EU formally charges Google over search 'abuse'
RT - The EU has officially filed a complaint against Google for allegedly abusing its dominance in the European market. The case could carry a fine of up to $6 billion, which would be the biggest settlement in EU antitrust history. The EU has regularly accused the US tech giant of squeezing out smaller competitors in Europe by making its Google searches favor its own services. The Commission has sent the company a formal Statement of Objections, and it has ten weeks in which to respond.... The antitrust probe will also dig into the relationship between the Google’s Android mobile platform, which often comes preloaded with Google applications like Gmail, Google Maps, and other Google products, which “has illegally hindered the development and market access of rival mobile operating systems,” the EC said.

The indisputable connection: Your pH levels and cancer risk
(NaturalHealth365) Understanding pH in the body is very simple: the lower the reading, the more acidic; the higher the reading, the more alkaline. Although pH levels will fluctuate in your body according to meals, exercise, stress, hormones, sleep, and a variety of other factors, a healthy and balanced saliva pH should be between 7.0 and 7.5. Why is this information so important to know? Simply put, a higher pH level promotes health while a low pH level creates an environment conducive to diseases like breast cancer.

How to improve digestion with beet kvass
(NaturalHealth365) According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, between 60 and 70 million Americans are affected by a digestive disease, with more than 48 million visiting doctors or hospitals for their conditions every year. But, this can be avoided!... Beet kvass is a Russian fermented beverage made from beets, sea salt and filtered water. Often compared to kombucha, it is a sour beverage that is often carbonated or used to prepare foods, such as salad dressings.

Eat These Foods Daily to Help Keep Your Eyesight Sharp for Your Lifetime
Dr. Mercola - Macular degeneration and cataracts can easily cause blindness, but don't have to be an automatic part of aging. Especially if you regularly treat yourself to these 15 carotenoid-rich foods - most notably this #1 zeaxanthin-rich food of the 33 tested in one study.
* Related: Saffron Protects Against Macular Degeneration
 

Tuesday - April 14, 2015 - Today in History:

1775 - The first abolitionist society in U.S. was organized in Philadelphia with Ben Franklin as president.
1828 - The first edition of Noah Webster's dictionary was published under the name "American Dictionary of the English Language."
1860 - The first Pony Express rider arrived in San Francisco with mail originating in St. Joseph, MO.
1865 - President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth. He actually died early the next morning.
1912 - The Atlantic passenger liner Titanic, on its maiden voyage hit an iceberg and began to sink. 1,517 people lost their lives and more than 700 survived.
1918 - The U.S. First Aero Squadron engaged in America's first aerial dogfight with enemy aircraft over Toul, France.
1953 - Viet Minh invaded Laos with 40,00 troops.
1959 - The Taft Memorial Bell Tower was dedicated in Washington, DC.
1969 - For the first time, a major league baseball game was played in Montreal, Canada.
1981 - America's first space shuttle, Columbia, returned to Earth after a three-day test flight. The shuttle orbited the Earth 36 times during the mission.
1986 - U.S. President Reagan announced the U.S. air raid on military and terrorist related targets in Libya.
1987 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev proposed banning all missiles from Europe.
1994 - Two American F-15 warplanes inadvertently shot down two U.S. helicopters over northern Iraq. 26 people were killed including 15 Americans.
1998 - The state of Virginia ignored the requests from the World Court and executed a Paraguayan for the murder of a U.S. woman.
1999 - Pakistan test-fired a ballistic missile that was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching its rival neighbor India.
2000 - After five years of deadlock, Russia approved the START II treaty that calls for the scrapping of U.S. and Russian nuclear warheads. The Russian government warned it would abandon all arms-control pacts if Washington continued with an anti-missile system.
2002 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to office two days after being arrested by his country's military.
2008 - Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announced they were combining.

US paratroops convoy to western Ukraine for 'training mission'
Stars & Stripes - U.S. paratroopers have arrived in Ukraine for Operation Fearless Guardian, a six-month effort to train Ukraine’s newly established national guard force. The first troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived Friday in western Ukraine, delivering military cargo after completing a 1,100-mile convoy from their home station in Vicenza, Italy, the Army said.

Arms embargo & sanctions on rebels: Yemen resolution up for vote at UN Security Council
RT - The UN Security Council is set to vote on a resolution drafted by Gulf Arab states seeking to impose an arms embargo on Yemeni rebels. Russia earlier suggested an all-inclusive ban on arms sales and to push all sides to the negotiations table. The draft resolution being put to the vote on Tuesday envisions an asset freeze and a travel ban on Ahmed Saleh, the former head of Yemen’s elite Republican Guard, and on Abdulmalik al-Houthi, a top leader of the Houthi rebel group, alongside several other top figures challenging Yemeni president’s rule, according to a Reuters diplomatic source.

Greece isn’t preparing default - Tsipras dispels rumor
RT - Greece isn’t planning a debt default, contrary to reports in the Financial Times, says Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.... On Monday, the Financial Times reported Greece was ready to default if it didn’t reach a debt deal with creditors by the end of April, citing an unnamed government official. The official said that it wouldn’t pay the May and June payments to the International Monetary Fund. Authorities in Greece made a €448 million payment to the IMF on April 9, on schedule.

Vladimir Putin authorizes delivery of missile system to Iran
The Guardian - The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has opened the way for the controversial delivery of a sophisticated anti-aircraft missile system to Iran which had been under embargo for the past five years. US Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to object to the move, and the US government warned that the delivery could complicate plans to eventually lift sanctions on Iran as part of a deal over the country’s nuclear programme.

US, UK thank Russia for evacuation of their citizens from Yemen
RT - “We feel like we’re left behind. No support. I called every Embassy – all the embassies in Riyadh, in Cairo, in Djibouti – to help me and my family, but they always apologize. They said “help is coming” – but it never came,” an American citizen evacuated on a Russian plane told RT’s Paula Slier. “People now think that Yemeni Americans are like second-class Americans.” An American citizen currently stranded in Yemen, Summer Nasser, told RT on Monday that “I really want to appreciate the Russian government, because yesterday I got a call from the Russian Ambassador in the capital of Yemen. He was attempting to rescue American citizens. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the flight at the short notice.”
* Related: Lawsuits Accuse Obama Administration of Abandoning Americans Stuck in Yemen

China, Russia and Saudi Arabia increase arms spending the most in 2014 - study
RT - Conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and Asia saw China, Russia and Saudi Arabia increase their defense spending the most in 2014, while top buyer the US cut it by 6.5 percent, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has reported. Globally, military spending remained almost unchanged in 2014 at $1.8 trillion, falling by 0.4 percent in real terms since 2013, according to figures released by SIPRI on Monday.

'No Jab, No Pay' Australia Policy Ends Payouts To Citizens Who Refuse Vaccines
Brandon Turbeville - In a stunning example of the disregard held toward the rights of individual Australians, the Australian government has not only passed measures to “tighten” guidelines on the ability to obtain religious exemptions to vaccinations but has also passed a “no jab no pay” policy ending government welfare payouts to those families who refuse to vaccinate.

America Goes Large: Obama Wants Huge Budget for His Anti-Russian Troll Army
Sputnik News - The US government agency Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has filed its annual Fiscal Year Budget Request with the US Congress. This year its overall draft budget of $751.5 million requires some extra funding. Among the notable areas which require intense investing is “Countering a Revanchist Russia”, for which it will allocate $15.4 million to battles in the blogosphere. Interestingly enough, it is more than twice as much as the agency is prepared to shell out on “Countering The ISIL Narrative” ($6.1 million).

FBI Investigating Former White House Military Aide
ABC News - The FBI is investigating a former top military aide to three U.S. presidents and his firm over allegations it bilked foreign investors out of millions of dollars by touting his White House ties and making promises of quick U.S. Green Cards to raise funds for a giant hotel complex, ABC News has learned. Five years after an elaborate ground-breaking ceremony in New Orleans, there is only a vacant lot and investors say almost $16 million has disappeared.

Ex-Blackwater guards get life, 30-year sentences for Baghdad massacre
RT - Four men who worked for the private military contracting firm formerly known as Blackwater were sentenced in federal court on Monday, more than seven years after they massacred Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad. A sentencing hearing for the four men – Nicholas Slatten, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty and Paul Slough – began at 10 a.m. ET in Washington, DC on Monday. Later in the afternoon, the Washington Post reported that Slatten was handed a sentence of life behind bars, while his three ex-colleagues were each dealt 30-year sentences as a result of firearms convictions they were handed last fall.

UAE Gave $1 Million to NYC Police Foundation; Money Aided 'Investigations'
The Intercept - A 2012 tax document obtained by The Intercept and not intended for public disclosure reveals the mystery donation, which neither the police foundation nor the UAE [United Arab Emirates] will give details about. The foundation had excluded the UAE from the list of donors on its website, despite it being one of the largest 2012 contributors… A 2012 Schedule A document filed by the New York City Police Foundation showed a list of its largest donors, which included several major financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and Barclays Capital — but also a line item for the “Embassy of the United Arab Emirates.” Conspicuously, while the financial institutions are listed as donors on the Police Foundation website, the UAE is absent despite being one of the largest contributors listed that year with its $1 million contribution.

Federal court: no liability for PA judge who made up criminal charge
Rachel Martin - A federal court recently told a Lawrence County woman she’s simply out of luck and can’t sue local officials, including a Common Pleas judge who apparently made up a criminal charge that was used to place her on electronic monitoring. A judge has absolute civil immunity, even if the action “was in error, was done maliciously, or was in excess of his authority,” the three-judge panel ruled in its six-page opinion.

Free-Range Children Kidnapped by CPS to Prevent Potential Kidnapping
Activist Post - Remember the Maryland parents who were found guilty of neglect for allowing their children, 10 and 7, to walk around the neighborhood together but unaccompanied by an adult? Yesterday those kids were just taken by CPS because they were playing at the park by themselves. WUSA-9 reports how the children were seized: The Maryland parents accused of child neglect for letting their children roam freely are headed to Child Protective Services after their children were removed from a park Sunday by police.

Not the Lesser of Two Evils: Why Hillary Clinton Is Unfit for the Presidency
Webster Tarpley - As the National Journal reported in 2014, even the pathetically weak anti-war left is not ready to reconcile with Hillary given her warmongering as Secretary of State. And with good reason. Scratching just lightly beneath the surface of Hillary Clinton’s career reveals the empirical evidence of her historic support for aggressive interventions around the globe.

The Six Too Big To Fail Banks In The U.S. Have 278 TRILLION Dollars Of Exposure To Derivatives
Economic Collapse - The very same people that caused the last economic crisis have created a 278 TRILLION dollar derivatives time bomb that could go off at any moment. When this absolutely colossal bubble does implode, we are going to be faced with the worst economic crash in the history of the United States. During the last financial crisis, our politicians promised us that they would make sure that “too big to fail” would never be a problem again. Instead, as you will see below, those banks have actually gotten far larger since then. So now we really can’t afford for them to fail. The six banks that I am talking about are JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

"There Are Big, Big Problems" - The Shocker Crushing The Economy Revealed
Zero Hedge - According to the CMI, the Rejections of Credit Applications index just crashed the most ever, surpassing even the credit crunch at the peak of the Lehman crisis: "There is quite obviously some serious financial stress manifesting in the data and this does not bode well for the growth of the economy going forward. These readings are as low as they have been since the recession started and to see everything start to get back on track would take a substantial reversal at this stage.... The signal this sends is that many companies are not nearly as healthy as it has been assumed and that there is considerably less resilience in the business sector than assumed."

Wall Street's Wealth Transfer System Is Imperiling the U.S. Economy
Wall Street on Parade - One facet that all of these wealth transfer systems have in common is that they all masquerade under a benign sounding name. The 401(k) plan is viewed by most Americans as a way to save for retirement. That’s a good thing – right? It is not a good thing when two-thirds of your savings over a working lifetime end up in Wall Street’s pocket, as carefully demonstrated by Frontline and math-checked by us.

US Forest Service investigates expired Nestle water permit
ABC News - The U.S. Forest Service is investigating an expired permit that Nestle has been using to draw water out of a national forest in Southern California for its bottled water business. An investigation by the Desert Sun found that Nestle Waters North America's permit to transport water across the San Bernardino National Forest expired in 1988. The water is piped across the national forest and loaded on trucks to a plant where it is bottled as Arrowhead 100 percent Mountain Spring Water.... Environmentalists have raised concerns about the expired permit and the lack of government oversight in tracking the water being tapped amid the state's ongoing drought.

Cops Threaten Dog Owner With $750,000 Fine Over ‘Missing Dog’ Posters
Kit Daniels - Washington, D.C., police threatened a dog owner with a $750,000 fine for posting ‘Missing Dog’ posters across town. After losing his dog Ollie on March 30, Roger Horowitz was initially encouraged by police to post ‘Lost Dog’ posters on lamp posts, but a police officer recently told him to tear them all down. The D.C. municipal code does in fact regulate ‘Missing Dog’ posters, despite the First Amendment.
 

Monday - April 13, 2015 - Today in History:

1775 - Lord North extended the New England Restraining Act to South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The act prohibited trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland.
1782 - Washington, NC, was incorporated as the first town to be named for George Washington.
1860 - The first mail was delivered via Pony Express when a westbound rider arrived in Sacremento, CA from St. Joseph, MO.
1861 - After 34 hours of bombardment, the Union-held Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederates.
1943 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.
1960 - The first navigational satellite was launched into Earth's orbit.
1970 - An oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, preventing a planned moon landing.
1976 - The U.S. Federal Reserve introduced $2 bicentennial notes.
1984 - U.S. President Reagan sent emergency military aid to El Salvador without congressional approval.
1990 - The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest. The Soviets had previously blamed the massacre on the Nazis.
1998 - Dolly, the world's first cloned sheep, gave natural birth to a healthy baby lamb.
1999 - Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, MI, to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Thomas Youk. Youk's assisted suicide was videotaped and shown on "60 Minutes" in 1998.
2002 - Venezuela's interim president, Pedro Carmona, resigned a day after taking office. Thousands of protesters had supported over the ousting of president Hugo Chavez.

