FEBRUARY 2016 


Monday - February 29, 2016 - Today in History:

1860 - The first electric tabulating machine was invented by Herman Hollerith.
1904 - In Washington, DC, a seven-man commission was created to hasten the construction of the Panama Canal.
1940 - Hattie McDaniel became the 1st black person to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Mammy in "Gone with the Wind."
1944 - The invasion of the Admiralty Islands began with "Operation Brewer." U.S. General Douglas MacArthur led his forces onto Los Negros.
1944 - Dorothy McElroy Vredenburgh of Alabama became the first woman to be appointed secretary of a national political party. She was appointed to the Democratic National Committee.
1944 - The Office of Defense Transportation, for the second year in a row, restricted attendance at the Kentucky Derby to residents of the Louisville area. This was an effort to prevent a railroad traffic burden during wartime.
1964 - Dawn Fraser got her 36th world record. The Australian swimmer was timed at 58.9 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle in Sydney, Australia.
1972 - Jack Anderson revealed a memo written by ITT's Washington lobbyist, Dita Beard, that connected ITT's funding of part of the Republican National Convention.
2010 - In Japan, the Tokyo Skytree tower was completed as the tallest tower in the world.

Fragile Syria ceasefire enters second day
The Guardian - Syria’s fragile ceasefire has entered its second day with reports of scattered airstrikes and bombings, but overall the slowdown in fighting – regarded as the most successful effort yet to reduce the bloodshed in the five-year civil war – appeared to be holding… The Russian coordinating unit in Syria said there had been nine breaches of the ceasefire, although the partial cessation of hostilities appeared to be broadly intact… “[Saturday] was the first day that people could really go out and walk in the streets,” a Syrian opposition leader told Reuters. The US and Russia are monitoring the ceasefire from separate command centres. The two superpowers are responsible for deciding whether some attacks on either Islamic State (Isis) or the al-Nusra Front, two jihadi organizations excluded from the deal, are permissible. The two groups occupy at least half of Syria, but maps drawn up by the US and Russia do not show exactly the same territories that are excluded from the ceasefire. Both superpowers have accepted there will be contested ceasefire breaches, and the real test of the deal will be whether they can not only agree that a breach has occurred but also prevent a repetition.

Jihadists Are Selling CIA-Supplied Weapons On Facebook
Zero Hedge - Once upon a time, roughly two year ago, the US would vehemently deny that any of its weapons made their way to ISIS, Al Nusra, and the various other jihadist groups operating in the middle east and which the US is, supposedly, targeting for eradication as part of the Syria proxy war. Then, little by little it was revealed that not only is the US not targeting said groups, which led to the Russian bombing campaign unleashed in September, but that it was actively arming them. And nowhere is this more obvious than in a Facebook page called "The first weapons market in the Idleb countryside" which showcases posts with photographs of weapons, claimed to be CIA-supplied, inviting buyers to contact page administrators privately using popular messaging application Whatsapp to discuss sales and transactions. As The Foreign Desk News' Lisa Daftari explains, Jihadists in Syria are using Facebook as a marketplace to buy, sell and barter a wide variety of American-made weapons and munitions ranging from rocket launchers to machine guns.

German Government Admits They Have Lost 130,000 Migrants
Breitbart - Of the 1.1 million migrants who registered as asylum seekers in Germany in 2015, “about 13 per cent did not turn up at the reception centres to which they had been directed,” the government said in a written reply to a question from a lawmaker from the Left Party. The official government admission follows a previous calculation suggesting that the number of missing migrants could be as high as 600,000.... The 1.1 million migrants registered with the German state’s ‘EASY’ system, operated by the German Ministry For Migration and Refugees. It does little more than record an applicant’s arrival and their country of origin.

3 ex-TEPCO execs to be indicted Mon. over Fukushima nuclear disaster
The Mainichi - Three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. will be indicted Monday for allegedly failing to take measures to prevent the tsunami-triggered crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, a lawyer in charge of the case said Friday… Prosecutors decided not to indict the three in September 2013, but the decision was overturned in July 2015 by an independent committee of citizens that mandated the three be charged on the grounds they were able to foresee the risks of a major tsunami prior to the disaster. Source close to the matter said the three will be indicted without being taken into custody. But the trial to look into the criminal responsibility of the then key TEPCO figures is unlikely to start by the end of the year, as preparations to sort out evidence and points of issues apparently require a considerable amount of time, they said.

New York Board Votes to Allow Illegals to Teach, Obtain Professional Licenses
Breitbart - Illegal immigrants may soon be teachers, pharmacists, dentists and other professions that require certification in New York. The state’s Board of Regents has voted to adopt new regulations allowing individuals granted executive amnesty — via President Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — to apply for teacher certification and other professional licenses.... Democrats praised the Board’s decision as an important step to open more opportunities up for illegal immigrants. “These are young people who came to the U.S. as children,” State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said in a statement Wednesday. “They are American in every way but immigration status.”... We shouldn’t close the door on their dreams. Allowing these young people to get professional licenses will open up a new world of economic opportunity for them.”... Democrats praised the Board’s decision as an important step to open more opportunities up for illegal immigrants.... Republicans in the state slammed the move. Hudson Valley state Sen. Terrence Murphy told the New York Post, “Allowing lawbreakers to teach, or practice medicine, says a lot about how backwards our priorities truly are in New York.

Non Santilli support could lead to future arrests for all
The Government Rag - Pete Santilli, 50, Shock Jock host of the Pete Santilli Show, is sitting in jail and being detained on a federal conspiracy charge concerning the alleged takeover of a Harney County Wildlife Refuge. Santilli and 15 others are named in an unsealed indictment, charged with conspiracy to impede feds from working at the refuge a felony. The ACLU (American Civil Liberty Union) issued a statement concerning Santillis unique position and cautions the court that Santillis past broadcast statements should not be used against him.... If the People do not come together to defend the rights of free speech then it can be a dangerous avenue to jail many Americans because the government will get away with piecing together years of words with their current spying technologies and hold anyone of us in jail based on our outspoken words against anything they might feel is a threat.

Kansas Gunman Was a Felon Barred from Gun Ownership
Breitbart - Kansas gunman Cedric Ford, who shot and killed three people and wounded 14 others Thursday, was a felon who was barred from possessing a firearm. He faced 100 percent gun control, and the dead and the wounded now serve as another sad reminder that gun control does not stop or even hinder those with criminal determination.... NBC News reports that Ford “was a felon who previously lived in Miami and was on probation with a series of convictions in Florida including burglary in 2000.” However, the gun ban that comes with a felony conviction was impotent to stop Ford from killing three and wounding numerous others.
* Related: Ex-Girlfriend Faces Up to 10 Years for Giving Guns to Kansas Shooter

Delaware Cop Caught on Video Kicking Man in Face to Receive $230,000 to Resign
PINAC News - [Profanity] In order to build trust in the community, a Delaware cop who was caught on video kicking an innocent man in the face, shattering the man’s jaw, will be paid $230,000 to resign. The city of Dover says this the settlement with Thomas Webster IV is in the “best interest of the community” because it guarantees he will no longer work as a city police officer. But the settlement has no effect on his law enforcement license, so he can be hired by any other agency in the state or country for that matter. Meanwhile, the man whose face he kicked in 2013 in a case of mistaken identity, Lateef Dickerson, received a $15,000 settlement in December… Webster will remain employed until June 30, even though he is and will remain on paid administrative leave. Then once he officially leaves, he will receive about $38,333- a-year for the next six years.

Chris Christie Delivers Major Blow to Party Elites Resisting Trump
Bloomberg - The united Republican establishment front against Donald Trump started to crumble in a potentially profound way on Friday when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie backed the New York billionaire for president with an enthusiastic endorsement. The move, combined with the endorsement of Maine Governor Paul LePage later Friday, adds the establishment bona fides of two sitting U.S. governors to a devoutly outsider campaign. It also comes just days after Trump’s first two congressional endorsements in Representatives Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California.,,, The New Jersey governor also opened a door for other Republican Party elites, who spent recent days rushing to boost Rubio, and invited them to walk through.
* Related: Chris Christie Endorses Trump - FULL PRESS CONFERENCE

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions Endorses Trump: "It Is Time To Make America Great Again"
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) endorsed Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Huntsville Sunday evening. Sessions promised a "Gang of Eight" type of immigration reform bill would not will be passed in a Donald Trump presidency.... Sessions said Trump is not perfect, but nobody is and endorsed the candidate. "This movement, he doesn't take money from political groups and lobbyists. He is committed to leading this country in an effective way. You know, nobody is perfect. We can't have everything, can we, Mr. Trump? But I can tell you one thing, I think at this time in my opinion, my best judgment, at this time in America's history, we need to make America great again!" Sessions said, repeating Trump's campaign slogan.... "I told Donald Trump this isn't a campaign, this is a movement," Sessions told the crowd. "Look at what's happening. The American people are not happy with their government."
* Related: In major blow to Ted Cruz, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama endorses Donald Trump for GOP nomination (Video)

Bombshell: Roger Stone reveals establishment using Mitt Romney as Plan B if Rubio fails!
Kit Daniels - Insiders who were at a recent meeting between the Koch Bros. and Marco Rubio leaked intel on how exactly they’re going to try and steal the election from Donald Trump, GOP strategist Roger Stone revealed. The Koch Bros. met with GOP millionaires and billionaires Thursday night to pool together over $75 million to stop Trump and are going to use Mitt Romney as ‘Plan B’ if Rubio fails to gain traction on Super Tuesday, according to moles who were inside the meeting. “$75 million to stop Trump and $25 million to Marco Rubio, but they gave Rubio a condition: he’s got to win the Florida primary or he’s out and Mitt Romney’s in,” Stone revealed. “That’s the plan.” “First they’ll ramp up an enormous, negative campaign on TV against Trump and they’re going to hit this phony Trump University issue,” he continued. “They claim to have personal dirt on Trump – I doubt that – and they are also going to try and delve into his business affairs, but if Rubio fails to grab the Florida primary, then Rubio’s out and Mitt Romney’s in.”... Additionally, Marco Rubio’s wife called Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, to desperately beg Cruz to exit the race and aid Rubio, but Heidi said no, Stone said.
* Related: Roger Stone.: Cruz Told Rubio He Will Drop Out for SCOTUS Appointment

Donors ask GOP consulting firm to research independent presidential bid
Politico - Conservative donors have engaged a major GOP consulting firm in Florida to research the feasibility of mounting a late, independent run for president amid growing fears that Donald Trump could win the Republican nomination.... “All this research has to happen before March 16, when inevitably Trump is the nominee, so that we have a plan in place," a source familiar with the discussions said. March 16 is the day after the GOP primary in Florida, a winner-take-all contest that Marco Rubio supporters have identified as a must-win to stop Trump's early momentum. “It’s critical some serious attention is given to this,” the source said. The document, stamped “confidential,” was authored by staff at Data Targeting, a Republican firm based in Gainesville, Fla. The memo notes that “it is possible to mount an independent candidacy but [it] will require immediate action on the part of this core of key funding and strategic players.”

Clinton wins big in South Carolina on way to 'Super Tuesday'
Reuters - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton crushed rival Bernie Sanders at the South Carolina primary on Saturday, propelling her into next week's crucial "Super Tuesday" voting in 11 states on a wave of momentum.... With nearly half of the votes counted in South Carolina, Clinton led Sanders by a 50-point margin, dramatically reversing her 28-point loss in the state to President Barack Obama during their bitter 2008 primary battle.
* Related: Victory Speech: ‘We Don’t Need to Make America Great,’ ‘Instead of Building Walls, We Need To Be Tearing Down Barriers’

VIDEO: Bill Clinton snaps at veteran during speech: ‘Shut up and listen to my answer’
American Mirror - During an appearance in Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday, a former Marine interrupted Clinton’s speech and asked him to address what Hillary was going to do about the VA. “What do you think should be done with the VA?” Clinton said in a raspy voice, turning the question back on him and yielding the floor. “The thing is, we had four lives in Benghazi killed and your wife tried to cover it up,” the Marine responded, eliciting boos and jeers from the crowd. As the man continued to talk, audience members yelled at him to sit down. “Are you going to let me answer?” Clinton asked. “This is America. I get to answer,” he said. “You listen to me. I heard you,” Clinton snapped as the man turned around and began addressing the crowd....

Awesome Letter That A Dying Military Veteran Sent To His Representatives In Congress
End Of The American Dream - The name of the vet that wrote this letter is Bill Schoonover, and it was written on April 3rd, 2013. Even though his representatives in Congress will probably never take the time to read this letter, I think that you will agree that the emotions that Mr. Schoonover has expressed in this letter are shared by millions upon millions of other Americans all across the country…

US government releases its 2015 financial statements
Government Slaves - For 2015, the government reports $3.2 trillion in total assets. This includes everything from financial assets like bank balances to physical assets like tanks, bullets, aircraft carriers, and the federal highway system. Curiously, the single biggest line item amongst these listed assets is the $1.2 trillion in student loans that are owed to the government.... 37% of the government’s total reported assets are student loans, which is now considered one of the most precarious bubbles in finance.... In the other side of the equation are a reported $21.5 trillion in liabilities, giving the government an official net worth of negative $18.2 trillion.... In this latest report, not only did the GAO chastise the federal government for its “unsustainable fiscal path”, but they state that the federal government consistently fails to prepare “reliable and complete financial information... The Department of Defense, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Agriculture are all singled out for their failure to prepare complete and accurate financial statements. This is corroborated by a report published last year stating that the Defense Department has somehow “misplaced” $8.5 trillion of taxpayer money over the last 20 years.

Oil Giant Cuts Budget By 80 Percent And Suspends Fracking
OilPrice.com - Whiting Petroleum Corp., the largest oil producer in North Dakota, has announced that it will suspend all fracking in the state and cut its budget for this year by 80 percent in a move that sent its shares up 9 percent on Wednesday, back down to a record low on Thursday, and $4.02 this morning.... As of 1 April, Whiting will halt all fracking and stop completing its wells at 20 Bakken and three Forks sites. By this summer it will cut spending to $160 million for the rest of year to fund maintenance. These are some of the biggest spending cuts in the industry so far, and investors have responded positively to Whiting’s strategy for waiting out low oil prices.

U.S. Has Record 10th Straight Year Without 3% Growth in GDP
CNS News - The United States has now gone a record 10 straight years without 3 percent growth in real Gross Domestic Product, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis… In the 85 years for which BEA has calculated the annual change in real GDP there is only one ten-year stretch—2006 through 2015—when the annual growth in real GDP never hit 3 percent. During the last ten years, real annual growth in GDP peaked in 2006 at 2.7 percent. It has never been that high again, according to the BEA. Before this period, the longest stretch of years when real GDP did not grow by at least 3.0 percent, as calculated by the BEA, was the four-year stretch from 1930 to 1933—during the Great Depression… In the Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers that President Obama sent to Congress this week, the administration noted that it is projecting real GDP to grow by only 2.7 percent this year and by less than that in the following two years. “Real GDP is projected to grow 2.7, 2.5, and 2.4 percent during the four quarters of 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively,” said the report.

Economic Recovery? 13 Of The Biggest Retailers In America Are Closing Down Stores
Economic Collapse - Closing stores has become the “hot new trend” in the retail world, and “space available” signs are going up in mall windows all over the United States. Barack Obama can continue huffing and puffing about how well the middle class is doing all he wants, but the truth is that the cold, hard numbers that retailers are reporting tell an entirely different story. [...] Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert released a letter to shareholders that was filled with all kinds of bad news. In this letter, he blamed the horrible results that Sears has been experiencing lately on “tectonic shifts” in consumer spending… Lampert said the impact of “tectonic shifts” in consumer spending has spread more broadly in the last year to retailers “that had previously proven to be relatively immune to such shifts.” “Walmart, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Staples, Whole Foods and many others have felt the impact of disruptive changes from online competition and new business models,” Lampert wrote. And it is very true – Sears is doing horribly, but they are far from alone. The following are 13 major retailers that are closing down stores…

Is Your Product Truly American-Made? How Imports, Suppliers and More Play Into the Coveted Made in USA Claim
Made in USA News - A handful of companies recently faced lawsuits over supposed false “Made in USA” claims. Consumers are suing companies for claiming their products are American-made, when in reality they may not be or too many parts of the product are produced in foreign countries.... To be correctly identified as a “Made in USA” product, “all or virtually all” of it must have been made in America, according to the FTC.... The FTC says this requires all significant parts and processing included in making the product must have come from the U.S. or been completed in the U.S. The final assembly of the product must also take place in the United States. The FTC’s definition does get a bit blurry when it talks about foreign content in a product. It says a “Made in USA” product cannot contain up to a “negligible” amount foreign content. also takes into account how much foreign processing may have taken place to make a product. But again, what does the FTC consider a “negligible amount”?... The FTC said there is “no bright line” to establish when a product is or isn’t “all or virtually all” made in the U.S.

Wage Slave America: NYC Offering 360 Sq Ft Apartments for $3,150 Per Month
Activist Post - When Agenda 21 is finally implemented in full, and tens of millions of Americans are crammed into the cities like cattle, where do you think they’re all going to live? How are we going to squeeze all these people into the already crowded urban cores? Don’t worry, there will be plenty of housing for the masses once the micro apartments are built. Several cities are already trying this out. They’ve lifted building code restrictions to allow developers to build the tiniest apartments you can imagine. The most famous of these is the Carmel Place development in New York City, which contains 55 units that range in size from 265 to 360 square feet, and cost between $2,650 and $3,150 per month.

65,000% Spike in Radiation Outside New York Nuclear Plant is Likely Worse than Fukushima
The Free Thought Project - An uncontrollable radioactive flow from the Indian Point nuclear power plant continues leaking into groundwater, which leads to the Hudson River, raising the specter of a Fukushima-like disaster only 25 miles from New York City. The Indian Point nuclear plant is located on the Hudson River, approximately 25 miles North of NYC, and serves the electrical needs of an estimated 2 million people. Last month, while preparing a reactor for refueling, workers accidentally spilled some contaminated water, containing the radioactive hydrogen isotope tritium, causing a massive radiation spike in groundwater monitoring wells, with one well’s radioactivity increasing by as much as 65,000 percent.

Wild bees, butterflies on path to extinction, UN report says
NOLA - Many species of wild bees, butterflies and other critters that pollinate plants are shrinking toward extinction, and the world needs to do something about it before our food supply suffers, a new United Nations scientific mega-report warns. The 20,000 or so species of pollinators are key to hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of crops each year — from fruits and vegetables to coffee and chocolate. Yet 2 out of 5 species of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are on the path toward extinction, said the first-of-its-kind report. Pollinators with backbones, such as hummingbirds and bats, are only slightly better off, with 1 in 6 species facing extinction.

Ikea To Use Mushroom-Based Packaging That Will Decompose In A Garden Within Weeks
Natural Blaze - The furniture retailer is looking at using biodegradable mycelium “fungi packaging” as part of its efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling. It’s no secret polystyrene is devastating to the environment. But, do you know how exactly that is so? According to a fact-sheet provided by Harvard, polystyrene – which is made from petroleum, a non-sustainable, non-renewable, heavily polluting and fast-disappearing commodity – is not biodegradable, as it takes thousands of years to break down. In addition, it is detrimental to wildlife that ingests it.... Mushroom Packaging, on the other hand, can be disposed of simply by throwing it in the garden where it will biodegrade within weeks.... The American company Ecovative is responsible for developing the alternative styrofoam. Mushroom Packaging, as it’s called, is created by letting the mycelium grow around clean agricultural waste, such as corn stalks or husks. Over a few days, the fungus fibers bind the waste together, forming a solid shape. It is then dried to prevent it from growing any further.

Electricity-Free Underground Fridge Can Reduce Your Utility Bill AND Save The Environment
True Activist - Fresh and modern in its design, the underground fridge is basically an innovative version of the traditional root cellar.... The Ground Fridge, as it is called, was invented by Dutch designer Floris Schoonderbeek for the company Weltevree. Its purpose is to cool and store foods at a low temperature – no electricity required.... The temperature in the fridge remains stable year-round between 10 and 12° C. This is the ideal temperature to store fruit, vegetables, wine, and cheese. As is clear in the design, the spherical structure is buried and covered with the excavated earth. Because the layer of soil is about one meter thick, the container is insulated so the fridge barely varies. Perhaps the best part? No permit is required to place the Ground Fridge, and no soil needed to be displaced.

This Missouri Humane Shelter Is Improving Dogs’ Chances Of Being Adopted By Having Young Kids Read To Them
True Activist - Shelter animals have the toughest time getting adopted. No longer small, fluffy, and innocent, they’ve spent time living with humans and, in effect, have taken on new behaviors or – in the worst case scenario – have been abused and now cower out of fear. Because people tend to adopt calm and well-mannered dogs, those who have emotional trauma to overcome can either spend years in no-kill shelters or, sadly, be euthanized before they find their forever home. A humane shelter in Missouri aims to change this and is doing so by warming up the dogs with the presence of compassionate children. Every month, the Humane Society of Missouri holds the Shelter Buddies Reading Program, in which kids can visit and read to dogs. The idea, really, is simple: train kids to read to dogs as a way of readying them for permanent homes, all while instilling a greater sense of empathy in the youngsters, too.
 

Friday - February 26, 2016 - Today in History:

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Island of Elba. He then began his second conquest of France.
1863 - U.S. President Lincoln signed the National Currency Act.
1870 - In New York City, the first pneumatic-powered subway line was opened to the public. (Beach Pneumatic Transit)
1907 - The U.S. Congress raised their own pay to $7500.
1919 - In Arizona, the Grand Canyon was established as a National Park with an act of the U.S. Congress.
1930 - New York City installed traffic lights.
1933 - A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Crissy Field for the Golden Gate Bridge.
1945 - In the U.S., a nationwide midnight curfew went into effect.
1952 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed an atomic bomb.
1987 - The Tower Commission rebuked U.S. President Reagan for failing to control his national security staff in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair.
1987 - The U.S.S.R. conducted its first nuclear weapons test after a 19-month moratorium period.
1991 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that Iraqi troops were being withdrawn from Kuwait.
1993 - 6 people were killed and more than a thousand injured when a van exploded in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in NYC. The bomb had been built by Islamic extremists.
1998 - In Oregon, a health panel rules that taxpayers must help to pay for doctor-assisted suicides.
2001 - A U.N. tribunal convicted Bosnian Croat political leader Dario Kordic and military commander Mario Cerkez of war crimes. They had ordered the systematic murder and persecution of Muslim civilians during the Bosnian war.
2009 - Former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic was acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia regarding war crimes during the Kosovo War.
2009 - The Pentagon reversed its 18-year policy of not allowing media to cover returning war dead. The reversal allows some media coverage with family approval.

ISIS would be easy to defeat if Turkey and Saudi Arabia did not support it – Assad’s adviser to RT
RT - Money and resources flowing to Islamic State from regional players make it more difficult to fight terrorism, an adviser to Syria’s president told RT, adding that the political dialogue has also been thwarted by opposition groups backed by foreign states. “For five years they [Syrian opposition] have not been able to have a dialogue, because each party of this opposition belongs to a different country and is paid by different countries. They are not an opposition that have a political party in Syria and that have grown from the Syrian people. This is the only opposition in the world that are agents of foreign countries against their own country,” Bashar Assad’s political adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, said... Direct talks between the opposition and the government will be held “whenever the opposition is able to get together and be at the table,” she said, adding that while the government is ready for dialogue, their opponents have so far failed to even agree on their own delegation.

European Parliament Demands Arms Embargo After Saudis Rack Up "Impressive" 3,000 Civilian Kills In Yemen
Zero Hedge - "The European Parliament called on the European Union to impose an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, saying Britain, France and other EU governments should no longer sell weapons to a country accused of targeting civilians in Yemen," Reuters reports. "Nearly 6,000 people have been killed since the coalition entered the conflict, almost half of them civilians, according to the United Nations, and the European Parliament said it was acting on humanitarian grounds."... "This is about Yemen. The human rights violations have reached a level that means Europe is obliged to act and to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia," said Richard Howitt, a British center-left lawmaker who led efforts to hold the vote. In the same breath, Howitt says he hopes the Saudis don't cut diplomatic ties over the vote. "The Saudis said to me they may cut off relations. I hope those are just words," he said.... As Reuters goes on to note, the vote isn't legally binding, so it's exceptionally unlikely that anyone will forego billions in arms deals for the sake of a few thousand Yemenis whose country most Europeans couldn't find on an unlabeled map.

ISIS threatens Facebook & Twitter CEOs over blocked accounts
RT - Islamic State has released a disturbing video threatening the creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and the CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey. The footage show a series of chilling messages and a photograph of the pair which is subsequently riddled with fake bullet holes. The Islamist terrorist group made a 25-minute propaganda video entitled, “Flames of The Supporters,” in which they said they will retaliate if they are forced off the social network sites. Facebook and Twitter have been launching a campaign to stop Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and its supporters from using the platforms to spread their propaganda and attract new followers. The jihadists say they are hitting back and have managed to hack and take control of 10,000 Facebook accounts, 150 Facebook groups and 5,000 Twitter profiles. The terrorist group says it will retaliate if any attempts are made to stop them using the sites.

"We Are Heading Into Anarchy": Official Says EU Will "Completely Break Down In 10 Days"
Zero Hedge - Norwegian PM Erna Solberg doesn’t want to have to skirt her country’s responsibilities under the Geneva Convention and she doesn’t want to trample over human rights either, but she will if she has to. "It is a force majeure proposals which we will have in the event that it all breaks down,” Solberg said, in an interview with Berlingske, describing new measures she believes Norway may have to take if Sweden buckles under the weight of the refugee influx which saw some 163,000 asylum seekers inundate the country last year. Solberg is effectively prepared to turn everyone away and go into lockdown mode should everything fall apart completely, causing Europe to descend into some kind of lawless, Hobbesian, free-for-all. If that sounds far-fetched or hyperbolic consider that on Thursday, EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned that the bloc has just 10 days to implement a plan that will bring about “tangible and clear results on the ground” or else “the whole system will completely break down.”

TEPCO: Fukushima meltdown announcement made months late
(CNN) The reactor meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant hit by a devastating tsunami in 2011 should have been announced much sooner, the operator admitted this week. In a statement, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said that a public declaration of the meltdown should have been done within days of the disaster. It did not reveal that a meltdown was taking place for almost two months.... The company said internal regulations that a meltdown should be declared if damage to the reactor core exceeded 5% were not followed. Damage to one of the reactor cores exceeded 50% within three days of the tsunami, but TEPCO did not acknowledge that a meltdown was taking place until months later. While it did not tell the public until May, TEPCO said that it had informed the government of the ongoing meltdown within days of the disaster, as required by law. "We apologize for the great inconvenience and worry" the delay caused, TEPCO said.

American Foreign Policy: CIA-backed rebels are fighting Pentagon-backed rebels
Hang The Bankers - Buzzfeed notes: Officials with Syrian rebel battalions that receive covert backing from one arm of the U.S. government... that they recently began fighting rival rebels supported by another arm of the U.S. government. The infighting between American proxies is the latest setback for the Obama administration’s Syria policy and lays bare its contradictions as violence in the country gets worse. The confusion is playing out on the battlefield — with the U.S. effectively engaged in a proxy war with itself. Furqa al-Sultan Murad receives weapons from the U.S. and its allies as part of a covert program, overseen by the CIA, that aids rebel groups struggling to overthrow the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to rebel officials and analysts tracking the conflict. The Kurdish militants, on the other hand, receive weapons and support from the Pentagon as part of U.S. efforts to fight ISIS. Known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, they are the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s strategy against the extremists in Syria and coordinate regularly with U.S. airstrikes.

Video: Jeanette Finicum discusses the death of her husband, ‘Lavoy’ Finicum
Newsmax TV - LaVoy Finicum, the Arizona rancher who was shot to death when officials set up a roadblock in Oregon, was a good man and not the "terrorist" he has been portrayed as in the media, his wife, Jeanette Finicum tells Newsmax TV. "I am disappointed in the way they portrayed such a good man. He doesn't fit their narrative," Finicum said Wednesday on "Dennis Michael Lynch: Unfiltered."... She said she believes her husband ran from his vehicle in an attempt to diffuse the situation and likely saved the lives of the others in his SUV. He was not reaching for a gun as law enforcement claims, she said. "I believe that he was killed, and I believe that it wasn't necessary for him to be killed," she said. "I believe that he had his hands up, he was surrendering."

Scalia’s Death Linked to Bohemian Grove, Illuminati
Kit Daniels - Late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died during a meeting of an Austrian secret society founded by the Bohemian Grove as a feeder group for the real Illuminati – and the resort hosting the society is filled with esoteric artwork. During a visit to Cibolo Creek Ranch in Presidio Co., Texas, Scalia died among members of the U.S. chapter of the International Order of St. Hubertus, which was launched in 1966 by associates of the Bohemian Grove which itself was a spin-off of the Order of the Bavarian Illuminati founded in 1776 to counter both the American revolution and the emerging populist movements in Europe. “The Bavarian Illuminati’s own documents were intercepted by police many times – that’s why Encyclopedia Britannica breaks all this down – and they revealed the Illuminati was planned to take over the renaissance and the big, burgeoning liberty movement taking place in Europe and what became the United States,” Alex Jones revealed, who was the first to successfully infiltrate and film the Bohemian Grove. “So they founded the Bavarian Illuminati that later created the Jacobins of the French Revolution to not create revolutions to overthrow the corrupt monarchies and the church but to actually remove them and set themselves up as absolute rulers.”... The artwork filmed at the ranch by Infowars reveals the sinister ambiance surrounding Scalia during his last earthly hours. For one thing, the late Justice likely ate his last meal in the ranch’s dining room that’s decorated with Illuminati-style esoteric masks, similar to the masks seen in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.