Only one-quarter of Gaza $3.5bn reconstruction aid delivered says report
RT - Less than 27 percent of the $3.5 billion aid pledged by international donors to help rebuild Gaza in the wake of unprecedented destruction caused by last summer's Israeli Operation Protective Edge has been disbursed, a new report says. The Association of International Development Agencies stated in its report, "Charting a New Course: Overcoming the stalemate in Gaza," that while comprehensive data on individual pledges and disbursement has not yet been made publicly available, the World Bank found that only 26.8 percent ($945m) of the funding earmarked for Gaza had been disbursed so far.

Isis video shows complete destruction of ancient city of Nimrud in Iraq
The Independent - Isis has released a video showing militants using power tools and bulldozers to deface and destroy ancient monuments in the Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq, before the site is levelled with explosives. Damage to the site was first reported in March, but the undated video lays bare the full scale of destruction, as the city is completely demolished… The latest demolition by Isis comes after reports that the terrorist group burnt Mosul library to ground, which contained 8,000 early manuscripts.

Proxy War Crosses Border? Houthis Reportedly Clash With Saudi Troops Near Najran
Zero Hedge - … reports suggest the Houthis are battling Saudi forces near Najran, with some contending the rebels have overtaken a Saudi post which, if true, would appear to mark an escalation in the conflict as it would indicate the Houthis are willing to take the fight to the Saudis on their own turf.

US Declines Evacuation Assistance to Citizens Trapped in War-Torn Yemen
Sputnik News - The situation for Americans in Yemen has grown dire as many are finding themselves stuck in the freshly war-ravaged nation. The US appears unable or unwilling to help Americans who hope to evacuate. An unknown number of Americans are still in Yemen where civil war broke out last month. As the body count continues to climb, many of those Americans have been left stranded by their government. While other nations such as Russia have organized evacuation flights for their nationals, the US has simply offered advice.

Georgia, Denmark, Brazil, Netherlands, Finland Join China's AIIB Bank
Sputnik News - The existing founding members of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have accepted applications of Georgia, Denmark, Brazil, the Netherlands and Finland to join the bank as founding states, the Chinese Finance Ministry said Sunday… Media reports suggest that 52 countries, including Russia, have made submissions to become founding members of the bank. The final list of AIIB founding members is expected to be announced by mid-April.

Was Germanwings plane crashed by a HACKER instead of co-pilot? Aviation expert says the jet could easily be accessed remotely
Daily Mail - An aviation expert has questioned whether the doomed Germanwings passenger plane may had its electronics 'hacked' before it crashed killing all 150 on board. The theory has surfaced in a letter to the respected Financial Times newspaper from aviation boss Matt Andersson, president of Chicago-based Indigo Aerospace.

Bilderberg 2015 in Austria Will Be Like None Before It
Press For Truth - The annual Bilderberg meeting is set to take place in Austria this June 2015. Today Dan Dicks of Press For Truth is joined on the line by Paul Joseph Watson of infowars.com to discuss what some of the key talking points will be on the agenda this year as well as what protesters and journalists can expect in regards to dealing with the "cobra anti terror squad", a whole new level of security for Bilderberg!

Mass Whale Beaching Re-Ignites Quake Fears Among Japanese
Zero Hedge - Six days prior to Japan's devastating 2011 undersea earthquake that killed over 18,000 people, around 50 melon-headed whales - a species that is a member of the dolphin family - beached themselves on Japan’s beaches. Now, 4 years later, and despite a lack of scientific evidence linking the two events, many Japanese took to social media in fear as the mass beaching of over 150 melon-headed whales on Japan’s shores has fueled fears of a repeat of the monster quake, which unleashed a towering tsunami and triggered a nuclear disaster.

Land for the People: Alaska Passes Bill Returning State Land from Federal Control
21st Century Wire - All across the western states, a grass-roots movement has risen to reclaim states’ Constitutionally mandated public lands from federal government control. Presently, resolutions and bills are in motion is Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and now Alaska. For decades, significant clashes between the western states and the federal government over public land jurisdiction and ownership have led states to press the issue concerning some 700 million acres of federally controlled ‘public lands’ which including national parks, national forests, and national monuments, environmental zones and other ‘protected areas’. Millions of residents in the western states believe that this land belong to the states, and that Washington DC must observe its own legal and Constitutional limitations as stipulated in Article One, Section 8, of the United States Constitution.

National Guard Trains To Take on US Citizens
Prison Planet.com - Exclusive footage provided to Infowars from an attendee of the California National Guard’s “dirty bomb” exercise in Richmond Saturday shows guard troops training to take on U.S. citizens. Role players simulating members of the American public can be seen screaming as guard troops with batons push them back in what appears to be a crowd control scenario. A second clip shows troops surrounding two men, reportedly victims, as they are escorted off scene. The exercise, which included “more than 200 soldiers, airmen, local law enforcement and firefighting personnel,” will be followed by other large scale military drills which some fear are being used to acclimate the public to martial law during civil unrest or a national emergency.

Washington State Allows Text Records from 88K Government Phones to be Wiped Daily
Mikael Thalen - The state of Washington is failing to store backups of text messages from 88,000 government phones that are being wiped on a daily basis, a direct violation of state records retention laws. The shocking discovery began last November after Fife City Attorney Loren Combs requested four years worth of text messages from a former city manager. According to The News Tribune’s Sean Robinson, who broke the story Saturday, Combs was told to get a subpoena by Verizon, one of several phone providers to the state, after the city deferred his request to the telecom.

Medical Choice Under Attack as SB277 Passes CA Health Committee
Activist Post - As parents and concerned citizens rallied in Sacramento to oppose Senate Bill 277, the Senate Health Committee advanced the bill with a 6 to 2 vote. In what the Sergeant at Arms described as “The biggest turnout I’ve seen in 15 years,” the signed bill now faces further challenges on the way to law.... Before the final vote, Committee Chair Senator Ed Hernandez (D) West Covina stated for the record “I believe in the science. I believe vaccines are safe and effective.” Not to be outdone, Senator Lois Wolk (D) Davis represented the collectivist, herd immunity crowd by stating for the record, “Our individual rights aren’t without limits. You insisting on your right (to not vaccinate) could harm my child or grandchild.” For pro-vaccine choice parents who wish to still live in California and maintain their freedom of medical choice, an amendment will be added to allow homeschooling parents to maintain their philosophical exemption.

New Mexico Gov. Signs Bill Abolishing Civil Asset Forfeiture
Ben Swann - New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill to abolish civil asset forfeiture Friday. She signed just before the noon deadline that would have pocket vetoed the legislation. Civil asset forfeiture is a practice where police can seize your property and keep it even if they don’t convict or charge you with a crime. Then, you must go through the difficult, and often unsuccessful process to get your property–whether it’s a vehicle, cash or your home–back from the police.

Paul Questions Hillary’s Sincerity on Women’s Rights
Trey Sanchez - On CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, 2016 Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul questioned Hillary Clinton’s sincerity on women’s rights given the fact that she may have accepted donations to the Clinton Foundation from countries with terrible human rights records. Paul noted the “history” of the Clintons “feeling like they’re above the law.” Especially in light of touting that they would not accept donations to the Clinton Foundation during the time she was Secretary of State when there are accusations that they did. “There are questions of them taking millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia, from the Sultan of Brunei,” Paul said. “Countries that really have an abysmal human rights record and women’s rights record.”

Hillary Clinton launches 2016 presidential campaign
RT - Hillary Clinton's aide John Podesta officially announced on Sunday that the former Secretary of State intends to seek the presidency of the United States for the second time.... Meanwhile, past scandals are likely to surround Clinton’s campaign. Last month, the erstwhile senator and first lady was embroiled in a controversy surrounding her use of a private—rather than government-issued—email account during her time at the State Department. Clinton’s time as Secretary of State was also marred by the Benghazi terrorist attacks in 2012 which left four Americans dead at the US compound. Clinton stands accused of not having done enough to protect US staff.

Military veterans target U.S. drone strikes in TV ads
Sacramento Bee - A group of military veterans is taking aim at U.S. drone strikes overseas with graphic TV ads directly asking Air Force pilots to stop flying the unmanned aircraft, calling the operations immoral and illegal. The ads are the first commercials opposing U.S. drone operations ever shown on American TV, according to sponsors, which include the Veterans Democratic Club of Sacramento County and the Sacramento chapter of Veterans for Peace. The campaign is spearheaded by an activist website, KnowDrones.com.

Puerto Ricans who can’t speak English qualify as disabled for Social Security
Washington Post - Hundreds of Puerto Rico’s residents qualified for federal disability benefits in recent years because they lacked fluency in English, according to government auditors. The Social Security Administration’s inspector general questioned the policy this month in light of the fact that Spanish is the predominant language in the U.S. territory. Under Social Security regulations, individuals are considered less employable in the United States if they can’t speak English, regardless of their work experience or level of education.
* Related: Social Security disability trust fund projected to run out of cash by 2016

NY spent $28 million in taxpayer money to create 76 jobs
The Verge - When Governor Andrew Cuomo launched Start-Up New York in late 2013, his office called it a "game-changing" initiative that promised "a windfall" of innovation. The program established 356 tax-free zones in order to "attract high-tech and other start-ups." However, a new report from the state's Department of Economic Development found that the initiative only created 76 jobs in 2014, despite a $28 million ad campaign.... The zones created by Start-Up New York were tied to 62 sponsoring colleges and universities. The program allowed companies to operate tax-free for 10 years "on eligible campuses and spaces." According to the report, those 76 jobs came from 30 companies in industries like software, biotech, and manufacturing.

Video Shows Chevron Allegedly Covering Up Ecuadorian Amazon Contamination
Sputnik News - A video provided to the environmental group Amazon Watch by a whistleblower from oil giant Chevron, appears to show what the group is describing as “smoking gun evidence” of corruption, as Chevron attempted to cover up their contamination of the Amazon… A spokesperson for Chevron maintained that there was nothing improper happening in the videos, yet Donzinger has faced what he describes as “stunning efforts” by Chevron to suppress the footage.

Friday - April 10, 2015 - Today in History:

1790 - The U.S. patent system was established.
1849 - Walter Hunt patented the safety pin. He sold the rights for $100.
1865 - During the American Civil War, at Appomattox, General Robert E. Lee issued his last order.
1866 - The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was incorporated.
1912 - The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England.
1922 - The Genoa Conference opened. The meeting was used to discuss the reconstruction of Europe after World War I.
1941 - In World War II, U.S. troops occupied Greenland to prevent Nazi infiltration.
1945 - German Me 262 jet fighters shot down ten U.S. bombers near Berlin.
1960 - The U.S. Senate passed the Civil Rights Bill.
1963 - 129 people died when the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher failed to surface off Cape Cod, MA.
1968 - U.S. President Johnson replaced General Westmoreland with General Creighton Abrams in Vietnam.
1972 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union joined with 70 other nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.
1994 - NATO warplanes launched air strikes for the first time on Serb forces that were advancing on the Bosnian Muslim town of Gordazde. The area had been declared a U.N. safe area.
2002 - Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the U.S. Senate as a representative of the Israeli government. He warned that suicide bombers would spread to the U.S. if Israel was not allowed to finish its military offensive in the West Bank. Netanyaho also cited the goals of dismantling the terror regime and expelling Arafat from the region, ridding the Palestinian territories of terrorist weapons and establishing "physical barriers" to protect Israelis from future Palestinian attacks.

ISIS Is Just Miles Away From Assad's Presidential Palace In Damascus
Zero Hedge - ISIS, in possible cooperation with rival al-Nusra, has taken control of a strategic Syrian refugee camp in Damascus just miles from Bashar al-Assad's Presidential palace, prompting Palestinian militimen to rethink their allegiances and plunging the camp — where 18,000 people are trapped — into what the UN Secretary General calls "the darkest circle of hell."

Pakistani lawmakers vote to stay out of Yemen conflict
(AP) - Pakistan's parliament on Friday decided not to join the Saudi-led coalition targeting Shiite rebels in Yemen, with lawmakers adopting a resolution that calls on the warring parties in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country to resolve the conflict through peaceful dialogue.

Military boost: US to urge Canada to upgrade Arctic missile sensors
RT - The US military is planning to ask the Canadian government to upgrade missile sensors in the Arctic, in order to improve detection of different types of missiles, according to a senior US defense official. The upgrade requests for the Canada-US North Warning System and DEW Line – the distant early warning line – are being directed at the Canadian government and the US policy leaders, Admiral William Gortney, the head of the Canada-US NORAD program and of Northern Command, said at a news conference in Pentagon on Tuesday.

Iran's Khamenei accuses Saudi Arabia of genocide over Yemen airstrikes
RT - Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has attacked the air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen, saying the operation which has caused civilian deaths amounts to genocide. "The aggression by Saudi Arabia against Yemen and its innocent people was a mistake," Khamenei said in a speech on Iranian TV. "This is a crime and genocide that can be prosecuted in the international courts."

Six Things You Didn’t Know the U.S. and Its Allies Did to Iran
The Intercept - It’s hard for some Americans to understand why the Obama administration is so determined to come to an agreement with Iran on its nuclear capability, given that huge Iranian rallies are constantly chanting “Death to America!” I know the chanting makes me unhappy, since I’m part of America, and I strongly oppose me dying. But if you know our actual history with Iran, you can kind of see where they’re coming from.

US-Backed ''TechCamp'' Color Revolution Revealed By Ukraine Official
Brandon Turbeville - As NATO-backed protests were beginning to take off in Ukraine after then-president Viktor Yanukovich agreed to accept a financial deal with Russia as opposed to the greater integration/austerity package proposed by the European Union, evidence of US involvement in the Euromaidan color revolution began to surface in the Ukrainian Rada. Indeed, early on, there were individuals in the Ukrainian government who recognized that there was an international and NATO-centered plot at work in their country designed to overthrow the President and other elected officials using “swarming adolescents” and other more violent elements of protest and destabilization.

Anonymous Posts List of ISIL Websites and the US, UK Firms That Host Them
Sputnik News - The hacktivist collective Anonymous has published a list of websites used by the self-proclaimed Islamic State for propaganda and recruitment along with the companies - many based in the US and Europe - hosting them, in an effort to push for their removal. This is the latest in a string of recent actions dubbed #OpISIS, in which the hackers — in particular an Anonymous faction known as GhostSec — have taken aim at the online resources of the internet-savvy Islamic State propagandists.

Russia Offers Indonesia Mutual Transactions in National Currencies
Sputnik News - Earlier on Thursday, the 10th Session of the Indonesia-Russia Joint Commission on Trade-Economic and Technical Cooperation started in the city of Kazan in the southeastern part of European Russia. “We [Russia] expect active support in the transition to the use of national currencies in our trade relations with [a number of countries] and Indonesia, too" Denis Manturov, Russia's minister of industry and trade, told his Indonesian interlocutor, Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil during the session. Russia has already discussed this initiative with India, China, Vietnam and Thailand, Manturov added.

Italy's Eurosceptics Get 100,000 Signatures for Referendum to Exit Eurozone
Sputnik News - Italy collected more than 100,000 signatures as it prepares a referendum on withdrawal from the Eurozone.... We are hopeful that such a referendum will take place as early as the beginning of 2016,” said Carlo Sybil, a representative of Italy's largest opposition "Movement 5 Stars", RIA Novosti reported.... “A lot of socio-economic issues that we raised in the Italian Parliament could not be solved due to the fact that the Eurozone countries cannot implement its own economic, fiscal and monetary policy. As a result, we have a situation in which a number of EU countries may repeat the fate of Greece. In Italy today there are similar progressions and the situation continues to deteriorate."

Netherlands Publishes Documents on MH17 Crash in East Ukraine says Reports
Sputnik News - The Netherlands has published over 500 documents linked to the July 2014 MH17 flight crash in eastern Ukraine following a freedom of information request filed by several news outlets, the Dutch NL Times reported. The documents were released after Dutch NOS, RTL Nieuws and Volkskrant appealed to the government, citing the Freedom of Information Act. However, some 150 of the requested documents remained classified. The 575 documents mostly consist of emails of the National Crisis Core Team, established shortly after the catastrophe.

Ebola Positive US Citizen Discharged From Maryland Health Facility - NIH
Sputnik News - The Ebola positive US healthcare worker who was treated at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in the US state of Maryland has been discharged and is no longer contagious, the NIH announced in a statement. “The American healthcare worker admitted to the NIH Clinical Center on March 13 with Ebola virus disease was discharged today in good condition after having been successfully treated at the NIH Clinical Center Special Clinical Studies Unit,” the statement read on Thursday. “The individual is no longer contagious to the community. At the request of the patient, no further information is being provided.”

Sheriff Orders Immediate Internal Investigation Into Arrest Seen on "Disturbing" Video
CBS News - San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon ordered an immediate internal investigation Thursday into an arrest by deputies after a horse pursuit caught on camera by NewsChopper4. Deputies appeared to use Tasers to stun a man and then beat him after the pursuit in San Bernardino County Thursday afternoon.... In the two minutes after the man was stunned with a Taser, it appeared deputies kicked him 17 times, punched him 37 times and struck him with batons four times.

Illegal Immigrants in US Army is 'Trojan Horse' in Town - Advocacy Group
Sputnik News - In September, the US Army announced it would expand the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program to encourage immigrants with certain language and medical skills to serve in exchange for fast-tracking their US citizenship. However, William Gheen, the president of for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC), was not too impressed about the decision.... “Taking illegal immigrants that have broken into our country and training them in advanced military tactics and weaponry is as dangerous an idea as allowing a Trojan Horse into your city."

Montana Legislature Passes Bill to Limit Federal Militarization of Local Police
Activist Post - A bill that would heavily diminish the effect of federal surplus equipment programs that militarize local police was given final approval by the Montana House today. The vote was 79-20. Introduced by Rep. Nicholas Schwaderer (R-Superior), House Bill 330 (HB330) bans state or local law enforcement agencies from receiving drones that are armored, weaponized, or both; aircraft that are combat configured or combat coded; grenades or similar explosives and grenade launchers; silencers; and “militarized armored vehicles” from federal military surplus programs.

Minneapolis police records shed light on 2014 military training
Daily Planet - In August of 2014, military helicopters flew low over residential neighborhoods of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, engaged in a series of night-time training exercises. The exercises involved the Naval Warfare Development Group - a "special forces" component of the U.S. Navy - and were aimed at enhancing urban combat tactics. Just as they had two years earlier, military personnel had come to the Twin Cities to conduct counter-terrorism training operations in an urban environment. And just as before, those operations commenced with little advance notice to the public.

Conspiracy Theorist Arrested After Calling Sandy Hook Shooting “Fake”
Paul Joseph Watson - 30-year-old Timothy Rogalski called the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Tuesday morning and left four messages on the school’s answering machine before speaking to an administrative assistant. Using his father’s name, Rogalski said he wanted to enroll a child in the school but wanted to make sure no more “fake” shootings would occur. After calling two other schools in Newtown, police traced the number back to Rogalski and arrested him at his home.

James Holmes Colorado theater shooting case costs $2.2M before trial expected to start April 27
KRDO News - Documents show taxpayer costs for the Colorado theater shooting case have risen to more than $2.2 million before the trial has even started, and that doesn't include legal costs for defendant James Holmes.
* Related: Multiple Shooters Alleged in Aurora Theater Massacre

Reid Changes Story… ‘Big Metal Hook’ in the Wall?
Breitbart - Reid’s latest version of the incident, as told to Ramos, differs from previous versions advanced by his team in another very significant way.... As Breitbart News reported previously, that version of the story, almost certainly told to Politico by Reid’s staffers with his approval, is not credible. Now, however, Reid tells Ramos a different story. The exercise band was not attached to the shower door in his bathroom, Reid says, but was instead attached to “a big metal hook that came out from the wall” in an unspecified room in his new Nevada home.

Swat Team Goes After Shoplifter Who Stole $8.50 Worth Of Goods
Blacklisted News - It was about $8.00 worth of groceries, but it cost police 7 hours and a lot of resources. SWAT teams, a mandatory evacuation and a scissor lift–Baltimore County police pulling out all the stops to arrest a shoplifter who lodged herself above the highest walls of the Giant store in Arbutus.

Hillary Clinton to launch presidential campaign on Sunday en route to Iowa says source
The Guardian - Hillary Clinton is planning to officially launch her US presidential campaign on Sunday while en route to Iowa, a source familiar with the campaign has confirmed to the Guardian. The former secretary of state is scheduled to declare her second run for president on Twitter at noon eastern time on Sunday, the source told the Guardian, followed by a video and email announcement, then a series of conference calls mapping out a blitzkrieg tour beginning in Iowa and looking ahead to more early primary states. Clinton’s Sunday schedule is booked beginning with takeoff from New York to Iowa, where speculation has centered for weeks that Clinton was focusing attention for an April campaign launch. 

Wall Street's Biggest Banks May Have To Make Good On $26 Billion In Oil Hedges
Zero Hedge - "The fair value of hedges held by 57 U.S. companies in the Bloomberg Intelligence North America Independent Explorers and Producers index rose to $26 billion as of Dec. 31, a fivefold increase from the end of September," Bloomberg writes, noting that the very same Wall Street banks on the hook for the hedges also financed the shale boom.

New Study Links Pennsylvania’s Fracking Boom To Increased Radioactive Gas In Homes
ThinkProgress - Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health asserted that levels of radon — a odorless, carcinogenic, radioactive gas — have been on the rise in Pennsylvania homes since 2004, around the same time the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) began rapidly increasing the number of permits it issued for unconventional gas drilling. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the world after smoking, according to the the Environmental Protection Agency. Approximately 40 percent of Pennsylvania homes are believed to have radon levels above the recommended limits, according to the state DEP.

Thursday - April 9, 2015 - Today in History:

1682 - Robert La Salle claimed the lower Mississippi River and all lands that touch it for France.
1770 - Captain James Cook discovered Botany Bay on the Australian continent.
1833 - Peterborough, NH, opened the first municipally supported public library in the United States.
1865 - At Appomattox Court House, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of Wilmer McClean's home. Grant allowed Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permitted soldiers to keep their horses and mules. Though there were still Confederate armies in the field, the war was officially over. The four years of fighting had killed 360,000 Union troops and 260,000 Confederate troops.
1867 - The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty with Russia that purchased the territory of Alaska by one vote.
1905 - The first aerial ferry bridge went into operation in Duluth, MN.
1912 - The first exhibition baseball game was held at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was between Red Sox and Harvard.
1913 - The Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field opened.
1940 - Germany invaded Norway and Denmark.
1942 - In the Battle of Bataan, American and Filipino forces were overwhelmed by the Japanese Army.
1957 - The Suez Canal was cleared for all shipping.
1959 - NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts.
1963 - Winston Churchill became the first honorary U.S. citizen.
1965 - The Houston Astrodome held its first baseball game.
1967 - The first Boeing 737 was rolled out for use.
1968 - Murdered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was buried.
1976 - The U.S. and Russia agreed on the size of nuclear tests for peaceful use.
1983 - The space shuttle Challenger concluded it first flight.
1988 - The U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Panama.
1998 - The National Prisoner of War Museum opened in Andersonville, GA, at the site of an infamous Civil War camp.
1998 - More than 150 Muslims died in stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on last day of the haj pilgrimage.
2003 - Jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad.

President Rouhani: Iran won't sign final nuclear deal unless all sanctions lifted
RT - Iranian President said Tehran won’t sign a final nuclear deal unless economic sanctions against the country are lifted first. The comments contradict Washington’s statement that sanctions would be lifted gradually, subject to Iran compliance. "We will not sign any deal unless all sanctions are lifted on the same day ... We want a win-win deal for all parties involved in the nuclear talks," Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday.

Islamic State Loses Control of Three Large Iraq Oil Fields says Reports
Sputnik News - The Islamic State militant group has lost control of three large oil fields in Iraq that helped the group finance their operations, German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung reported Thursday citing the German Federal Intelligence Service. According to the newspaper, the ISIL currently controls only the Qayara oil field outside Mosul. The oil field has the output capacity of 2,000 barrels per day, which amounts to around 5 percent of the total oil production, previously available to the ISIL, according to Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Iran Enters Hornets Nest: Parks Two Warships Off Yemen Coast Immediately Next To Two US Aircraft Carriers
Zero Hedge - The 34th fleet of the Iranian Navy has left for the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait in line with the country’s policy of safeguarding naval routes for vessels in the region. The flotilla, which comprises the Bushehr logistic vessel and Alborz destroyer, left Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Wednesday, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on the sidelines of a ceremony to deploy the fleet. And now the punchline: the two Iran warships will now be located in the immediate vicinity of not only two US aircraft carriers, CVN-71 Teddy Roosevelt and CVN-70 Vinson, but well as the big-deck amphibious warship Iwo Jima which as reported before is providing marine support should the situation demand it.

Red Cross: Saudis Still Blocking Our Aid, Yemen Crisis Worsening; Washington Increases US Bombs, Ammo Going to Saudi Tyrant
Blacklisted News - Openly US-coordinated-and-assisted terrorist attacks by Saudi dictator Salman Abdulaziz have killed hundreds of civilians in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, over the past two weeks. The Red Cross continues to try to get Abdulaziz to stop blocking humanitarian aid from entering the country, saying the situation for civilians is catastrophic and getting worse. Instead of allowing aid, Abdulaziz increased his attack by firing explosives into Yemeni cities from naval vessels, in addition to his airstrikes.

Vietnam Shuns US, Joins Russia-Led Economic Union
Zero Hedge - With many of the world's nations drawing closer to the China-led AIIB, and The Greeks in Moscow today, the news that Vietnam has agreed all of the principle aspects in creating a free trade zone between the countries of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, will likely come as yet another blow to Washington.

Tsipras: Greece will seek to mend ties between Russia & EU through European institutions
RT - Greece will use its presence in various European institutions to promote dialogue between Russia and EU countries, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras said after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Dialogue on a range of European issues, including security in the region, is not possible without Russia, Tsipras added.... Speaking after the meeting with Tsipras, Putin also stressed that Athens has not formally asked Moscow for financial help to pay off its debt.

Former CIA station chief will face murder charges over drone strike, Pakistan court rules
The Guardian - The former head of the CIA in Pakistan should be tried for murder and waging war against the country, a high court judge ruled on Tuesday. Criminal charges against Jonathan Banks, the former CIA station chief in Islamabad, were ordered in relation to a December 2009 attack by a US drone which reportedly killed at least three people. Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad high court also ruled charges should be brought against John A Rizzo, formerly the top CIA lawyer who gave the legal green light for drone strikes.

"Odious Debt" Has Finally Arrived: Greece To Write Off "Illegal" Debt
Zero Hedge - It was back in June 2011 when we first hinted that the time of Odious Debt is rapidly approaching. Today, nearly four years later, Odious Debt is now a reality in Greece, where Zoi Konstantopoulou, the head of the Greek parliament and a SYRIZA member, released two videos which have promptly gone viral, designed to promote the investigative parliamentary committee to look into the circumstances surrounding the signing of the country’s two bailout agreements that led Greece to implement its austerity measures. According to Greek Reporter, Konstantopoulou has said that the newly established “Debt Truth Committee,” will investigate how much of the debt is “illegal” with a view to writing it off.

TEPCO may evaporate contaminated Fukushima water
RT - Tainted water from Fukushima nuclear plant storage may be evaporated or stored underground instead of following earlier plans to release it into the ocean.... Chief decommissioning officer Naohiro Masuda, told Reuters he did not know when a final decision about evaporation would be made.

Monsanto Admits Paying for GMO Farmer’s Legal Defense in Australia Court Case
Sustainable Pulse - In what can only be described as a public relations disaster for Monsanto, the company has been forced to admit Wednesday that it financially supported the legal defense of the farmer who contaminated Steve Marsh’s farm in Western Australia. The GMO contamination of Steve Marsh’s organic farm has received worldwide attention over the past few months.

Hillary Clinton found at the rotten center of the Common Core national standards initiative
EAG News - A veteran educator says parents can thank Hillary Clinton for the Common Core national standards that have been thrust upon schools across the country. Even though most people probably believe that Common Core was developed during President Barack Obama’s term in office, the foundation of the initiative goes all the way back to the 1980s, reports veteran educator and now-commentator Donna Garner.

Cops trained to justify use of deadly force – former US Marshal
RT - Retired Chief Deputy US Marshal Matthew Fogg, who served as a law enforcement officer for 32 years, spoke with RT’s Ben Swann about the recent spate of officer-involved shootings in which police killed unarmed suspects and claimed they feared for their safety or for the safety of others. He said the officers’ training is to blame. “The training says that, whenever you use deadly force, you have to be able to justify it. So to justify it, you have to say either I feared for the safety of myself or the safety of the public, and that this person was an extreme danger to either party,” Fogg said.