Questions raised by Justice Scalia’s unplugged breathing machine
Seattle Times - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was known for the exacting style of his opinions, the way he labored over each and every word. His hotel room the night of his death on Feb. 13 in Texas reflected this obsession with detail. According to a sheriff’s report obtained by The Washington Post this week, he was lying in bed with his arms at his side and his bed covers smooth. Nearby was his suitcase, which was open and full of neatly folded clothes. Only one thing appeared amiss: a breathing apparatus. The small device, called a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, was on the nightstand next to him – but unplugged and not turned on.

States are forcing bad drivers to display "special license plates"
MassPrivateI - Since 1990 Minnesota has been forcing bad drivers to pay an extra $50 dollars to display “Whiskey” or “special license plates." he U.S. has stolen a page out of Nazi Germany's playbook which forced Jews, political prisoners etc., to wear stars, triangles etc. Minnesota drivers are forced to display "special license plates" if they're accused of... "Whiskey" plates have unique characteristics that make them readily identifiable to law enforcement. They are called whiskey plates because they start with the letter "W" and are followed by a second letter and 4 numerals. It is a misdemeanor offense for anyone to drive a vehicle subject to plate impoundment without obtaining and displaying the whiskey plates (even if the driver has never been involved in a DWI incident). If a driver owns or co-owns multiple vehicles, he must obtain whiskey plates on all vehicles that are to be driven during the impoundment period.... Special registration plates issued must be displayed for at least one year from the date of incident. In some cases, special registration plates must be displayed for much longer than one year (multiple DWI offenses and other driving without license violations.)

Texas cop indicted for searching car of activist filming the police
Ars Technica - A Galveston Police Department sergeant in Texas has been indicted on misdemeanor accusations of unlawfully searching the vehicle of a video activist, according to a report in the Galveston County Daily News. The videographer was originally arrested in connection to filming police officers and their car license plates while standing outside the station. Sgt. Archie Chapman, whose lawyer says he is innocent, faces up to 180 days in jail and a maximum $2,000 fine on allegations of criminal trespass. Phillip Turner, the 25-year-old activist in question, was arrested last November. He was handcuffed and later jailed for 16 hours on allegations of failing to identify himself to police officers. Eventually the charges were dropped.

Video: FULL CNN GOP Debate, 10th Republican Presidential Debate in Houston Texas 2/25/2016
Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich debate at University of Houston, Texas on February 25, 2016. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will moderate the debate, with Telemundo's Maria Celeste Arraras, Salem's conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt and CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash asking the candidates additional questions at the debate.

Texas GOP Debate Kicks Off with Immigration Discussion
Breitbart - Candidates in the Houston GOP Presidential Debate came out of the gate firing on illegal immigration. All eyes focused on Donald Trump and allegations of his hiring of illegal aliens and paying fines. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined forces to attack the GOP front runner, Donald Trump. Cruz said that while he was leading the fight against illegal immigration during his 2012 Senate campaign, Donald Trump was firing Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice. The fight between the three candidates continued for several minutes with Trump responding with accusations of his own.

TIME: Who Won the Tenth Republican Debate?
Republicans met for their tenth presidential debate Saturday, and we want to know who you think won.

**DRUDGE POLL** Who Won the 10th Republican Debate?

UH Students Receive 6 of 800 Debate Tickets
Breitbart - My San Antonio reports that of 800 available tickets for the University of Houston, only 6 went to students. “A university spokeswoman said 14 of those tickets went to UH regents, President Renu Khator and ‘special guests.’ The remaining 11 were distributed to students, faculty and staff through a lottery that hundreds entered.” Over the past few debates, the allocation of debate tickets has become a focal point in the light of the behavior of the debate audience, which has loudly jeered and even booed frontrunner Donald Trump while loudly cheering establishment favorites Sen. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie.

NY Times Columnist Jokes About Assassination Attempt Ending Trump’s Campaign
Paul Joseph Watson - New York Times columnist Ross Douthat caused outrage after he joked about how an assassination attempt could end Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. “Good news guys I’ve figured out how the Trump campaign ends,” Douthat tweeted last night. The tweet links to a video clip from the 1983 movie The Dead Zone, which features a character played by Christopher Walken attempting to gun down a political figure played by Martin Sheen. In the plot, Walken’s character tries to kill the US Senatorial candidate (played by Sheen) because he has visions of him becoming president in the future and starting a nuclear war. Sheen’s character holds up a baby as a human shield during the assassination attempt, destroying his credibility. While joking about an assassination attempt on any public figure is crass, it’s particularly relevant with Trump because he faces a very real threat of being targeted.... Douthat bills himself as a conservative, but in his latest column for the New York Times he concludes that “President Hillary” would be a better choice for America than “our own nuclear-armed Berlusconi”.

Donald Trump response to Mitt Romney’s attack on his tax returns
Breitbart - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responded to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s comments on his tax returns by saying he would “make a determination over the next couple of months” whether to release his taxes during an interview broadcast on Wednesday’s “AC360” on CNN. Trump said, “[M]y returns are extremely complex, and I’ll make a determination at the right time. I’m in no rush do it. Nobody’s been bringing it up except for Mitt Romney. And the reason he brings it up is that he lost in the last election, and lost very badly. So, I don’t know why he’s bringing it up. But tax returns are very complicated. I have many, many companies. I have tremendously — I have a very complex system of taxes. And frankly, I get audited every single year. So, mind — unlike everybody else, who never gets audited, I get audited every single year which I think is unfair, but I go through large audits. And that’s the way it is, but we’ll make a determination over the next couple of months. It’s very complicated.” When asked if he means that he will release his tax returns, it’s just a matter of when, Trump stated, “No. I’ll make a determination. I will be making that determin[ation] over the next, I would say, couple of months, we’ll make that determination.”
* Related Video: LEAKED: New Republican Plan To Destroy Trump

Q Poll: Rubio Down 16 in Home State… Trump Solid at 44% in Fla
Breitbart - The latest Quinnipiac poll of Florida Republicans shows that Donald Trump is now leading that state with 44 percent of the vote, while home state Senator Sen. Marco Rubio is in second with only 28 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz is now in third place with 12 percent. Trump is now 16 points ahead of Rubio after former Florida governor Jeb Bush dropped out of the race, an astonishing result in an important winner-take-all state that votes on March 15. Rubio yesterday pointed to Florida as a state he expected to win.

Cruz Cancels Alabama Appearance After Latest Poll Shows Trump Has 3x His Support
Gateway Pundit - Senator Ted Cruz (R-AL) dropped out of Saturday’s Republican presidential candidate forum at Samford University after dropping to third place in the latest polling. Senator Ted Cruz is in third place behind Trump and Rubio and has one-third of the support of Trump in the state.... An unnamed political consultant who spoke to the Alabama news outlet said the next string of primary states on March 1, which includes Alabama and several other states in which has been dubbed the “SEC Primary,” could doom Cruz’s chances at the nomination. “If Cruz — the Texan, the staunch evangelical, the anti-Washington guy — can’t win in Alabama and across the South, he can’t win,” the consultant said. “I’ve seen polling in the last week that shows Cruz in third in Alabama, far behind Trump and behind Rubio, too. It might become apparent after March 1st that Cruz’s goose is cooked.”

Halliburton to Cut 5,000 More Jobs
Economic Policy Journal - The oil sector continues to be squeezed. Halliburton Co. has just announced it is slashing 5,000 positions, or 8% of its global workforce. The latest round of cost-cutting comes less than a month after Halliburton said it had laid off another 4,000 workers at the end of 2015. Yesterday, North Dakota's largest oil producer, Whiting Petroleum, said it would suspend all fracking. It is the biggest cutback to date by a major U.S. shale company reacting to the plunge in crude prices. Enjoy the low gasoline prices while you can. They will not last. Global oil production is only months away from serious decline.

Radiofrequency science charts to visually compare studies, radiation intensities and biological effects
Bioinitiative Report - The RF Color Charts summarize many studies that report biological effects and adverse health effects relevant for cell towers, WI-FI, ‘smart’ wireless utility meters, wireless laptops, baby monitors, cell phones and cordless phones.

6 Life Lessons From Your Cat
Dr. Becker - Cats have weaved their way deep into Americans' hearts. Nearly half (46 percent) of households have one cat, 31 percent have two cats and 24 percent have three or more.1 No doubt, your cat probably has more than a few quirks you don't understand, but that make you love her that much more.... There are, however, many things you can learn from your cat, too, including valuable life lessons recently compiled by VetStreet.2 How many of these lessons has your cat been trying to teach you?
 

Thursday - February 25, 2016 - Today in History:

1791 - First Bank of the United States (The President, Directors and Company, of the Bank of the United States) was chartered by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Washington.
1793 - The department heads of the U.S. government met with U.S. President Washington for the first Cabinet meeting on U.S. record.
1901 - The United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.
1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized a graduated income tax.
1919 - The state of Oregon became the first state to place a tax on gasoline. The tax was 1 cent per gallon.
1928 - The Federal Radio Commission issued the first U.S. television license to Charles Jenkins Laboratories in Washington, DC.
1933 - The aircraft carrier Ranger was launched. It was the first ship in the U.S. Navy to be designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier.
1956 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.
1972 - Germany gave a $5 million ransom to Arab terrorist who had hijacked a jumbo jet.
1986 - Filippino President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule after a tainted election.
1999 - William King was sentenced to death for the racial murder of James Byrd Jr in Jasper, TX. Two other men charged were later convicted for their involvement.
2000 - In Albany, NY, a jury acquitted four New York City police officers of second-degree murder and lesser charges in the February 1999 shoot

Vladimir Putin takes personal charge of Syria ceasefire effort
The Guardian - Vladimir Putin has taken personal charge of efforts to turn a Syrian ceasefire into reality this weekend, holding a frantic round of phone calls with world leaders and instructing the Russian military to reduce the number of airstrikes over the past two days. The Russian president spoke by phone to leaders in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Syria in an attempt to garner support for the ceasefire, and explain its complex details. He has also opened a coordination centre to which the warring parties can send complaints of specific breaches of the truce. Some armed groups in Syria have already signed up to the truce, according to Russia.

Russia gives a gift of 10,000 automatic rifles to Afghanistan
Reuters - Afghan officials took delivery of 10,000 automatic rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition as a gift from Russia on Wednesday, another sign of deepening involvement by Moscow in the war-torn country. Dependent almost entirely on foreign aid, Afghan security forces are struggling to secure the country amid a rising insurgency. As the NATO-led coalition's military presence dwindled last year, Afghan leaders reached out to Moscow, which fought a war of its own in Afghanistan during the 1980s, for more Russian-made weapons, including small arms, artillery and attack helicopters.

BBC Film Maker Discovers Saudi, UAE Cooperation With al-Qaeda In Yemen
Brandon Turbeville - The film maker, as part of her mission, filmed fighters from the United Arab Emirates and those from “jihadist” brigades. The film maker discovered that, not only were the jihadists and the coalition members fighting the same enemy (Houthi rebels opposed to the government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi) but that they were doing so in a coordinated fashion. The coalition publicly denies supporting the jihadists but Safa al-Ahmad, the BBC film maker discovered just the opposite upon her trip to Taiz, an embattled city under control of jihadist fighters but essentially surrounded and cut off by Houthi rebels.

More U.S. troops killed by Halliburton than by Iraqis
By David Swanson, American Herald Tribune - The U.S. government, from Dick Cheney to Hillary Clinton, told blatant lies about the Iraqi government creating chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons in 2002, despite having been informed of the fact that Iraq was doing no such thing. U.S. leaders lied about ties between Iraq and terrorists that they also knew did not exist.Then the U.S. military attacked and invaded Iraq, in the process heavily bombing old sites of Iraqi chemical weapons from the 1980s, many of those weapons having been provided by the United States. In large part because of the U.S. origin of the old Iraqi chemical weapons, the U.S. kept quiet about them during the new war. Another reason for the official silence was that, during the 2003 U.S. destruction of Iraq, many of those old weapons were seized by fledgling terrorist groups. The war had done exactly what it had been justified as being needed to prevent; it had given WMDs to terrorists.

Top Secret: New WikiLeaks Release Exposes Most Highly Classified Intel Yet
Sputnik News - The document dump revealed the interception of climate talks between UN Secretary Ban-ki Moon and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the 2009 Copenhagen Conference, as well as the long-term interception of the phone of Johann Human, the Director of the Rules Division of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and five other top EU economic officials. Also included are intercepted Italian diplomatic cables from 2011 that detail how Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to help patch up his strained relationship with President Barack Obama… The State Department has denied the contents of the cables. "As we have said previously, we do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose," US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told CNN on Tuesday. "This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike.

Kerry’s Plan B: Carving Up Syria
Kurt Nimmo - The breakup of Syria and much of the Middle East was previously envisioned by the Bush neocons who penned A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm. The document created by the Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000 called for overthrowing Saddam Hussein and waging a proxy war against al-Assad in Syria.... Kerry understands the proposed ceasefire will fail as Syria with Russian assistance moves to retake territory captured by jihadists determined to impose an Islamic principality in Syria (a design supported by the Pentagon). Kerry’s Plan B is, in fact, Plan A. The US effort to partition the country will inevitability result in resistance and possible confrontation with Russia.

NY Times Reporter Murdered in Dominican Republic Spoke about Psychotronic Warfare and MK-ULTRA
Abreu Report - The Washington Post has announced that former New York Times reporter Sarah Kershaw was found asphyxiated due to strangulation in the Dominican Republic. The Washington Post reported that Ms. Kershaw’s body “was found Monday at her apartment in Sosua, where she moved with her husband, William Norton, in 2014. Norton was being questioned about her death, said Osvaldo Bonilla, a prosecutor for the province of Puerto Plata.” Ms. Kershaw first came to prominence in 2008 with her article, Sharing their Demons on the Web, where she spoke out on mind control, writing: “For people who regularly visit and write on message boards on the mind-control sites, the idea that others would describe the sites as promoting delusional and psychotic thinking is simply evidence of a cover-up of the truth.” In her article, Ms. Kershaw wrote that people who felt they were being targeted had found the support of Missouri Representative Jim Guest, who told the Times: “I’ve had enough calls, some from credible people — professors — being targeted by nonlethal weapons. They become psychologically affected by it. They have trouble sleeping at night.”

Oregon standoff: Ammon Bundy, others plead not guilty; judge aims to avoid trial delay
Oregon Live - U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown said Wednesday she will push to try the federal conspiracy case stemming from the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as soon as practically possible. "My firm assertion is the case will be tried sooner than a year from now unless something makes that impossible,'' Brown said in court… Ten of the original 16 people indicted in the alleged conspiracy appeared in court and entered not guilty pleas. Of those, Kenneth Medenbach said he wished to represent himself and was not ready to issue a plea yet, but the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Six others waived their right to appear at the arraignment. After the judge explained their rights to a trial and their presumption of innocence, several of the defendants directly challenged her assertions. "It's difficult to understand the presumption of innocence when I've spent the last month in a jail cell and led around in chains wherever I go,'' Payne said. Brown said she understood his concerns, but noted that his detention was a separate matter… Twenty-five people have been indicted on a single federal conspiracy charge, accused of impeding the work of federal officers at the wildlife refuge through force, intimidation and threats… Federal prosecutors said they expect a grand jury to return two superseding indictments against all 25 defendants.

Abortion Clinics Are Closing at a Record Pace
Bloomberg Business - Abortion access in the U.S. has been vanishing at the fastest annual pace on record, propelled by Republican state lawmakers’ push to legislate the industry out of existence. Since 2011, at least 162 abortion providers have shut or stopped offering the procedure, while just 21 opened… No region was exempt, though some states lost more than others. Texas, which in 2013 passed sweeping clinic regulations that are under scrutiny by the Supreme Court, saw the most: at least 30. It was followed by Iowa, with 14, and Michigan, with 13. California’s loss of a dozen providers shows how availability declined, even in states led by Democrats, who tend to be friendly to abortion rights. Stand-alone clinics, not doctors’ offices or hospitals, perform the vast majority of pregnancy terminations. They account for the vast majority of the tally, which was compiled by Bloomberg News over the past three months and builds on a similar undertaking from 2013.

Business Owner Arms Entire Staff to Combat Rising Crime Rate
Adan Salazar - Criminals targeting Lance Toland Associates, an airplane insurance company with three separate offices, will find themselves staring down the large barrel of a Taurus Judge revolver, the handgun provided to employees by the business’s owner.Criminals targeting Lance Toland Associates, an airplane insurance company with three separate offices, will find themselves staring down the large barrel of a Taurus Judge revolver, the handgun provided to employees by the business’s owner. “Everybody has one of these in their drawer or on their person,” Toland told WSBTV introducing them to the Judge. “I would not want to come into one of my facilities. It’s a five shot .410, just like a shotgun and you call it ‘hand cannon’.” Toland says the rising crime rate around the Atlanta area prompted him to impose the policy, which he says employees have gladly adhered to.

Federal Court Rules You Can Be Arrested Simply for Filming the Police
The AntiMedia - A federal appeals court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has ruled that filming the police without a specific challenge or criticism is not constitutionally protected. The cases of Fields v. City of Philadelphia, and Geraci v. City of Philadelphia involve two different incidents where individuals were arrested for filming the police… The court wrote: “Fields’ and Geraci’s alleged ‘constitutionally protected conduct’ consists of observing and photographing, or making a record of, police activity in a public forum. Neither uttered any words to the effect he or she sought to take pictures to oppose police activity. Their particular behavior is only afforded First Amendment protection if we construe it as expressive conduct.” The court ultimately stated, “We find no basis to craft a new First Amendment right based solely on ‘observing and recording’ without expressive conduct.” “Absent any authority from the Supreme Court or our Court of Appeals, we decline to create a new First Amendment right for citizens to photograph officers when they have no expressive purpose such as challenging police actions,” the decision concluded.

ACU Chairman: Marco Rubio Cannot Unite Republicans Without Showing Up At CPAC
Breitbart - Rubio’s decision to skip the event, reported first by Breitbart News on Tuesday, comes as the entire Washington establishment lines up behind his campaign in a last ditch effort to stop billionaire Donald Trump. Rubio’s pitch to be the anti-Trump is that he can unite the GOP heading into a general election, but in his Wednesday morning interview on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel with Stephen K. Bannon, Schlapp said that Rubio’s move to shun conservatives at CPAC raises questions about whether he actually could unite Republicans.
* Related: CPAC March 2-5, 2016 Speakers

China Warns U.S. After Trump Wins Nevada Caucus
Free Beacon - China warned the United States on Wednesday not to adopt punitive currency policies that could disrupt U.S.-China relations after Donald Trump’s win in the Nevada caucus. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that “we are following with interest the U.S. presidential election.” Hua was asked about China’s response to a possible Trump presidency and his announced plan to punish China for currency manipulation with a tax on Chinese goods.... Last month, Trump vowed to impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese good to offset China’s devaluation of the yuan. “They’re devaluing their currency, and they’re killing our companies,” Trump said. “We are letting them get away with it, and we can’t let them get away with it.”... Trump, on his campaign website, outlined a hardline approach to dealing with China that involves officially declaring China a currency manipulator and negotiating an end to the practice. Trump also wants to thwart China’s theft of intellectual property and adopt policies aimed at bring jobs back from overseas to the United States. Bolstering the U.S. military and “deploying it appropriately in the East and South China Seas” are other goals.

Donald Trump is on course to win the 1,237 delegates he needs to be the GOP nominee
Washington Post - Presidential politics is, at its core, all about math. Nowhere is that more true than in the fight for delegates to this summer’s Republican National Convention. And, the delegate math is close to conclusive: Donald Trump will be extremely close to the 1,237 delegates he needs to formally claim the party’s nomination by the end of the primary process.... Each state allocates delegates differently and so in order to understand the broad sweep of where the delegate count will end up, you have to make some rough assumptions. If you want detailed analysis of how each state does it, check out the invaluable FHQ site.)

Melania Trump: 'I followed the law' as immigrant
Politico - Melania Trump is defending her husband's campaign, particularly his outspoken rhetoric on immigration and what critics have perceived as a harsh tone directed toward women. “I followed the law," Trump said in an interview with Mika Brzezinski aired Wednesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," in discussing the hoops she had to jump through in order to become a citizen of the United States. "I never thought to stay here without papers. I had a visa, I traveled every few months back to the country to Slovenia to stamp the visa. I came back, I applied for the green card, I applied for the citizenship later on after many years of green card. So I went by system, I went by the law. And you should do that, you should not just say let me stay here and whatever happens, happens.”

CONTACT 13 INVESTIGATES: VA initially denies wheelchair to dying veteran
KTNV - He fought for our freedom. Now the Department of Veterans Affairs had denied his. Contact 13 has the story of a dying veteran whose simple wish for mobility was initially rejected by the embattled government agency that’s supposed to help those who served. VA doctors diagnosed Vietnam veteran David McKinney-Smith’s cancer when he was already in the end stages and told him he only had six months to live. The cancer is riddling his body. And he believes he knows what caused it. “We were over in the Gulf of Tonkin and this huge tanker was flying from the coast of Vietnam over the water spraying orange substance. It turned out it was Agent Orange.”... After talking with David about his situation, Darcy Spears immediately picked up the phone to ask the VA what the heck was going on. Less than 48 hours later, David had his wheels. “Our entire team out at the VA was kind of taken back by this case,” said VA Public Affairs Chief Chuck Ramey.

The Morning After - The Havok Journal
Editor’s Note: With the crisis of veteran suicide continuing unabated, it’s important to get the word out the suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I’m not ashamed to admit that this story gave me chills… and maybe made me tear up, just a little. Good work, Meggie. If you’re out there and you need help, GO GET HELP.

January New Home Sales Collapse Most Since 2009 As Prices Plunge To 2-Year Lows
Zero Hedge - Against expectations of a 4.4% drop, New home sales collapsed by 9.2% in January. This is the biggest January drop since 2009 dragging the SAAR to 494k (back at December 2014 levels). Worse still, home prices tumbled - from $295,800 to $278,000 (lowest since April 2014), and down 4.5% year-over-year as it appears the inventory fears have disappeared with months-supply surging from 5.1 to 5.8. Yet another leg of the "recovery" collapses.

The Subprime Auto Loan Meltdown Is Here
Economic Collapse - Uh oh – here we go again. Do you remember the subprime mortgage meltdown during the last financial crisis? Well, now a similar thing is happening with auto loans. The auto industry has been doing better than many other areas of the economy in recent years, but this “mini-boom” was fueled in large part by customers with subprime credit. According to Equifax, an astounding 23.5 percent of all new auto loans were made to subprime borrowers in 2015. At this point, there is a total of somewhere around $200 billion in subprime auto loans floating around out there, and many of these loans have been “repackaged” and sold to investors. I know – all of this sounds a little too close for comfort to what happened with subprime mortgages the last time around. We never seem to learn from our mistakes, and a lot of investors are going to end up paying the price.

Video: Chernobyl On The Hudson
Jon Bowne - Potential disaster models reveal plume could reach levels nine times the radiation released at Fukushima. It has been nicknamed Chernobyl on the Hudson. Lying just 34 miles north of New York City’s Central Park, the Indian Point Energy Center has been leaking the radioactive material known as tritium into the groundwater. On February 6, 2016 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo finally alerted the public to the potential catastrophe.

Landfill Fire Creeps Toward Buried Tons of Atomic Waste
Who.What.Why - Since public debate began over the landfill, the major players have agreed on only two salient facts: a subsurface fire is burning in the Bridgeton landfill, and that fire is only a few thousand feet from a radioactive-waste dump. Virtually everything else about the situation is under dispute.... In a January 2014 report, Republic claims the fire hadn’t yet spread into the north quarry of the Bridgeton landfill, the part closest to the radioactive cache. Republic also claimed the fire, which started in the south quarry, isn’t moving north at all. This claim is backed by local EPA officials. However, a landfill fire expert commissioned by Chris Koster, Missouri’s attorney general and presumptive Democratic candidate for governor in 2016, drew a far more dire picture. Koster and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources claim the fire is moving north, toward the radioactive waste, at a rate of one to ten feet a day, depending on how its progress is measured.... Republic and the EPA say no radiation has spread beyond the landfill proper, but a report from Koster claims radioactive contaminants have been found in nearby trees, groundwater and in the northern reaches of the trash site.

Wednesday - February 24, 2016 - Today in History:

1848 - James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California. The discovery led to the gold rush of '49.
1899 - Humphrey O’Sullivan patented the rubber heel.
1943 - U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill concluded a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco.
1955 - The rules committee of major league baseball announced a plan to strictly enforce the rule that required a pitcher to release the ball within 20 seconds after taking his position on the mound.
1964 - CBS-TV acquired the rights to televise the National Football League’s 1964-1965 regular season. The move cost CBS $14.1 million a year. The NFL stayed on CBS for 30 years.
1972 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws that denied welfare benefits to people who had resided in a state for less than a year.
1978 - A nuclear-powered Soviet satellite plunged through Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated. The radioactive debris was scattered over parts of Canada's Northwest Territory.
1980 - The United States announced intentions to sell arms to China.
1986 - The Voyager 2 space probe flew past Uranus. The probe came within 50,679 miles of the seventh planet of the solar system.
1987 - In Lebanon, gunmen kidnapped educators Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh. They were all later released.
1989 - Ted Bundy, the confessed serial killer, was put to death in Florida's electric chair for the 1978 kidnap-murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
1990 - Japan launched the first probe to be sent to the Moon since 1976. A small satellite was placed in lunar orbit.
2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Missouri law that limited the contributions that individuals could donate to a candidate during a single election.
2002 - The U.S. Congress began a hearing on the collapse of Enron Corp.
2002 - John Walker Lindh appeared in court for the first time concerning the charges that he conspired to kill Americans abroad and aided terrorist groups. Lindh had been taken into custody by U.S. Marines in Afghanistan.
2003 - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began operations under Tom Ridge.
2006 - South Dakota lawmakers approved a ban on nearly all abortions.
2008 - Cuba's parliament named Raul Castro president, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel.

Syria truce center launched at Khmeimim airbase, Russia hands over hotline contact to US
RT - A coordination center to reconcile the warring parties in Syria has started its work at the Khmeimin airbase near Latakia, Russia's Defense Ministry says. Moscow has also handed over the hotline contact to the US, as required by the joint plan to monitor the truce. The coordination center created at the airbase Russia has been using for its anti-terror campaign in Syria will monitor the various sides’ compliance with the ceasefire. It also plans to help establish contacts between the Syrian government and the opposition, the Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said in a statement Tuesday.... Opposition groups, who decide to observe a ceasefire and launch peace talks, will be able to apply to the center 24 hours a day via a common telephone number. The center will also assist in delivering humanitarian aid, Konashenkov said. In the meantime, Moscow has handed over contact details to the US military and now awaits reciprocal information from Washington. The hotlines on monitoring the ceasefire in Syria are to be established between the two countries under their agreement from February 22.

Western Lies on Russia's Syria Campaign Exposed on Air
Sputnik News - Russian President Vladimir Putin could well resolve the Syrian issue and destroy Daesh, French politician and former Minister of Vocational Education Jean-Luc Mélenchon told French journalists Lea Salame and Yann Moix, who have tried to accuse Moscow of bombing Syrian opposition instead of the terrorist group.... Apparently dissatisfied with Mélenchon's stance on what is happening in Syria, the journalists interrupted the politician claiming that Russia was not targeting Daesh, but so-called moderate opposition. "Ninety percent of airstrikes are not aimed at Daesh, but rebels," Moix suggested. "This is not true," Mélenchon retorted. Those, who spread unsubstantiated information regarding Russia's efforts in Syria, are trying "to fool you and throw dust in your eyes to bring you on their side."

Saudis Call for Arming Syrian Jihadists with Anti-aircraft Missiles to Shoot Down Russian Planes
Kurt Nimmo - In addition to threatening to invade Syria and oust Bashar al-Assad Saudi Arabia says it wants to arm jihadists in the country with anti-aircraft missiles to take out Russian jets. “We believe that introducing surface-to-air missiles in Syria is going to change the balance of power on the ground,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said during an interview with Der Spiegel. “It will allow the moderate opposition to be able to neutralize the helicopters and aircraft that are dropping chemicals and have been carpet-bombing them, just like surface-to-air missiles in Afghanistan were able to change the balance of power there. This has to be studied very carefully, however, because you don’t want such weapons to fall into the wrong hands,” al-Jubeir said. Even The New York Times admits there are few if any moderates fighting in Syria and the Gulf Emirate, Turkish and CIA organized, trained and armed fighters are virtually all Sunni Salafists and jihadists. “Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of,” Ben Hubbard wrote for the newspaper on April 27, 2013.

Pentagon Seeks to Deploy Mobile Artillery Near South China Sea
Sputnik News - Over the weekend, US President Barack Obama stated that his administration would continue to challenge Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. "We think China is resorting to the old style of might makes right, as opposed to working through international law and international norms to establish claims and to resolve disputes," Obama said in an interview with Channel News Asia. The US and its Pacific allies have accused China of building artificial islands on top of sensitive marine habitats to establish an air defense zone in the highly contested waterway. China maintains it has every right to build within what it considers to be its own territory, and has stated that the islands will be used primarily for humanitarian purposes. Beijing has accused Washington of stirring unrest in the region, and new information of additional behind-the-scenes machinations have come to light. According to a senior US Army official, speaking to Scout Warrior on condition of anonymity, the US may soon deploy mobile artillery, the kind traditionally used in land-based offensives, to the South China Sea, as defensive units.

China sends fighter jets to South China Sea island: U.S. sources
Reuters - China has sent fighter jets to a disputed island in the South China Sea, where it deployed surface-to-air missiles earlier this month, U.S. government sources said on Tuesday. One U.S. official, however, said China regularly sends jets to Woody Island, part of the Paracel archipelago controlled by Beijing. The deployment was first reported by Fox News.

Refugee arrivals in Greece exceed 100,000 in less than two months
The Guardian - More than 100,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe so far this year, at triple the rate of arrivals over the first half of 2015. At least 102,500 have arrived on the Greek islands of Samos, Kos and Lesbos, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Another 7,500 have reached Italy, and in the first six weeks of the year 411 people are known to have died attempting to make the journey.... The IOM said 20% of the arrivals were from Afghanistan and nearly half were Syrians.