"Boston Bomber" Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Found Guilty, Eligible For Death Penalty
Zero Hedge - As was largely expected, after 11 hours of deliberations by the jury, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted moments ago of killing four people and injuring 264 in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. While the guilty counts are still being read (the full list of 30 is presented below), he has already been found guilty of counts 1-10 all of which carry the death penalty. Next up: the jury must decide if he gets the death penalty. A CBS live feed below

Nephew of JFK: Vaccines are a “Holocaust”
Paul Joseph Watson - Robert Kennedy Jr., the nephew of JFK, caused controversy before the introduction of a bill that would mandate vaccines for children in California when he asserted that the number of kids developing autism after receiving shots represented a “holocaust” for America. The legislation, which would ban exemptions on vaccines, got its first hearing today in front of the California Senate health committee. The new law would prevent parents from citing personal beliefs or religious reasons to avoid getting their children vaccinated. Opposing the legislation, Kennedy highlighted the alleged link between vaccines and autism.

Rand Paul Hits Hillary: ‘Going to Be a Whole Wrath’ of New Questions on Email, Clinton Foundation Scandals
Breitbart - Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is firing away at Democratic Party likely 2016 frontrunner former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton right after announcing his presidential campaign, telling Breitbart News in an exclusive interview—one of just a handful he’s done since announcing—that he expects a “wrath” of new questions to unfurl upon her about the Clinton Foundation and her email scandal before long.

In Chicago, Reports of Voters Receiving Ballots Already Marked for Emanuel
In These Times - Around 10:30 this morning, Sam Dreessen, a 26-year-old unemployed DePaul University graduate (and former In These Times intern) who’s been voting in Chicago since 2006, walked into his polling place at Kozminski Community Academy on 54th and Drexel, a mostly black neighborhood in the city’s 5th Ward. He approached the election judge at the table and, like thousands of Chicagoans on this mayoral election day, received a paper ballot and a felt-tip pen. But, he says, one of the two blanks—the one you fill in to vote for Mayor Rahm Emanuel—was already filled in.

Army Seeks to Identify Troops, Veterans Exposed to Chemical Weapons
Military.com - The Army is reaching out to specific units that service officials believe could have been exposed to chemical warfare agents as the Army tries to ensure troops across all four services receive the right medical support – in some cases, years after the exposure might have occurred. Soldiers who served in Iraq with the Army's 702nd, 756th or 710th Explosive Ordnance Disposal companies, or with "Bushmaster Company," 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, will likely hear from the Army in its search for soldiers who may have been exposed to chemical warfare agents. (Repeat article for more exposure).

19 Signs That American Families Are Being Economically Destroyed
Economic Collapse - The systematic destruction of the American way of life is happening all around us, and yet most people have no idea what is happening. Once upon a time in America, if you were responsible and hard working you could get a good paying job that could support a middle class lifestyle for an entire family even if you only had a high school education. Things weren’t perfect, but generally almost everyone in the entire country was able to take care of themselves without government assistance.

Bloomberg Gives $30M to Shut 50% of Coal Plants by 2017
CNS News - At a press briefing at the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat, announced that he is contributing $30 million to the Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign, which is designed to shut down the nation’s coal plants. The $30 million is in addition to the $50 million Bloomberg already gave to the campaign, which has also changed its initial goal of shutting down 1/3 of the country’s coal plants by 2020 to shuttering 50 percent of the plants by 2017.

Fiorina Slams Liberals: Human Beings Are More Important Than Fish
Breitbart - Potential 2016 presidential candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina recently penned an op-ed in Time in which she chastises liberal environmentalists for making a species of fish a priority over human beings, resulting in billions of gallons of precious fresh water released to the Pacific Ocean--water that could have been used to help California during it's fourth year of a devastating drought.

Debunked: CNN’s Never Ending Story Of Glacier Retreat
Breitbart - The glaciers are disappearing. Again. At least according to CNN they are. The slew of evidence presented in support of this disaster includes citing a single scientist and the author visiting a location where the glaciers happen to be in retreat. Neither is a particularly convincing line of evidence. For starters, the cited authority is one Atsumu Ohmura. He claims that not only are “95%” of Earth’s glaciers in retreat but that they are retreating “20 times faster” than they did before human influences became visible. Is such certainty over hysterical claims justified by “the consensus”? No.

Some US made Jerky Treats linked to Sick Pets
Susan Thixton - The madness continues – some U.S. manufactured jerky treats are now being linked to acquired Fanconi disease in dogs – the same kidney disease linked to Chinese manufactured jerky treats. Veterinary Information Network (VIN) released a story stating that the FDA has confirmed the agency “is aware of complaints related to USA made products”. FDA is stating that some of the reported US manufactured jerky treats contain ingredients “from outside of the US”.
 

Wednesday - April 8, 2015 - Today in History:

1789 - The U.S. House of Representatives held its first meeting.
1832 - About 300 American troops of the 6th Infantry left Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, to confront the Sauk Indians in the Black Hawk War.
1864 - The U.S. Senate passed the 13th Amendment (S.J. Res. 16) by a vote of 38 to 6.
1913 - The Seventeenth amendment was ratified, requiring direct election of senators.
1947 - The first illustrated insurance policy was issued by the Allstate Insurance Company.
1952 - U.S. President Truman seized steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.
1953 - The bones of Sitting Bull were moved from North Dakota to South Dakota.
1962 - Bay of Pigs invaders got thirty years imprisonment in Cuba.
1994 - Smoking was banned in the Pentagon and all U.S. military bases.
1998 - The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. presented new evidence in an appeal for new federal investigation of the assassination of her husband.
2000 - 19 U.S. troops were killed when a Marine V22 Osprey crashed during a training mission in Arizona.
2005 - World leaders joined pilgrims and prelates in St. Peter's Square for the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
2009 - Somali pirates hijacked the U.S. flagged Maersk Alabama. (The crew retook the cargo ship, and Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ship's American captain.)
2011 - Congressional and White House negotiators struck a last-minute budget deal ahead of a midnight deadline, averting a federal shutdown and cutting billions in spending.

The Iran Nuclear Energy Agreement: Force Again Prevails Over Law
Paul Craig Roberts - The Israel Lobby and its associated neocon war criminals will block if they can the nuclear energy agreement, worked out by Putin, Iran, and Obama, which has the promise of bringing to an end the US orchestrated crisis over Iran’s development of nuclear energy. As a signatory to the nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty, which Israel is not, Iran has the right under the treaty to develop nuclear energy. Iran, alone of all the signatories to the treaty, has had its rights under the treaty cancelled by economic sanctions imposed by the US and by the threat of a US military attack.

Blaming Russia for Everything Becomes New Sport - Kremlin Spokesperson
Sputnik News - On Tuesday night, CNN cited a source that claimed Russia had hacked the White House’s computers, saying those to blame “worked for the Russian government.” “In regard to CNN’s sources, I don’t know who their sources are. We know that blaming everything on Russia has already turned into some sort of sport. But what’s most important is that they aren’t looking for any submarines in the Potomac River like has been seen in other countries,” Peskov said.

Moldova Looks for Missing $1 Bln
Sputnik News - Anti-corruption prosecutors and US auditors are looking for clues about the mysterious loss of $1 billion in a scandal that threatens to destabilize the banking system of Europe’s poorest country. The loss of a billion dollars is no joke and comes as a major embarrassment for a country of just 3.5 million people on track for EU membership, Agence France-Presse reported from Chisinau. The case of the vanishing billion came to light when the Central Bank of Moldova discovered that three banks had given out loans worth a total of $1 billion, or 15 percent of the nation’s GDP.

VIDEO: Authorities: Plane distress call 'emergency, emergency'
CNN - French authorities say the last words in a distress call from Germanwings Flight 9525 were "emergency, emergency."

VIDEO: Germanwings A320 Plane Crash Site in French Alps Aerial Video
Published on Mar 24, 2015 - A Germanwings airliner carrying 144 passengers and six crew has crashed in the French Alps. France's transport minister says there are no survivors.

Jamaluddin Jarjis, 5 others dead in Semenyih chopper crash
Malaysia Insider - Rompin MP and former minister Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis was among six people who were killed in a helicopter crash at Jalan Sungai Lalang, Kampung Pasir Baru in Semenyih. The Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told Star Online that Jamaluddin was on board the ill-fated helicopter.

US Accelerating Arms Shipments to Saudi Offensive in Yemen as Casualties Mount
Sputnik News - The United States is fast tracking the sale and delivery of arms to the Saudi Arabian-led coalition that has been bombing rebel Houthi positions in Yemen, government officials said Tuesday. The United States will also step up the provision of intelligence to the coalition, which began airstrikes against the Shia Houthi rebels on March 25.

Iran’s recognition of Israel can’t be part of nuclear deal – Obama snubs Netanyahu
RT - US President Barack Obama has turned down calls by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make Iran’s recognition of the state of Israel a part of a deal on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.... The US president reminded that “there are a whole host of countries in the Middle East that don't yet recognize Israel.” “But the most important thing for Israelis is to know that they can defend themselves, and that they have America – the world's most powerful country – there to protect them alongside their military and their intelligence operations,” he said.

Here is what you need to know about Putin's meeting with Tsipras
RT - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Greece could ask Moscow to bankroll a bailout, Gazprom could agree to a gas discount, or the two sides could talk about how to sidestep EU sanctions. The new 40-year-old leader of one of the world’s most indebted countries with meet with Putin on Wednesday, just one day before the country is due to repay €463.1 million to the International Monetary Fund.

US aerospace command moving comms gear back to Cold War bunker
(AFP) - The US military command that scans North America's skies for enemy missiles and aircraft plans to move its communications gear to a Cold War-era mountain bunker, officers said. The shift to the Cheyenne Mountain base in Colorado is designed to safeguard the command's sensitive sensors and servers from a potential electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, military officers said.... Admiral William Gortney, head of NORAD and Northern Command, said that "because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain's built, it's EMP-hardened."

After Day 1, no verdict yet in Boston Marathon case
Washington Post - A federal jury on Tuesday failed to reach a verdict in the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, but was scheduled to resume deliberations on Wednesday morning. U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. sent jurors home after they spent about seven hours deliberating. The judge indicated the jury had provided him with two notes with questions but he did not provide additional details.

DHS Secretary to Meet Chinese Counterparts in Beijing April 8-10
Sputnik News - US Department of Homeland Security announced that US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will participate in a homeland security ministerial meetings in China this week to discuss security-related issues, including counterterrorism and cybersecurity.

Senator Feinstein Pushes for The Anarchist Cookbook to Be Banned from the World Wide Web
Ben Swann - After two New York women, who had been given a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook by an undercover FBI agent, were charged with attempting to use the information found in it to make a bomb and launch a terror attack on the United States, Senator Dianne Feinstein called for a far-reaching ban on the book that would include purging it from the world wide web.

Former Presidents Warn About the “Invisible Government” Running the United States
Daily Sheeple - According to six of our former presidents, one vice-president, and a myriad of other high profile political leaders, an invisible government that is “incredibly evil in intent” has been in control of the U.S. government “ever since the days of Andrew Jackson” (since at least 1836). They “virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both parties… It operates under cover of a self-created screen [and] seizes our executive officers, legislative bodies, schools, courts, newspapers and every agency created for the public protection.”

South Carolina officer charged with murder after shooting man in the back
The Guardian - A white North Charleston police officer in South Carolina has been charged with the murder of a 50-year-old black man on Saturday, marking a remarkably swift move for justice in a fatal police incident. Footage of the shooting, which occurred around 9.30 am after Walter Scott was pulled over for a traffic violation, shows officer Michael Slager firing eight times at Scott, who is running away. Slager initially told police he shot Scott because he feared for his life while the two fought over Slager’s stun gun. After Scott is shot, the video also appears to show the police officer picking an object off the ground and dropping it next to Scott’s body. Scott does not appear in possession of the stun gun at any point in the video.

Judge Lightens Convicted Child Rapist’s Sentence, Says He Did Not ‘consciously intend to harm’ 3-year-old
Adan Salazar - Man’s sentence reduced to a mere 10 years… A California judge has reduced a convicted child rapist’s jail term by 15 years, claiming the sentence is too harsh because the man did not “consciously intend to harm” the three-year-old girl he sodomized. Orange County Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly last Friday moved to lighten 20-year-old Santa Anna resident Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto’s 25 year sentence, asserting the jail term violates the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.... The DA’s office says they’re looking at appealing the judge’s ruling.

Family Threatened with Government Force For Building Cardboard Fort in their Own Front Yard
Free Thought Project - An imaginative and young-hearted father is getting a taste of police state USA after he received a threat of extortion from his local government — for building a cardboard fort.... According to Yahoo Parenting, shortly after finishing the construction, which features a centerpiece of a yellow plastic slide, the city of Ogden delivered a warning, signed by code enforcer Gordon Sant. Though not a citation, the official letter noted that Trentelman was in violation for having “waste materials or junk” in his yard. It gave him 14 days to remove the fort or pay a $125 fee; he also had the option of paying $25 to contest it. He considered that at first, but then had a change of heart.

Rand Paul launches 2016 White House bid: ‘We have come to take our country back’ (Video)
Washington Post - "I have a message, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words. We have come to take our country back!" Paul told a crowd at his official campaign launch in Louisville, echoing language he used during his 2010 Senate run. "We have come to take our country back from the special interests that use Washington as their personal piggy bank, the special interests that are more concerned with their personal welfare than the general welfare."

Warmongers Hit Rand Paul With Slander Campaign As He Announces Presidential Run
Steve Watson - The first warning shot has been fired across the bow toward Rand Paul by elitist neocon warmongers today, as the anti-establishment Senator is set to make official his 2016 Presidential run. While Paul will announce he is running for President at 11.30 am EST, an establishment Republican front group is set to plough $1 million into a slanderous advertising campaign designed to depict Paul as ‘dangerous’ and ‘standing with Obama’.