Two Texas hospitals say they have developed first rapid tests for Zika virus
The Guardian - Two major Texas health centers have developed what they are calling the country’s first hospital-based, rapid test for the Zika virus that can produce results in a matter of hours, the hospitals have said.... The test is designed to cut down on testing time, which can take days or even weeks. Typically the testing would be done by state health agencies equipped to do so or federal authorities such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The test is available only at the two hospitals for now but the researchers are looking to take the tests to more hospitals.

Zika may have been sexually transmitted in 14 cases: CDC
Reuters - U.S. health officials are investigating 14 reports of the Zika virus that may been transmitted through sex, including to several pregnant women, raising new questions about the role sexual transmission is playing in the growing outbreak. In two of the suspected cases, the infection has been confirmed in women whose only known risk factor was sexual contact with an infected male partner who had recently traveled to an area with active Zika transmission through mosquito bites, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. Most experts had believed that sexual transmission of Zika was rare, but the new alert suggests sexual transmission of Zika may be more of a factor than previously thought.

Constitutional Sheriff Targeted By Feds, Hillary Still Free
David Knight - Now an emboldened federal government is casting the net even wider in their pushback against the new Sagebrush Rebellion. An Oregon sheriff, Glenn Palmer, has just been accused of being a “security leak,” and the state of Oregon has asked the Oregon Department of Justice to investigate the sheriff in order to revoke his police certification, effectively removing him from office. As Sheriff Mack of CSPOA said in the interview above, Sheriff Palmer’s actions were no different than those of Sheriff Ward of Harney County where the refuge occupation took place and no different than those of the FBI, all of whom met the occupiers and allowed them to travel freely. The difference between the other sheriff, federal agents, and Sheriff Palmer is not a difference of actions, but a difference of opinion. Sheriff Palmer has sympathy for the people of his county who elected him and whose livelihoods are being destroyed by overbearing federal mismanagement.

Obama’s Plan to Close Guantánamo Would Establish Indefinite Detention on U.S. Soil
The Intercept - Saying that the prison at Guantánamo Bay “undermines our standing in the world,” President Barack Obama today announced a detailed plan to close the facility, 14 years after it was first inaugurated by President George W. Bush. Among other measures, the plan calls for a number of Guantánamo prisoners to be transferred into permanent custody in the United States. This component of the government’s plan has alarmed many legal experts, who say that it would create a dangerous precedent for indefinite detention without trial in the United States.... “The Department of Defense determined that, with modifications, a variety of Department of Defense, Bureau of Prisons, and state prison facilities could safely, securely, and humanely house Guantánamo detainees for the purpose of military commissions and continued law of war detention,” the document states, adding that 13 unspecified locations had been examined as possible sites for detention of the prisoners.

Senate Republicans block Obama's high court pick
Reuters - The Republican-led Senate on Tuesday ruled out taking action on any nominee put forth by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court in a political power move intended to thwart his ability to change the court's ideological balance. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will not hold hearings or vote on any nominee to replace long-serving conservative Justice Antonin Scalia until after the next president takes office next January. Scalia died on Feb. 13.... Under the U.S. Constitution, the Senate has the power to confirm or reject a president's Supreme Court selection. With the U.S. presidential election looming on Nov. 8, Republicans were aiming to allow the next president to fill Scalia's vacancy, hoping a Republican will be elected.

Hillary Aide Claims ‘Right Wing Conspiracy’ Behind Judge’s Decision To Force Hillary To Testify Under Oath, But Judge Was Appointed By Bill Clinton
Weasel Zippers - Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said a federal judge’s ruling that Clinton and her top aides should be questioned under oath about the candidate’s private email server is part of the ring wing’s effort to hurt her chances of becoming president — he was then confronted with an inconvenient fact. Asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper about the latest development in the months-long email scandal, Mook tried to dismiss the judge’s ruling as a “right-wing” group’s attempt to hurt Clinton’s chances of becoming president. Tapper was quick to point out that Judge Emmett Sullivan, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was appointed by Clinton’s own husband, Bill Clinton.

Watch Barack Obama Crack A Smirking Joke About Justice Antonin Scalia’s Death
DC Whispers - Less than 48-hours after the longest serving Supreme Court Justice of the modern era was laid to rest, Barack Obama read from a prepared script that included an oddly mocking-toned joke about “appointing judges.” As the audience begins to laugh, the president’s face contorts into a smirking grin. It’s a moment as weird as it is scary. Here is the current President of the United States in all his smirking, indifferent glory…

Magic bullets: US military patents ‘safer’ self-destruct ammo for use in cities
RT - The US military has patented a new kind of self-destructing bullet, which the inventors say should make city warfare safer for civilians. With modern warfare moving to cities, bullets that travel farther than intended pose a danger to the civilian population. The so-called “limited range projectile” has built-in pyrotechnics that explode shortly after the bullet is fired, causing it to stop. The patent for the proof of concept work on the self-destructing bullet was awarded to three employees of the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC). “We wanted to protect the US government’s interests and position,” inventors Stephen McFarlane, Brian Kim, and Mark Minisi said.... Funding for the self-destructing bullet project has now been discontinued, but the authors are sure of the new ammunition’s advantages and hope that it will resurface soon, according to the Daily Mail.

Raw Footage of NY Govt Forcing Vendors to TRASH Crates of Perfectly Good Food
Natural Blaze - A witness recorded the event with a cell phone and the video was submitted to The Free Thought Project from the Facebook page of Gary Schlesinger. Police hover in the background as sanitation workers pick up large crates of fresh produce outside shops and start hurling them into the back of the trash-collecting dump truck. What is the reason for trashing perfectly good food when there are hungry families within a short radius? Why confiscate it from business owners at all – and then trash it? Improper display. That’s right. Fanatical code enforcement. According to Schlesinger, NYC police ordered the removal and trashing of the produce because it was more than four feet outside the store.

In Nevada caucuses, Trump gets a third straight win
Washington Post - Donald Trump convincingly won the Nevada presidential caucuses here Tuesday evening, the Associated Press projected, accelerating his march to the Republican nomination as his top two rivals fell short here despite aggressive campaigning in the closing days.... Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.) trailed Trump as early returns began rolling in, underscoring the challenge for them and the other candidates to slow Trump’s momentum heading into next week’s critical Super Tuesday contests. High voter turnout apparently overwhelmed organizers at some caucus locations. There were isolated reports of double voting, dwindling supplies of paper ballots and what a Republican Party official described as “chaos” at a couple of caucus sites here in Clark County, the state’s biggest population center.
* Related: Overall Nevada Presidential Caucuses Results

CRUZ STAFFER GOES ROGUE: “Campaign Is Done… He Cannot Win the Nomination”
Gateway Pundit - “The Cruz campaign has to focus on getting basic campaign techniques right,” said a Republican operative who works for the presidential campaign, who asked not to be identified. “I don’t think Cruz can win the nomination at this point. I think his campaign is done.” Cruz took a huge blow on Saturday after he could not win a single county in South Carolina, a state with an enormous evangelical vote.

TRUMP To Skip FOX GOP Candidate’s Town Hall with Megyn Kelly on Wednesday
Gateway Pundit - Fox News announced their next GOP event today, a town hall style event hosted by Megyn Kelly.... The two-hour voter summit taking place in Houston, The Kelly File: Face to Face With Candidates, will feature the four additional remaining Republican candidates, according to Fox News. Those men are Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. John Kasich, who will join the event via remote. Audience members will pose questions to the candidates who will be onstage one at a time, according to the network.... The Trump campaign said he has previous engagements. “The campaign has a previous engagement in Virginia and then New York, which could not be rescheduled,” Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks said in an email to The Hollywood Reporter. “Given this was just proposed at the last minute, it was not possible to change our plans in order to attend.”

Establishment Freak Out: Trump Taking Big Share Of Former JEB Supporters
DC Whispers - It was a quick little poll by NBC and SurveyMonkey that attempted to show how big of a bump Marco Rubio would get from the now homeless Jeb Bush supporters. The Republican Establishment has been pushing for weeks for the lower tier candidates to get out of the race which in turn would allow this same establishment to further focus its resources on then eliminating the Trump campaign. As has happened so often to earlier plans to “Take Trump Out”, it appears the GOP’s plan has backfired.... Marco Rubio will likely get the largest share of former Bush supporters according to the above poll, but it does not appear to be enough of a bump to have a longer-term impact on the GOP nomination. Add to that the likely withdrawal of Kasich in the coming days, and we see a scenario in which at least a third if not more of those voters will initially switch to Trump.

Donald Trump: I’ll Prosecute Hillary Clinton as President
Breitbart - During an appearance with Fox News’s Sean Hannity in Las Vegas Monday night, Donald Trump said that his administration would prosecute Hillary Clinton.... "We have to solve all sorts of problems. In fairness, you have to look into [Hillary]. Maybe she can prove her innocence, but it just seems to me that, I think the public knows everything that they are going to know. The emails have come out. She seems to be guilty, but you know what, I wouldn’t even say that. But certainly it has to be looked at. … If I win, certainly I will look at that as being fair to everyone else."

MSNBC Censors Sanders Condemning TPP
Kit Daniels - MSNBC cut away from live coverage of a Bernie Sanders press conference once he began to condemn the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership. ocial media exploded as a result as viewers felt the break in Monday’s coverage was due to MSNBC’s owner, Comcast, not wanting to air criticism of the TPP because it benefits greatly from the treaty. “Of the near $16 million Comcast spent lobbying politicians in 2015, $40,000 alone was spent in the first three months of the year targeting the Senate and House of Representatives on issues relating to TPP,” RT reported. “Over an 18-month period between 2013 and 2015, Media Matters found that MSNBC only discussed TPP twice, with the exception of Ed Schultz, who discussed the agreement during 71 broadcasts while he was still hosting The Ed Show for MSNBC.” Schultz later left MSNBC for RT America. MSNBC isn’t alone in suppressing TPP coverage; CBS, ABC and NBC also barely mentioned the treaty over an 18-month period despite the TPP’s severe implications on both the U.S. economy and global human trafficking.

Hillary Clinton Can’t Stop Coughing
Free Beacon - As Clinton campaigns across the country, she is followed by a persistent cough. At several rallies and speeches, Clinton was interrupted by a chronic and troublesome cough that often left her voice hoarse. Some voters have expressed concern over the status of Clinton’s health. During a campaign event in Iowa, a woman confronted Clinton about her health. Clinton addressed the woman’s concern. “I’ll match my endurance against anybody,” Clinton said. “And last spring, my doctor put out a letter and you know, said what great health.”

Recession 2016: In Some States, A Very Deep Economic Downturn Has Already Arrived
Economic Collapse - Did you know that there are some U.S. states that have already officially fallen into recession? Economic activity all over the planet is in the process of slowing down, and there are some areas of the country that are really starting to feel the pain.... n Sunday evening, Bloomberg published an article entitled “The U.S. States Where Recession Is Already a Reality“. The following is an excerpt from that article… As economists size up the chances of the first nationwide slump since 2009, pockets of the country are already contracting. Four states — Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming — are in a recession, and three others are at risk of prolonged declines, according to indexes of state economic performance tracked by Moody’s Analytics. The three additional states that are “at risk of prolonged declines” are Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma. What all of those seven states have in common is a strong dependence on the energy industry. Last year, 67 oil and gas companies in the United States filed for bankruptcy, and approximately 130,000 good paying energy jobs were lost.

Household Debt Increases to $12 Trillion
Free Beacon - Household debt increased by $51 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015, and now totals $12.12 trillion, or more than $40,000 per household, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This level of debt is 4.4 percent shy of the record-high household debt of $12.68 trillion seen in 2008.... The majority of the $12 trillion in household debt comes from mortgage debt, which totaled $8.25 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2015. Student loans were the next largest contributor at $1.23 trillion, followed by auto loans at $1.06 trillion, then credit card debt at $733 billion, and finally home equity lines of credit at $487 billion.

1 in 4 Americans on verge of financial ruin
MarketWatch - According to a survey released Tuesday by Bankrate.com of more than 1,000 adults, nearly one in four Americans have credit card debt that exceeds their emergency fund or savings. And that’s partially because many people, in addition to their debt, don’t have a dime in their emergency fund at all: another Bankrate survey released earlier this year found that 29% of Americans have no emergency savings at all. These numbers mean that many Americans are “teetering on the edge of financial disaster,” says Greg McBride, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst — thanks to the fact that they might be hard-pressed to pay for an emergency should one arise. “Not only do most of them not have enough savings, they’ve all used up some portion of their available credit — they are running out of options.”

Tuesday - February 23, 2016 - Today in History:

1792 - The Humane Society of Massachusetts was incorporated.
1822 - Boston was incorporated as a city.
1836 - In San Antonio, TX, the siege of the Alamo began.
1839 - In Boston, MA, William F. Harnden organized the first express service between Boston and NYC. It was the first express service in the U.S.
1847 - Santa Anna was defeated at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico by U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary.
1861 - U.S. President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take his office after an assassination attempt in Baltimore.
1861 - Texas became the 7th state to secede from the Union.
1870 - The state of Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.
1883 - Alabama became the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.
1904 - The U.S. acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million.
1905 - The Rotary Club was founded in Chicago, IL, by Attorney Paul Harris and three others.
1916 - The U.S. Congress authorizes the McKinley Memorial $1 gold coin.
1919 - The Fascist Party was formed in Italy by Benito Mussolini.
1927 - The Federal Radio Commission began assigning frequencies, hours of operation and power allocations for radio broadcasters. On July 1, 1934 the name was changed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
1945 - The 28th Regiment of the Fifth Marine Division of the U.S. Marines reached the top of Mount Surabachi. A photograph of these Marines raising the American flag was taken.
1954 - The first mass vaccination of children against polio began in Pittsburgh, PA.
1963 - The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It prohibited poll taxes in federal elections.
1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army demanded $4 million more for the release of Patty Hearst. Hearst had been kidnapped on February 4th.
1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared that Iran's new parliament would have to decide the fate of the hostages taken on November 4, 1979, at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
1991 - During the Persian Gulf War, ground forces crossed the border of Saudi Arabia into the country of Iraq. Less than four days later the war was over due to the surrender or withdraw of Iraqi forces.
1997 - Ali Hassan Abu Kamal, a Palestinian teacher, opened fire on the 86th-floor observation deck of New York City's Empire State Building. He killed one person and wounded six more before killing himself.
1999 - White supremacist John William King was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering James Byrd Jr. Byrd was dragged behind a truck for two miles on a country road in Texas.
2005 - The New York, NY, city medical examiner's office announced that it had exhausted all efforts to identify the remains of the people killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, due to the limits of DNA technology. About 1,600 people had been identified leaving more than 1,100 unidentified.
2011 - The Obama administration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.

Syria ceasefire: Putin vows to put pressure on Assad regime as date for US-Russia brokered deal is confirmed
The Independent - Vladimir Putin hailed the agreement with optimism, describing it as a "real step forward that can stop the bloodshed", and saying Moscow would use its influence on President Bashar al-Assad to try make sure it is observed. "We will do whatever is necessary with Damascus, with the legitimate Syrian authorities," the Russian President said during a televised address, AFP reports. In a statement, the White House said Mr Putin and Barack Obama had discussed the deal over the phone. The US said Mr Obama remained committed to "the shared goal of degrading and ultimately destroying Isis", which is not covered by the ceasefire. It said the truce will apply “to those parties to the Syrian conflict that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of its terms.” This does not include Isis, the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and "other terrorist organizations designated by the UN".

Italy to allow US drones to fly out of Sicily air base for attacks on Isis
The Guardian - Italy will allow armed US drones to fly out of an American base in Sicily to launch attacks against the Islamic State in Libya and other countries in northern Africa where the extremist group poses a threat… The deal does not give the US free reign to use its base in Sicily without restrictions. The US will have to secure permission from the Italian government each time it wants to release an armed drone and the missions will have to be limited to defensive strikes to protect special forces engaged in anti-Isis missions… Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has ruled out Italy’s direct participation in any operations against Libya… In talks, Italy reportedly said it did not want to ignite domestic opposition to such offensive strikes against Libya, particularly if the country could then be blamed for civilian deaths.

Arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Qatar almost triple in four years
Middle East Eye - Between 2011 and 2015, Gulf states were the most significant market for sales by the United States, the world’s biggest arms exporter, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found. In a new report assessing worldwide trends in arms sales over the last four years, SIPRI found that increased demand from the Middle East had led a 14 per cent global rise in arms transfers… At the forefront of this growth were Saudi Arabia – now the world’s largest importer of weapons – and Qatar. Arms purchases by Qatar between 2011 and 2015 jumped by 279 per cent, while Saudi Arabia’s increased by 275 per cent over the same period compared to the previous four years.

Loaded: US sends 5,000 tons of ammunition to Germany ‘to help NATO alliance’
RT - Washington has dispatched more than 5,000 tons of ammunition to Germany, the largest amount in 10 years, the US military announced, adding that the shipment will help to “continue to enable the NATO alliance” and to defend its allies. “In the largest single Europe-bound US shipment of ammunition in 10 years, the 21st Theater Sustainment Command … transported over 5,000 tons of ammunition …to the Theater Logistics Support Center Europe's ammunition depot in Miesau [Germany] Feb. 17-18,”said a statement on the US army website. "This critical shipment will help us to continue to enable the NATO alliance, and the fact that it's the largest single shipment in 10 years demonstrates our continued commitment to the defense of our allies," 21st TSC chief of staff, Colonel Matthew Redding, said. Maintaining a stockpile of ammunition means the US and NATO “can quickly draw ammunition in support of short notice NATO operations,” says Redding.

World War 3 Could Very Easily Turn Into The Very First Nuclear War In The Middle East
Economic Collapse -Saudi Arabia already has nukes, Iran probably does, and the Russians are one of the two great nuclear powers on the entire planet. So if Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni allies do decide to conduct a full-blown ground invasion of Syria, could someone ultimately decide to use nuclear weapons when their backs get pushed up against a wall? As you read this article, there are thousands of military vehicles and hundreds of thousands of troops massed along the southern border of Turkey and the northern border of Saudi Arabia. If the command is given and those forces start streaming toward Damascus, it is inevitable that the Syrians, the Iranians, Hezbollah and the Russians would fight back. It would literally be the start of World War 3, and the Saudis and the Turks are trying very hard to convince the United States to be involved. But the truth is that we don’t want any part of this conflict, because it could very easily become the very first nuclear war in the history of the Middle East.

Largest ever US-South Korea military drill planned as a ‘warning to Pyongyang’
The Telegraph - The joint US-South Korean exercises scheduled for March will be largest military drills ever staged on the Korean Peninsula and are both a warning to Pyongyang and an effort to reassure the jittery public in the South. The parallel Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises are scheduled to commence on March 7, with the field-training exercises that make up Foal Eagle lasting until April 30. The drills will involve 15,000 US troops, twice the number of previous years, and will serve to demonstrate Washington’s firepower. The US will deploy a combat aviation brigade to South Korea for the duration of the manoeuvres, as well as a mobile US Marine brigade, an aircraft carrier and its attendant fleet, a nuclear-powered submarine and aeriel tankers to refuel fighter aircraft. South Korea will commit some 290,000 personnel, including special forces, more than double its usual deployment for the annual drills.

Federal government's 'no jab, no pay' law sparks run on vaccines
NSW The Age - The [Australian] federal government's 'no jab, no pay' law has sparked a rush on vaccines as parents fear missing out on welfare benefits. Under the vaccination policy, which came into effect on January 1, parents will lose the Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement and childcare subsidies if their child is not up to date with their immunizations… The director of public health for the NSW North Coast, Paul Corben, said a lot of parents were seeking immunization advice and vaccines since the 'no jab, no pay' policy had become law. "Across the state we're all fielding a lot of inquiries," he said. Mr Corben said he was not sure the policy would sway hard-line anti-vaccination parents. "Who it does sway are the people who are ambivalent or perhaps a bit complacent. It's an added incentive [to get their children immunized]," he said.

Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan leaking radioactive water amid nationwide restart
RT - A nuclear power station in Japan is leaking, this time the Takahama plant, about 380km west of Tokyo. The radioactive water leak comes amid a nationwide push to restart reactors after the catastrophic meltdown[s] at Fukushima five years ago...The push by the government and utility companies came amid protests across Japan against the continued reliance on nuclear energy, prompted by failures to get the Fukushima crisis under control. Now Kansai Electric Power says about 34 liters of radioactive water have escaped the plant's reactor No. 4. An investigation is underway.

Brazil using drones to fight Zika, Cuba deploys army
RT - While several cities in Brazil will use drones to locate and destroy breeding grounds for the mosquito, Cuba is set to deploy a whole army to prevent Zika from reaching its territory. The drones have a very sharp eye. In San Paulo they perform low-altitude flyovers to detect signs of the pest in gardens, on terraces and other places where it is known to breed. They then fumigate the colonies, Xinhua reports… Cuban President Raul Castro assigned as many as 9,000 army troops to prevent the epidemic from reaching the country and urged Cubans to comb neighborhoods for the Aedes genus of mosquitoes which is said to carry yellow fever, dengue, and encephalitis… Cuba has not encountered a Zika case yet, however, the probability of the disease reaching its soil remains high, said the World Health Organization (WHO).

Judge rules DOJ must share documents from Fast and Furious scandal
CBS News - House Republicans sued in federal court in 2012 to obtain thousands of emails related to the botched effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track guns across the Southwest border… In her decision Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson Berman said it was inappropriate for the Justice Department to make a blanket assertion of executive privilege in part because the agency had already disclosed through other channels much of the information it wants to withhold. "Since any harm that would flow from the disclosures sought here would be merely incremental, the records must be produced," the judge wrote… Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been seeking the documents, said the judge's ruling will help the committee advance its investigation.

Ohio Blocks Planned Parenthood from State Taxpayers' Funds
Breitbart - Ohio Gov. John Kasich has signed a bill that eliminates state funding from Planned Parenthood in the Buckeye State. The new law redirects $1.3 million in taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood of Ohio to other health facilities, and it prohibits the state from entering into a contract for health services with any entity that performs or promotes non-therapeutic abortions, reports Cleveland.com. Additionally, the legislation earmarks $250,000 in federal Medicaid funds exclusively for community health centers. The bill was co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. Bill Patmon and Republican Rep. Margaret Conditt.

GMO Labeling: The Shocking Draft Text of the New Dark Act
Sustainable Pulse - A US Senate committee is working on a new ‘Dark Act” legislation that would prevent states from requiring labels on genetically modified foods. Sustainable Pulse has decided to publish a copy of the new Dark Act draft. The new Dark Act contains some shocking text including details of how the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture will become a preacher for the U.S. Biotech industry: “EDUCATION.—The Secretary, in coordination with other Federal agencies as appropriate, shall provide science-based information, including any information on the environmental, nutritional, economic, and humanitarian benefits of agricultural biotechnology, through education, outreach, and promotion to address consumer acceptance of agricultural biotechnology.” Vermont is set to require GMO labeling this summer, which would be blocked if the new Dark Act is supported by the Senate.... The Senate panel is scheduled to vote on the bill on Thursday.

‘In God We Trust’ Now on More Texas Police Cars
The list is growing for cities and counties in Texas who are adding “In God We Trust” to their emergency vehicles. The latest is Kendall County, just northwest of San Antonio. In the county seat of Boerne, Sheriff Al Auxier has made the decision to place the nation’s motto across the trunk or tailgate of every one of his patrol vehicles. “It is the motto of our country and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t proudly display that on our patrol units,” the sheriff told KENS 5 News. County resident Carol Hayden added “Boerne is very Christian-oriented, Kendall County is. So it’s interesting, but not surprising, I suppose.” While “In God We Trust” has been the national motto for 60 years, there have been legal battles over the issue again and again. The sheriff says he has no misgivings. “I have a completely different idea about the separation of church and state,” he told the reporters. Sheriff Auxier added that he’s not worried about a legal challenge since tax money isn’t being spent on the decals; roughly about $400 for all 28 department units.

Trump Calls For Auditing the Fed
Kit Daniels - Donald Trump is calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve. The GOP frontrunner said it was important to audit the Fed and even called out his rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, for skipping a vote on Sen. Rand Paul’s “Audit the Fed” proposal back in Jan.... During Friday’s appearance on the Alex Jones Show, Trump insider Roger Stone was asked if Trump would call for an audit, and Stone said that he thought so but would pass the message along to the Trump campaign. “He’s not a big fan of the Fed,” Stone pointed out. “He is scaring the central bankers; he is scaring the Washington/Wall Street/D.C. consultant/lobbyist class.” “He’s deeply suspicious of the Fed and I think he is open-minded about the Fed… I’d suspect you’d get an audit of the Fed [with Trump].”

Twitter Bans Conservative Blogger, “Kill Trump” Account Still Active 6 Months Later
Paul Joseph Watson - Having the wrong politics gets you banned, death threats perfectly fine. UPDATE: The “Kill Trump” account was suspended MINUTES after this story was published. It only took them a mere 6 months. As Twitter suspended the account of yet another conservative for the crime of having the wrong politics, an account called ‘Kill Donald Trump’ that advocates assassinating the Republican frontrunner is still active six months later. The social media giant shut down an account belonging to conservative journalist Robert Stacy McCain on Friday night, the latest example of what some claim is a purge of voices on the political right. Although no reason was given for the ban, McCain asserts that it was a reaction to his strident criticism of third wave feminism. However, while Twitter seems keen to silence bloggers who challenge leftist narratives, it appears to be more apathetic about leftists themselves who openly advocate the assassination of America’s potential next president – Donald Trump. An account entitled ‘Kill Donald Trump’ that was started in August last year is still active six months later. “Someone should kill Donald Trump already. EL CHAPO do your thing,” states the bio information for the account.

Governor and Presidential Hopefuls to Speak at Houston Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on Eve of Texas GOP Debate
GOP presidential hopeful, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott are expected to address the Harris County Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on the eve of the February 25th Presidential Debate. A crowd in excess of 1,200 is expected to pack the event, one of the largest of its kind in Texas. Senator Cruz has confirmed he will be speaking at the event being held Wednesday night at the Bayou City Event Center on Houston’s south side. Houston is home for the conservative senator and is also the headquarters for his national campaign. Because of the timing in advance of the debate, it is possible other presidential candidates may speak as well. This is the third year in a row that the HCRP Lincoln-Reagan dinner has featured presidential hopefuls during the dinner. In 2015, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker delivered the keynote and in 2014, the honor went to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

Nevada GOP to report caucus results with smartphones
Nevada GOP presidential caucus officials will report the results of Tuesday night’s contests using pictures snapped on their smartphones — a marked contrast to the Microsoft-built app that was used to deliver results in Iowa. The Wall Street Journal reported that GOP officials are hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2012, when final results in Nevada were not officially reported until days after the caucuses, long after news organizations had called the race for Mitt Romney.... here will be 130 caucus locations set up across the state to deal with the 1,700 precincts. According to the party, officials at each caucus location will tally the results and send them off to the county and state headquarters “via telephone and photo confirmation.” The Associated Press also has been tasked with delivering the results from Nevada to the public and flagging any “data issues” with the numbers.... The set-up in Nevada is a contrast to the Iowa caucuses, which were reported using a Microsoft-built app and backed up by its cloud technology. The app amounted to little more than a password-protected interface into which caucus officials could enter their results. Back ups were designed to flag anomalies and double check inputs.

Closure: Rare WWII dog tag to be returned to soldier's family
RT - The Battle of Saipan was a turning point in the Allied war against Japan. US Private First Class Thomas Davis earned a Silver Star for risking his life to rescue an injured comrade during the bloody fight - and apparently, he also lost his dog tag. Flash forward 70 years, to 2014, when historian Genevieve Cabrera found his tag sticking out of the soil on a farm. Davis’ name, serial number, and hometown were still clearly visible on the discolored piece of metal. Davis didn’t make it out of the Pacific Theater. In 1945, he was killed by a sniper in Okinawa while, yet again, helping a wounded soldier. But now the dog tag he lost on the battlefield is heading home to his family in Indiana. Cabrera gave the tag to the Japanese charity Kuentai, which reunites families with remnants from deceased soldiers. With the help of the Associated Press and an Indiana library, they were able to track down members of Davis’ family and hope to reunite them with the tag shortly.

The U.S. States Where Recession Is Already a Reality
Bloomberg Business - As economists size up the chances of the first nationwide slump since 2009, pockets of the country are already contracting. Four states -- Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming -- are in a recession, and three others are at risk of prolonged declines, according to indexes of state economic performance tracked by Moody’s Analytics… Even as U.S. employers added 2.7 million workers in 2015, job cuts last year totaled 18,800 in North Dakota, 11,800 in West Virginia and 6,400 in Wyoming, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The common thread? They all have concentrations of energy companies. A 72 percent plunge in crude oil prices since a peak in June 2014 has led to lower production and firings… seven of the 50 U.S. states have had downturns in economic activity over the final three months of last year, according to tracking by the Philadelphia Fed. Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma are all at risk of recession, according to Moody’s.

U.S. rig count falls to near 17-year lows
Government Slaves - As crude oil prices stubbornly remain around $30 per barrel, new drilling activity continues to fall to levels that have not been seen in nearly 17 years. Figures from the Baker Hughes Rig Count released on Feb. 19 show that new drilling activity in the United States has fallen to levels that were last seen in May 1999… Across the entire United States, figures fell down to 514 active rigs, compared to 1,310 during the same time period last year… New oil rig activity provides business for many subcontractors out in the field. According to a study from the University of Houston, each drilling rig represents a total of 224 jobs on and off the drilling pad.

Pesticide-Maker Syngenta Accepts $43 Billion Takeover by Chinese Company
Natural Society - After refusing a $47 billion-dollar takeover bid from Monsanto – one of its biggest pesticide production competitors – the Swiss agrochemical company Syngenta AG has agreed to a $43 billion cash buyout by government-owned China National Chemical Corp. Syngenta had rejected an earlier bid of $42 billion. This is one of China’s most aggressive takeover attempts of a foreign pesticide and seed company to date. Syngenta said on February 3 that the agreed-upon offer by the Chinese company, commonly known as ChemChina, amounted to $465 a share. A special dividend of 5 Swiss francs ($4.91) a share was also to be paid immediately before closing the deal.... For several years, China’s President Xi Jinping has urged his country to take the lead in developing genetically modified crops. China’s nascent seed industry, he said in a speech last year, should “boldly research and innovate” in GMOs and prevent foreign companies from dominating the market. Biotech for crops was highlighted in China’s most recent draft Five-Year Plan, all the while they were refusing GM imports from the US.

Radioactive waste from Hanford Nuclear Reservation spread across Washington highway
Tri-City Herald - The Environmental Protection Agency has called the uncontrolled spread of small [?] amounts of radioactive waste at Hanford Nuclear Reservation "alarming" after a Nov. 17 windstorm. Surveys six miles north of Richland after the winds subsided found specks of [radioactive] contamination had spread beyond Route 4, the public highway from Richland out to the Wye Barricade secure entrance to Hanford. The contamination had blown from the 618-10 Burial Ground, which is being cleaned on the west side of the highway. The search also turned up previously undiscovered specks of radioactive waste believed to have been spread by plants or animals outside known contaminated areas. Hanford officials brought in a street sweeper to collect the sand and dirt from a stretch of highway near the burial ground.

Mysterious Oily Substance Rains From The Sky With No Explanation In Michigan
Natural Blaze - The whole town of Harrison Township, Michigan is trying to figure out why a black oily substance was raining from the sky last week. According to ABC, the local fire department and environmental agencies have no clue what the substance is, but they do admit that it mysteriously fell from the sky. The fire department came out to homes to take samples of the material this week and are still waiting for the results to confirm what it is. However, officials said that it is an ashy and oily substance that does not appear to be flammable. None of the agencies that were contacted could remember a time where this has ever happened before. Schlutow suspects that this substance could have come from a nearby government airbase. However, the nearby Selfridge Air National Guard Base released a statement denying that they had anything to do with the incident.

Adulterated pet foods, It’s So Bad, All We Can do Now is Warn
Susan Thixton - Each day in the U.S. millions of pounds of adulterated pet foods are sold to unknowing consumers; an estimated $19 Million dollars worth every single day. Laws that govern pet food/animal feed have been ignored for so long, it’s so bad – so big – it is probably too late for anything other than a warning. The American Pet Products Association states in 2015 $23 billion worth of pet food was sold in the U.S. An estimated 30% of those sales were for pet food and treats that legally should not have been sold.... In the United States Code (law), Title 21, Chapter 9, Subchapter IV, Section 342 (The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act) – the law states that a food (food would include animal/pet food) is considered adulterated if it is sourced from a non-slaughtered animal (Section 342 a-5). This law is in place to protect consumers and their pets from the risk to consuming diseased or decomposing animal tissues.... The following states are not only ignoring the above federal law, they are ignoring their own state law too: Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota.
 

Monday - February 22, 2016 - Today in History:

1819 - Spain ceded Florida to the United States.
1855 - The U.S. Congress voted to appropriate $200,000 for continuance of the work on the Washington Monument. The next morning the resolution was tabled and it would be 21 years before the Congress would vote on funds again. Work was continued by the Know-Nothing Party in charge of the project.
1859 - U.S. President Buchanan approved the Act of February 22, 1859, which incorporated the Washington National Monument Society "for the purpose of completing the erection now in progress of a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government."
1860 - Organized baseball’s first game was played in San Francisco, CA.
1865 - In the U.S., Tennessee adopted a new constitution that abolished slavery.
1879 - In Utica, NY, Frank W. Woolworth opened his first 5 and 10-cent store.
1885 - The Washington Monument was officially dedicated in Washington, DC. It opened to the public in 1889.
1924 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White House.
1984 - The Census Bureau showed that the state of Alaska was the fastest growing state of the decade with an increase in population of 19.2 percent.
1994 - The U.S. Justice Department charged Aldrich Ames and his wife with selling national secrets to the Soviet Union. Ames was later convicted to life in prison. Ames' wife received a 5-year prison term.
1997 - Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut and colleagues announced that an adult sheep had been successfully cloned. Dolly was actually born on July 5, 1996. Dolly was the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell.
2010 - Wal-Mart announced it was acquiring the video streaming company Vudu, Inc.

A Furious Turkey Says US Is "Acting Like An Enemy," Demands Washington Brand Kurds "Terrorists"
Zero Hedge - The problem for Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar is optics. That is, everything anyone does in Syria has to be justified by an imaginary “war on terror.” Turkey can’t say it’s intervening to keep the rebels from being defeated by the Russians, and similarly, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US, France and everyone else needs to preserve the narrative and pretend as though this all doesn't boil down to the West and the Sunnis versus the Russians and the Shiites… Well it turns out that’s an impossible task and so, Turkey has resorted to Plan B: a possible false flag bombing and the old “blame the Kurds” strategy… "If the United States is really Turkey's friend and ally, then they should recognize the PYD — a Syrian branch of the PKK — as a terrorist organization. If a friend acts as an enemy, then measures should be taken, and they will not be limited to the Incirlik Airbase, Turkey has significant capabilities," Erdogan advisor Seref Malkoc told Bugun newspaper. So yeah. Turkey just threatened the US.

10 Dead, Troops Deployed, Water Rationed As Indians Riot: "We Are Here To Die"
Zero Hedge - Violent protests by the rural caste have left 10 dead and 150 injured in Haryana, India where the government has sent 4,000 troops and 5,000 paramilitaries with shoot-on-sight orders. The week-long riots reflect frustration with a lack of employment and university opportunities… AFP writes “India reserves places for lower castes in measures intended to bring victims of the country's worst discrimination into the mainstream but the policy causes resentment among other communities, who say it freezes them out.”… The ten people killed over the past week were shot by police who are attempting to bring the situation under control. "We will keep going until the government bows to our pressure," Rajendra Ahlavat, a 59-year-old farmer and protest leader told Reuters. There is no way we will take back our demands."

Syrian Hospital Strikes and the Unexpected War Criminals
By Tony Cartalucci - Accusations and denials continue to be traded between the West’s NGO, Doctors Without Borders or officially Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and the Russian and Syrian government. Despite the gravity of the accusations by the West and MSF, which suggest “deliberate” and egregious war crimes, they have thus far produced no evidence. Not only have they produced no evidence, they openly admit that so far, they have none.... For an international organization to accuse two nations of “war crimes” with admittedly nothing more than “accounts,” not from an MSF hospital and their staff, but from an alleged hospital “supported by” MSF and run by local staff, indicates self-serving political motivation, not impartial, selfless charity. But beyond baseless accusations, this most recent incident reveals something far more sinister MSF may be guilty of.

U.S. businessman detained in Iran denied access to lawyer
Reuters - An Iranian-American businessman detained in Iran since October has been denied access to his lawyer by authorities, his attorney and family said in an interview and on social media over the last two days. Siamak Namazi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was detained by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in October while visiting family, according to a source familiar with the matter who declined to be identified. Iranian authorities have not announced any charges against him. Five other American citizens were released from Iranian prisons more than a month ago as part of an historic prisoner swap with the United States. After their release, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that he had commitments from Iran that Namazi's case would be resolved soon.

Missing radioactive material found dumped in south Iraq
Reuters - Radioactive material that went missing in Iraq has been found dumped near a petrol station in the southern town of Zubair, officials said on Sunday, ending speculation it could be acquired by Islamic State and used as a weapon. The officials told Reuters the material, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, was undamaged and there were no concerns about radiation. Reuters reported last week that Iraq had been searching for the material since it was stolen in November from a storage facility belonging to U.S. oilfield services company Weatherford near the southern city of Basra.

Russia Increases Gold Reserves by 700,000 Ounces in January
Economic Policy Journal - After adding 6,700,000 ounces (208 tonnes) of gold to her reserves in 2015, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced today that it had added another 700,000 ounces of gold (21.77 tonnes) to its reserves in January 2016. The report indicated that Russian gold reserves increased by 700,000 ounces from its December 2015 report to 46.2 million ounces (1,436.98 tonnes). Since 2009 Russia has added more than 813 tons of gold to its reserves more than China who added (724 tons) during the same time period. Russia has been rebalancing its foreign reserves to favor gold vs. U.S. Treasury Bonds. Russia’s gold buying binge had coincided with a steady sell off of her U.S. Treasuries.... A wise move given that the global is saturated with US dollars and US Treasury securities and there is no doubt a collapse for both ahead.

Pentagon Asks Russia to Avoid Areas in Syria Where Special Operators Are Deployed
CNS News - After saying for months that the U.S. is not cooperating with Russia in Syria – beyond basic air safety “deconfliction” measures – a senior military official disclosed Thursday that the Pentagon has asked Russia to avoid areas where U.S. Special Forces troops are located in northern Syria. The U.S. and Russia are both carrying out airstrikes in Syria – the U.S. since the fall of 2014 as part of a coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and the Russians since last September targeting what it calls “terrorist” groups, in a campaign of support for the Assad regime. The U.S. and Russia are both carrying out airstrikes in Syria – the U.S. since the fall of 2014 as part of a coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and the Russians since last September targeting what it calls “terrorist” groups, in a campaign of support for the Assad regime.

Thousands Attend Burial Mass for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia…
Breitbart - Justice Antonin Scalia was laid to rest Saturday after a funeral Mass celebrated by his son, Father Paul Scalia, before a crowd of thousands of regular citizens and conservative elites in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and viewed on television through non-stop coverage on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.

Video: Family Guy Predicted Antonin Scalia’s Death While On Quail Hunting Trip In 2007 Episode
Dave Hodges - As if it was not enough that Scalia’s death had an eerie resemblance to the 1993 movie, The Pelican Brief, now it has come to the attention of many that comedy show, from Fox, Family Guy predicted Scalia’s death as well. Scalia died on a hunting trip. On Family Guy, Scalia died hunting quail and he was shot by Dick Cheney. this episode aired on May 7, 2007, almost 9 years ago. This is just another example of predictive programming that is stunningly accurate.

Executives Get One Month In Prison For Massive Chemical Spill That Poisoned WV Water Supply
True Activist - Two former executives with the bankrupt Freedom Industries were sentenced to one month in federal prison for their responsibility in the chemical spill that poisoned water supplies in West Virginia over two years ago. The chemical spill tainted the water supply of 300,000 people in West Virginian for weeks… Both were also fined $20,000 in addition to their prison sentence… The executives were facing up to 3 years in prison and $300,000 dollars in fines, so many critics are saying that they got off easy. Many West Virginia residents who urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence were disappointed by the ruling.

Uber driver suspected in Michigan shootings, six dead
Reuters - A Michigan man who worked as an Uber [UBER.UL] driver was under arrest on Sunday in the fatal shooting of six people in Kalamazoo, as police investigated reports that he may have driven customers of the car-hailing service on the night of the rampage. Prosecutors alleged that Jason Dalton, 45, opened fire, apparently at random, in parking lots outside an apartment building, a car dealership and at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Kalamazoo, about 150 miles (240 km) west of Detroit.

Trump wins South Carolina; Jeb Bush ends White House bid
(AP) - Donald Trump tightened his grip on the mantle of Republican presidential front-runner on Saturday as South Carolina voters seething about Washington and career politicians propelled the billionaire businessman to a comfortable primary win. One of Trump's favorite targets, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, finally threw in the towel, suspending his campaign after a dismal finish. "Thank you for the opportunity to run for the greatest office on the face of the earth," an emotional Bush told his supporters. Trump looked ahead to Nevada and then the 10 primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday as he tries to increase his delegate advantage.... Two freshmen senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida — were battling for second place, which would give them bragging rights but might not get them any delegates in the march to the nomination.
* Related: Election 2016 — Republican Delegate Count

Hillary Clinton Wins Nevada
Breitbart - Fox News and the Associated Press called Nevada’s Democratic caucus in favor of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton early Saturday afternoon. Results rolled in following the caucus meetings showing a close race between the former Secretary of State and her socialist opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, Polls leading up to caucus day showed Sanders rising and the race becoming ever more slight in favor of Clinton. Results as of 2:20 p.m. PST showed Clinton with 52 per cent and Sanders at 48 per cent with 26 per cent of precincts reporting in. Continuously updated results are posted at nvcaucuses.com.
* Related: VIDEO: Hillary Supporters Register AFTER Voting?

Clinton Burns Sanders by Drawing High Card… FIX IS IN: Hillary Wins 7/7 Tiebreakers
Breitbart - From coin tosses to high-card, Hillary Clinton cannot stop beating Sen. Bernie Sanders when luck takes the place of voters. To break tied precincts in the Iowa Caucus a few weeks ago, Hillary won every coin toss — 6 out of 6 — the odds of which are less than 2%. In Nevada’s caucus today, Democrats played a game of high-low card to determine a tie. And super-lucky Hillary just won with an ace to Bernie’s 6 in the precinct of Pahrump, Nevada. Hillary Clinton is now 7 for 7. What are the odds?

Where Does Big Oil Go Now? Jeb Bush Had More Oil Industry Donations than All his Rivals Combined
AllGov - When Bush entered the White House race last year, the petroleum sector saw him as their natural choice: he was the son and brother of former presidents and he came from a West Texas family with historically close ties to the oil industry. "Bush is part of a family that is a friendly face to the oil industry," said Emerson. He drew more than $2 million from the CEOs of companies like Exxon Mobil and Halliburton in 2015, making up about 56% of all the industry’s contributions to the race so far... The main beneficiaries in the Republican race will likely be Ted Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas, and Marco Rubio, a U.S. Senator from Florida. After Bush, the two candidates received the most contributions from the oil and gas industry, according to the Reuters review.

Glenn Beck Responds to South Carolina Primary Results: ‘Join Me’ in a ‘Fast for Ted Cruz’
Breitbart - Following Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina GOP primary, talk radio host Glenn Beck urged his Facebook followers to join him and his family in fasting for GOP candidate Sen. Ted Cruz. I would like to ask you to join me and my family Monday in a fast for Ted Cruz, our country and the Nevada caucus,” Beck wrote on his Facebook page after the South Carolina election results showed a decisive double-digit victory for Trump, whose candidacy Beck has been staunchly opposed to.

Confidante: Trump is Always Wearing a Bullet Proof Vest
Paul Joseph Watson - It’s no surprise that Trump is cautious about his personal security given the deluge of death threats he has received since becoming the Republican frontrunner. Following his controversial comments on Muslim immigration, there was an explosion of “kill Trump” threats made by leftists on Twitter. Trump first began wearing a bullet proof vest for certain sorties back in October after reports that the world’s most wanted drug lord El Chapo had put a $100 million bounty on his head, but now it appears as though he has donned the item for every public appearance.

400,000 People Just Had Their Pensions Cut By 50%: “Going to Happen To The Rest Of Pensions in the United States”
Activist Post - In 2014 a new Federal law made it possible for pension funds to cut benefits for their recipients. Much to the protest of pensioners, the government and numerous unions supporting the change cited pension plans that were in imminent danger of collapse, saying that the only way to save the funds was to cut benefits to potentially millions of recipients. Six months later, the U.S. Supreme Court took things a step further when they opined that the government has the right to fully seize 401(k) and pension funds that were being poorly managed.... The Central State pension fund in Kansas became the first such fund to take advantage of the 2014 law as 400,000 Americans who depend on their monthly pension income to pay for such things as their mortgage, groceries and medical expenses saw an average of $1,400 per month sliced of their monthly benefits.

‘It will destroy my business’: Oregon Small Business Owners Protest Minimum Wage Increase
Adan Salazar - Small business owners in Oregon have voiced outrage at senate and house hearings in protest of SB 1532, a bill mandating a tiered minimum wage system across the state. According to testimony given by actual Oregonians, the minimum wage increase will raise the cost of goods for consumers, make it difficult to hire more workers and threatens to shutter the doors of numerous businesses. “This enormous increase will force many family farmers to try to find ways to mechanize or transition away from labor-intensive products Oregon is known for, like apples, pears, milk and berries,” the president of the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, Barry Bushue, told The Associated Press. “Unfortunately, some will give up and sell, while others will simply go out of business.”

Home Renters Pay Up to 47% More For Car Insurance Than Homeowners
The Consumerist - Renting a home means that you’re not responsible for fixing the leaky roof or replacing the broken furnace, and you aren’t wedded to a mortgage for the rest of your life. But according to a new analysis of auto insurance rates, it also means you could be paying a lot more to insure your car. The Consumer Federation of America recently tested auto insurance rates from the nation’s largest providers in ten different cities from coast to coast, and found that some renters are paying upwards of 47% more for basic liability coverage than homeowners.... “To raise people’s auto insurance premium because they can’t afford to buy their homes unfairly discriminates against lower-income drivers,” said J. Robert Hunter, a former Insurance Commissioner for the state of Texas and the CFA’s Insurance Director. “A good driver is a good driver whether she rents or owns her home.”

Nestle is Pumping Millions of Gallons from the Great Lakes for Free While Flint Pays For Poison
One of the most infuriating aspects of the Flint water crisis is that residents are not only still being charged for their poisoned water, but they’re being charged higher rates than almost anywhere in the country. Residents continue to pay $864 a year for water that is making them sick, more than double what most Americans pay for water service. Flint’s water service charges total 7 percent of the average household income, compared to the United Nations recommendation of 3 percent.... Despite making over 15 billion dollars in profits in 2014, Michigan government officials don’t charge Nestle per gallon of water, instead taking only a small permitting fee, as Democracy Now explained...

12 Signs of Feline Leukemia Virus That You Must Catch Early
Dr. Becker - The feline leukemia virus (FeLV) causes leukemia, a type of cancer, as well as other cancers, and also immunodeficiency. FeLV is a retrovirus in the same family as human HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), and also feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Retroviruses are species-specific, meaning a feline retrovirus will only infect cats, and a human retrovirus will only infect humans. Retroviruses are found throughout nature and have been around for millions of years.
 

Friday - February 19, 2016 - Today in History:

1807 - Former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr was arrested in Alabama. He was later tried and acquitted on charges of treason.
1846 - The formal transfer of government between Texas and the United States took place. Texas had officially become a state on December 29, 1845.
1864 - The Knights of Pythias was founded in Washington, DC. A dozen members formed what became Lodge No. 1.
1878 - Thomas Alva Edison patented a music player (the phonograph).
1881 - Kansas became the first state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages.
1942 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed an executive order giving the military the authority to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans.
1942 - Approximately 150 Japanese warplanes attacked the Australian city of Darwin.
1945 - During World War II, about 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima.
1953 - The State of Georgia approved the first literature censorship board in the U.S. Newspapers were excluded from the new legislation.
1959 - Cyprus was granted its independence with the signing of an agreement with Britain, Turkey and Greece.
1963 - The Soviet Union informed U.S. President Kennedy it would withdraw "several thousand" of its troops in Cuba.
1985 - William Schroeder became the first artificial-heart patient to leave the confines of the hospital.
1986 - The U.S. Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide. The pact had been submitted 37 years earlier for ratification.
1986 - The Soviet Union launched the Mir space station.
1987 - A controversial, anti-smoking public service announcement aired for the first time on television. Yul Brynner filmed the ad shortly before dying of lung cancer. Brynner made it clear in the ad that he would have died from cigarette smoking before ad aired.
2002 - NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft began using its thermal emission imaging system to map Mars.
2004 - Former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was charged with fraud, insider trading and other crimes in connection with the energy trader's collapse. Skilling was later convicted and sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.
2005 - The USS Jimmy Carter was commissioned at Groton, CT. It was the last of the Seawolf class of attack submarines.
2008 - Fidel Castro resigned the Cuban presidency. His brother Raul was later named as his successor.

US warplanes strike ISIS camp in Libya, killing more than 30 – report
RT - US warplanes hit an Islamic State camp in Libya early on Friday, a Western official told the New York Times. The airstrike reportedly killed more than 30 of the terrorist group’s recruits. The official said the strike targeted a senior Tunisian operative linked to terrorist attacks in Tunisia last year. Intelligence officials are working to determine whether Noureddine Chouchane, a major Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) facilitator, was actually killed in the strike.

As Russia Bombs Terrorists In Syria, NATO Members Repeat Calls For “No-Fly Zone” and War
Brandon Turbeville - As both the rhetorical and military situation begins to heat up in Syria, Turkey and the NATO powers appear to be doing everything in their power to launch yet another direct invasion of a sovereign nation. In the shadow of U.S. airstrikes, Turkish shelling of Syrian positions, and the massing of Saudi “troops” and aircraft inside Turkey, the concept of a “No-Fly Zone” is once again being trotted out as a legitimate solution to the Syrian crisis. Of course, a No-Fly Zone is nothing more than a cover for a direct NATO invasion of Syria, which has been the goal ever since it became clear that terrorist proxies were simply not enough to get the job done.

'Worrisome': US Secretly Plans to Reopen Military Base in Iceland
Sputnik News - As a response to the deteriorating relations between Washington and Moscow, the United States will reopen a Cold War-era naval base in Iceland. These plans were kept secret from the Icelandic public, and even the prime minister of the country learned of the deal only through US media reports.... Located near the capital of Reykjavik, the base, originally built during World War II, will be retrofitted to house P-8 Poseidon surveillance planes. News of this arrangement came as a complete surprise to many Icelanders.

Belgian Police Find Video of Nuclear Official at Home of Terrorism Suspect
New York Times - The police in Belgium have retrieved 10 hours of video footage of a Belgian nuclear official from the home of a suspect in the November Paris attacks, Thierry Werts, a spokesman for Belgium’s federal prosecutor, said on Thursday. A person close to the investigation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the footage indicated that a terrorist network involved in the coordinated attacks on Nov. 13 that left 130 dead may also have intended to obtain radioactive material for terrorist purposes. The purpose of the footage is not clear, but one theory is that it could have been used to plan an abduction of the official and to obtain radioactive material by force, possibly for use in a dirty bomb. The Belgian news media, citing sources close to the investigation, said that the videotape had been retrieved from the home of Mohamed Bakkali, who was arrested after the attacks and who is in detention on charges of participation in terrorist acts.

Planning For The Worst: Hungarian Central Bank Hoards 200,000 Bullets, Hundreds Of Guns Due To “Security Risks”
Tyler Durden - Hungary isn’t playing around when it comes to security, but as it turns out, migrant-be-gone fences and tear gas aren’t sufficient in today’s dangerous security environment and so,the Hungarian central bank is stockpiling guns and ammo. “Hungary’s central bank, already facing criticism for a spending spree ranging from real estate to fine art, is now beefing up its security force, citing Europe’s migrant crisis and potential bomb threats among the reasons,” Bloomberg writes. “The National Bank of Hungary bought 200,000 rounds of live ammunition and 112 handguns for its security company, according to documents posted on a website for public procurements.”

Sweden To Store 1,800 Migrants On Docked Luxury Cruise Ship
Zero Hedge - According to Interior Minister Anders Ygeman, Sweden now plans to deport 80,000 of the 163,000 migrants it sheltered in 2015, but that won’t stop the flow of refugees, which means the country is going to need to find more innovative ways to house the asylum seekers. Fortunately, Migrationsverket (the Swedish migration agency) has a plan. They will use luxury cruise ships to store migrants. "Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet has revealed that one of the contractors which has agreed to provide floating accommodation for the agency, US Ship-managers, has applied for planning permission to dock the ship, The Ocean Gala, in Härnösand, on the east coast of northern Sweden," The Local reports. "However, local councillors are opposing the bid due to the size of the ship – which would become Sweden's largest accommodation hub for asylum seekers if the plans go ahead."

Zika-hit Puerto Rico prepares to import all of its blood supplies
Reuters - New guidelines barring the collection of blood in areas with outbreaks of the mosquito-borne Zika virus will be put to the test first in cash-strapped Puerto Rico, where health officials have two weeks to start importing the island’s supply. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said earlier this week that areas with active domestic transmission of Zika virus should stop collecting blood locally. Puerto Rico has reported a small number of cases of local transmission, and U.S. health officials expect many thousands of residents to be infected once the mosquito season reaches its peak this summer.

TOP DEMOCRAT: Obama’s Upcoming Visit With Cuban Tyrants “Totally Unacceptable”
Gateway Pundit - Democrat Bob Menendez (D-NJ) went off on Barack Obama today after he announced he will visit the Castro regime in Cuba next month. “This will mark the first time a U.S. president is visiting a dictatorship in Latin America since Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 visit to Nicaragua and it’s the first presidential visit to Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. Since Castro seized power, nine American Presidents – Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush – did not rush to the island to shake hands with an oppressive dictator. They instead stood firmly against a regime that represses its people’s freedoms and blatantly violates human rights just 90 miles from our shore.”

US not safe against ballistic missiles, despite billions spent on defense system – govt report
RT - The US is incapable of protecting itself from ballistic missile strikes launched by North Korea and Iran, despite spending billions to develop a defense system which remains unfinished, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. Although military leaders claim the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system could likely defend against “small numbers of simple ballistic missile threats launched from North Korea and Iran,” testing of the technology does not support that claim, according to the Tuesday report.

Sneaky Change to the TPP Drastically Extends Criminal Penalties
EFF - When the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was first released in November last year, it included provisions dictating the kinds of penalties that should be available in cases of copyright infringement. Amongst those provisions, the following footnote allowed countries some flexibility in applying criminal procedures and penalties to cases of willful copyright infringement on a commercial scale: With regard to copyright and related rights piracy provided for under paragraph 1, a Party may limit application of this paragraph to the cases in which there is an impact on the right holder’s ability to exploit the work, performance or phonogram in the market.

Fearing Americans are tiring of the war on terror, DHS creates a "new breed of terrorism"
MassPrivateI - According to Courthouse News (CN) article, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson warned law enforcement of a new breed of terrorism that sees people "self-radicalize." "As I have said many times, we are in a new phase of the global terrorist threat, requiring a whole new type of response," Johnson said. "We have moved from a world of terrorist-directed attacks to a world that includes the threat of terrorist-inspired attacks." DHS propaganda is so unbelievable, they even have a guide book called "Terminology To Define Terrorists" which instructs them on how to use appropriate terminology when describing the latest terrorist threat.

Insider: Sheriff Lacked Experience For Scalia Investigation, Dept. Ignored Proper Protocol
David Knight & Kit Daniels - The sheriff who claimed there was no foul play involved in the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had little experience in homicide investigations and his department willfully ignored proper procedures, according to an insider. Former Presidio Co. Deputy Caesar Melendez, who said he was fired after attempting to turn in a fellow deputy for tampering with evidence, revealed that Sheriff Danny Dominguez was “not that well-experienced” in handling dead bodies. “I was usually the person he would look to to take care of issues like that,” he said, adding that more should have been done during the Scalia investigation. “I wish I could have been there so I could it for myself, but I honestly don’t think enough was done.” “From what I understand, apparently [Scalia’s] clothing had no wrinkles in them, so of course he lied still, and the pillow should have been taken in as evidence if it was used to smother him, I’m just speculating here, for any saliva, blood or anything like that on the pillow itself.”

South Carolina Senate Passes Bill to Withdraw Participation in Refugee Resettlement Program
Tenth Amendment Center - A South Carolina bill that would defund state cooperation with some contentious federal refugee resettlement programs passed the state Senate on Tuesday. If ultimately passed into law, the legislation would represent a step towards nullifying such resettlement programs in practice in the state. A coalition of seven senators introduced Senate Bill 997 (S.0997) on Jan. 14. The legislation would generally ban state expenditures directly or indirectly benefiting a refugee placed in South Carolina under the Refugee Resettlement Program. The bill does allow for expenditures by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and local police to expend funds necessary to fulfill the obligations required of them by the provisions contained in this act. S.0997 would require refugees to register with the state Department of Social Services within 30 days of entering South Carolina.

New Yorkers sue to boot Ted Cruz from ballot because he was born in Canada
New York Post - Two New York voters are suing the state’s Board of Elections to have Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz booted from the ballot over questions about his citizenship. The issue has been trumpeted by Cruz’s foe, Donald Trump, though the pair who are suing say they are not aligned with the billionaire businessman. “Notwithstanding the bluster of Mr. Trump … my issue is there is a constitutional problem that has arisen, and it has to be addressed,” said Manhasset, LI, resident William Gallo, who filed the lawsuit with Manhattanite Barry Korman. The pair cites an article of the US Constitution that says, “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president.” Gallo, 85, a Republican, has not yet chosen a candidate to back.
* Related: Illinois judge agrees to hear lawsuit filed against Ted Cruz stating he should NOT be eligible to run for president because he was born in Canada

Border Wall: Pope Attacks Donald Trump: ‘Not Christian’ — Trump Responds
Breitbart - Pope Francis attacked Republican front-runner Donald Trump Thursday as “not a Christian.” Aboard his plane, the pope was asked specifically about comments Trump made about the Pope’s visit to the Mexico border. The pope did not mince his words. A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not getting involved in that. I say only this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. Breitbart’s Alex Swoyer, live from Trump’s latest South Carolina rally, reports Trump’s response...
* Related: Video: Donald Trump replied that it was "disgraceful" for the religious leader to question his faith

Trump Vows: ‘Elect Me And You’ll Find Out Who Really Knocked Down The Twin Towers’
Steve Watson - GOP frontrunner Donald Trump has promised to make public currently guarded secrets surrounding the 9/11 attacks, should he be elected President. Speaking at a campaign event in Bluffton, SC, Trump continued his onslaught on the Bush presidency by once again raising the issue of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. “We went after Iraq, they did not knock down the World Trade Center.” Trump told those in attendance. “It wasn’t the Iraqis that knocked down the World Trade Center, we went after Iraq, we decimated the country, Iran’s taking over, okay.” Trump continued.