Army Seeks to Identify Troops, Veterans Exposed to Chemical Weapons
Military.com - The Army is reaching out to specific units that service officials believe could have been exposed to chemical warfare agents as the Army tries to ensure troops across all four services receive the right medical support – in some cases, years after the exposure might have occurred. Soldiers who served in Iraq with the Army's 702nd, 756th or 710th Explosive Ordnance Disposal companies, or with "Bushmaster Company," 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, will likely hear from the Army in its search for soldiers who may have been exposed to chemical warfare agents. (Repeat article for more exposure).

21 Days: Treasury Says Debt Has Been Frozen at $18,112,975,000,000
CNS News - According to the Daily Treasury Statement for Friday, April 3, which was published by the U.S. Treasury on Monday, April 6, that portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress closed the day at $18,112,975,000,000—for the 21st day in a row. $18,112,975,000,000 is about $25 million below the current legal debt limit of $18,113,000,080,959.35.

Kansas set to exclude welfare recipients from spending govt aid at pools, movie theaters
RT - Kansas is on the verge of passing a law that would limit how recipients of welfare could spend state assistance. The bill would exclude visits to swimming pools or the purchase of alcohol and tobacco. The bill would also limit daily ATM withdrawals. Both chambers of the Republican-dominated state legislature have approved House Bill 2258. Republican Governor Sam Brownback is expected to sign the bill into law this week. If signed, the law would go into effect on July 1.

VIDEO: Explosion causes massive power outage in D.C., Maryland
WUSA9 News - An equipment failure is to blame for a region-wide power outage that impacted the White House, the Capitol, the University of Maryland and other buildings throughout D.C. and Maryland on Tuesday afternoon, according to an official. D.C. Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokeswoman Robyn Johnson told the Associated Press that the outage affected 8,000 customers in the District. The equipment failure happened at a power switching station in rural Chalres County. The station is owned by Pepco and SMECO. At about 12:30 p.m. one of the ceramic insulators fell to the ground, causing a fire as it hit a 230-thousand volt transmission line during its fall, according to a Pepco spokesperson.

What Drought? California’s Rich Ignoring Water Shortage
Sputnik News - [...] those living in the more affluent parts of the state are not doing their part according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times. In the Beverly Hills area, the paper notes, are “deep green front lawns stretched out and dotted with healthy trees and sculpted foliage,” with the only brown spot a house still under construction. The richer areas of the state use much more water per capita compared to less-wealthy areas — 150 gallons per day compared to 44 gallons in East L.A.... Water restrictions in Beverly Hills, for instance, are still voluntary, although city officials say that may change as the drought continues.

California Water Authorities Using Smart Meter Data as Evidence to Impose Fines
Daily Sheeple - Everywhere people’s houses are being fitted if they already haven’t with smart electric meters and smart water meters. These meters communicate real-time usage data via radio frequency (which comes with its own set of health problems). Essentially, consumption of utilities in your home is being big brother tracked and traced at all times on the smart grid.

Pet Owners Beware: Animal Control Agencies Killing Dogs Over Unpaid Fees
govtslaves - Keep a close eye on your dogs: animal control agencies across the US are hitting pet owners with large fines for small violations – and some are killing the pets of those who can’t afford to pay up… Pet owners and animal rights attorneys say these brutal tactics are all about generating money and unfairly impact low-income families.
 

Tuesday - April 7, 2015 - Today in History:

1712 - A slave revolt broke out in New York City.
1798 - The territory of Mississippi was organized.
1862 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant defeated Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh, TN.
1933 - Prohibition ended in the United States.
1945 - The Japanese battleship Yamato, the world’s largest battleship, was sunk during the battle for Okinawa. The fleet was headed for a suicide mission.
1948 - The United Nations' World Health Organization began operations.
1966 - The U.S. recovered a hydrogen bomb it had lost off the coast of Spain.
1971 - U.S. President Nixon pledged to withdraw 100,000 more men from Vietnam by December.
1980 - The U.S. broke diplomatic relations with Iran and imposed economic sanctions in response to the taking of hostages on November 4, 1979.
1990 - In the U.S., John Poindexter was found guilty of five counts at his Iran-Contra trial. The convictions were later reversed on appeal.
2000 - U.S. President Clinton signed the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000. The bill reversed a Depression-era law and allows senior citizens to earn money without losing Social Security retirement benefits.
2002 - The Roman Catholic archdiocese announced that six priests from the Archdiocese of New York were suspended over allegations of sexual misconduct.
2003 - U.S. troops in more than 100 U.S. armored vehicles rumbled through downtown Baghdad and seized one of Saddam Hussein's opulent palaces.
2006 - The Boeing X-37 conducted its first flight as a test drop at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.
2009 - Vermont became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage.

Saudi Dictator, Killing Hundreds of Civilians with Support from Washington, moves to Gunning Down Domestic Anti-War Protesters
Washington’s Blog - Five points on Saudi Arabia that “US officials and the establishment media are neglecting to talk about”....

Russia Ready to Discuss Gas Discount, New Loan With Greece
Sputnik News - The Russian government is willing to hold talks with Greece on the possible allocation of new loans and a discount on the price of gas, the Kommersant newspaper reports. "We are ready to discuss the issue of providing Greece with a discount on gas: under the contract, its price is tied to the price of oil, which has dropped significantly in recent months. We are also ready to discuss the possibility of issuing new credit to Greece," an anonymous government source told the Russian daily on Tuesday. According to the source, Russian authorities are interested in acquiring certain assets in Greece and that would be the condition for the allocation of additional loans, should the issue be discussed.

British govt warns superbug epidemic could wipe out 80,000
RT - A new generation of superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics could eventually kill tens of thousands of people, with many of the deaths related to illnesses as common as the flu or routine surgery, a new government report warns. Medical professionals are increasingly concerned about new strains of bacteria and viruses that are categorized as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which render obsolete many antibiotics and antiviral medications largely taken for granted today in hospitals and medical facilities worldwide.

Fukushima disaster caused at least 1,232 fatalities last year as radiation death rate accelerates
(NaturalNews) According to the most recent report, deaths in Japan attributable to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster have continued to increase. Last year, the number of deaths increased by 18 percent over the year before.... According to data collected by the Fukushima Prefecture, 2014 saw 1,232 nuclear-related deaths. The two towns with the greatest number of deaths were both near the Fukushima plant: Namie, with 359 dead; and Tomioka, with 291 dead. The term "nuclear-related" means a death that does not result directly from radiation exposure but is caused by a disease later caused by that exposure.

Saudi Arabia seeks Pakistani weapons, soldiers in Yemen conflict
DW - Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Monday that Saudi Arabia had formally asked Pakistan to join the coalition against Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels,... Saudi Arabia is one of Pakistan's biggest financers in the world, and the Pakistani civilian and military leadership have very close ties with the Saudi monarchs. On the other hand, Islamabad's relations with Tehran have been tense for many years. The two countries have border conflicts, and predominantly Shiite Iran is also not very pleased with Pakistan's alleged support to various Sunni militant groups..

ISIS Blows Up Historic Christian Church in Syria on Easter
Breitbart - As Assyrian Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday, militants from the Islamic State blew up the 80-year-old church of the Virgin Mary in Tal Nasri village in the western countryside of Hasaka province, in northeastern Syria… According to reports, ISIS jihadists booby-trapped the church with explosives before detonating it. The Church of the Virgin Mary was originally built in 1934 and is one of three main churches in the Assyrian village of Tal Nasri, which is located to the south of Tal Tamr town that was earlier overrun by ISIS.

China reportedly completes 3 advanced nuclear attack subs
RT - Chinese shipbuilders have completed three advanced nuclear-propelled submarines that can fire the latest vertically launched anti-ship missiles, local media reported…Earlier in February, US Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy said China had surpassed the US in the total number of submarines. “They may not be the same quality, but their submarine forces are growing at a tremendous rate. They now have more diesel and nuclear attack submarines than we have,” the admiral told a House subcommittee. “They are producing some fairly amazing submarines and they are actually deploying them,” he added, explaining the Chinese vessels are being sent on longer missions to regions located further from China.

Afghan Mission accomplished: more heroin for the world
Activist Post - The Guardian reports statistics on opium agriculture in Afghanistan: “…the US counternarcotics mission in Afghanistan stands out: opiate production has climbed steadily over recent years to reach record-high levels last year.” … “In December, the United Nations reported a 60% growth in Afghan land used for opium poppy cultivation since 2011, up to 209,000 hectares…” … “’[A]ffordable deep-well technology turned 200,000 hectares of desert in southwestern Afghanistan into arable land over the past decade,’ the inspector general found, concluding that ‘much of this newly arable land is dedicated to opium cultivation’.”

DHS Seeks Increase in Domestic HUMINT Collection
FAS - The Department of Homeland Security aims to increase its domestic human intelligence collection activity this year, the Department recently told Congress… “DHS is working on increasing its human intelligence-gathering capabilities at home and anticipates increasing its field collector/reporter personnel by 50 percent, from 19 to approximately 30, during the coming year.” “We are also training Intelligence Officers in State and major urban area fusion centers to do intelligence reporting. This will increase the human intelligence capability by additional 50–60 personnel.”

Homeland Security Officials Say They Aren't Building a National Database; They Just Want to Track Everyone's License Plates
AllGov - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is making another run at connecting to a database containing the location of most of the drivers in the United States. DHS is seeking bids from companies that can connect it to a system of nationwide license plate readers. Such information would give the agency a pretty good idea of where most cars, and thus most drivers, are at any given time.

Fraternity in discredited UVA rape story vows legal action against Rolling Stone
Fox News - Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity at the center of the discredited Rolling Stone magazine story about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia, said Monday it plans to pursue "all available legal action" against the magazine… Rolling Stone late Sunday formally retracted the discredited story about the alleged rape at Phi Kappa Psi after an independent review dubbed the article a "journalistic failure." The review, undertaken by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism at Rolling Stone's request, produced a 12,000-word report that documented lapses in standard journalistic procedure at every level of the magazine during the reporting and editing of the story.

Massive Bust Honoring Edward Snowden Appears in New York City
Sputnik News - New York residents awoke to find a mysterious new monument erected in a Brooklyn park on Monday morning, after a group of anonymous artists illegally installed a 100-pound bust of whistleblower Edward Snowden.. Just before dawn, three artists lugged a 4-foot bust through Fort Greene Park. As the sun rose, they mounted the statue atop a pillar which was part of a Revolutionary War memorial… Far from a desecration, the artists see their installment as a way to honor the freedoms which were fought for during the American Revolution.

American Cops Just Killed More People in March than the UK Did in the Entire 20th Century
The Free Thought Project - Just last month, in the 31 days of March, police in the United States killed more people than the UK did in the entire 20th century. In fact, it was twice as many; police in the UK only killed 52 people during that 100 year period. According to the report by ThinkProgess, in March alone, 111 people died during police encounters — 36 more than the previous month. As in the past, numerous incidents were spurred by violent threats from suspects, and two officers were shot in Ferguson during a peaceful protest. However, the deaths follow a national pattern: suspects were mostly people of color, mentally ill, or both.

Army Seeks to Identify Troops, Veterans Exposed to Chemical Weapons
Military.com - The Army is reaching out to specific units that service officials believe could have been exposed to chemical warfare agents as the Army tries to ensure troops across all four services receive the right medical support – in some cases, years after the exposure might have occurred. Soldiers who served in Iraq with the Army's 702nd, 756th or 710th Explosive Ordnance Disposal companies, or with "Bushmaster Company," 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, will likely hear from the Army in its search for soldiers who may have been exposed to chemical warfare agents.

Disaster Is Inevitable When The Two Decade-Old Stock Bubble Bursts
Forbes - The incessant push to inflate our economy and financial markets has created an unprecedented situation in which stocks have been trading at overvalued levels for a record length of time. Nearly every stock market valuation indicator is giving the same reading: stocks are currently at levels that preceded other major historic busts.

America's Poor Spend 60% Of Their Income On Food & Housing Proving CPI Is Meaningless
Zero Hedge - "For many Americans, the rise in food and housing prices is a tough squeeze. That’s because even in an era with low overall inflation low-income Americans spend a disproportionate share of their money on food and housing," WSJ notes, proving that once again, poor people aren't allocating their funds correctly.

Hedge Fund Legend Julian Robertson Warns Of A "Complete Explosion" Unless Fed Contains "Boiling, Bubble" Market
Zero Hedge - According to hedge fund legend Julian Robertson, the Fed must act and hike rates soon because “the economy warrants it and I think [the Fed is] not crazy enough just to let this thing boil over into complete explosion. I am looking at a bubble that is almost sure to pop at some time and I don't know when it's going to happen, but I know it's going to happen. The bigger this bubble gets, the bigger the burst." What happens then: "I don't think it's at all ridiculous to think of a selloff like we saw in 2008."

Oregon governor expands drought declaration
(Reuters) - Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a drought emergency on Monday in three southern and central Oregon counties, expanding upon earlier drought declarations the Democrat made in March, as the state faces record low snowpack levels.... According to Oregon's Water Resources Department, snowpack statewide is at less than 50 percent of its normal level, and a number of lakes and reservoirs are nearly empty, posing threats to endangered fish within the region.

UN Climate Change Official Says "We Should Make Every Effort" To Depopulate The Planet
Steve Watson - Officials within the UN are pushing the notion that the human population should be reduced in order to effectively combat climate change. The long standing notion has been continually pushed by Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).

Fukushima radiation has reached North American shores
Statesman Journal - Seaborne radiation from Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster has reached North America. Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution detected small amounts of cesium-134 and cesium-137 in a sample of seawater taken in February from a dock on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It's the first time radioactivity from the March 2011 triple meltdown has been identified on West Coast shores.

Forget Dams: Let's Store Extra Energy in Rocks on Trains and Underwater Balloons
Motherboard - The problem with renewable energy isn't getting it—it's having it around when we need it… ARES built a test facility in California to prove the concept, and now they’re in the final stages of building a 50 megawatt facility in Nevada, which will come online in 2016. For comparison, this facility alone will add more energy storage than was built across the entire US in 2013 (44.2 megawatts), according to a recent report by US Energy Storage Monitor… ARES is part of a rapidly growing sector—and it’s not the only one. Hydrostor is a Toronto-based startup that also expects to play a big role in grid-scale energy storage.