As deaths rise, so do chances of total Takata air bag recall
(AP) - As the Takata air bag saga drags on, concerns are growing that tens of millions of U.S. drivers with cars that haven't been recalled could be at risk of death or injury from the potentially defective devices. Federal safety regulators last month confirmed that a South Carolina man's death in December was caused by a driver's air bag inflator that wasn't under recall. It was the ninth Takata-related fatality in the U.S. In a Feb. 10 letter to Mark Rosekind, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., urged the agency to recall all Takata inflators in U.S. cars. He said the agency's current approach of issuing recalls piecemeal, "appears to be confusing many consumers" who wonder if their cars have an unsafe air bag that hasn't been recalled.... Experts say there could be as many as 50 million Takata air bag inflators in cars that have yet to be called back for repairs. For drivers of those vehicles, finding out if their car has a Takata inflator can be tricky. They either have to convince a dealer to take apart the car to look, or get the automaker to tell them.

Is It All Just A Publicity Stunt: Apple Unlocked iPhones For The Feds 70 Times Before
Zero Hedge - The event that has gripped the tech and libertarian community over the past 48 hours has been Tim Cook's stern refusal to comply with a subpoena demanding that Apple unlock the iPhone 5C belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters for a full FBI inspection..... On the surface, this appears like valiant attempt by the CEO of the world's most valuable company to stand up against the Big Brother state made so famous in the aftermath of the Edward Snowden revelations. However, a quick peek beneath the surface reveals something far less noble According to the The Daily Beast's Shane Harris, in a similar case in New York last year, Apple acknowledged that it could extract such data if it wanted to. But the real shocker is that according to prosecutors in that case, Apple has unlocked phones for authorities at least 70 times since 2008. (Apple doesn’t dispute this figure.) As Harris observantly adds, "in other words, Apple’s stance in the San Bernardino case may not be quite the principled defense that Cook claims it is."

Feds Roll Out “See Something, Say Something” for the Internet
Kurt Nimmo - The Department of Homeland Security wants $1 million of taxpayer money to initiate a citizen surveillance program online. The PSA “will look to raise public and private sector awareness of cybersecurity and to emphasize the importance of cyber awareness and information safekeeping,” an FY 2017 congressional budget document produced by the Department of Homeland Security explains. The new initiative will undoubtedly fail as stupendously as its real world counterpart introduced following the September 11, 2001 attacks. In New York, the program produced largely false leads and other wasteful distractions of time and millions of dollars. Reports of harmless goings-on clogged the law-enforcement system and kept officials from investigating serious threats, New York Magazine reported in 2012.

Thursday - February 18, 2016 - Today in History:

1735 - The first opera performed in America. The work was "Flora" (or "Hob in the Well") and was presented in Charleston, SC.
1841 - The first continuous filibuster in the U.S. Senate began. It lasted until March 11th.
1861 - In Montgomery, AL, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States.
1930 - Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in an airplane.
1930 - The planet Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh. The discovery was made as a result of photographs taken in January 1930.
1970 - The Chicago Seven defendants were found innocent of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention.
1972 - The California Supreme Court struck down the state's death penalty.
1977 - The space shuttle Enterprise went on its maiden "flight" sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
1987 - The executives of the Girl Scout movement decided to change the color of the scout uniform from the traditional Girl Scout green to the newer Girl Scout blue.
1998 - In Russia, money shortages resulted in the shutting down of three plants that produced nuclear weapons.
1998 - In Nevada, two white separatists were arrested and accused of plotting a bacterial attack on subways in New York City.
2000 - The U.S. Commerce Department reported a deficit in trade goods and services of $271.3 billion for 1999. It was the largest calendar-year trade gap in U.S. history.
2001 - NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was killed in a crash during the Daytona 500 race.
2001 - FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested and accused of spying for Russia for more than 15 years. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
2003 - In South Korea, at least 120 people were killed when a man lit a fire on a subway train.
2006 - American Shani Davis won the men's 1,000-meter speedskating in Turin. He was the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history.

ISIS declares the US dollar as its official currency
Hang The Bankers - ISIS may threaten violence against the United States and aim to rid the Islamic world of U.S. influence and U.S.-backed regimes, but if you want to do business in the group’s ersatz caliphate, you’d better have money backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. The AP reports : Within the last two weeks, the extremist group started accepting only dollars for “tax” payments, water and electric bills, according to the Raqqa activist, who asked to be identified by his nom de guerre Abu Ahmad for his safety. “Everything is paid in dollars,” he said.

Gang forging passports for ISIS militants busted in Moscow region, 14 suspects detained
RT - Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested 14 suspects from an international criminal group involved in forging passports and other documents for Islamic extremists preparing to go to Syria, and those coming to Russia for terror missions. A joint special FSB and Interior Ministry operation in the Moscow region has exposed an international organized crime network, which was providing forged papers for extremists from Russia and CIS countries. The gang was busy forging documents for those “illegally heading to Syria to take part in military actions on the side of Islamic State, and also for the militants sent on a mission to Russia by ISIS leaders to conduct terrorist and extremist activities, as well as illegal migrants.”

Danish Government Opens Door For Potential Migrant Sex Offenders to Work With Children
Paul Joseph Watson - In a disturbing development, the Danish government is set to drop a requirement that newly arrived migrants prove they are not sex offenders in order to allow “refugees” to work with children in nurseries and day care centers. Under current rules it is a legal requirement that kindergartens, daycare centers and nurseries ensure that an employee has not previously been convicted of sexual offenses against children. “But when the country’s municipalities want to send newly arrived refugees to work at day-care centers, it is often impossible to get hold of the necessary information in their home countries. And therefore, the government is now willing to change the law,” reports Speisa.... Under the rule change, Danish citizens would still be required to submit to a background check, but newly arrived migrants would be immune.

Turkey Still Looking for NATO Allies to Start Ground Campaign in Syria
Sputnik News - The Turkish authorities recently stated that it would be impossible to resolve the Syrian conflict without an offensive on the ground. The US and Europe are, however, not too excited about Ankara's proposals, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) wrote… According to the newspaper, Western countries are aware Ankara's main goal is not to eliminate terrorists, but rather fight against the Kurdish militias who proved extremely efficient in destroying jihadist strongholds… According to the newspaper, Washington is unwilling to become directly involved in another Middle Eastern ground war. Moreover, the US officials are starting to question Turkey as a reliable ally.

Ankara explosion: 28 people killed and 61 hurt after 'terror attack' in central district
Telegraph - At least 28 people were killed when a car bomb hit a military convoy in Ankara on Wednesday, in an attack blamed by Turkish security sources on Kurdish militants. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan convened an emergency security meeting in the wake of the blast, which is likely to inflame tensions over Turkey's growing involvement in the war in Syria. Turkey has been shelling positions inside Syria near their shared border, held by the PKK's local affiliate the YPG, which has been backed by Russia against anti-Assad rebels and by the US against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
* Related: Blast rocks Turkish cultural center in Stockholm

'5 horrible years': Libya marks 5th anniversary of Western-backed uprising to oust Gaddafi
RT - Libya’s Western-backed popular uprising officially began on February 17, 2011… The outpouring of adulation and messages of support to the opposition forces from Western world leaders spoke of a ‘bright’ new dawn for Libya after Gaddafi’s toppling. However, five years on from the start of the uprising, Libya is in a markedly worse position. Its oil revenues have halved, while it is also facing a growing threat from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), which is looking to capitalize on the lack of political stability and political infighting… With the fifth anniversary of NATO’s intervention in Libya the UK and US are contemplating taking steps to fight IS in the country.

Exclusive: Radioactive material stolen in Iraq raises security fears
Reuters - Iraq is searching for "highly dangerous" radioactive material stolen last year, according to an environment ministry document and seven security, environmental and provincial officials who fear it could be used as a weapon if acquired by Islamic State. The material, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, went missing in November from a storage facility near the southern city of Basra belonging to U.S. oilfield services company Weatherford (WFT.N), the document obtained by Reuters showed and officials confirmed. A spokesman for Iraq's environment ministry said he could not discuss the issue, citing national security concerns. A Weatherford spokesman in Iraq declined to comment, and the company's Houston headquarters did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Watchdog: State Department Withholding Details of Bill Clinton’s North Korea Invitation
Free Beacon - Conservative watchdog group Citizens United is calling on the State Department and the Clinton Foundation to turn over details about Bill Clinton’s invitation to a North Korea-connected event in 2012, amid Pyongyang’s latest escalation of its nuclear weapons program. The North Korean request to Bill Clinton was included in a collection of State Department emails obtained by Citizens United through a public records request last year. The emails concern Bill Clinton’s paid foreign speaking engagements, which had to be approved by the State Department. But the State Department has yet to release a May 2012 email attachment that contained details about the North Korea invitation, according to Citizens United. The group is calling on the State Department and the Clinton Foundation to turn over the document, in light of the Kim Jong-Un regime’s increasingly aggressive nuclear testing.

Justice Dept. Takes Aim at $1.5 Billion in Assets Stashed in U.S. by Dictators and Other Foreign Politicians
AllGov - The Justice Department has found that bringing cases against kleptocrats and seizing their assets has been daunting. Government prosecutors have taken aim at funds held by officials from Nigeria, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Honduras and even Canada. One case involves the glamorous Gulnara Karimova, the Harvard-educated daughter of the Uzbek president, said to have absconded with $300 million and stashed in an American bank’s overseas branch.

Obama snubs Scalia funeral: President will NOT attend requiem for conservative Supreme Court justice
Daily Mail - President Barack Obama will not attend conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's funeral on Saturday, the White House says. The president and first lady will instead pay their respects on Friday while Scalia lays in repose at the high court.'I can tell you that Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will attend Justice Scalia's funeral at the Basilica on Saturday,' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. It was not immediately clear why the president won't go to the formal funeral. 'I don't have a sense of what the president's plans are for Saturday,' Earnest said after a reporter suggested it would be bad form for him to go golfing, a favorite weekend activity of Obama's.

Leaked gov’t docs show what’s really behind global warming agenda; ‘profound lifestyle changes’
Daily Caller - As part of the U.N. treaty, the EU has pledged to cut CO2 emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. But the leaked document added even deeper cuts that could be on the way after the U.N. publishes its next climate report in 2018. It’s not exactly clear what sorts of “profound lifestyle changes” the EU wants its population to make, but the U.N. has put forward suggestions in several reports on how they want people to lower their environmental footprint. One major activity the U.N. is targeting is what people eat. The U.N. basically wants people to eat less red meat and even supplement their diets with insects. For years, U.N. officials have been pushing rich countries to cut red meat out of their diets because of methane emissions from cows and the amount of water it takes to sustain livestock.

The Latest: Rancher Cliven Bundy to stay behind bars
Yahoo News - A federal judge says Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy should stay behind bars because he's a danger to the community and a risk for failing to show up for future court dates. U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice Stewart ruled Tuesday that Bundy shouldn't be released ahead of trial because "that is likely the last the government will see of him."… Attorney Noel Grefenson says his 69-year-old client couldn't be such a danger if authorities waited to charge him for 22 months. Stewart dismissed that argument and set his next hearing for Friday.

Obama’s Stunning New Education Plan: Home Visits For Parents, ‘Equal’ Partnership In Raising Children
Off the Grid News - American parents soon could have “equal partners” in parenting — the federal government – and be faced with home visits, too. That’s according to a draft policy statement from two federal departments that are full of Obama appointees: the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. “It is the position of the Departments that all early childhood programs and schools recognize families as equal partners in improving children’s development, learning and wellness across all settings, and over the course of their children’s developmental and educational experiences,” the statement says. The draft document is titled “DRAFT POLICY STATEMENT ON FAMILY ENGAGEMENT FROM THE EARLY YEARS TO THE EARLY GRADES.” The draft policy outlined in the document reads like a blueprint for increased government involvement in family life. It list a number of goals that could increase official interference in childrearing if implemented, including home visits.

University of Texas Announces They Will Allow Students to Carry Handguns into Classrooms
The Free Thought Project - On June 1, 2015, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed S.B. 11, also known as the “campus carry” law. S.B. 11 provides that license holders may carry a concealed handgun throughout university campuses, starting Aug. 1, 2016. In a letter to the students, faculty, and staff of the University of Texas at Austin, President Greg Fenves announced on Wednesday that the college will allow handguns in classrooms. This law is not only for the faculty, but also allows students to openly carry a pistol in classroom, dorms, dining areas, study areas, and in the Unversity apartments.

America's Largest Union Refuses To Back Hillary Over Sanders
Zero Hedge - In what could be the biggest blow yet for her campaign, the leader of the America's largest federation of unions (counting 12 million active and retired "everyday Americans") has chosen not to endorse Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. [...] in a relative win for the Sanders' campaign, according to Huffington Post, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) - the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of fifty-six national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers - will not be endorsing Hillary...

SHOCK: Polls Show Trump Leads Cruz Among South Carolina Evangelicals
Breitbart - Four recent polls of the South Carolina GOP primary show that Donald Trump leads Sen. Ted Cruz among the 65 percent of likely GOP primary voters who self-describe as evangelical Christians. CNN, Public Policy Polling (PPP), Emerson College, and Opinion Savvy polls all show that Trump’s double-digit lead among the general population is accompanied by a similar lead among evangelicals. According to the CNN poll, conducted between February 10 and February 15, Trump leads Cruz in the general population by 16 points, 38 percent to 22 percent. That lead is even larger among evangelicals: Trump holds an even broader lead among white evangelical voters in the state, who typically make up a majority of Republican primary voters. He tops Cruz by nearly 20 points among this group: 42% Trump, 23% Cruz, 14% Rubio, 9% Bush, 5% Carson and 1% Kasich.

Glenn Beck: God had to kill Antonin Scalia to help put Ted Cruz in the White House
Raw Story - Glenn Beck has been campaigning for Ted Cruz this week in South Carolina, so he hasn’t been able to keep up his radio schedule. He did take a moment to call in on Tuesday to talk about the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Beck’s co-host Pat Gray couldn’t understand why God wouldn’t allow Scalia to live on until the election had finished. According to Right Wing Watch, Beck swiftly called the show to explain that God’s motivation for taking the Justice had everything to do with Ted Cruz’s campaign for president. Evidently, Beck believes Scalia’s death will motivate Americans to elect him if they are faced with the haunting reality of a world without the Justice to fight for their liberty.

270,000 truckers told their pensions will be cut up to 60%
(KCTV) - Retired union workers facing large pension cuts gathered to voice their anger at those cuts Tuesday. Representative Emanuel Cleaver conducted the town hall meeting. According to Cleaver, more than 270,000 people from across several states, including Missouri, who have vested millions of dollars into their pension funds, have been told their benefits from the Central States Pension Fund would be drastically cut, some as much as by 60 percent.... The cuts are the result of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act, which allows the pension company to ask the U.S. Treasury for permission to cut payments to remain solvent.... Pensioners will have the chance to vote on whether to accept the proposed cuts. The Treasury Department says if someone doesn’t vote, or can’t vote, the ballot counts in favor of the cuts. Ballots should be mailed out to all union members, past and present.

Stopped!! Methane Blow-Out. Radioactive Fall-out. And … The Predictable Result
Activist Post - This past Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016 brought a welcome breath of fresh air to more than 4400 displaced Porter Ranch, CA residents. It was their first in more than four months. A mile or so due north and a thousand feet farther up the foothills of the Santa Susana mountains in Aliso Canyon, the nation’s worst environmental and health disaster since BP, has stopped. Natural gas well, SS-25 is dead.

Here’s the New Study the Fracking Industry Doesn’t Want You to See
Activist Post - Though fracking industry proponents scoff at any intimation their so-called vital industry poses even scant risks to the public, a new study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology just proved those critics right — fracking wastewater causes cancer. Using human bronchial epithelial cells, which are commonly used to measure the carcinogenesis of toxicants, researchers confirmed fracking flowback water from the Marcellus Shale caused the formation of malignancies.

Legislation To Limit The Use Of Solar Power Proposed In Multiple US States
Natural Blaze - Lawmakers in places like Arizona have made news recently by placing a tax on solar panels, but in some areas, politicians want to ban solar power altogether. New legislation in Maine and Hawaii seek to limit where solar companies can operate. In Maine, legislators are looking to prevent owners of solar panels from selling their excess power back to the grid. The proposal was met with resistance from local businesses and residents who were able to gather 4,000 petition signatures, demanding that their right to sell solar energy be protected. Meanwhile, in Hawaii, lawmakers want to ban solar outright in certain areas.

Wednesday - February 17, 2016 - Today in History:

1801 - The U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Jefferson was elected president and Burr became vice president.
1817 - The first gas lit streetlights appeared on the streets of Baltimore, MD.
1865 - Columbia, SC, burned. The Confederates were evacuating and the Union Forces were moving in.
1933 - "Newsweek" was first published.
1934 - The first high school automobile driver’s education course was introduced in State College, PA.
1944 - During World War II, the Battle of Eniwetok Atoll began. U.S. forces won the battle on February 22, 1944.
1947 - The Voice of America began broadcasting to the Soviet Union.
1964 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be approximately equal in population. (Westberry v. Sanders)
1992 - In Milwaukee, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison. In November of 1994, he was beaten to death in prison.
1995 - Colin Ferguson was convicted of six counts of murder in the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings. He was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.
1997 - Pepperdine University announced that Kenneth Starr was leaving the Whitewater probe to take a full-time job at the school. Starr reversed the announcement four days later.
2005 - U.S. President George W. Bush named John Negroponte as the first national intelligence director.
2008 - Kosovo declared itself a nation in defiance of Serbia and Russia.
2009 - President Barack Obama signed a $757 billion economic stimulus package into law..

Russia’s campaign in Syria shifted balance of power in the region – Iran’s defense chief
RT - The Russian anti-terror campaign in Syria has shifted the balance of power in the region, the Iranian Defense Minister stressed while visiting Moscow, eager to purchase billions of dollars worth of “defensive” weapons to secure its own position in the region.... Dehghan also stressed that Iran, which has “a unique position in its region” and is a “big, influential regional nation,” wants to expand military, technical and industrial ties with Moscow. Iran is also seeking Russia’s consultations on the “security of the region.” Calling the security situation in the region and the entire world “turbulent” and characterized by a “lack of stability” with different countries playing “their own role,” especially Washington which wants to “destabilize the region,” Dehqan stressed that Iran wants to purchase “defensive” weapons from Russia.
* Related: Russia to Send First S-300 Air Defense System to Iran Thursday

Beijing's missile move in South China Sea could make US think twice about getting too close
The Guardian - The deployment of missile launchers to Woody Island marks a conscious effort by China to extend its strategic footprint and will test America’s mettle. Satellite imagery, confirmed today by US and Taiwanese officials, appears to show two batteries of HQ-9 surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers on Woody Island, a Chinese occupied feature in Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea. The HQ-9 is a Chinese-made mobile air defence system, comparable to Russia’s S-300 SAM, with a reported range of 125 miles.

21 New Numbers That Show That The Global Economy Is Absolutely Imploding
Economic Collapse - After a series of stunning declines through the month of January and the first half of February, global financial markets seem to have found a patch of relative stability at least for the moment. But that does not mean that the crisis is over. On the contrary, all of the hard economic numbers that are coming in from around the world tell us that the global economy is coming apart at the seams. This is especially true when you look at global trade numbers. The amount of stuff that is being bought, sold and shipped around the planet is falling precipitously. So don’t be fooled if stocks go up one day or down the next. The truth is that we are in the early chapters of a brand new economic meltdown, and I believe that all of the signs indicate that it will continue to get worse in the months ahead. The following are 21 new numbers that show that the global economy is absolutely imploding…

UNSC urges Turkey to 'comply with intl law' in Syria after Russia requests meeting
RT - Following a briefing requested by Russia, the UN Security Council has urged Ankara to comply with international law in Syria. The closed-door meeting was called to discuss recent Turkish shelling of Kurdish YPG militia targets in Syria's north.

Saudi Arabia, Russia to Freeze Oil Output Near Record Levels
Bloomberg - Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze oil output at near-record levels, the first coordinated move by the world’s two largest producers to counter a slump that has pummeled economies, markets and companies. While the deal is preliminary and doesn’t include Iran, it’s the first significant cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in 15 years and Saudi Arabia said it’s open to further action. Oil pared gains after the accord was announced, signaling traders see no immediate end to the global supply glut.

EU Expecting Flood of Spring Migrants After 91,671 Entered Germany in January
Gateway Pundit - Germany, a country of 80 million, received over one million migrants and unvetted “refugees” in 2015. Chancellor Angela Merkel is expecting another million migrants this year. Another 91,671 migrants entered Germany in January of this year despite ice snow and freezing temperatures. In five to seven years the migrants will be able to bring in their family members. The third world migrants are already causing massive problems.

Scalia Death: Judge Likely Violated Law
Kit Daniels - By not performing an autopsy on late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Presidio Co. Judge Cinderela Guevara likely violated state law. According to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, a justice of the peace shall conduct an inquest into the death of a person who dies in the county served by the justice if any of the following conditions are met... Guevara was apparently called to handle the situation after two Justices of the Peace said they were unable to do so, Infowars has learned, but one of the Justices, Juanita Bishop, said the county normally performs autopsies on people who unexpectedly die like Scalia.

15 Historical Facts About DARPA That Everyone Should Know
The Anti-Media - In many ways, DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is the engine of the military-industrial complex, the heart at the center of the Pentagon that keeps America in constant state of weapons innovation and defense spending. Even before the attacks of September 11, 2001, DARPA kept defense contractors lining their pockets; in our post 9/11 surveillance state, DARPA sits at the nexus of corporate war profits, national security, and military innovation.

Owner of Ranch Where Scalia Died Was Honored With Same Award Given to David Rockefeller, Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan
EPJ - John Poindexter, who owns the Cibolo Creek Ranch where Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was staying at the time of his death, is not some small time ranch owner or just an ordinary wealthy industrialist. The Houston Business Journal reported in 2010, "he was once captain of the Vietnam War combat unit, Alpha Troop, 11th Armored Calvary Regiment.... He worked for many years and lobbied three presidents to direct attention to the heroism of his combat unit in a fight not recorded during the Vietnam War... President Barack Obama honored Poindexter and the troop with the Presidential Unit Citation, the nation’s highest award for unit valor, in a White House ceremony last October.... Most interesting, as Texas Monthly noted, he is not sloppy: He cannot enter a room without straightening nearly every picture on the wall, nor walk by a table without smoothing the linen, nor pass a rug without tugging a corner to flatten a wrinkle.... Yet when it came to the death of a Supreme Court Justice, he got mighty sloppy. As DC Whispers pointed out...

Scalia’s death gives new life to Obama’s climate plan
Ars Technica - Four days before Justice Antonin Scalia died on Saturday, the 79-year-old justice and the court's four other conservatives blocked one of President Barack Obama's centerpiece packages—his climate change initiative requiring a 32-percent reduction in power plant emissions by 2030. More than two dozen states and energy companies are suing to thwart the plan, claiming that Obama's carbon regulations announced in October are an abuse of power and will "unlawfully impose massive and irreparable harms upon the sovereign states, as well as irreversible changes in the energy markets." The Supreme Court's decision to block the plan from taking force ahead of June 2 oral arguments before a federal appeals court was viewed as an ultimate death blow of sorts to the plan. The 5-4 conservative majority sided with the states and essentially said that the regulations are shelved until the Supreme Court lifts its stay.

Syrian Refugees Admitted to US Since Paris Attack: 602 Muslims, 2 Christians
CNS News - The government has admitted 605 Syrian refugees for resettlement in the United States since last November’s Paris terrorist attack, two of whom are Christians. The rest are 589 Sunni Muslims, 10 Shia Muslims, three other Muslims, and one refugee identified in State Department Refugee Processing Center data as “other religion.” At the same time, the proportion of Christians among the total cohort of Syrian refugees admitted into the U.S. since the conflict began five years ago has now dropped below two percent. Just 55 Christians (1.9 percent) are among the 2,769 Syrian refugees admitted since March 2011, while a large majority – 2,594 (93.6 percent) – has been Sunni Muslims.

Poll: Trump still maintains sizable lead over GOP field
Reuters - Poll Reading: Between Feb 10ᵗʰ and Feb 16ᵗʰ

Hillary Has Coughing Fit During Race Speech
Breitbart - In the middle of her Tuesday speech in Harlem that discussed race relations, Hillary Clinton had multiple coughing fits that prevented her from getting her words out on more than one occasion. It got so bad that the audience enthusiastically started chanting “Hillary! Hillary!” to provide encouragement as Clinton started taking sips of water while popping in a cough drop. She struggled to finish her speech in which she said that white Americans needed to recognize their “privilege” and help black Americans overcome “seen and unseen” barriers to opportunity and coughed some more as she exited the stage. Hillary also had a coughing fit during last year’s Benghazi hearings.

Bernie Sanders a Bum Who Didn’t Earn His First Steady Paycheck Until Age 40 Then Wormed His Way Into Politics
Gateway Pundit - What a shock. Bernie Sanders was a bum who didn’t earn a steady paycheck until he was 40 years old. He was a slob who lived in a shack with a dirt floor. He later wrote about masturbation and rape for left-wing rags for $50 a story. The Socialist then wormed his way into politics. Bernie had his electricity cut off a lot so he’d run an extension cord down to the basement. He couldn’t pay his bills. And today he’s running for president so he can take your money and redistribute it. Investor’s Business Daily reported...

Trump Invites Supporters On Stage for Handling Protester– CROWD ERUPTS WHEN ONE SAYS HE’S A VETERAN! (VIDEO)
Gateway Pundit - You can’t plan something like this… At a Trump campaign rally in North Augusta, South Carolina on Tuesday, Donald Trump was interrupted by a protester who was screaming profanities and raising his middle finger to the crowd. Two Trump supporters “took action” against the radical obscene protester – and Mr. Trump called them up to the stage to share a few words.The crowd ERUPTED after one of the men told the audience he was an Iraq War veteran.

Vets Sue Defense Dept. for Refusing to Pay Reenlistment Bonuses
AllGov - The California Army National Guard "conned" thousands of soldiers into reenlisting and is trying to recover signing bonuses a decade later, an Iraq war veteran claims in court. In a class action filed Wednesday in Federal Court, plaintiff Bryan Strother says the National Guard offered soldiers bonuses in order to inflate its reserves and that the plaintiff class is "victims of one of the most egregious mass frauds in U.S. Military history." Shortly after signing his reenlistment contract in 2006, Strother says he was sent to Iraq and finished out the terms of his deal with honor and even appeared on a National Guard magazine. Three years later the government sent him a letter saying he shouldn't have received an enlistment bonus because he changed his military occupational specialty while serving in Iraq. Strother says his military record shows he didn't change his classification and regardless, the statute of limitations on his bonus expired years ago. He says defendants are attempting to recoup bonuses from more than 16,000 soldiers in similar positions.

VA suicide hotline lets calls go to voicemail
USA Today - A VA suicide hotline movingly portrayed in an Oscar-winning documentary has allowed crisis calls to go into voicemail and has struggled with adequate staff training, according to an inspector general investigation. Inspectors found problems occurred when calls were routed to backup crisis centers after staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs suicide hotline center in Canandaigua, N.Y., (800-273-8255) were taking all the calls they could handle. “We substantiated allegations that some calls routed to backup crisis centers were answered by voicemail, and callers did not always receive immediate assistance,” said the VA Inspector General report made public late last week.

US military burn pits built on chemical weapons facilities tied to soldiers' illness
The Guardian - Though the US government disputes it, new evidence shows a link between service in Iraq and Afghanistan and cancers and untreatable bronchial illnesses. ... evidence gathered in a new book out Tuesday suggests a possible link between his illness and service. Based on clusters of similar cases, scientific studies and expert opinions, author Joseph Hickman proposes in The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers that US service members in Iraq and Afghanistan confronted more than one unexpected enemy that followed them home. Many soldiers complain of respiratory issues relating to their burn pit exposure. But others likely developed more life-threatening conditions such as cancers, Hickman contends, because of what the burn pits were built on top of: the remnants of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons program. From the moment the US launched its campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon ordered the use of open-air burn pits to dispose of the wars’ massive volume of waste. The military relied heavily upon these sprawling ditches, which burned around the clock to consume the tens or even hundreds of tons of junk generated daily.

Fed's Newest Member Suggests Breaking Up Wall Street Banks
(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve's newest policymaker on Tuesday called on lawmakers to consider "bold, transformational" rules including the breaking up of the nation's largest banks to ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook should they fail. n his first speech as head of the Minneapolis Fed, Neel Kashkari urged a radical shakeup of Wall Street's banks, straddling the line between the Fed's policymaking remit and political advocacy. A set of regulations introduced after the financial crisis, known as Dodd-Frank, did not go far enough, he said in prepared remarks. "Now is the right time for Congress to consider going further than Dodd-Frank with bold, transformational solutions to solve this problem once and for all," Kashkari said, arguing that the biggest banks are still too big to fail and continue to pose a significant, ongoing risk to the U.S. economy. He urged lawmakers to consider breaking up large banks into "smaller, less connected, less important entities" and took a swipe at existing rules for winding down failing banks should they run into difficulty amid a weak global economy.

Larry Summers Launches The War On Paper Money: "It's Time To Kill The $100 Bill"
Zero Hedge - Yesterday we reported that the ECB has begun contemplating the death of the €500 EURO note, a fate which is now virtually assured for the one banknote which not only makes up 30% of the total European paper currency in circulation by value, but provides the best, most cost-efficient alternative (in terms of sheer bulk and storage costs) to Europe's tax on money known as NIRP. That also explains why Mario Draghi is so intent on eradicating it first, then the €200 bill, then the €100 bill, and so on.... ell, not even 24 hours later, and another Harvard "scholar" and Fed chairman wannabe, Larry Summers, has just released an oped in the left-leaning Amazon Washington Post, titled "It’s time to kill the $100 bill" in which he makes it clear that the pursuit of paper money is only just starting. Not surprisingly, just like in Europe, the argument is that killing the Benjamins would somehow eradicate crime, saying that "a moratorium on printing new high denomination notes would make the world a better place."

US Marshals arresting people for not paying their federal student loans
Fox News - Believe it or not, the US Marshals Service in Houston is arresting people for not paying their outstanding federal student loans Paul Aker says he was arrested at his home last week for a $1500 federal student loan he received in 1987. He says seven deputy US Marshals showed up at his home with guns and took him to federal court where he had to sign a payment plan for the 29-year-old school loan. Congressman Gene Green says the federal government is now using private debt collectors to go after those who owe student loans. Green says as a result, those attorneys and debt collectors are getting judgements in federal court and asking judges to use the US Marshals Service to arrest those who have failed to pay their federal student loans.

Tuesday - February 16, 2016 - Today in History:

1741 - Benjamin Franklin published America’s second magazine, "The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle".
1804 - A raid was led by Lt. Stephen Decatur to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia. The ship had been taken by pirates.
1857 - The National Deaf Mute College was incorporated in Washington, DC. It was the first school in the world for advanced education of the deaf. The school was later renamed Gallaudet College.
1862 - During the U.S. Civil War, about 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Fort Donelson, TN.
1932 - The first fruit tree patent was issued to James E. Markham for a peach tree which ripens later than other varieties.
1937 - Wallace H. Carothers received a patent for nylon. Carothers was a research chemist for Du Pont.
1945 - During World War II, U.S. troops landed on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines.
1959 - Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba after the overthrow of President Fulgencio Batista.
1968 - The nation's first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated in Haleyville, Ala.
1987 - John Demjanjuk went on trial in Jerusalem. He was accused of being "Ivan the Terrible", a guard at the Treblinka concentration camp. He was convicted, but the Israeli Supreme Court overturned the ruling.
1989 - Investigators in Lockerbie, Scotland, announced that a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player was the reason that Pan Am Flight 103 was brought down the previous December. All 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground were killed.
1999 - Testimony began in the Jasper, TX, trial of John William King. He was charged with murder in the gruesome dragging death of James Byrd Jr. King was later convicted and sentenced to death.
2011 - Bookstore chain Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
2012 - A federal judge in Detroit ordered life in prison for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian man who'd tried to blow up a packed Northwest jetliner with a bomb concealed in his underwear.

World War III Approaches: Saudi Arabia And Turkey Drop Hints That An Invasion Of Syria Is Imminent
Economic Collapse - As you read this article, Turkish forces are massing along the border with Syria, and the largest “military exercises” in the history of the Middle East are being held in northern Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are publicly warning that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “will be removed by force” if a political solution cannot be found, and Turkey is claiming that it may have to establish a “safe zone” in northern Syria “for humanitarian purposes”. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni allies have poured massive amounts of money and arms into the conflict in Syria, and now that their Sunni insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, they are trying to come up with a way to justify going in there and doing the job themselves.

CIA knew of impending ISIS attack days before Paris: 'System was blinking red' shortly before terrorists slaughtered 130 people in French capital
Daily Mail - The CIA knew ISIS was planning an imminent attack just days before the barbaric terror group slaughtered 130 people in Paris. CIA Director John Brennan told 60 Minutes that the 'system was blinking red' shortly before ISIS launched its horrific gun and bomb attack in the French capital. Brennan said the intelligence agency was aware of an impending atrocity but was unable to intercept encrypted messages the terrorists were using in the build-up to the massacre.

As ISIS Bears Down On Oil Riches, Libya Makes Last Ditch Effort To Form Government
Zero Hedge - "We hope that this will be the beginning of the end of the conflict in Libya," council member Fathi al-Majbari said from Skhirat, Morocco where both sides were negotiating. "Many of the names on Sunday's list were different from last month's proposal, though the nominee for the key post of defence minister, Mahdi al-Barghathi, was unchanged," Al Jazeera says… First, it's not even clear the new list of ministers will be approved. Even if it is, and some kind of loosely assembled government is formed, both sides are backed by a hodgepodge of militias and former rebels. Uninting them around a common cause won't be easy, especially in the midst of the ISIS assault… In other words, it's a veritable free-for-all as everyone involved (including ISIS) scrambles to get a piece of what was thrown up for grabs when Gaddafi fell. "The war on terror" may have been a good enough excuse to get everyone to the table but once the government is formed and it's time to put aside differences, it's unlikely things will go smoothly.

Gulf states seek nukes against Iran, had secret contacts with Tel Aviv - Israeli defense chief
RT - Persian Gulf states are seeking nuclear weapons to counter “bad guy” Iran and have held clandestine meetings with Israel despite not having official ties with Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon revealed at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. "We see signs that countries in the Arab world are preparing to acquire nuclear weapons, that they are not willing to sit quietly with Iran on brink of a nuclear or atomic bomb," Ya'alon told fellow defense ministers on Sunday… Ya’alon did not name specific countries who might be interested in developing nuclear weapons and gave no evidence to back up his claims. However, he then made a surprise statement that the Gulf states – officially hostile to Tel Aviv because of its occupation of the West Bank – had held clandestine meetings with Israel. “Not only Jordan and Egypt,” he said, referring to the only Arab countries who signed peace treaties with Israel after three Arab-Israeli wars.

Every Year Since Obama Won the Peace Prize, US Has Broken its Record of Killing Civilians in Afghanistan
Activist Post - According to numbers released by the United Nations this week, the US military is murdering innocent civilians at ever-increasing rates and is killing more innocent people each year. In fact, recent reports have indicated that the US military has broken its record for civilian casualties every single year in Afghanistan, for the past seven years. The UN report revealed that 3,545 innocent civilians were killed and another 7,457 were injured in the past year of the US military’s occupation of Afghanistan. These numbers showed a 4% increase from the number of deaths the year before. Since the United Nations began keeping track of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2009, they have documented roughly 59,000 deaths and injuries, and it is expected that there were many other cases that were not on record.

Months After Welcoming 100,000 Refugees To The U.S. John Kerry Warns Migrants Pose An "Existential Threat" To Europe
Zero Hedge - … Kerry uttered a warning which until recently would have been branded as borderline xenophobic by the same abovementioned left-wing media, when Kerry warned that the mass influx of refugees and other migrants into Europe spells a "near existential threat" to the continent. "We are facing the gravest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II," he said at the conference. "The United States understands the near existential nature of this threat to the politics and fabric of life in Europe," he told the meeting as reported by The Local… we find it ironic that the person now warning about refugees posing "a near existential threat" to an entire continent, was just five months ago so very eager to welcome 100,000 Syrian refugees to the US.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: President Kennedy and His Brother Robert Kennedy Were Murdered By The Military-Security Complex
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - Presstitute Media, such as the UK Telegraph, spend a lot of energy debunking exposes of government conspiracies. For example, the thousands of highrise architects, structural engineers, physicists, nano-chemists, demoltion experts, first responders, military and civilian pilots, and former government officials who have provided vast evidence that the official story of 9/11 is a made-up fairy tale at odds with all evidence and the laws of physics are dismissed by presstitutes as “conspiracy theorists.”

Report: Obama Told of Scalia’s Death Hours Before Public Announcement
Paul Joseph Watson - “Word reached the White House hours before formal media announcements were made regarding longtime Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia having been found dead while vacationing at a Texas resort. First the speechwriters were summoned to provide the appropriate tone for Barack Obama’s remarks,” states the report. “During that same time, Obama and Valerie Jarrett were already initiating a long-standing plan for what they viewed as a prime opportunity to make Mr. Obama relevant once again and an opportunity that the President was said to be thrilled to have before him.” If accurate, the report will feed suspicions that foul play may have been involved in Scalia’s death.... “ Scalia’s death means the Supreme Court is now very likely to rubber stamp Obama’s unconstitutional amnesty orders, tear down Republican drawn districts in many states including North Carolina, and take deep left turns on abortion, gun rights, or anything the liberals have ever dreamed of. Scalia was a solid vote against Obama’s immigration orders to be decided by April of this year.

Texas Republican Leadership Calls for Block of Obama Nominees — Before Scalia’s Death
Breitbart - Two hours prior to hearing about the death of Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday, the Republican leadership in Texas passed a resolution calling for the U.S. Senate to block the confirmation of anyone nominated by President Obama. The only exception would be for positions crucial to national security.... The resolution put to the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) passed by an almost unanimous vote on Saturday before anyone had heard of the untimely death of Justice Scalia.

Superdelegates Were Literally Created to Prevent a Candidate Like Bernie Sanders
The AntiMedia - Duke professor David Rohde expounded on the creation and purpose of superdelegates: “The reason that the Democrats adopted the superdelegate plan was really because of the possibility of insurgent candidates, not for their own sake, but insurgent candidates who might not be successful in general elections. So it doesn’t do the party a lot of good to nominate a candidate that reflects the wishes of the party and then go on to lose the general election … “the Hunt Commission thought that having those elected officials play a part in choosing the nominee would be a partial balance that would give more weight to the considerations of electability than might otherwise be placed by the delegates that were elected in the primaries and caucuses.” This superdelegate arrangement essentially ensures that should an insurgent candidate emerge whom the Democratic establishment feels lacks electability or, for that matter, whom the establishment finds objectionable for any reason, party insiders can close ranks and intervene by casting their collective vote for the ‘better’ candidate.

Trump: Since RNC ‘In Default,’ Pledge Now Voided, I ‘Can Do What’ I ‘Have To Do’ To Win
Breitbart - 2016 GOP presidential frontrunner Donald J. Trump tells reporters here that his pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee no matter who is now void because the Republican National Committee, along with local and state GOP factions, is stacking debate audiences with donor class officials.... Trump’s point is that the RNC has defaulted—through its actions against his candidacy—on the pledge he signed earlier in the cycle, and his point is that because they have defaulted he can do whatever he wants. Trump is signaling he may not support the eventual GOP nominee in 2016 if that nominee is not him.

Trump: I Will Sue Cruz Over Citizenship Questions If He Doesn’t Apologize
Breitbart - Monday in Hanahan, SC, while discussing his opponent Sen. Ted Cruz claiming he is against the Second Amendment and pro-choice, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump threatened to sue over Cruz’s eligibility to run for president if he did not cease with the “lies” on that topic.... "He’ll apologize but I don’t want an apology after the election, I want an apology before. If he doesn’t, I’m going to bring a lawsuit because in my opinion based on what I’ve learned over the last two or three days from top lawyers, he doesn’t even have the right to serve as president or even run as president...."

Eminent Domain: Jeb Bush Ordered EPA to Seize Disabled Veteran’s Home
Gateway Pundit - During the pre-New Hampshire ABC GOP presidential debate, Bush slammed Donald Trump on eminent domain. He was playing to a clearly hostile anti-Trump crowd, knowing that the Trump supporters only received 20 tickets for the debate. Jeb used eminent domain as a club to bash The Donald, citing a decades-old case of an elderly Atlantic City lady who refused to sell her property to Trump... As Florida Governor, Jeb Bush loved eminent domain and practiced it. Jeb Bush and Jesse Hardy... The government wanted his land, but Jesse Hardy wasn’t interested. He said it wasn’t about money, it was about fighting for what is his. Jesse James Hardy was a symbol to some people of an individual besieged by government authorities and their allies in the environmental movement. Think United Nations Agenda 21, because that’s what this is! Governor Jeb Bush authorized the State Department of Environmental Protection to begin eminent domain proceedings against an elderly man who just wanted to keep his land.

Carrier Received $5.1 Million in Obama Stimulus Before Moving To Mexico
Breitbart - Heating and air-conditioning company Carrier, which has announced it will move 1,400 Americans’ jobs to Mexico, received $5.1 million from the Obama administration. Local media reported the “Department of Energy awarded Carrier $5.1 million in clean energy tax credits in December 2013” for its Indianapolis facility. They planned to use the money to “expand production at its Indianapolis facility to meet increasing demand for its eco-friendly condensing gas furnace product line.”

Perfect! Obama Moves Tractor Factory to Cuba
Gateway Pundit - It’s not just China and Mexico that are taking US jobs… Now, thanks to Barack Obama, Cuba will be building American tractors. The Obama administration approved the first U.S. factory to be built and operated in Cuba in more than 50 years, in the latest sign of the rapidly changing relationship between the United States and the communist nation. Cleber LLC, an Alabama-based company that builds tractors for small farms, was notified by the Treasury Department that it could open a facility in Cuba. Co-founder Saul Berenthal said the company’s attorney was in Havana on Monday to start the lengthy process of finalizing the agreement with the Cuban government and hopes to start production by early 2017.

Here's why (and how) the government will 'borrow' your retirement savings
Sovereign Man - According to financial research firm ICI, total retirement assets in the Land of the Free now exceed $23 trillion. $7.3 trillion of that is held in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). That’s an appetizing figure, especially for a government that just passed $19 trillion in debt and is in pressing need of new funding sources… And there is perhaps no easier pool of cash to ‘borrow’ than Americans’ retirement savings… And if you think it’s inconceivable for the government to borrow your retirement savings, just consider the following: 1) Borrowing retirement funds is becoming a popular tactic… there’s recent precedent all over the world; Hungary, France, Ireland, and Poland… 2) The US government has already done this with federal pension funds… During the multiple debt ceiling fiascos since 2011… they dipped into federal retirement funds… 3) They’ve been paving the way to borrow your retirement savings for a long time. It’s called MyRA. And the idea is for people to invest retirement savings ‘in the safety and security of US government bonds’.

Computerized Gas Station Price War Takes Prices Down To A Few Pennies In Ohio
The Consumerist - Gas prices have finally fallen below $2 per gallon where I live, but that’s still a fortune compared to what some motorists in Ohio encountered over the weekend. A computer glitch of some sort made the price at a Pilot Travel Center plummet as low as a few pennies, which attracted opportunistic shoppers. Then the Circle K across the street decided to keep up with their competitors by lowering their prices, too. Was it all a publicity stunt? Some hackers with very small-time goals? All the travel center’s cashier could say was that there was a computer malfunction, and then the other store decided to keep up with its neighbor and competition. “I just filled my gas tank up from dead empty for 26 cents,” one customer told TV station WTOL as he pumped gas. “I told her to put ten on it and she only gave me five bucks and now I need to go get my change. That’s too funny.” He could have given the cashier a dollar and still received change back.

Morgan Stanley To Pay $3.2 Billion To Settle State & Federal Mortgage Cases
The Consumerist - Almost exactly a year after Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $2.6 billion to close the books on a Department of Justice investigation related to it role in the subprime mortgage crisis, the company is set to pay another $3.2 billion to settle federal and state allegations that it deceived investors in toxic mortgage-backed securities.  Morgan Stanley employees were accused of misleading investors about the quality of the residential mortgages that were tied to these securities. Rather than admit that these loans had been sloppily underwritten and posed a high risk to investors, the bank instead presented them as healthy investments backed by solid home loans.

Energy Department Considers Burying Nuclear Waste in 3-Mile-Deep Holes
AllGov - The federal government plans to spend $80 million assessing whether its hottest nuclear waste can be stored in 3-mile-deep holes, a project that could provide an alternative strategy to a Nevada repository plan that was halted in 2010… The Department of Energy wants to conduct its work just south of the Canadian border on 20 acres near Rugby, North Dakota — in part because it’s in a rural area not prone to earthquakes — but is prepared to look elsewhere if a deal can’t be reached… If the technology proves successful and the government moves forward with the deep borehole disposal, there must be no fracking-related injection wells in the vicinity. North Dakota was one of the country’s hot spots for fracking before the price of oil began to drop. Most of the fracking occurred in the state's western half, and there is no fracking done within about 75 miles of the project site near Rugby, which is in the eastern half of the state.

If You Foster a Cat or Dog, You Can Claim it on your Taxes!
The Catington Post - In a groundbreaking victory for animal rescuers around the country, one California animal foster fought the Internal Revenue Service in court – and won! As a result of Van Dusen v. Commissioner, animal rescuers nationwide that are fostering dogs and/or cats for approved charities may claim the expenses during tax time. An approved charity is one that is recognized by the IRS with the 501(c)(3) designation as a Not-for-Profit organization. Fostering expenses eligible for deduction are food, medicines, veterinary bills, crates, garbage bags, and the like. Even a portion of your utilities can be considered expenses as long as a a specific area of your home is only used for the care of the animals and nothing else. In addition to animal rescue, these tax laws apply to all volunteer expenses related to charitable work for an approved organization.
 

Monday - February 15, 2016 - Today in History:

1758 - Mustard was advertised for the first time in America.
1764 - The city of St. Louis was established.
1799 - Printed ballots were authorized for use in elections in the state of Pennsylvania.
1842 - Adhesive postage stamps were used for the first time by the City Dispatch Post (Office) in New York City.
1898 - The USS Maine sank when it exploded in Havana Harbor for unknown reasons. More than 260 crew members were killed.
1933 - U.S. President-elect Franklin Roosevelt escaped an assignation attempt in Miami. Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak was killed in the attack.
1942 - During World War II, Singapore surrendered to the Japanese.
1961 - A Boeing 707 crashed in Belgium killing 73 people.
1965 - Canada displayed its new red and white maple leaf flag. The flag was to replace the old Red Ensign standard.
1985 - The Center for Disease Control reported that more than half of all nine-year-olds in the U.S. showed no sign of tooth decay.
1989 - After nine years of intervention, the Soviet Union announced that the remainder of its troops had left Afghanistan.
1995 - The FBI arrested Kevin Mitnick and charged him with cracking security in some of the nation's most protected computers. He served five years in jail.
2002 - U.S. President George W. Bush approved Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a site for long-term disposal of radioactive nuclear waste.

CIA Director Says ISIS has Used, Can Make Chem Weapons
Military.com - CIA director John Brennan has said that Islamic State fighters have used chemical weapons and have the capability to make small quantities of chlorine and mustard gas, CBS News reported. "We have a number of instances where ISIL has used chemical munitions on the battlefield," Brennan told CBS News, which released excerpts of an interview to air in full on the "60 Minutes" news program on Sunday. The network added that he told "60 Minutes" the CIA believes that the IS group has the ability to make small amounts of mustard or chlorine gas for weapons.... Brennan also warned of the possibility that the Islamic State group could seek to export the weapons to the West for financial gain.

Assad 'will be removed by force' if peace talks fail, Saudi Foreign Minister says
The Independent - "Bashar al-Assad will leave - have no doubt about it" Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN. "He will either leave by a political process or he will be removed by force." Saudi Arabia has sent troops and fighter jets to a Turkish military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria. Mr Jubeir said Saudi Arabia is prepared to contribute ground troops to the fight in Syria, but only as part of a US-led coalition… The Foreign Minister's comments come as Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, have taken rebel ground near Aleppo and are poised to advance on the Isis stronghold of Raqqa province. The move could be aimed at pre-empting any Saudi plans to send ground forces to fight Isis in Syria.

Turkey Shells Kurdish Positions in Syria for 2nd Day
ABC News - Turkey shelled positions held by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the Syrian government, whose forces are advancing against insurgents in the same area under the cover of Russian airstrikes… Turkish troops have shelled areas under the control of Syria's main Kurdish faction, the People's Protection Units, known as YPG, in the past. The group has been most effective in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, but Ankara appears increasingly uneasy over the group's recent gains in the country's north… The YPG is the main fighting force of Syrian Kurds and a key ally of the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group. Turkey, which is also in the alliance, considers it an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara.
* Related: US Iraqi Allies Now Fighting US Syrian Allies

Iraq Sends Military Forces to Border With Saudi Arabia
Sputnik News - Saudi Arabia started large-scale military exercises close to the Iraqi border. The military training known under name "Northern Thunder" involves ground and air forces from Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and several other Arab and Islamic countries. Iraq has deployed "large" military forces at the border with Saudi Arabia to oversee the ongoing military training conducted by the kingdom, member of the parliamentary security and defense committee Adnan al-Asadi told the Iraqi news agency INA. The official noted that a possible violation of Iraq's airspace will be regarded as a violation of the stated sovereignty and perpetrators will be held responsible. According to another Iraqi politician Iskander Vitvit, Iraqi authorities should abandon diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and strengthen cooperation with Russia.

'We have slid into a new Cold War': Chilling statement from Russian PM Medvedev over tensions in Syria raises the spectre of global conflict
Daily Mail - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said tensions between Russia and the West have sent the world into a 'new Cold War', while speaking at the Munich Security Conference today. 'We have slid into a new period of Cold War,' he said. 'Almost every day we are accused of making new horrible threats either against NATO as a whole, against Europe or against the US or other countries.' Amid an escalating war of words, the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said a lack of trust could return the continent to ‘40 years ago, when a wall was standing in Europe’... He added: ‘Nearly on a daily basis, we are being blamed for the most terrible threat to Nato as a whole, to Europe, to America, to other countries. They make scary movies where Russia starts a nuclear war. I sometimes wonder, are we in 2016 or 1962?’

Fingerprints for food: Venezuela rolls out new plan to keep shelves stocked
Miami Herold - Call it fingerprints for food. In the latest effort to keep shelves stocked in Venezuela, the government on Tuesday will begin registering the biometric information of customers who use state-run grocery stores. President Nicolás Maduro says the measure will prevent hoarding and help keep price-controlled food from being resold for a profit on the black market. Food Minister Félix Osorio said those who sign up for the program by registering their fingerprints will be eligible for discounts and prizes. But critics warn that the scheme — which is not mandatory for the moment — will be one more way for the state to keep tabs on the population, or might be a precursor to rationing.

Sen. Chuck Schumer Calls For ‘Zika Czar’ to Fight Latin American Outbreak
Breitbart - CBS News in Albany reports Schumer saying the Zika czar would “coordinate between federal agencies and foreign governments to prevent the spread of the virus.” President Barack Obama has already asked for $1.8 billion from Congress for Zika, so the office Schumer envisions would be very well-funded. He encouraged creating the position before mosquito season gets underway in the United States.

Hawaii declares state of emergency over Zika virus, dengue fever outbreak
Fox News - Hawaii Gov. David Ige declared a state of emergency to fight mosquito borne illnesses including dengue fever and the Zika virus. The state has been in the midst of a dengue fever outbreak on Hawaii's Big Island, where there were more than 250 confirmed cases. There have been no locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus in Hawaii, Ige said in a news conference Friday. But there's concern that the islands could be at risk because mosquitoes that can carry dengue fever also can carry the Zika virus.

'Guerrilla warfare house-to-house method' needed to fight Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes
NY Times - Experts interviewed here this week said fighting Zika will require a major shift in this country’s approach to mosquito control, namely more door-to-door action, a painstaking and expensive practice that many say is a tall order in an era of shrinking budgets and wariness of government intrusion.... One key test of Americans’ ability to fight this mosquito came in 2009, when it brought the dengue virus into the homes of people on Key West. Within hours, a SWAT team of 30 mosquito experts was going house to house, dumping standing water from flowerpots, ashtrays, children’s swimming pools, recycling containers, bottle caps and trash cans. They worked 10 hours a day, six days a week, for six weeks, marking their progress on maps.... The Zika-carrying mosquito will come out in full in the United States in summer. Dr. Frieden said the C.D.C. planned to put together teams of experts to help states handle clusters of cases. The agency has shipped an ample national supply of material the states can use to test a sick person’s blood for Zika.

Cibolo Creek Ranch owner recalls Scalia’s last hours in Texas
mySA - "He was seated near me and I had a chance to observe him. He was very entertaining. But about 9 p.m. he said, 'it's been a long day and a long week, I want to get some sleep," recalled Houston businessman John Poindexter, who owns the 30,000-acre luxury ranch. When Poindexter tried to awaken Scalia about 8:30 the next morning, the judge's door was locked and he did not answer. Three hours later, Poindexter returned after an outing, with a friend of Scalia who had come from Washington with him. "We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled," said Poindexter.

Drone Killing Architect May Become Next Supreme Court Justice
Kurt Nimmo - A direct and egregious breach of the Fifth Amendment. Following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia over the weekend the corporate media began speculating on his replacement. David Barron is on the short list. He is a 48-year old First Circuit judge and a Harvard law professor who headed up the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel during Obama’s first term. “In that capacity, he wrote at least one memo offering the legal rationale for using drone strikes to kill American citizens overseas who were suspected of terrorism,” Alan Greenblatt wrote in 2014. The Barron memo reeks of unconstitutionality.... The Fifth Amendment states: “No person [American citizen] shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

31 of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s Greatest Quotes
Breitbart - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died today of apparent natural causes, according to officials, after attending a private party at the Cibolo Creek Ranch in Texas. In memory of his long career of constitutional originalism on the Supreme Court and his characteristic wit and good humor, here is a list of some of his greatest quotes...

Scalia is said to have died of a heart attack
Washington Post - ...as details of his sudden death trickled in Sunday, it appeared that the hours afterward were anything but orderly. The man known for his elegant legal opinions and profound intellect was found dead in his room at a hunting resort by a ranch owner. It then took hours for authorities in remote West Texas to find a justice of the peace, officials said Sunday. When they did, she pronounced Scalia dead of natural causes without seeing the body and decided not to order an autopsy. A second justice of the peace, who was called but couldn’t get to Scalia’s body in time, said she would have ordered an autopsy. “If it had been me . . . I would want to know,” Juanita Bishop, a justice of the peace in Presidio, Tex., told The Washington Post... As late as Sunday afternoon, there were conflicting reports about whether an autopsy would be performed, though officials later said Scalia’s body was being embalmed and there would be no autopsy. One report, by WFAA-TV in Dallas, said the death certificate would show the cause of the death was a heart attack.

Republicans rule out replacing Antonin Scalia until new president is elected
Washington Times - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday that the Senate should wait until a new president is elected to confirm a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, whose sudden death Saturday shook Washington and threatened to reshape the 2016 presidential race. Democrats said that with 11 months left in President Obama’s tenure, the Senate has enough time — and indeed an obligation — to confirm a replacement. Sen. Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the chamber, said it would be “shameful” to put off a replacement that long. Mr. Obama said he would in fact make a nomination, forcing the issue on the GOP-led Senate.
* Related: Hillary Clinton 'loves' the idea of appointing Obama to Supreme Court

Flashback: Senate Democrats in 1960 pass resolution against election-year Supreme Court recess appointments
The Washington Post - … in August 1960, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a resolution, S.RES. 334, “Expressing the sense of the Senate that the president should not make recess appointments to the Supreme Court, except to prevent or end a breakdown in the administration of the Court’s business.” Each of President Eisenhower’s SCOTUS appointments had initially been a recess appointment who was later confirmed by the Senate, and the Democrats were apparently concerned that Ike would try to fill any last-minute vacancy that might arise with a recess appointment. Not surprisingly, the Republicans objected, insisting that the Court should have a full complement of Justices at all times. Of course, the partisan arguments will be exactly the opposite this time.

State Supreme Court Rules Cops No Longer Need a Warrant to Enter Homes and Seize Evidence
The Free Thought Project - The Wisconsin Supreme Court just dealt a death blow to the Fourth Amendment, which is supposed to protect a citizen against unreasonable search and seizure. What’s more, the decision was made by a single, newly-appointed judge who was not even present when arguments were made in court. In a 4-3 decision, the state’s highest court ruled that evidence seized in a person’s private home during a warrantless search can be used against the person under an expanded view of the “community caretaker” clause… So, an unelected judge appointed by a partisan politician cast a single vote, without being present during arguments, which effectively nullified the Fourth Amendment in that state. Now in Wisconsin, cops can enter a person’s home without a warrant, seize evidence and use it against the person.

Thousands of Cubans Heading to Texas, Welfare Benefits Await
Breitbart - Thousands of Cuban refugees are stranded in Costa Rica and are now being moved into Mexico so they can illegally cross into the United States. Once on American soil, Cubans receive automatic immigration status adjustment and full welfare benefits. Texas is becoming the epicenter of this influx of Cubans.... Thanks to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, Cubans who arrive in America are granted permission to stay legally. Unlike the tens of thousands of Central Americans who have poured into south Texas in recent years, the immigrants from Cuba are also eligible for federal welfare benefits and permanent residency, a path to citizenship. But as relations between the U.S. and Cuba began to normalize in 2014, thousands fled toward America, afraid their window of opportunity would close.

FULL CBS GOP Debate, 9th Republican Presidential Debate February 13, 2016 in South Carolina
COMPLETE. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, John Kasich debate at Peace Center in Greenville, SC Feb. 13, 2016, hosted by CBS News, moderated by John Dickerson, Major Garrett and WSJ's Kimberly Strassel.

Wall Street Journal: Who won the Republican debate tonight?

TIME: Who Won the Ninth Republican Debate?

**DRUDGE POLL** Who Won The 9th Republican Debate '16?

Donald Trump Only Candidate to Address 1,400 Indianapolis Workers Whose Jobs Are Being Sent to Mexico
Breitbart - During tonight’s CBS Republican presidential debate, Donald Trump was the only candidate to address the news that Carrier will be sending hundreds of American jobs to Mexico.... Video footage emerged yesterday, which went viral, capturing the anger and heartache of 1,400 Indianapolis workers who were informed that they soon would be out of work, as their company will be sending their jobs to Mexico. The New York Post described the video as “stomach-turning.”... Trump brought up Carrier’s move to Mexico, not just once but on two separate occasions during the debate.
* Related: Employees react to news that Carrier is moving from Indy to Mexico (Video)

CBS News GOP Debate Ticket Breakdown
Breitbart - GOP presidential candidates received the largest ticket allocation from the Republican National Committee (RNC) ahead of the GOP primary debate on Saturday night at Greenville’s Peace Center. [...] RNC’s Chief Strategist and Communications Director, Sean Spicer, that the Peace Center in Greenville holds roughly 1600 seats. Out of those 1600 seats, candidates received 600 tickets to invite their guests. The state party and locally elected officials received 550, while the RNC, including nationally elected officials, received 367 tickets. The debate partners, CBS News, the Peace Center, and Google received 100 tickets.
* Related: RNC Under Fire Over Debate Audience Stacking… Local GOP Chairman Confirms Party Donors Get Debate Tickets

Troops betrayed as Army dumps hundreds of heroic war dogs
New York Post - In September 2012, Daniel and about 18 other soldiers boarded a flight back to North Carolina; their deployment was over. Waiting on the tarmac were employees from a North Carolina-based company, K2 Solutions, which had the government contract for the dogs… The only solace these soldiers had was the knowledge that they could apply to adopt their dogs, and that the passage of Robby’s Law in November 2000 would protect that right. More than three years later, Daniel still doesn’t have Oogie. The dog has vanished. Daniel, who doesn’t want to use his real name because he’s on active duty, is one of at least 200 military handlers whose dogs were secretly dumped out to civilians by K2 Solutions in February 2014, a Post investigation has found... This employee says that during the event, he was “getting dogs out of the kennel and displaying them to people.” He knew it was wrong. “Too many civilians were getting dogs that should have gone to handlers. It wasn’t right.”...