Monday - April 6, 2015 - Today in History:

1789 - The first U.S. Congress began regular sessions at the Federal Hall in New York City.
1814 - Granted sovereignty in the island of Elba and a pension from the French government, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates at Fountainebleau. He was allowed to keep the title of emperor.
1830 - Joseph Smith and five others organized the Mormon Church in western New York.
1862 - The American Civil War Battle of Shiloh began in Tennessee.
1909 - Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson claimed to be the first men to reach the North Pole.
1917 - The U.S. Congress approved a declaration of war on Germany and entered World War I on the Allied side.
1938 - The United States recognized the German conquest of Austria.
1941 - German forces invaded Greece and Yugoslavia.
1965 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized the use of ground troops in combat operations in Vietnam. 1967 - In South Vietnam, 1,500 Viet Cong attacked Quangtri and freed 200 prisoners.
1983 - The U.S. Veteran's Administration announced it would give free medical care for conditions traceable to radiation exposure to more than 220,000 veterans who participated in nuclear tests from 1945 to 1962.
1985 - William J. Schroeder became the first artificial heart recipient to be discharged from the hospital.
1988 - Mathew Henson was awarded honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Henson had discovered the North Pole with Robert Peary.
1998 - Federal researchers in the U.S. announced that daily tamoxifen pills could cut breast cancer risk among high-risk women.
2011 - Portugal became the third debt-stressed European country to need a bailout as the prime minister announced his country would request international assistance.

As Saudi Dictator Continues US-Coordinated Bombardment, al Qaeda Gains Yemen Foothold
Blacklisted News - Since Saudi dictator and multi-billionaire Salman bin Abdulaziz began coordinating with millionaire US strongman Barack Obama approximately two weeks ago to carry out terrorist attacks against Yemen, the poorest country in the region, over half a thousand people, mostly civilians, have been killed. As the UN announced the body count and massive civilian death and displacement toll, the US began refueling Saudi (US-made) bombers so they could continue uninterrupted.

Oil Wars: British Companies Find Oil Off Falklands; Argentina Threatens Prosecution
Andy Tully - The UK and Argentina marked the 33rd anniversary of the start of their 10-week Falklands War with British energy companies announcing the discovery of oil and gas off the islands and the Argentine Foreign Ministry immediately countering with a threat of prosecution. The energy discovery at the Zebedee well about 200 miles north of the Falklands was announced by Premier Oil Plc. and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd., the first strike in a regional drilling campaign that began last summer. The discovery included an oil reservoir 81 feet deep and a gas basin 55 feet deep.

Greece Confirms April 9 Payback to IMF, Reform Talks to Continue Monday
Sputnik News - Greece is ready to issue the planned payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 9 and to resume policy discussions with the creditors on Monday, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said after a meeting with Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.... Greece's debt to the troika of international creditors, that includes the IMF, the European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB), is estimated to be some $270 billion.

Saudi Arabia rejects all-inclusive arms embargo on Yemen proposed by Russia
RT - Saudi Arabia has rejected Russia’s amendments to a Security Council draft resolution which would see an all-inclusive arms embargo on all parties in the Yemeni conflict, as it continues to spiral out of control with civilian death toll climbing up. “There is little point in putting an embargo on the whole country. It doesn’t make sense to punish everybody else for the behavior of one party that has been the aggressor in this situation,”Saudi Arabia’s representative to the UN Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said after a closed emergency UN Security Council meeting on Saturday.

Russia boosts air defense in face of US Prompt Global Strike capacity
RT - Russia’s active steps in boosting its air and missile defense capabilities are aimed against the potential threat of Prompt Global Strike which US “under certain conditions” might decide to carry out, says Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces’ deputy chief. Russia’s active steps in boosting its air and missile defense capabilities are aimed against the potential threat of Prompt Global Strike which US “under certain conditions” might decide to carry out, says Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces’ deputy chief. In this regard an effective air and missile defense system remains one of Russia’s top priorities, since PGS initiative aims to deliver a precision-guided conventional weapon airstrike within less than one hour after Washington deems the target to be a national security threat.

Iran deal sends ripples through oil market
RT - Oil prices dipped 4 percent on the news oil from Iran, with some of biggest reserves in the world, could flood the already glutted market. As the oil cannot enter the market until sanctions are lifted in June, prices soon rebounded to pre-talk levels… Sanctions on Iranian oil, as well as other products, will in theory be lifted on June 30, the final deadline for the negotiations. Naeem Aslam, Chief Market Analyst at Ava Trade, says the deal could drag the oil price lower after Iran starts adding to the supply glut… Iran has between 20-30 million barrels of crude in storage that could potentially come to market in July 2015, adding to the current global supply glut.

Leader Of Ukraine's Neo-Nazis Appointed As Advisor To Army
Zero Hedge - So while we await to see if Europe's turn to ultra right wing movements accelerates in the coming months, we just learned of a very disturbing development in just as insolvent Ukraine, where moments ago the website of the local Ministry of Defense reported that Dmytro Yarosh, leader of Ukraine's "Right Sector" political party and whose political ideology has been described as nationalist, ultranationalist, neofascist, right-wing, or far right, was just appointed as Advisor to Chief of General Staff.

India to Use Weaponized Drones for Crowd Control
The Daily Sheeple - The evolution of “non-lethal” weapons has been disturbing enough (and actually lethal in many cases), but speculation that this developing arsenal would be attached to drones has generally been met with accusations of fear-mongering. However, the recent announcement that India (a constitutional republic) has now green-lighted drones for controlling “unruly crowds” in its northern capital Lucknow should get any skeptic’s attention… India already has embarked on a troubling range of oppressive measures throughout their society, including another “first” – a biometric national ID program for all of its 1.2 billion residents, of course in response to the standard concerns of fraud and cybercrime, but now covering nearly all human activity.

When Iran “Deal” Falls Apart, The Pentagon Is Ready
Zero Hedge - So as the world awaits the outcome of next Iran “deadline”- the June 30 conclusion of the finalization of the Iran deal – the US is already hedging its bets. According to the WSJ, the Pentagon has “upgraded and tested the largest bunker-buster bomb in the U.S. arsenal, senior U.S. officials said, readying a weapon that could destroy or disable Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear facilities should a nuclear deal fall apart and the White House decide to take military action.”

Are They Arming for Riots Across America? Homeland Stockpiling “Less Lethal Specialty Munitions”
Mac Slavo - Over the course of 9 pages (PDF), the technical requirements call for an arsenal of specialized weaponry for training and deployment against crowds. On top of a wide range of gas and chemical grenades, rubber bullets and other riot rounds, the purchase calls for “controlled noise and light distraction devices,” including flash bangs which set off a 175 dB sound with 6 – 8 million candelas light bursts in 10 milliseconds.

500,000 Illegal Aliens Sign Up for CA Licenses, Escape Deportation
Breitbart - Almost 500,000 illegal aliens have applied for California driver licenses within the first three months of 2015, doubling expectations under the state’s new AB 60 law. AB 60 specialist Carlos Leon assures the DMV is not allowed to share information that would otherwise lead to deportation.... Illegal aliens fearing deportation in the AB 60 driver license process are being reassured that the DMV will not communicate their information to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Man Pulled Over for Window Tint Dies After Police Refuse Him Access to His Inhaler
Free Thought Project - Internal affairs is investigating a death in police custody after 24-year-old Anthony Damone Clark Reed was left dead following a traffic stop. He was pulled over for the victimless “crime” of tinted windows during a personal medical emergency around 9 pm on Monday. The father of Reed, Pastor Kevin Clark, is speaking out and saying that his son’s death was caused by negligence on the part of the Detroit police. The pastor also says that the negligence continued after his death, when they failed to contact the family for over two hours.

New Govt ''Study'': No Link to War and Suicide - Implies Opposite is True!
Activist Post - In yet another example of politicized tainted unreliable junk science, psychology researchers are claiming that a new study suggests that being in the military and being deployed to war has no impact on committing suicide! The researchers claim that a difference between a rate of 18.86 deaths per 100,000 for deployed troops versus 17.78 deaths per 100,000 for non-deployed troops is proof that being deployed is "only slightly higher." And with that researcher, Mark Reger, put out his suggestions with very little evidence. In no time numerous mainstream media organizations jumped on the suggestion and the study was published in JAMA Psychiatry giving this claim new authenticity. Oh, and who is Mark Reger working for? None other than the Department Of Defense National Center for Telehealth and Technology.

Obama's 'Recovery' Freezes Up Again
Breitbart - At least CNBC’s report only lists “bad weather” as the first of several variables… The sputtering U.S. economy created just 126,000 jobs in March as bad weather, weak consumer spending and flailing corporate profits resulted in the worst report since 2012… February’s [job] numbers were revised lower to 264,000 from the initially reported 295,000, while January’s number fell from 239,000 to 201,000…The jobs numbers come as both the economy and corporate profits have been weakening substantially.

VIDEO: Rand Paul Posts 2016 Launch Tease: ‘A Different Kind of Republican Leader’
Breitbart - On Easter Sunday afternoon, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) released a video that first appeared on the Drudge Report teasing his upcoming announcement that he’ll run for the 2016 Republican nomination. Paul is expected to formally announce Tuesday.

VIDEO: Gov Jerry Brown: Californians to Be Heavily Fined for Long Showers
Breitbart - Brown said, “This executive order is done under emergency power. It has the force of law. Very unusual. It’s requiring action and changes in behavior from the Oregon border all the way to the Mexican border. It affects lawns. It affects people’s — how long they stay in the shower. How businesses use water.” Brown said to enforce his order, “Each water district that actually delivers waters — water to homes and businesses, they carry it out. We have a state water board that overseas the relationships with the districts. Hundreds of them. If they don’t comply, people can be fined $500 a day. Districts can go to court to get a cease and desist order.

Brown Not Cutting Oil Industry Water Use because of Tax Collection
Breitbart - Governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order Wednesday implementing California’s first-ever mandatory water restrictions that require cities and towns to cut their water usage by 25 percent over the next nine months. But Brown will not cut oil company water use for fracking because the industry pays over $20 billion in state and local taxes. Brown promised his extreme measures could save up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water, about enough water to fill Lake Oroville. But in an unsurprising gift to one of the state’s highest taxpayers, he exempted the oil industry’s consumption of 2 million gallons of water each day for production and processing of crude oil.
* Related: Californians Outraged As Oil Producers & Frackers Excluded From Emergency Water Restrictions

Californians Point to Big-Ag, Unrestrained Development as Drought Culprits
Common Dreams - The Detroit Free Press editorial board on Sunday reminded readers that "those of us living in the other 49 states won't be exempt from the fallout. California farmers, who provide about half the country's fruits and vegetables, have already lost hundreds of thousands of acres of previously productive farmland. The impact on produce prices at your local grocery store will only intensify if the drought, already reckoned the worst in California's recorded history, persists."

Friday - April 3, 2015 - Today in History:

1776 - George Washington received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard College .
1860 - The first Pony Express riders left St. Joseph, MO and Sacramento, CA. The trip across country took about 10 days. The Pony Express only lasted about a year and a half.
1865 - Union forces occupy Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
1882 - The American outlaw Jesse James was shot in the back and killed by Robert Ford for a $5,000 reward. There was later controversy over whether it was actually Jesse James that had been killed.
1936 - Richard Bruno Hauptmann was executed for the kidnapping and death of the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh.
1942 - The Japanese began their all-out assault on the U.S. and Filipino troops at Bataan.
1946 - Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed in the Philippines.
1948 - U.S. President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan to revive war-torn Europe. It was $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "mountaintop" speech just 24 hours before he was assassinated.
1968 - North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.
1972 - Charlie Chaplin returned to the U.S. after a twenty-year absence.
1985 - The U.S. charged that Israel violated the Geneva Convention by deporting Shiite prisoners.
1996 - An Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.
1996 - Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski was arrested. He pled guilty in January 1998 to five Unabomber attacks in exchange for a life sentence without chance for parole.
1998 - The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time.
2000 - A U.S. federal judge ruled that Microsoft had violated U.S. antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors. Microsoft said that they would appeal the ruling.
2010 - The first Apple iPad was released.

Russia Ready to Sell S-300 Missiles to Iran if Sanctions Fall
Sputnik News - Russia may resume a deal to deliver S-300 surface-to-air defense systems to Iran if only the UN decides to lift its ban on arms sales to Tehran, a leading Russian defense expert said on Friday.

Key Facts to Understand Why Yemen Has Become a Political Flashpoint
Brandon Turbeville - With the recent military operations on the part of the Arab League against the Yemeni Houthi rebels, much has been made of the operation in the mainstream media outlets. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of information provided regarding this act of military aggression is inaccurate, skewed, or an outright falsehood.

BRICS May Create Unbiased Credit Rating Agency
Sputnik News - China’s rating agency Dagong is currently holding talks with economic experts in Russia regarding the creation of a new independent agency, the Russian official said... After sanctions had been imposed on Moscow by the West over Russia’s alleged role in the internal conflict in Ukraine, the Big Three credit rating agencies — Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s – downgraded their rating regarding Russia’s creditworthiness.

Iran nuclear deal: negotiators announce 'framework' agreement
The Guardian - Iran has promised to make drastic cuts to its nuclear programme in return for the gradual lifting of sanctions as part of a historic breakthrough in Lausanne that could end a 13-year nuclear standoff. The “political understanding”, announced on Thursday night in the Swiss city’s technical university, followed 18 months of intensive bargaining, culminating in an eight-day period of near-continuous talks that went on long into the night, and on the last night continued all the way through until dawn.

Chaos In Yemen: Chinese Troops Arrive As US-Armed Rebels Set Sights On Central Bank
Zero Hedge - Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are now in control of the central Crater district in the key Yemeni port city of Aden despite a seventh consecutive day of bombing raids by the Saudi-led coalition which is keen on preventing the city from falling. Aden is the second largest city in the country with a population of some 800,000 and as noted by The Guardian, is “the last major holdout of fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.” Residents have reported the presence of tanks, sniper fire, and patrolling Houthi fighters as the militia moves closer to exerting complete control over the city.
* Related: Houthis Rebels Take Presidential Palace in Yemen

$45 Billion in Tax Dollars Goes Missing in Afghanistan
The Fiscal Times - A new report from the office of John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), revealed that there’s virtually no way to know what happened to a large chunk of money the Defense Department spent in Afghanistan before 2010. The auditors said DOD handed over data only for $21 billion of the total $66 billion it spent rebuilding the war-torn country. But unlike most cases of missing money in Afghanistan (of which there are plenty), the auditors don’t blame this on corruption or waste—but rather on accounting issues.

Greece draws up drachma plans, prepares to miss IMF payment
The Telegraph - Greece is drawing up drastic plans to nationalise the country's banking system and introduce a parallel currency to pay bills unless the eurozone takes steps to defuse the simmering crisis and soften its demands. Sources close to the ruling Syriza party said the government is determined to keep public services running and pay pensions as funds run critically low. It may be forced to take the unprecedented step of missing a payment to the International Monetary Fund next week.

China Targets Dollar, Washington Has Conniptions
Wolf Street - Now even Israel – joined at the hip to the US though the relationship has run into rough waters – has applied to become a founding member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Despite US gyrations to keep them from it, over 40 countries, including bosom buddies Australia, Britain, and Germany, have signed up to join. Japan is still wavering politely. The US government sees the China-dominated AIIB as competition to the US-dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Germanwings co-pilot 'researched suicide methods in days before crash'
The Guardian - Andreas Lubitz, the Germanwings co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed flight 4U9525 last week, did online research into cockpit doors and suicide methods in the days leading up to the crash, according to Düsseldorf prosecutors. As French investigators announced they had found the second black box recorder from the wrecked plane, Ralf Herrenbrück, the German prosecutors’ press spokesman, said the a tablet computer found in the co-pilot’s flat had been analysed. “The browser history had not been deleted, in particular search terms called up using this device in the time from 16 March to 23 March 2015 could be reconstructed,” Thursday’s statement from Herrenbrück said.

What's next in police state America? Why cars equipped with DUI interlock devices of course!
MassPrivateI - If Big Brother has its way, DUI checkpoints and DUI police stops will be a thing of the past. Your car won't start if you've had a drink! The above picture is Nissan's DUI detection concept vehicle that has alcohol sensors on the shift lock and EVERY seat in the car! It also has facial recognition, which monitors how often the driver blinks!... Big Brother also wants everyone to wear alcohol sensors while you're at a bar or restaurant.

A year after firestorm, DHS wants access to license-plate tracking system
Washington Post - The Department of Homeland Security is seeking bids from companies able to provide law enforcement officials with access to a national license-plate tracking system — a year after canceling a similar solicitation over privacy issues. The reversal comes after officials said they had determined they could address concerns raised by civil liberties advocates and lawmakers about the prospect of the department’s gaining widespread access, without warrants, to a system that holds billions of records that reveal drivers’ whereabouts.

Teachers Convicted of Inflating Test Scores For Federal Cash and Promotions: “Up To $5,000 Each In Bonuses”
Mac Slavo - In one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in the U.S., 11 former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students’ scores on standardized exams. The defendants – including teachers, a principal and other administrators – were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system. The educators fed answers to students or erased and changed the answers on tests after they were turned in to secure promotions or up to $5,000 each in bonuses, the court was told.

Book of songs used by U.S. Air Force contains horrifying lyrics about rape, pedophilia and homosexuality
Daily Mail - The unofficial 2012 paperback book was revealed by a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by four sexual-assault victims who want to stop the practice of sexual assault allegations within the military being handled by commanding officers. Former Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Smith, who said she was sexually assaulted by a fellow airman in Iraq, brought forward the songbook and she had filed an administrative complaint over the book in 2012.

If Anyone Doubts That We Are in a Stock Market Bubble, Show Them This Article
Economic Collapse - It would be one thing if stocks were soaring because the U.S. economy as a whole was doing extremely well. But we all know that isn’t true. Instead, what we have been experiencing is clearly artificial market behavior that has nothing to do with economic reality. In other words, we are dealing with an irrational financial bubble, and all irrational financial bubbles eventually burst. And as I wrote about yesterday, the way that stocks have moved so far this year is eerily reminiscent of the way that stocks moved in early 2008. The warning signs are there – if you are willing to look at them.

These States Will Take Your Driver's License for Not Paying Student Loans
Bloomberg - Legislators in two states are trying to repeal laws that let authorities revoke driver’s licenses or professional licenses when people fall severely behind on their student loan payments. The Montana senate is considering a bill, which passed the state's house in March, that would repeal a statute that made it possible for student debtors to lose their occupational and driver’s licenses if they defaulted on their student loans—meaning they had not made payments in at least 270 days. Iowa legislators introduced a similar bill in February, but it stalled in the state senate this month because of a procedural obstacle. The little-known laws exist in at least 22 states and have been on the books in some states since as far back as 1990. Advocates for repealing them say they have real consequences for people who cannot make a dent in their student debt.

US Power Grid Attacked Every 4 Days; Nationwide Blackout More Likely Than We Thought
Off the Grid News - Gannett and USA Today reporters analyzed federal energy records and found that a cyber or physical attack takes place so often – nearly 100 times a year – that government officials and grid experts are growing increasingly concerned that it’s just a matter of time before an attack is successful. The analysis by USA Today and more than 10 Gannett newspapers and TV stations drew from “thousands of pages of government records, federal energy data and a survey of more than 50 electric utilities.”

How Many People Will Have To Migrate Out Of California When All The Water Disappears?
Economic Collapse - The drought in California is getting a lot worse. As you read this, snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada mountains are the lowest that have ever been recorded. That means that there won’t be much water for California farmers and California cities once again this year. To make up the difference in recent years, water has been pumped out of the ground like crazy. In fact, California has been losing more than 12 million acre-feet of groundwater a year since 2011, and wells all over the state are going dry. Once the groundwater is all gone, what are people going to do?

Earthquake Strikes In America’s Heartland
Off the Grid News - The United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed that a 4.0 quake occurred along the New Madrid Seismic Zone near the Arkansas/Missouri state line just before midnight Wednesday night (April 1).... No damage was reported from Wednesday’s quake, which was centered around Steele, Missouri, but news reports indicate it was felt as far away as Carbondale, Illinois — nearly 100 miles to the north. The quake was also felt in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee (the latter of which is about 80 miles to the southeast) and DeSoto County in northern Mississippi, according the USGS.

Monsanto Donates Money to Save the Same Butterflies They’re Killing
Natural Society - The very company that scientists say has directly contributed to a 90% reduction in the monarch butterfly population is now donating to ‘help save the butterflies.’ Monsanto has announced a $4 million donation towards helping ‘fight’ for the monarch butterflies after numerous media organizations have highly publicized the reality that their best-selling herbicide Roundup has helped decimate the declining population (while destroying your health). The total collapse of the monarchs ultimately led to The Fish and Wildlife Service spending 2 million dollars just to help repair the damage.

Thursday - April 2, 2015 - Today in History:

1792 - The U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act to regulate the coins of the United States. The act authorized $10 Eagles, $5 Half Eagles, $2.50 Quarter Eagle gold coins, silver dollars, dollars, quarters, dimes and half-dimes to be minted.
1865 - Confederate President Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, VA.
1877 - The first Egg Roll was held on the grounds of the White House in Washington, DC.
1902 - The first motion picture theatre opened in Los Angeles with the name Electric Theatre.
1914 - The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announced plans to divide the country into 12 districts.
1917 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson presented a declaration of war against Germany to the U.S. Congress.
1932 - A $50,000 ransom was paid for the infant son of Charles and Anna Lindbergh. He child was not returned and was found dead the next month.
1951 - U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower assumed command of all allied forces in the Western Mediterranean area and Europe.
1963 - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King began the first non-violent campaign in Birmingham, AL.
1966 - South Vietnamese troops joined in demonstrations at Hue and Da Nang for an end to military rule.
1990 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein threatened to incinerate half of Israel with chemical weapons if Israel joined a conspiracy against Iraq.
1992 - Mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering. He was later sentenced to life in prison.
1995 - The costliest strike in professional sports history ended when baseball owners agreed to let players play without a contract.
2013 - The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons.
2014 – A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood Army Base near the town of Killeen, Texas, with four people dead, including the gunman, and 16 others sustaining injuries.

Russia Did Not Threaten West With Nukes to Protect Crimea – Kremlin
Sputnik News - Two British newspapers claimed that Russia had intended to use nuclear force to protect Crimea in March 2014 if NATO had moved additional forces to the Baltic States.... "This is a classic example of the continuing hysteria in demonizing our country, that is they are literally twisting the situation around themselves in their information plans, while not even being guided by any fundamental information, then they get scared over what they wrote," Peskov told journalists in Moscow. He added that "such publications shouldn’t be taken seriously."

Iran nuclear talks ‘moving forward’ 2 days after deadline
RT - Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program have entered double overtime as the sides continue talks in Lausanne. Foreign ministers of the P5+1 group hope to hammer out a draft agreement on Thursday.... German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has also stayed in Switzerland, said that Iran was expected to bring forth “new recommendations” on the sticking points for a possible deal, after rollercoaster talks stretched long into the early hours of Thursday.... Steinmeier also said that one of the points will include a “mechanism” for lifting Iranian sanctions, adding that the P5+1 powers had agreed on that.

Air Force Tech Could Have Prevented Germanwings Disaster
Sputnik News - A joint project involving NASA, the US Air Force, and Lockheed Martin has been under development since the 1980s to provide a way for flight control to remotely wrench a plane out of a collision course. The The Automatic Ground-Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) would monitor a plane's trajectory in comparison with the terrain under its flight path. If calculations showed that a crash was imminent, and there is no response from the pilot to correct course, an autopilot system would take over until the plane was back to safety. So far the system has been installed in F-16s — with F-22s and F-35s to follow — and as recently as February, the military reported the first instance of a pilot being "saved" by the system.

Israel Latest US Ally to Join Chinese AIIB
Sputnik News - As the United States continues to beg ally after ally to forgo joining the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), key nations have, nevertheless, ignored that plea. The UK, Turkey, and Australia have already applied, among others. But the latest application might sting the most, as PM Netanyahu tosses Israel’s name into the mix… Meant to provide financing for infrastructure projects throughout Asia – and to fill in loan gaps left by the International Monetary Fund – the bank is expected to significantly increase China’s influence.

Greek FinMin: "Greece Will Adopt the Bitcoin If Eurogroup Doesn't Give Us A Deal"
Zero Hedge - Sources very closed to Greece’s minister of finance told Greek Reporter that today Yanis Varoufakis held a top secret meeting with high-ranking finance ministry officials to prepare them in case negotiations at the upcoming Eurogroup fail. The anonymous source noted that everybody in the room was staring at each other when Varoufakis – also a prominent blogger – said “We ‘ll go to Bitcoin, we will be ahead of all the world economies and although it may be painful in the beginning, Greece’s economy will thrive in the long term.”

Iceland Stuns Banks: Plans To Take Back The Power To Create Money
Zero Hedge - Who knew that the revolution would start with those radical Icelanders? It does, though. One Frosti Sigurjonsson, a lawmaker from the ruling Progress Party, issued a report today that suggests taking the power to create money away from commercial banks, and hand it to the central bank and, ultimately, Parliament. Can’t see commercial banks in the western world be too happy with this.

Mexico Is Arming Itself With U.S. Military Hardware
War Is Boring - In recent years, Mexico has made a major shift in how it equips its military. Instead of largely relying on European nations to sell it weapons — as was the case for decades — Mexico is increasingly turning to the United States. Because there’s a drug war going on … which the U.S. is eager to help bankroll.

Obama Plans ‘Executive Order’ For UN Climate Rules
Reuters - The Obama administration’s plan for U.N. climate change talks encountered swift opposition after its release Tuesday, with Republican leaders warning other countries to “proceed with caution” in negotiations with Washington because any deal could be later undone. The White House is seeking to enshrine its pledge in a global climate agreement to be negotiated Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 in Paris. It calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by close to 28 percent from 2005 levels within a decade, using a host of existing laws and executive actions targeting power plants, vehicles, oil and gas production and buildings. But Republican critics say the administration lacks the political and legal backing to commit the United States to an international agreement.

DHS-Funded Drill Simulates Nuke Attack on US-Mexico Border
Paul Joseph Watson - A Department of Homeland Security funded drill which took place yesterday in New Mexico simulated a nuclear attack on the US-Mexico border and how authorities would deal with thousands of people crossing over from Mexico to escape the catastrophe. The exercise simulated, “an emergency involving the detonation of a weapon of mass destruction near the U.S./Mexico border that causes a mass migration of about 3,000 people,” reported KFOX 14.

U.S. Supreme Court: If You're Being GPS-Tracked, You're Being Searched
(Robinson Meyer) - The Supreme Court clarified and affirmed that law on Monday, when it ruled on Torrey Dale Grady v. North Carolina, before sending the case back to that state’s high court. The Court’s short but unanimous opinions helps make sense of how the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, interacts with the expanding technological powers of the U.S. government.

Hillary Clinton also used iPad for e-mail
USA Today - Hillary Rodham Clinton e-mailed her staff on an iPad as well as a BlackBerry while secretary of state, despite her explanation she exclusively used a personal e-mail address on a homebrew server so that she could carry a single device, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Obama Using Your Tax Dollars to “Resettle” Central Americans in the United States
Kurt Nimmo | By-passing a dangerous border with “resettlement assistance” and permanent residency program. Judicial Watch reports today the Obama administration is offering to move illegal minor aliens from Central America to the U.S. and will provide free transportation. The administration has assigned a new title for Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC). They will be known by a more politically correct name: Central American Minors (CAM). The “program provides certain children in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras with a safe, legal, and orderly alternative to the dangerous journey that some children are undertaking to the United States,” according to a DHS memo obtained by Judicial Watch.

Justice Dept Announces New Rules for Seizing Financial Assets
The Daily Sheeple - If they cannot indict suspected wrongdoers, prosecutors will need to gather more evidence linking the transactions to other illegal crimes and get the approval of a supervisor… In addition to restricting the government’s behavior, the guidelines require prosecutors to return any seized assets in the event that they determine there isn’t enough evidence to prevail against the accused in court. If seized without an indictment, prosecutors have 150 days to file charges or return the money.