Despite Global Economy Plummeting into Despair, Mega Banks Boast All-Time Record Profits
Activist Post - After seven years of benefiting from the greatest transfer of wealth in history, the U.S. banking industry topped it off with record profits in 2015. The Great Fleecing may have reached its height just as the scheme known as Quantitative Easing ran out of gas. The U.S. banking industry earned net income of $163.63 billion in 2015, the highest net income of any year in the SNL bank regulatory database, which dates back to 1991… The largest four banks, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Bank of America NA, Wells Fargo Bank NA and Citibank NA together earned 42.7% of the industry’s income in 2015. This bonanza stands in stark contrast to the plight of the middle class, whose wages have stagnated while health insurance costs reach crippling proportions. Wealth inequality in the U.S. has greatly expanded–a trend that defines countries with Quantitative Easing (QE) programs.

Large M5.1 earthquake strikes Oklahoma fracking / pumping operation (Video)
Dutchsinse - A large, and noteworthy M5.1 earthquake has struck Central Oklahoma at the fracking / pumping operations.... shaking was felt as far North as Nebraska, and as far South as Dallas, Texas. Reports of shaking to the East as far as Little Rock, Arkansas.... A review of the coordinates of the earthquake reveal that the closest pumping operation is just a few hundred feet away.

Study Proves Electromagnetic Fields from Cell Towers Can Amplify Pain
Natural Blaze - A recently completed study led by members The University of Texas at Dallas gives concrete evidence that these types of now ubiquitous signals can actually amplify pain in some amputees by immediately stimulating nerve tissue that had suffered traumatic damage. Prior to this study, the bulk of research into cell tower radiation focused on people without any pre-existing conditions or serious health issues, however, when a disabled veteran who lost limbs in the Iraq war alerted his physicians to the fact that his sense of pain seemed to increase dramatically whenever his cell phone went into roaming mode, a study was launched to test this hypothesis on lab rats.... This is the first study of its kind that has found a direct link to immediate physical changes in the human body when absorbing cell tower radiation.

The Frightening New Way Your AC Unit Could Take Down The Grid
Off the Grid News - The so-called “smart grid” technology that is installed on some units could allow bad guys to use the unit – and its remote connection to the electric company — to crash the grid, according to security experts Vasilios Hioureas of Kaspersky Lab and Thomas Kinsey of Exigent Systems. Their report was recounted in Wired. The technology at issue does not involve the Internet but instead radio waves used by the power company. The power company installs a device on an air conditioning unit, and then employs a radio frequency to “tell” the unit to shut off during peak hours, saving the homeowner money and also relieving pressure on the grid. Some companies even offer discounts to homeowners who allow the units to the installed.... The problem: The signals aren’t always encrypted. Hioureas and Kinsey said that the units can be easily hacked, Wired reported.

The Quickest Ways To Test Your Water For Lead
Off the Grid News - How can you tell if your own drinking water is safe for your family? Since you cannot see, smell or taste lead in drinking water, the CDC says the only way to know if it contains lead or not is to have it tested. Here are some steps to follow: If you use utility water, then contact your local water authority for lead test results. Test results should fall below the EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. (This number means 15 particles of lead in a billion particles of water.)...

Friday - February 12, 2016 - Today in History:

1733 - Savannah, GA, was founded by English colonist James Oglethorpe.
1870 - In the Utah Territory, women gained the right to vote.
1892 - In the U.S., President Lincoln's birthday was declared to be a national holiday.
1909 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded.
1915 - The cornerstone of the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, DC.
1924 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge made the first presidential political speech on radio.
1973 - The State of Ohio went metric, becoming the first in the U.S. to post metric distance signs.
1973 - American prisoners of war were released for the first time during the Vietnam conflict.
1998 - A U.S. federal judge declared that the presidential line-item veto was unconstitutional.
1999 - U.S. President Clinton was acquitted by the U.S. Senate on two impeachment articles. The charges were perjury and obstruction of justice.
2002 - Kenneth Lay, former Enron CEO, exercised his constitutional rights and refused to testify to the U.S. Congress about the collapse of Enron.
2002 - The trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic began at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague. Milosevic was accused of war crimes during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
2003 - The U.N. nuclear agency declared North Korea in violation of international treaties. The complaint was sent to the Security Council.
2013 - North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test.

Saudi Arabia Makes "Final" Decision To Send Troops To Syria As US, Russia Spar Over Aleppo Strikes
Zero Hedge - Both the Saudis and the Turkey have hinted at ground invasions over the past two weeks and just this morning, a spokesman said Riyadh's decision to send in troops was "final."… Washington, Riyadh, Doha, and Ankara cling to the notion that while they don’t support Assad, they’re primary goal is to fight ISIS. Well ISIS is in Raqqa, which is nowhere near Aleppo, meaning there’s no way to help the rebels out in their fight against the Russians, Iranians, and Hezbollah under the guise of battling Islamic State… Against that backdrop we found it interesting that Moscow and Washington are now delivering conflicting accounts of airstrikes in Aleppo on Wednesday. The Pentagon, without specifying what time the strikes allegedly took place, says Russia destroyed the city’s two main hospitals… The Kremlin, on the other hand, says US warplanes conducted strikes at 1355 Moscow time. “Two U.S. Air Force A-10 attack aircraft entered Syrian airspace from Turkish territory,” Konashenkov said in a statement.

Turkey's Erdogan attacks US over support of Kurds, blames it for Syrian 'sea of blood'
RT - In an angry tirade Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Washington of causing the bloodbath in Syria by not recognizing as terrorists the Kurdish forces fighting against Islamic State in the region… Erdogan’s remarks come amid an escalated diplomatic rift between the US and Turkey over their respective goals in Syria, where both say they are fighting Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL, Daesh). State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that “Kurdish fighters have been some of the most successful in going after Daesh inside Syria,” adding the US does not view the Kurdish militia as a terrorist organization… However, the issue of the Kurdish fighters in Syria is not the only topic causing a row between the two countries. Another major disconnect is the prospect of Turkey conducting a unilateral military intervention in Syria, to which Ankara has been hinting.

North Korea Disables Emergency Communication Links With South
Sputnik News - North Korean authorities have decided to disable all emergency contact lines with South Korea after all South Korean staff leaves the jointly-run Kaesong industrial zone, the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said Thursday… Seoul said Wednesday it was suspending cooperation with Pyongyang following the Sunday launch of a long-range rocket in the North, allegedly to put a satellite into orbit. The West suspects this was a ballistic missile test. It followed a nuclear bomb test last month. On Thursday, South Korean companies were ordered to pull out of the Kaesong industrial park on the border between two Koreas. The move reportedly aims to sever financial flows to the North, which it allegedly uses to develop nuclear and missile technologies.

BBC Correspondent Confirms Use of Secret Courts But Can't Report It
TruePublica - Since 2013, the BBC and almost every other leading news organization in the UK has been locked in a bizarre battle to tell you the truth about Erol Incedal. “Who’s he?” I hear you ask. He’s a student from London who was accused of preparing some kind of major terrorism plan. And then after two trials he was found not guilty of that allegation. But I can’t tell you why… Incedal was charged with another man, Mounir Rarmoul Bouhadjar, in October 2013. Rarmoul Bouhadjar admitted possessing bomb-making plans. Incedal denied the allegation, saying he had a reasonable excuse for holding them. In 2014, a jury convicted him of that, but they failed to agree whether he was guilty of a more serious charge of preparing an act of terrorism. At a retrial the following year, a fresh jury cleared him. I don’t know why that jury cleared him. If I did, I couldn’t tell you. Some of my colleagues do however know. But they can’t tell me. Or you. They’d be in Contempt of Court and could end up in prison.

Investors 'go bananas' for gold bars as global stock markets tumble
Telegraph - BullionByPost, Britain's biggest online gold dealer, said it has already taken record-day sales of £5.6m as traders pile into gold following fears the world is on the brink of another financial crisis. Gold is currently at its highest level since May, with prices surging 2.2pc this morning to $1,218.17 for an ounce of the precious metal… Global stock markets have had a torrid time in recent months. In early trading on Thursday morning, the FTSE 100 sank to a fresh three-year low. RBS warned last month that major stock markets could fall by a fifth this year, and oil may plummet to $16 a barrel. Meanwhile the price of gold, typically seen as a safe haven by investors, has risen 15pc since the beginning of the year.

Oregon Standoff: Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy Arrested, Occupiers Surrender
The New American - Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy, whose sons Ammon and Ryan led the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon, was arrested Wednesday night... The reason for his arrest has not been made public by authorities, but various media are reporting that the charges against him relate to the 2014 standoff with federal authorities at his ranch… The arrest of the patriarch of the Bundy family came 40 days into the occupation of the vacant facility, and on the eve of the negotiated surrender of the four remaining protesters. The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of famous evangelist Billy Graham, and Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, a friend of the Bundy family, had been talking with the four occupiers for the past week by cell phone, urging them to come out.
* Related: Oregon Standoff Ends Without More Bloodshed

Clinton Foundation received subpoena from State Department investigators
The Washington Post - Investigators with the State Department issued a subpoena to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation last fall seeking documents about the charity’s projects that may have required approval from the federal government during Hillary Clinton’s term as secretary of state, according to people familiar with the subpoena and written correspondence about it. The subpoena also asked for records related to Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide who for six months in 2012 was employed simultaneously by the State Department, the foundation, Clinton’s personal office, and a private consulting firm with ties to the Clintons… There is no indication that the watchdog is looking at Clinton. But as she runs for president in part by promoting her leadership of the State Department, an inquiry involving a top aide and the relationship between her agency and her family’s charity could further complicate her campaign.

‘Let Us Inspect Your Home For Dirty Dishes – Or We’ll Get A Warrant,’ City Says
Off the Grid News - A Minnesota city is asking a court for a warrant to enter a rental home in order to check to see if the place is clean. If the city wins the case, then inspectors apparently would be able to enter such a building anytime they wish. The renters and tenants say they have nothing to hide but are opposing the city’s move based on principle. If they want to leave dirty dishes in the sink, they say, they it should be perfectly legal. “Your home is your castle—irrespective of whether you rent it or own it,” said Anthony Sanders, an attorney for Institute for Justice, which is representing the renters and tenants. “What we do in our home is our business, not the government’s. The mere fact that someone rents a home, rather than owns it, should not give the government the right to disrupt their life, invade their privacy and search every nook and cranny of their home—all without providing a shred of evidence that anything is wrong. It is a fundamental violation of the Minnesota Constitution’s protection against illegal searches.”

***Live Updates*** Bernie, Hillary Debate in Wisconsin; Moderator Donated to Clinton Foundation
Breitbart - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Hillary Clinton will debate tonight in Wisconsin as both try to court minority voters who will dominate the caucuses and primaries ahead. The debate will take place hours after a Washington Post revealed that the State Department subpoenaed the Clinton Foundation. PBS’s Judy Woodruff, who will moderate the debate with Gwen Ifill, donated to the Clinton Foundation. So it will be interesting to see if Clinton is grilled on today’s report.

Federal Judge Just Made MAJOR Ruling That May Devastate Hillary's Election Chances
Western Journalism - In a ruling that could prove devastating to the Hillary Clinton campaign, a federal judge has ruled that the State Department must immediately begin publishing Clinton’s private emails… After missing the initial deadline for release back in January, the State Department again attempted to stall release until after the Democratic primary contests. Arguing that this delay would prevent voters from making an informed decision about Clinton in the upcoming caucuses, Leopold’s team convinced Judge Contreras that an immediate release was necessary… The releases will come in four separate batches, the first of which will be dumped this Saturday and will include 550 of Clinton’s emails. The remaining dumps will be published on Feb. 19, Feb. 26, and Feb. 29. The State Department has announced that despite the previously missed deadline and the current order, it will be withholding 37 pages of emails which were deemed “top secret.”

Why Trump Thinks Unemployment Is 42%
Zero Hedge - During his victory speech last night in the New Hampshire Republican primary, Donald Trump exposed what everyone knows but doesn't dare admit: the “phony” unemployment numbers that Obama continues to crow about and The Fed is so focused on…. “Don’t believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5% unemployment. The number’s probably 28%, 29%, as high as 35%, in fact, I even heard recently 42%,” How does he justify such large estimates? Simple… “If we had 5% unemployment, do you think we’d have these gatherings?”

Photo Of Patriotic Postman Goes Viral
Opposing Views - As Carole Chase-Draughan drove in the funeral procession for her father, a World War II veteran, she saw a post office worker standing in the rain with his hat under his arm as a mark of respect, WEAR reported. “Whoever this wonderfully patriotic postman is, I would love to just thank him for his respect, during the steady rain on Wednesday afternoon as the funeral motorcade for my WWII Veteran father passed him,” Chase-Draughan captioned the photo, which she posted on Facebook. “This is what respect looks like!”

Initial Claims Drop But Goldman Warns "Recent Jobless Increase Is More Than Just Noise"
Zero Hedge - … here is Goldman explaining why it is time to be concerned...Initial and continuing claims for unemployment insurance benefits have moved steadily higher since late last year. After nearing their respective post-crisis lows of 256k and 2,146k this past October, initial and continuing claims are now higher by 29k and 112k, respectively. Both series can be volatile, and one should be cautious about reading too much into the week-to-week changes. But the persistence of the recent move suggests more might be going on, and we are treating the increase as more than just noise… And moreover, Goldman warns that they find only limited evidence that the recent increase in claims directly relates to distress in the energy sector.

The Adult Diaper Market Is About to Take Off
Bloomberg - Sales of adult incontinence garments in the U.S. could equal those of baby diapers in a decade. Thanks to the endless determination of parents to keep baby bottoms dry, Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies diapers brand has become a global powerhouse, with billions of dollars in annual sales. But the target consumers for one of the company’s latest diaper lines aren’t infants—or even their aged grandparents. Instead, ads for its Depend Silhouette line of disposable incontinence briefs feature laughing, long-legged models who look barely over 40. The personal-care giant has been aggressively running the fashion-style marketing pitches in mainstream magazines and on television, because adult incontinence is a market that’s recently become too big—and lucrative—to remain in the shadows

DHS wants to force car owners to use OEM parts and ban auto modifications
MassPrivateI - The Feds want to close down the automotive aftermarket parts business. According to a Newspaper.com article, the NHTSA/EPA introduced a hidden proposal that would prohibit any changes to an automobile's engine or exhaust after it leaves the factory. “The EPA remains primarily concerned with cases where the tampered vehicle is used on public roads, and more specifically with aftermarket manufacturers who sell devices that defeat emissions control systems on vehicles used on public roads” EPA spokeswoman Laura Allen said. DHS has a disturbingly close relationship with the NHTSA, judges and law enforcement,... This is about the NHTSA (DHS) forcing car owners to use 'original equipment manufacturer' (OEM) parts and not aftermarket parts. The aftermarket community is a multi-billion dollar market and this regulation, is just the beginning.

Governor Rick Snyder a ‘No-Show’ for Flint Water Crisis Hearing
Natural Society - Governor Rick Snyder of Flint Michigan, largely blamed for hiding the levels of lead during the ongoing water crisis in the state, will be a no-show to the second hearing on the water crisis, his spokesman confirmed. The Steering and Policy Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives invited Snyder to testify, but cannot force him to, since the committee does not have subpoena power. Snyder’s spokeswoman Anna Heaton told news outlets Monday that the governor had to decline the invitation because he is scheduled to make a budget proposal in Michigan on Wednesday. Surely, his budget proposal includes cleaning up the failing infrastructure in Flint that allowed this tragedy to occur, right?

CDC Adds 3 More Vaccines to Childhood Immunization Schedule
Healthy Home Economist - On February 1, 2016, the insanity continued as the CDC hiked the childhood immunization schedule even further by adding another 3 vaccinations and lowering the age for the first HPV jab (Gardasil) to 9 years old. The total is now an outrageous 74 doses (53 injections) by age 17, an increase of 24X since 1950.... Predictably, children today are suffering from autoimmune disorders, behavioral problems, and physical disabilities at a rate growing in lockstep with the skyrocketing number of shots. One in every two children suffers from a chronic problem today and the situation is only growing worse with each passing year.... For those that want to know the exact changes to the CDC immunization schedule, here are the most notable changes as outlined by Medscape...

Coenzyme Q10 is an effective weapon against gum disease
(NaturalHealth365) Gum disease is a chronic health condition that occurs when the tissues around the teeth get infected. Of course, redness, bleeding or discomfort around the gums is telling you there’s a problem. Left unchecked, a small degree of gum disease can grow into a much more serious infection – throughout the body. Yet, there are solutions. Fact: Gum disease is linked to a deficiency in coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) Coenzyme Q10 is part of the quinone family, naturally occurring substances that are essential for energy production in oxygen-using life forms. Quinones are found all around in nature, but the one that is most useful to humans is coenzyme Q10.... Periodontal disease studies have also shown that taking as little as 50 milligrams of coenzyme Q10 per day can help to reverse the effects of gum disease. Those who take it report a dramatic reduction in inflammation as well as a regeneration of the gum tissue.

Why 80% of Us Are Deficient In Magnesium
Green Med Info - Most doctors and laboratories don't even include magnesium status in routine blood tests. Thus, most doctors don't know when their patients are deficient in magnesium, even though studies show that the majority of Americans are deficient in magnesium. Consider Dr. Norman Shealy's statements, "Every known illness is associated with a magnesium deficiency" and that, "magnesium is the most critical mineral required for electrical stability of every cell in the body. A magnesium deficiency may be responsible for more diseases than any other nutrient."... The first symptoms of deficiency can be subtle – as most magnesium is stored in the tissues, leg cramps, foot pain, or muscle 'twitches' can be the first sign. Other early signs of deficiency include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and weakness. As magnesium deficiency worsens, numbness, tingling, seizures, personality changes, abnormal heart rhythms, and coronary spasms can occur.

The U.S. and Canada Have Among The Highest Death Rates In The World For Alzheimers
Janette Hillis-Jaffe - Many scientists have believed that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is passed through the family line and is genetic due to the possession of a particular set of genes, however research is showing the incidence is more correlated to excitotoxins and heavy metals which play a critical role in the development of several neurological disorders, especially in North America. If AD was purely genetic, we would expect four natural consequences to be true: Global spatial distribution would be random and uniform; There would not be an earlier and rapidly increasing onset of the disease; Migration would not alter the incidence of this disease; and Changes in lifestyle would have no impact on someone with the disease. Human genes do not change quickly, they remain constant over long periods of time which means that if AD was genetic we would not expect to see fast increasing incidences of the disease in younger people.

Need Help With Vet Bills or Pet Food? There ARE Resources...
Dogington Post - Because our pets are a life-long commitment, it’s not unheard of for a dog or cat mom or dad to face financial hardship at some point in the life of their fur-children. We can all agree that before bringing an animal into your heart and home, it’s important to be prepared for the financial responsibilities – veterinary care, quality food and treats, preventative measures, etc. – that come along with pet parenthood. However, over the course of that 15-20+ year commitment, things happen. Jobs are lost, injuries or accidents make it impossible to work, economies take a hit. Unfortunately, in many cases of financial hardship, it’s the family pet that suffers.

TED Talk: Your body language shapes who you are
Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.
 

Thursday - February 11, 2016 - Today in History:

1752 - The Pennsylvania Hospital opened as the very first hospital in America.
1808 - Judge Jesse Fell experimented by burning anthracite coal to keep his house warm. He successfully showed how clean the coal burned and how cheaply it could be used as a heating fuel.
1812 - The term "gerrymandering" had its beginning when the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting law that favored his party.
1943 - General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
1945 - During World War II, the Yalta Agreement was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. (Today in World War II History)
1975 - Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
1979 - Nine days after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran (after 15 years in exile) power was seized by his followers.
1989 - Rev. Barbara C. Harris became the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church.
1990 - Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.
1993 - Janet Reno was appointed to the position of attorney general by U.S. President Clinton. She was the first female to hold the position.
2000 - The space shuttle Endeavor took off. The mission was to gather information for the most detailed map of the earth ever made.
2006 - In Texas, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a quail hunt.
2008 - The Defense Department charged Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.
2009 - Democrat John Dingell of Michigan became the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives with more than 53 years of service.

Syria invasion plan? Turkey will defend its ‘Aleppo brothers,’ says PM Davutoglu
RT - Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu pledged to return a “historical debt” to Turkey’s “Aleppo brothers” who helped defend the country in the early 20th century, just days after Russia warned of Ankara’s intentions to invade Syria as the rebels there falter. “We will return our historic debt. At one time, our brothers from Aleppo defended our cities of Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, now we will defend the heroic Aleppo. All of Turkey stands behind its defenders,” Davutoglu said at the meeting of the Party of Justice and Development parliamentary faction, which he heads.

Netanyahu to 'surround all of Israel with a fence'
WND - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would like to “surround all of Israel with a fence” to keep out Palestinian and Arab enemies – “wild beasts,” as he called them… “[It’s part of] multi-year plan to surround Israel with security fences to protect ourselves in the current and projected Middle East,” he said, the Guardian reported… He went on, speaking of the dire need for walls and fences: “In our neighborhood, we need to protect ourselves from wild beasts. At the end of the day as I see it, there will be a fence like this one surrounding Israel in its entirety. We will surround the entire state of Israel with a fence, a barrier.” Netanyahu also said his government was looking at ways of filling in the gaps along existing fencing by the West Bank that was ordered built by Ariel Sharon, the nation’s former prime minister.

A 918 Point Stock Market Crash In Japan And Deutsche Bank Denies That It Is About To Collapse
Economic Collapse - On Tuesday junk bonds continued to crash, the price of oil briefly dipped below 28 dollars a barrel, Deutsche Bank was forced to deny that it is on the verge of collapse, but the biggest news was what happened in Japan. The Nikkei was down a staggering 918 points, but that stock crash made very few headlines in the western world. If the Dow had crashed 918 points today, that would have been the largest single day point crash in all of U.S. history. So what just happened in Japan is a really big deal. The Nikkei is now down 23.1 percent from the peak of the market, and that places it solidly in bear market territory. Overall, a total of 16.5 trillion dollars of global stock market wealth has been wiped out since the middle of 2015.

"It's Worse Than 2008": CEO Of World's Largest Shipping Company Delivers Dire Assessment Of Global Economy
Zero Hedge - Maersk Line - the company's golden goose and the world's largest container operator - racked up $182 million in red ink last quarter and the outlook for 2016 isn't pretty either. The company now sees demand for seaborne container transportation rising a meager 1-3% for the year. “The demand for transportation of goods was significantly lower than expected, especially in the emerging markets as well as the Group’s key Europe trades, where the impact was further accelerated by de-stocking of the high inventory levels,” the company said, in its annual report… Imports to Brazil, Europe, Russia, and Africa are all falling, Andersen warned. The company's business, Andersen says, is suffering from a "massive deterioration."

Russia bans American corn and soybeans
RT - Starting February 15, corn and soybeans from the US will no longer be welcome in Russia, announced the country's food and safety watchdog on Wednesday. Rosselkhoznadzor says American producers have failed to meet Russian biological standards… The watchdog has found dry rot in corn and numerous weed seeds in soybeans, he added. US officials said the assessment of corn is done without checking microbiological conditions. "We were dumfounded. Every batch of products should come with a microbiological certificate that guarantees food safety. It turns out the products are not being tested,” said Alekseenko. In 2015, the watchdog found 64 cases of bacterial contamination in US soybeans. In January 2016, it found four additional cases of bacterial contamination, including a bacteria non-existent in Russia.

Zika: The Gene-Editing Fix That Will Blow You Away
By Jon Rappoport - It’s real, and it’s ready... MIT Technology Review, 2/8/16: “We have the technology to destroy all Zika mosquitoes.” A controversial genetic technology able to wipe out the mosquito carrying the Zika virus will be available within months, scientists say. The technology, called a ‘gene drive,’ was demonstrated only last year in yeast cells, fruit flies, and a species of mosquito that transmits malaria. It uses the gene-snipping technology CRISPR to force a genetic change to spread through a population as it reproduces. Three U.S. labs that handle mosquitoes, two in California and one in Virginia, say they are already working toward a gene drive for Aedes aegypti, the type of mosquito blamed for spreading Zika. If deployed, the technology could theoretically drive the species to extinction. (emphasis added).... Any release of a gene drive in the wild would be hotly debated by ecologists…No kidding. Unforeseen consequences? Unpredicted results? Ecological domino effect? Transfer of genes from mosquitoes to humans? Don’t be silly. All is well.

Video: Zika Fear Falters as False Flag Fraud Fizzles
The Corbett Report - Zika is a bust. But it’s accomplished its mission: $1.8 billion in funding, further trial runs of the medical martial law apparatus in another part of the world, and more adulation for the fearless WHO. Join me for today’s thought for the day as we put the Zika hype to rest once and for all (hopefully).

Argentine and Brazilian Doctors Name Larvicide as Potential Cause of Microcephaly
Natural Blaze - A report from the Argentine doctors’ organisation, Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns, challenges the theory that the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil is the cause of the increase in the birth defect microcephaly among newborns. The increase in this birth defect, in which the baby is born with an abnormally small head and often has brain damage, was quickly linked to the Zika virus by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, according to the Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns, the Ministry failed to recognise that in the area where most sick people live, a chemical larvicide that produces malformations in mosquitoes was introduced into the drinking water supply in 2014. This poison, Pyriproxyfen, is used in a State-controlled programme aimed at eradicating disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Cliven Bundy arrested in Portland as Oregon occupiers say they will surrender Thursday
MSN.com - Cliven Bundy, the controversial Nevada rancher at the center of an armed standoff with federal officials in 2014, was arrested in Portland Wednesday, according to jail records and news reports. He was reportedly on his way to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in isolated southeastern Oregon, where an armed occupation in its 41st day seemed to be coming to an end. The occupation had been organized by Bundy’s sons Ammon and Ryan, who are now in jail facing a felony charge of conspiracy to impede a federal officer. The last remaining members of the occupation had said they will turn themselves over on Thursday morning, after the FBI appeared to close in on their encampment.

Obama Owns Stock in Gun and Ammo Manufacturers, Profiting From His Policies
The New American - A special report published by Reuters on February 5 reveals that President Obama owns stock in a couple of manufacturers of guns and ammunition. From Reuters: From his days in the Illinois General Assembly, President Obama has up to $100,000 invested in a nearly $16 billion state pension plan, which has about $5 million invested directly in several gun and ammo makers. The retirement plan, which covers state employees, judges and the general assembly, also holds shares in a small-cap mutual fund with a $9.5 million stake in Smith & Wesson. While this is admittedly a minuscule amount of money for one a man of the president’s net worth ($7 million as of 2014), the inconsistency between his advocacy of tighter gun controls and his increase in personal prosperity from the increased demand for weapons and ammunition is noteworthy.

Supreme Court threatens Obama's climate agenda
Politico - he Supreme Court on Tuesday took the unusual step of blocking the Environmental Protection Agency’s landmark carbon rule for power plants, throwing into doubt whether Obama's signature climate change initiative will survive a legal battle before the high court. The decision to grant the stay is no guarantee the justices ultimately will strike down the rule, but the development is a bad sign for EPA’s chances, and the agency's foes quickly cheered the news, with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey calling it a “great victory.”… Coal-heavy utilities, mining companies and 27 states are among those suing to reverse the rule, which opponents say exceeds EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act. The stay may only delay implementation of the rule by two or three years if EPA eventually triumphs at the Supreme Court. But it will keep the rule on hold into the next administration, increasing the chances that it could be undone if a Republican is elected to the White House this year.

ACLU Of Oregon Defends 1st Amendment Rights Of Refuge Occupier Pete Santilli
Oregon Public Broadcasting - The ACLU of Oregon has come to the defense of Pete Santilli, one of the 16 people indicted by federal prosecutors last week for organizing an armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. “While many people might disagree with statements made by those involved in the Malheur takeover, Americans have a fundamental right to freedom of speech,” wrote Mat dos Santos, the legal director for the ACLU of Oregon, in statement posted to the group’s website Tuesday. Santilli is the host of an Internet radio show, which for weeks broadcasted hundreds of hours of live footage from the refuge and around Harney County. Santilli was arrested in Burns, Oregon on Jan. 26 along with militant leaders.

U.S. city walks back ban on 'Founding Fathers'
WND - Officials in San Diego are walking back a directive in a new “Visual and Correspondence Style Guidelines” publication that had been issued to employees to not reference the “Founding Fathers.”… “Suggesting that our Founding Fathers should be referred to as ‘Founders’ is political correctness run amuck. We are proud of our nation’s history and there is nothing wrong with referring to the Founding Fathers. Once the mayor became aware of this yesterday he directed the ‘Founders’ example to be removed from the document,” Matt Awbrey, the mayor’s chief of communications, told WND in an email.

Feds sue Ferguson to force police reform
USA Today - The Justice Department is suing the city of Ferguson in an attempt to forcibly overhaul the city’s troubled police and court operations, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Wednesday. The decision comes hours after city leaders sought to revise a long- negotiated settlement, citing prohibitive costs of executing such a deal. “There is no cost for constitutional policing,'' Lynch said late Wednesday. "Painstaking negotiations lasted more than 26 weeks as we sought to remedy literally years of systematic deficiencies,'' she said of the government's action, which followed a public announcement last month of a tentative agreement that the attorney general described as "both fair and cost-effective . . . Last night, the City Council rejected the consent decree approved by their own negotiators; their decision leaves us no further choice.''