Police: Men Who Beat Train Passenger for Mike Brown Not Charged with Hate Crime
Mikael Thalen - Two black males who attacked a white train passenger for refusing to discuss the Mike Brown shooting did not commit a hate crime according to the City of St. Louis. The victim, who has thus far kept his identity private, was approached by the men last Monday and asked about his feelings on the Mike Brown incident. After responding that he was “too tired to think about it,” the train passenger was violently assaulted by two of the young men in the group. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney has since charged one individual, 20-year-old Ronald Williams, with misdemeanor assault for throwing a single punch at the end of the attack.

Federal Hiring of Veterans Keeps Growing and Vet Unemployment Hits 7-Year Low
AllGov - The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has reported that a third of all new hires by federal agencies last year were veterans, a record. Veterans made up 33.2% of new federal workers in fiscal year 2014, up from 31% in fiscal 2013. Both rates were the highest ever, according to OPM… More good news came out last week from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported the national unemployment rate for ex-service personnel in 2014 dropped to its lowest point in six years.

It's Official: Fed Sees 0.0% GDP Growth In The First Quarter
Zero Hedge - The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model forecast for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2015 has been downgraded once again... to 0.0 percent on April 1, down from 2.3 percent on Feb 13th.

The College Debt Bubble Is Collapsing Now: 33% Of All Student Loans Are Delinquent On Repayments
The Daily Sheeple - With all of that job creation being claimed by the Obama administration and disseminated by mainstream media outlets as signs of a sustained recovery you’d think most college graduates would have no trouble keeping up with their bills. But new data released by the Department of Education tell a different story. According to the report as many as 33% of American college grads with student loan debt are now in delinquent status on their repayments.

Drying Up: California Governor Orders Major Water Restrictions
Sputnik News - In an attempt to mitigate water usage during one of the state’s longest droughts in history, California Governor Jerry Brown issued the first statewide mandatory water restrictions, aimed at reducing water usage by 25%... Brown, in his continued efforts to save his state from its crippling drought, signed =emergency legislation that advanced $1 billion in funding for both drought relief and water infrastructure. This bill sequesters voter-approved bonds for water projects and programs for struggling Californian cities.

Authorities in Montco Checking Door-to-Door For Valid Dog Licenses
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — Dog wardens were fanning out across municipalities in Montgomery County this week, checking to make sure dog owners have obtained licenses for their pets. It’s the law in Pennsylvania: all dogs three months or older must be licensed each year. So, dog wardens have been going door-to-door in some communities, making sure the owner’s paperwork is in order. Failure to comply with the law could result in a $300 fine.

What Your Dog Craves Most from You
Dr. Becker - This study may come as a surprise, even if you believe you're doing everything "right." Without exception, when given a choice between their owner and a complete stranger, the person who did this always won the dog's heart and attention. Is your pup getting enough?
 

Wednesday - April 1, 2015 - Today in History:

1621 - The Plymouth, MA, colonists created the first treaty with Native Americans.
1724 - Jonathan Swift published Drapier's letters.
1748 - The ruins of Pompeii were found.
1778 - Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, created the "$" symbol.
1789 - The House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first House Speaker.
1853 - Cincinnati became the first U.S. city to pay fire fighters a regular salary.
1863 - The first wartime conscription law went into effect in the U.S.
1865 - At the Battle of Five Forks in Petersburg, VA, Gen. Robert E. Lee began his final offensive.
1867 - Blacks voted in the municipal election in Tuscumbia, AL.
1938 - The Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, NY.
1939 - The U.S. recognized the Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war.
1941 - The first contract for advertising on a commercial FM radio station began on W71NY in New York City.
1945 - U.S. forces invaded Okinawa during World War II. It was the last campaign of World War II.
1954 - The U.S. Air Force Academy was formed in Colorado.
1960 - France exploded 2 atom bombs in the Sahara Desert.
1970 - The U.S. Army charged Captain Ernest Medina in the My Lai massacre.
1971 - The United Kingdom lifted all restrictions on gold ownership.
1972 - North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops renewed their offensive in South Vietnam.
1973 - Japan allowed its citizens to own gold.
1982 - The U.S. transferred the Canal Zone to Panama.
1987 - U.S. President Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1."
1991 - Iran released British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years.
1991 - The Warsaw Pact was officially dissolved.
1998 - A federal judge dismissed the Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against U.S. President Clinton saying that the claims fell "far short" of being worthy of a trial.
2001 - China began holding 24 crewmembers of a U.S. surveillance plane. The EP-3E U.S. Navy crew had made an emergency landing after an in-flight collision with a Chinese fighter jet. The Chinese pilot was missing and presumed dead. The U.S. crew was released on April 11, 2001.
2003 - North Korea test-fired an anti-ship missile off its west coast.
2004 - President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act which made it a crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman.
2010 - The U.S. Congress cut Medicare reimbursements to physicians by 21%.

Nuclear deal with Iran ‘reached on all key aspects’ – Lavrov
RT - Iran and six major world powers have managed to reach a preliminary agreement on ‘all the key aspects’ of a deal over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, Russia’s FM has announced, adding that the sides have begun drafting the text.... “We can quite certainly say that on all the key aspects of the final settlement of this problem, the ministers have reached principal consent that will be, hopefully in the next hours, maybe a day, put on paper. The experts were tasked with this,” Lavrov told reporters Wednesday. The preliminary agreement will include the verification of mechanisms guaranteeing the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear program and will stipulate the lifting of sanctions, Lavrov added.

Top UK MP Brands Netanyahu War Criminal as Palestine Joins ICC
Sputnik News - Senior British Member of Parliament Sir Bob Russell has branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal, on the day Palestine finally accedes to the International Criminal Court, paving the way for war crimes trials...."Israel cannot go on behaving in the way it has in the last 20 to 30 years. The current leader of Israel [Benjamin Netanyahu] is a war criminal. Any way you look at it, he is a war criminal." He said the Palestinians were the most oppressed people in the world, since their country was "given away" with the approval of the UK.

Video of Germanwings A320 last minutes a hoax?
RT - Screams of “My God,” metallic banging and the cabin jolting to one side - the final moments of the doomed jet were said to have been captured on video, which several newspapers said they watched. However, French prosecutors say it’s a hoax. German Das Bild newspaper and French Paris Match magazine say they managed to watch the video, found among the wreckage, of the final moments of flight 4U9525 before the tragedy. However, the outlets didn’t post the actual video on their websites. The phone memory card managed to survive the collision with the mountain, say the outlets, claiming it was found at the site by the investigators.

World could run out of minable gold in 20 yrs says report
RT - The explored reserves of gold, diamonds and zinc will be enough for 20 years of extraction, according media reports citing a Goldman Sachs research. The explored reserves of platinum, copper and nickel will last for 40 years. “The combination of very low concentrations of metals in the Earth’s crust, and very few high-quality deposits, means some things are truly scarce,” Eugene King, European metals and mining analyst at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a recent research note quoted by Zero Hedge.

Sierra Leone Ebola lockdown exposes hundreds of suspected cases
Yahoo News - A three-day lockdown in Sierra Leone has exposed hundreds of potential new cases of Ebola, aiding efforts to bring to an end an epidemic that has already killed 3,000 people in the country. Officials ordered the country's 6 million residents to stay indoors or face arrest during the period that ended late on Sunday as hundreds of health officials went door-to-door looking for hidden patients and educating residents about the virus.

US lifts Egypt arms ban, sends $1.3 bn in weapons
RT - President Obama has lifted his arms embargo on Egypt, authorizing the deliveries of US weapons valued at over $1.3 billion, suspended after the 2013 military coup. Egyptian forces have been fighting Islamic militants in Yemen and Libya. Among the weapons systems released are twelve F-16 aircraft, 20 “Harpoon” anti-ship missiles, and 125 upgrade kits for US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks in Egyptian service. The “executive hold” on weapons deliveries was imposed after the military overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohamed Morsi in October 2013. Egypt is the second-largest recipient of US military aid in the world.

VIDEO: Jade Helm: Texas Labeled ‘Hostile’ Yet Again by Army
Joe Biggs - Soldiers with the National Guard’s 143rd Airborne invaded the North Texas Regional Airport which was held by “hostiles” as part of an “assault landing exercise.” The airport takeover falls in line with the scenario outlined in the U.S. Army’s upcoming Operation Jade Helm 15.

U.S. Commits $504 Million For Syrian Aid, Leads Pledges At International Conference
Huffington Post - The United States pledged $507 million in humanitarian aid at an international donors' conference for Syria on Tuesday as the United Nations issued an appeal for $8.4 billion in commitments this year — the organization's largest appeal yet for the war-ravaged country.
about the server and email.

VIDEO: Benghazi panel summons Clinton
Washington Examiner - A House panel Tuesday formally requested Hillary Clinton to testify about the private server and email account she used while serving as secretary of state. Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a request to Clinton's personal attorney, David E. Kendall, requesting that Clinton appear before the committee no later than May 1 for a transcribed interview about the server and email. The request comes after Kendall told Gowdy that the server had been wiped clean and that it would be impossible to recover the 30,000 emails Clinton deleted last year.

Major coup for AE911Truth – American Institute of Architects green lights Building 7 vote
Craig McKee - Sometimes it really pays to be persistent. That’s what Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth found out this week when the organization achieved something truly remarkable. It succeeded in getting a commitment from the largest association of architects in the U.S. to debate and vote on a resolution supporting an investigation into the destruction of World Trade Center Building 7 on Sept. 11, 2001. The vote will take place at the annual convention of the American Institute of Architects, May 14-16, in Atlanta, GA.

Government Corruption Has Become Rampant
Zero Hedge - Liberals and conservatives tend to blame our country’s problems on different factors … but they are all connected. The real problem is the malignant, symbiotic relationship between big corporations and big government.

University Requires Students to Apply For “Free Speech Permits”
Kit Daniels - California Polytechnic State University-Pomona is now requiring students who engage in free speech activities on campus to apply for a permit issued weekdays between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The public university recently required student Nicolas Tomas, who was handing out flyers, to not only get a “free speech permit” but to also seek approval from school officials over the content of his hand-outs and to restrict his activity to a campus “free-speech zone.” “Cal Poly Pomona’s campus policies impose a web of restrictions before students can distribute literature on campus: They must check in with the Office of Student Life, allow the school to copy their IDs, and wear badges signed by an administrator,” reported the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, who is helping Tomas sue the school.

Citizens’ Growing Protests against Border Patrol Checkpoints Inside the U.S.
AllGov - Some Americans are refusing to answer questions at Border Patrol checkpoints set up many miles away from U.S. borders, believing the questions posed by Border Patrol agents are unacceptable for law abiding citizens. Many of these protestors are also using their dashboard cameras to record their encounters with agents, some of whom have resorted to breaking windows, dragging motorists from their vehicles and detaining them, according to The Houston Chronicle.

CALPERS Could Owe Obamacare $770 Million in “Cadillac Tax’
Breitbart - California government entities and their unions are panicking because Obamacare’s punitive 40% “Cadillac Tax” beginning in 2018 will directly hit the low-deductible and broad-provider network type of “platinum” healthcare coverage that public employees have enjoyed under the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS). With the Cadillac Tax estimated at $770 million, public employees face a radical change to “narrow networks” and up to 1,000 percent increase in annual healthcare deductibles.

VIDEO: Why Harry Reid’s Home Exercise Accident Story Does Not Add Up
Breitbart - A Breitbart News investigation of the home exercise accident story told by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and “sources familiar with the incident” has uncovered facts which appear to discredit his version of events surrounding a New Year’s Day incident that left him with gruesome injuries to his eye, face and ribs.

Q1 Ratings: CNN’s Far-Left Move Costs MSNBC Nearly Half Its Audience
Breitbart - CNN’s ratings for the first quarter of 2015 are out, and in the bitter fight for last place, CNN’s move to the far-left has resulted in CNN enjoying ratings gains apparently at MSNBC’s expense. Although both CNN and MSNBC are way behind Fox News in every metric, the two left-wing networks appear to be in a fight for the same pool of far-left viewers. Per a press release, during the first quarter, CNN claims to have posted double digit gains when compared to a year ago, while MSNBC lost almost half their audience. Ever since the Jeff Zucker-era began at CNN, the left-leaning network has moved even further left using unrelenting race hoaxes like Ferguson and George Zimmerman, combined with anti-Christian narratives like the one we’re seeing now around the Indiana religious freedom law.

20 Ways to Question Your Reality
The Freedom Articles - To question your reality in the face of propaganda and mass media programming shows great courage, curiosity and open-mindedness. To question your reality in today’s world is a sure sign of sanity. In an ever delusional world where lying newsmen tell fake news, where mendacious politicians spin every event, where mass murder is conducted under the guise of a fake war on terror, where mass-produced food poisons and where medicine kills, it is a sign of great strength of character to challenge the supposed authority figures around you. It is a sign of something pure and special if you can preserve your open mind and curiosity in the midst of so much propaganda. It is a sign of courage to ask the tough questions that mainstream journalists fear to touch. Here are 20 ways to question your reality...

U.S. NERVE GAS HIT OVER 200,000 AMERICAN TROOPS IN IRAQ
Newsweek - During and immediately after the first Gulf War, more than 200,000 of 700,000 U.S. troops sent to Iraq and Kuwait in January 1991 were exposed to nerve gas and other chemical agents. Though aware of this, the Department of Defense and CIA launched a campaign of lies and concocted a cover-up that continues today. A quarter of a century later, the troops nearest the explosions are dying of brain cancer at two to three times the rate of those who were farther away. Others have lung cancer or debilitating chronic diseases, and pain.

IRS ignoring 60 percent of taxpayers’ calls as deadline looms
Washington Times - IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday that service at his agency has gotten so bad that they are ignoring more than 60 percent of taxpayers’ phone calls during this tax season. Speaking at the National Press Club, Mr. Koskinen pleaded with more money, saying a budget boost would help them staff their overwhelmed customer service lines. He also said it would help reverse staffing cuts in their compliance division, where he said the government will lose $2 billion this year in money it would otherwise have been able to collect if it had better staffing.

Stockton Smart Meters Explode After Truck Causes Power Surge
CBS News - A power surge left thousands without power in Stockton on Monday after smart meters on their homes exploded. The explosions started at around 8:30 a.m. after a truck crashed into a utility pole, causing a surge. When the customers in more than 5,000 homes get their power back on will depend on how badly damaged their meters are. Neighbors in the South Stockton area described it as a large pop, a bomb going off, and strong enough to shake a house.

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