New York Inches Closer to a Mandatory GM Labeling Bill
Natural Society - A GMO labeling bill requiring mandatory labeling of food made with genetically modified organisms recently moved forward in New York.... Bill A617B would require mandatory labeling of food made with genetically modified organisms, and does not leave it up to Big Food maker’s whims to label food if they feel so inclined. The GMO labeling bill now moves onto the next committee where it needs to pass to make it through to final legislation. The bill summary states: “[The bill] provides for the labeling of raw agricultural commodities, processed foods, seed, and seed stock produced with genetic engineering; defines terms; imposes penalties for false labels and misbranding; sets forth exemptions.”

Despite Sanders Win in New Hampshire, Clinton Still Has More Delegates
Truth in Media - Following presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’s first-place finish in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary on Tuesday, rival Hillary Clinton, who finished a distant second, is set to gain the same amount of delegates in the state. Sanders, who won the state’s primary with 151,584 votes over Clinton’s 95,252 votes, gained 13 delegates and The Hill reported that Sanders is expected to officially receive 15 when the total results are in. CNN and Yahoo Politics reported that Sanders and Clinton each currently have 15 delegates in New Hampshire. While Clinton won 9 delegates, Clinton also reportedly has the support of 6 superdelegates. “New Hampshire has 8 superdelegates, 6 of which are committed to Hillary Clinton, giving her a total of 15 delegates from New Hampshire as of Wednesday at 9 a.m.,” the Daily Caller reported. The Hill reported that “superdelegate support is fluid, though, so some of those delegates now backing Clinton could switch to Sanders” ahead of the Democratic National Convention, “but as it stands, the superdelegate support gives Clinton a total of 15 New Hampshire delegates.”

Carly Fiorina quits 2016 race
Politico - Business executive Carly Fiorina dropped out of the 2016 contest on Wednesday, ending a campaign that failed to enlist enough support despite Republican voters’ clear preference for a Washington outsider this cycle… It’s an end to a campaign that scored a brief moment in the Republican spotlight, courtesy of an insult from Donald Trump that elicited a sharply crafted response from Fiorina… She dropped out of the race one day after a dismal finish in the New Hampshire primary.

Chris Christie suspends campaign, source says
CNN - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire, a source close to the campaign said Wednesday. Christie made the announcement on a call with his campaign. He staked his hopes on New Hampshire, but finished sixth on Tuesday night with just 7% of the vote.

Maine Food Stamp Work Requirement Cuts Non-Parent Caseload by 80 Percent
Heritage Foundation - In response to the growth in food stamp dependence, Maine’s Governor, Paul LePage, recently established work requirements on ABAWD recipients. In Maine, all ABAWDs [able-bodied adults without dependents] in the food stamp program are now required to take a job, participate in training, or perform community service… In the first three months after Maine’s work policy went into effect, its ABAWD caseload plummeted by nearly 80 percent, falling from 13,332 recipients in December 2014 to 2,678 in March 2015. This rapid drop in welfare dependence has a historical precedent: When work requirements were established in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, nationwide caseloads dropped by a similar amount, albeit over a few years rather than a few months.

Changes are coming to your insurance policy
The Examiner - Due to the accumulation of fire related damage to homes and businesses from Smart Meter related malfunctions, Insurance Underwriting Offices across the country are contemplating new rules that will reduce the coverage available to you due to fire damage from a Smart Meter failure. In the past, only two reasons existed for an insurance company to consider not paying for fire damage to your home or business, they were arson, and the fact the home or business sat vacant for at least 60 days or more before the fire. Now a possible third reason can be added to that list, is the malfunction of a Smart Meter.

The EPA is out of control - now they want to ban hobby race cars
Watts Up With That? - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a regulation to prohibit conversion of vehicles originally designed for on-road use into racecars. The regulation would also make the sale of certain products for use on such vehicles illegal. The proposed regulation was contained within a non-related proposed regulation entitled “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles—Phase 2.” The regulation would impact all vehicle types, including the sports cars, sedans and hatch-backs commonly converted strictly for use at the track. While the Clean Air Act prohibits certain modifications to motor vehicles, it is clear that vehicles built or modified for racing, and not used on the streets, are not the “motor vehicles” that Congress intended to regulate.

Wednesday - February 10, 2016 - Today in History:

1763 - The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War. In the treaty France ceded Canada to England.
1846 - Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began their exodus to the west from Illinois.
1870 - The YWCA was founded in New York City.
1879 - The electric arc light was used for the first time.
1897 - "The New York Times" began printing "All the news that's fit to print" on their front page.
1933 - The singing telegram was introduced by the Postal Telegraph Company of New York City.
1934 - The first imperforated, ungummed sheets of postage stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service in New York City.
1935 - The Pennsylvania Railroad began passenger service with its electric locomotive. The engine was 79-1/2 feet long and weighed 230 tons.
1962 - The Soviet Union exchanged capture American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for the Soviet spy Rudolph Ivanovich Abel being held by the U.S.
1967 - The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment required the appointment of a vice-president when that office became vacant and instituted new measures in the event of presidential disability.
1975 - The U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp that featured NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft.
1981 - The Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino caught fire. Eight people were killed and 198 were injured.
1997 - The U.S. Army suspended its top-ranking enlisted soldier, Army Sgt. Major Gene McKinney following allegations of sexual misconduct. McKinney was convicted of obstruction of justice and acquitted of 18 counts alleging sexual harassment of six military women.
1998 - A man became the first to be convicted of committing a hate crime in cyberspace. The college dropout had e-mailed threats to Asian students.
1999 - Avalanches killed at least 10 people when they roared down the French Alps 30 miles from Geneva.
2005 - North Korea publicly announced for the first time that it had nuclear arms. The country also rejected attempts to restart disarmament talks in the near future saying that it needed the weapons as protection against an increasingly hostile United States.
2009 - A Russian and an American satellite collide over Siberia.

MSF reveals 3 killed, 6 wounded in airstrike on hospital in southern Syria
RT - At least three people were killed and six wounded when an airstrike in southern Syria hit a Médecins Sans Frontières–supported hospital in the city of Daraa last Friday, the organization has revealed in a statement. The airstrike on the Tafas field hospital, located some 12 kilometers from the Jordanian border, took place on the night of February 5, according to MSF’s Tuesday statement. Among the wounded was an MSF nurse. Médecins Sans Frontières told RT France in a telephone conversation that it has no information on who carried out the strike. The attack prompted more than 20,000 people to flee the town and seek shelter in the countryside, it added.

Erdogan threatened to ‘open doors to Greece and Bulgaria’ and flood EU with migrants
RT - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “put refugees on buses” and flood Europe with migrants if EU leaders did not offer him enough cash to help curb the influx of asylum seekers, a leaked record of a high-level meeting claims. "We can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses,” Erdogan was quoted as telling European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk after being told that the EU was offering Turkey €3 billion over two years.

Liberals plan to build refugee camps on seven Canadian military bases — Taxpayers will fund mosques, Korans
The Rebel - The Canadian military has been ordered by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to draft plans to house more than 6,000 Muslim migrants on a long-term basis at military bases... Included in the Department of National Defence budgets are hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside for “religious support,” including the purchase of Muslim Korans, prayer mats and foot-washing towels. The plans also call for the construction of mosques or “worship centres,” using taxpayers dollars.... The budget for Quebec alone totals more than $46 million for the first six months. For a typical migrant family, that’s a $200,000/year subsidy — not including medicare or welfare.... It’s a disgrace that Canadian military personnel have been sent eviction notices to make way for foreign migrants.

Portuguese Medical Association President Calls for Global Ban on Glyphosate
Sustainable Pulse - The President of the Portuguese Medical Association, José Manuel Silva, has called for a Global ban on the World’s most used herbicide, Glyphosate, over the many health concerns surrounding the chemical.

Zika: GE Mosquitoes Bite, Deliver Flying Vaccine?
By Jon Rappoport - Zika: the ideal fake epidemic to stir “need” for airborne vaccination: “we must do something to stop the spread of the virus.” No need to mandate shots: release mosquitoes to deliver them. People are discussing whether genetically engineered mosquitoes could have spread Zika, the virus that causes nothing. Rather, look to the future, when such biting mosquitoes could deliver flying vaccinations against the virus that causes nothing. In previous articles, I’ve established that the connection between the Zika virus and cases of birth defects in Brazil is entirely and utterly unproven. It is hype, not science.... ere are a few hints and clues about a possible flying mosquito vaccinator: sciencemag.org, 3/18/2010, “Researchers Turn Mosquitoes Into Flying Vaccinators”...

Planned Parenthood Using Zika to Fundraise for Abortion Advocacy…
Breitbart - International Planned Parenthood Federation in the Western Hemisphere region (IPPF/WHR) is seemingly taking advantage of the Zika outbreak in the Americas, the hardest hit region by the mosquito-borne virus, to ask for donations to expand access to abortions and birth control.

Budget “bow wave” causes Air Force to cut 45 F-35s from purchase plans
Ars Technica - A prematurely posted copy of the US Air Force's fiscal year 2017 budget request was pulled down from the service's website today but not before defense analysts and journalists were able to download the document and find a number of surprises. While it had been previously announced by the Department of Defense that five fewer F-35A fighters would be purchased in 2017, the plan outlined in the 2017 Air Force budget would cut even more F-35s from purchase plans over the next 10 years, deferring the purchase of 45 planes until later. In a statement introducing the budget plans, Air Force officials wrote, "The Air Force is facing a modernization bow wave in critical nuclear and space programs over the next ten years that, under current funding levels, we simply cannot afford."

Government Employees Spent Almost $1 Million in Taxpayer Money at Casinos
The Daily Signal - From July 2013 through June 2014, over 4,000 transactions, worth just short of $1 million, were conducted at casinos using the Department of Defense’s government travel cards. Furthermore, nine hundred transactions, totaling $96,576, were made at “adult entertainment establishments.” As of May, 2015, only 41 percent of such actions went punished, with possible punishments including a “letter of reprimand.”

***Live Updates*** New Hampshire Primary Results: Trump, Sanders Projected Winners

Overall New Hampshire Presidential Primaries Results

Fox News Reports Final New Hampshire Primary Results in Advance
Paul Joseph Watson - Fox News is reporting the final results of tonight’s Republican and Democratic primaries in advance, with a mock-up page [taken down soon after] showing establishment favorite Marco Rubio finishing in second place.... Donald Trump is in first place with 28%, with Rubio thirteen points behind with 15% and Ted Cruz just behind him in third. The result of the Democratic primary shows Bernie Sanders beating Hillary Clinton by a margin of just 10%. A cross section of current polls shows Sanders is on average 14% ahead of Hillary.
* Related: Dilbert Creator Predicts GOP Will Rig New Hampshire

IBM’s Watson Should Run for President
Nextgov - With every passing presidential debate, candidates’ stump speeches and jabs at each other are starting to feel more rote, even robotic. With opinion split among Democratic voters and no clear winner yet emerging from the Republicans, it might be the perfect time for an actual robot to enter the race: IBM’s Watson.... Watson could be the centrist candidate that the polarized race has been searching for. Unlike most of the candidates running, Watson has no emotions, basing its decisions entirely on being able to parse every fact it can find out about a topic and choosing the most logical answer in minutes.... A third-party group, called Watson 2016 Foundation, has set up a website where voters can learn more about where Watson stands on the issues of the day. According to the group, Watson is a proponent of ending homelessness, national healthcare, and free university education. Bernie Sanders might be given a run for his money if Watson decides to throw its hat into the ring.

Obama’s Final Budget Proposes $4.1 Trillion In Spending
Breitbart - The 182-page budget is dead-on-arrival in Congress, but it is useful to see what Obama’s priorities will be in the coming year. The plan would include an already widely-discussed $10-a-barrel fee on oil and would spend $300 billion over a decade for green vehicles and transportation initiatives. Here are some other highlights via Bloomberg...

Ford Shifting Future Auto Production To Mexico As Obama Signs Pacific Trade Deal
Breitbart - Just as President Barack Obama’s deputy signed the unpopular Trans Pacific Partnership free-trade deal during an election year, Ford Motor Company has announced it will doubling production capacity at a Mexico factory, instead of enlarging U.S. factories. The new factory will manufacture hybrid autos with gasoline and electric engines, whose development has been partly funded by U.S. taxpayers via federal research programs. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ford is planning to build 500,000 vehicles at its new Mexican factory, starting in 2018. That is double Mexico’s 2015 production.... Ford rival General Motors is planning a $5 billion expansion in Mexico. But American automakers aren’t alone. New facilities are also being built in Mexico by BMW AG, Volkswagen AG, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motors. All these announcements come on the heels of new deals that offer higher wages for today’s workers, represented by the United Auto Workers union.

What If Your Dog Attacks His Food Like It's His Last Meal on Earth?
Dr. Becker - Most dogs are food motivated, so it’s really no surprise they attack their meals as though they haven’t eaten in days and may never eat again. However, dogs who down their dinners in the blink of an eye are more likely to create problems for themselves than those who eat at a more leisurely pace. For example, there’s always the risk of choking when food is inhaled rather than chewed. There’s also an increased risk your pet will immediately vomit his meal, though this tends to happen more often with speed-eating cats than dogs. If you happen to have a large dog with a deep chest, there’s also the very real danger that eating too fast will bring on a case of life-threatening bloat, or gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV).
 

Tuesday - February 9, 2016 - Today in History:

1825 - The U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president. No candidate had received a majority of electoral votes.
1861 - The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America elected Jefferson Davis as its president.
1870 - The United States Weather Bureau was authorized by Congress. The bureau is officially known as the National Weather Service (NWS).
1884 - Thomas Edison and Patrick Kenny executed a patent application for a chemical recording stock quotation telegraph (U.S. Pat. 314,115).
1885 - The first Japanese arrived in Hawaii.
1909 - The first forestry school was incorporated in Kent, Ohio.
1932 - America entered the 2-man bobsled competition for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games held at Lake Placid, NY.
1942 - The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held its first formal meeting to coordinate military strategy during World War II.
1942 - Daylight-saving "War Time" went into effect in the U.S.
1943 - During World War II, the battle of Guadalcanal ended with an American victory over Japanese forces.
1950 - U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that the State Department was riddled with Communists. This was the beginning of "McCarthyism."
1971 - The San Fernando Valley experienced the Sylmar earthquake that registered 6.4 on the Richter Scale.
1971 - The Apollo 14 spacecraft returned to Earth after mankind's third landing on the moon.
1975 - The Russian Soyuz 17 returned to Earth.
1989 - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. completed the $25 billion purchase of RJR Nabisco, Inc.
1997 - "The Simpsons" became the longest-running prime-time animated series. "The Flintstones" held the record previously.
2001 - "Hannibal," the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs," opened in theaters.
2002 - Britain's Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II, died at age 71.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia Mull Syria Ground Invasion As Russia, Hezbollah Decimate Rebels
Zero Hedge - Hezbollah has surrounded Aleppo and their advance is backed by what’s been described as an unrelenting Russian air campaign. The rebels’ supply lines to Turkey have been cut and without a direct intervention by either the US or the Gulf states, the battle for Syria will have been lost for the opposition which pulled out of peace talks in Geneva citing the ongoing aerial bombardment by Moscow. Now, with time running out, both Saudi Arabia and Turkey are weighing ground invasions… “With rebels losing ground, Gulf states said they would be prepared to send in ground troops as part of an international coalition battling Islamic State,” Bloomberg reported on Sunday. Please note: that quote makes no sense. The rebels aren’t losing ground to ISIS, so why should their battlefield losses trigger international calls for ground troops to “battle Islamic State”?
* Related: An Exasperated John Kerry Throws In Towel On Syria: "What Do You Want Me To Do, Go To War With The Russians?!"

'Suicide bomber' on Somalia plane was meant to board Turkish flight
The Guardian - A suspected suicide bomber who blew a hole in the fuselage of a Daallo Airlines plane last week and forced it to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu was meant to be on a Turkish Airlines flight, Daallo’s chief executive said on Monday. The bomber was sucked out of the plane through the one-yard-wide hole when the blast ripped open the pressurised cabin in flight, officials said. The pilot landed the plane in the Somali capital, from where it had taken off. No group has so far taken responsibility for the attack but US officials suspect Islamist militant group al Shabaab, which has links to al-Qaida, was responsible for the blast. Daallo Airlines chief executive, Mohamed Yassin, said most of the passengers who were on the bombed flight were scheduled to fly with Turkish Airlines, but were flown to Djibouti by one of his planes after the Turkish carrier cancelled its flight, citing bad weather.

German plan to impose limit on cash transactions met with fierce resistance
The Guardian - Proposals to ban cash payments of more than €5,000 (£3,860) to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism were revealed by the German finance ministry last week. They face opposition from a broad alliance of political parties as well as the country’s bestselling newspaper… Political groups ranging from the Green party to the liberal Free Democrats to rightwing Alternative für Deutschland have condemned the proposed measures, which also include a ban on €500 notes, as an attack on data protection and privacy… The head of Germany’s central bank, Jens Weidmann, has distanced himself from the government’s proposals, telling Bild: “It would be fatal if citizens got the impression that cash is being gradually taken away from them.”

Australia Cuts 110 Climate Scientist Jobs
Scientific American - Australia’s federal science agency last week chopped off its climate research arm in a decision that has stunned scientists and left employees dispirited. As many as 110 out of 140 positions at the atmosphere and oceans division at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) will be cut, Larry Marshall, the agency’s chief executive, told staff Friday. Another 120 positions will be cut from the land and water program. Across the agency, 350 climate staff will be moved into new roles unrelated to their specialty. Scientists say the cuts would affect Australia’s ability to cope with climate change… And it would leave young climate scientists at CSIRO without direction.

What is the Zika Virus Epidemic Covering Up?
Green Med Info - Correlation does not mean causation. Is the Zika virus being used as a scapegoat for Pharma's dangerous adverse effects? The world of modern medicine has since its inception been one of controversies, scandals and cover ups. Each such episode has bettered the other and is done with a finesse that appears clearly criminal in intent. The Zika virus episode is one of the best examples of this and hides a very cruel agenda behind it.

Zika: Update from Brazil: Towering Non-Evidence
Activist Post - It is obvious that no significant connection between microcephaly and the Zika virus has been found. It’s not even close. So far, therefore, there is absolutely no reason to trumpet an epidemic of Zika. Doing so is quite insane, by any reasonable standar

Agreement on TTIP Unlikely to Be Reached During Obama Presidency
Sputnik News - A planned free-trade agreement between the European Union and the United States probably will not be reached during the presidency of Barack Obama, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during a press conference on Monday… Anti-TTIP activists criticize the trade deal for the unusual secrecy in which it is being negotiated, and are concerned that released sections of the document clearly show that it will benefit multinational corporations and corporate rights-holders at the expense of sovereign nations and consumers.

Almost every top official in Texas city arrested in federal corruption case
Fox News - Crystal City's mayor, city manager, mayor pro tempore, one of three current councilmen and a former councilman were all arrested under an indictment obtained by the U.S. attorney's office in San Antonio, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney said. A second councilman is already charged in a separate case with smuggling Mexican immigrants. That leaves just one councilman not facing federal charges in Crystal City, a town of about 7,100 people about 50 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border… The indictment accuses the town's leadership of using their positions "to enrich themselves by soliciting and accepting payments and other things of value." Also charged was Ngoc Tri Nguyen, alleged to be an operator of illegal gambling rooms, who was nicknamed "Mr. T."

Mandatory Mental Illness Screening and the Drive to Confiscate Firearms
Kurt Nimmo - On Sunday in his weekly column Ron Paul discussed a recommendation by the United States Preventive Services Task Force. The recommendation calls mental health screening of all Americans. “The task force wants to force health insurance companies to pay for the screening. Basic economics, as well as the Obamacare disaster, should have shown this task force that government health insurance mandates harm Americans,” writes Paul. In addition to the economic aspects of the recommendation, Dr. Paul mentions the draconian effect it will have on the Second Amendment and the constitutionally guaranteed right to own firearms. “Mandatory depression screening will not just raise insurance costs. In order to ensure that the screening mandate is being properly implemented, the government will need to create a database containing the results of the screenings. Those anti-gun politicians who want to forbid anyone labeled ‘mentally ill’ from owning a firearm will no doubt want to use this database as a tool to deprive individuals of their Second Amendment rights,” he writes.

License Plate Surveillance Swamps N.Y. Village Police with Thousands of Auto Infractions Instead of Hoped-for Leads on Big-Time Criminals
AllGov - The system of 27 cameras would scan the license plate of every single vehicle that rolled into town. If a wanted criminal drove through, the system would sound an alert. If someone burglarized a house, the data could be mined to see who was on the road at the time. Police weren't prepared, though, for the firehose of less-valuable intelligence generated by the $750,000 system. Since the scanners went live Nov. 2, they have been triggering an average of 700 alarms a day, mainly about cars on the road with expired or suspended registration stickers. Officers have impounded 500 vehicles. They've written more than 2,000 court summonses, mostly for minor violations… After overtime expenses jumped at least 20 percent, the department has lately adjusted its approach, responding only to higher priority alarms. But the chief is still talking about hiring another six to eight officers who would be dedicated solely to traffic duties and responding to license plate scanner alerts, in part because there have been some major successes.

Donald J. Trump First Candidate to Reply to the 'Sessions Test'
Breitbart - Sessions’ questionnaire consisted of five straightforward questions addressing immigration, trade, and crime in the United States. The first candidate to reply to Sessions’ questionnaire was GOP frontrunner Donald J. Trump. In his response, Trump declares, “After my inauguration, for the first time in decades, Americans will wake up in a country where their immigration laws are enforced.”

John Kasich's Got the 'Right Porridge,' Surges over Rubio in New Hampshire Post-Debate Poll
Breitbart - A post-debate poll published Monday afternoon reveals that Ohio Governor John Kasich has jumped over establishment rival Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), with just one day before the New Hampshire Republican Primary… He is now in second place in the poll, trailing frontrunner Donald Trump’s 28 percent with 17 percent support among likely voters. He is followed by Rubio with 15 percent, Jeb Bush with 14 percent, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who grabbed 11 percent from the likely voters surveyed.

EPA: Mine spill dumped 880,000 pounds of metals in river
The Seattle Times - A 3 million-gallon spill from a southwestern Colorado gold mine last year may have dumped more than 880,000 pounds of metals into the Animas River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday. Some of the metals reached the San Juan River, which the Animas joins in New Mexico, but most settled into the Animas riverbed before that, the EPA said in a preliminary report on the metals... The report didn’t identify the metals but said researchers were looking at cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc. Tests done after the spill also found arsenic and lead in the wastewater… Officials have said contaminants in the rivers returned to pre-spill levels shortly after the incident. An EPA-led cleanup crew inadvertently triggered the spill on Aug. 5 while doing preliminary cleanup work at the inactive Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado.

Monday - February 8, 2016 - Today in History:

1861 - The Confederate States of America was formed.
1861 - A Cheyenne delegation and some Arapaho leaders accepted a new settlement (Treaty of Fort Wise) with the U.S. Federal government. The deal ceded most of their land but secured a 600-square mile reservation and annuity payments.
1904 - The Russo-Japanese War began with Japan attacking Russian forces in Manchuria.
1910 - William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America.
1918 - During World War I, "The Stars and Stripes" was published under orders from General John J. Pershing for the United States Army forces in France. It was published from Feb. 8, 1918 to June 13, 1919.
1922 - The White House began using radio after U.S. President Harding had it installed.
1963 - The Kennedy administration prohibited travel to Cuba and made financial and commercial transactions with Cuba illegal for U.S. citizens.
1973 - U.S. Senate leaders named seven members of a select committee to investigate the Watergate scandal.
1974 - The three-man crew of the Skylab space station returned to Earth after 84 days.
1978 - The U.S. Senate deliberations were broadcast on radio for the first time. The subject was the Panama Canal treaties.
1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced a plan to re-introduce draft registration.
2007 - Model and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose.
2010 - Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop superstar in Los Angeles Superior Court. (Murray was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail.)

Damascus: Ground Operation in Syria Without State Approval ‘Aggression’
Sputnik - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Saturday that any ground operation in Syria without Damascus’ approval is an “act of aggression.” On Thursday, the Saudi Arabian Defense Ministry said it was prepared to deploy ground troops to Syria to fight Daesh. On Friday, the White House welcomed the Riyadh’s announcement. Later, Bahraini ambassador to Britain Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed al-Khalifa said in a statement that the kingdom would commit troops to operate “in concert with Saudis.” He added that the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Saudi-dominated Gulf Cooperation Council, was also ready to commit troops.

UNSC to pass resolution on N. Korea over rocket launch within days
RT - The UN Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea's rocket launch, promising to pass a new resolution in response to the move by Pyongyang, UNSC President Rafael Ramirez said. The document may be adopted “in the coming days,” Ramirez said, calling the North Korean rocket launch "a serious violation of Security Council resolutions." The statement was backed by all UNSC members, including Pyongyang's ally, China, during a two hour long emergency meeting on Sunday.

German Spy Chief: ISIS Is Sending Terrorists To Europe Disguised As Refugees
(Reuters) - Islamic State militants have slipped into Europe disguised as refugees, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said on Friday, a day after security forces thwarted a potential IS attack in Berlin. Hans-Georg Maassen said the terrorist attacks in Paris last November had shown that Islamic State was deliberately planting terrorists among the refugees flowing into Europe.... The Berliner Zeitung newspaper cited Maassen on Friday as saying that the BfV had received more than 100 tip-offs that there were Islamic State fighters among the refugees currently staying in Germany.

Russia Overtakes America’s Position in World Agricultural Market
Sputnik - The international agricultural market saw significant changes this year amid such factors as a stronger dollar, the collapse of oil prices and better crops. As a result, leading exporters have given way to new players, according to the Wall Street Journal. The world's biggest agricultural exporters, Canada and the US, have recently been lagging behind Russia in overall production of wheat. This year, Russia is set to export 23.5 million tons of grain. Canada can export 20 million tons, and the US — 21.8 million tons. Former leaders in the agricultural market are expected to see their lowest rates of export in 44 years.

Pentagon’s $1.5 Trillion F-35 Better at Killing Its Own Pilots than Enemy Combatants
Activist Post - As is typical for the Pentagon’s continuous mismanagement of its enormous budget, the F-35 fighter program — with its $1.5 trillion cost to taxpayers so far — continues to be fraught with complications and failure. According to an 82-page report released Monday, myriad flaws still plague the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, including an ejection system likely to break the necks of pilots under 136 pounds. “Testing showed that the ejection seat rotates backwards after ejection. This results in the pilot’s neck becoming extended, as the head moves behind the shoulders in a ‘chin up’ position,” the report states.

65,000% Spike In Reported Radioactivity After Tritium Leaks At Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant
Zero Hedge - Two years after being fined for falsifying safety records, nine months after a transformer exploded at the Indian Point Nuclear Reactor just 37 miles from midtown Manhattan, and two months after Entergy - the plant's operator - shut down the Unit 2 reactor after a major power outage cut power to several control rods (when the company assured that no radioactivity was released into the environment), this afternoon NY Governor Andrew Cuomo said he learned that "radioactive tritium-contaminated water" had leaked into the groundwater at the nuclear facility in Westchester County… It is unclear if the facility was taking a page out of the Fukushima "crisis response" book, or was being honest when it said that the contamination has not migrated off site "and as such does not pose an immediate threat to public health."

FULL Replay: ABC News New Hampshire Republican Debate

FOX POLL: Who won the 8th GOP debate?
The GOP Presidential candidates gathered in Manchester, New Hampshire Saturday night for the final Republican debate before the state’s first primary.

TIME: Who Won the Eighth Republican Presidential Debate?
Seven Republican presidential candidates took to the stage for a debate Saturday night in New Hampshire. Who do you think won?

Chris Christie Knocks Marco Rubio Off Script in New Hampshire

Debate Crowd Boos, Trump Hits Back: ‘That’s All Jeb’s Donors and Special Interests’
Breitbart - During Saturday night’s ABC News debate, Donald Trump and former-Governor Jeb Bush got into a feisty exchange on the issue of eminent domain. Bush hit Trump for his use (or attempted use) of eminent domain to enrich his casino business in Nevada. Trump responded by saying, “Jeb wants to be a tough guy tonight. I didn’t take the property.” Boos then rained down on The Donald, who was ready. Pointing at the audience, Trump charged… That’s all of his donors and special interests out there. So, that’s what it is. And by the way, let me just tell you, we needed tickets. You can’t get them. You know who has the tickets to the television audience? Donors, special interests, the people that are putting up the money. That’s who. The RNC told us. We have all donors in the audience. And the reason they’re not loving me — the reason they’re not loving me is, I don’t want their money. I’m going to do the right thing for the American public. I don’t need their money. And I’m the only one up here that can say that. The audience continued to boo throughout.

Ben Carson: Zika Pandemic in Brazil ‘Big Deal’
Breitbart - At Saturday’s Republican presidential primary debate, Dr. Ben Carson asserted he would be open to quarantining individuals returning from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics if they exhibited symptoms of having contracted the Zika virus, calling Latin America’s Zika outbreak “obviously a big deal.” “We’ve gotten evidence that there can been active viruses in other bodily fluids like saliva and urine. So, this is going to be, obviously, a big deal,” Dr. Carson said of the Zika virus, in response to ABC News debate moderator Martha Raddatz asking Dr. Carson if quarantining individuals that may have come into contact with the virus was “going too far.” Asserting that the Zika outbreak in Latin America was “going to be, obviously, a big deal,” Dr. Carson advised that “if we have evidence that they are infected, and that there is evidence that that infection can spread by something that they’re doing, yes.” He discouraged, however, “willy-nilly” quarantining.

Video: Ralph Nader on Donald Trump vs Bernie Sanders in 2016
In this video Luke Rudkowski talks to Ralph Nader about his analysis of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders leading the pack in the 2016 elections. Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Nader ran 5 times for as a candidate for President of the United States and is an expert in electoral politics.

Military Will Start Freezing Soldiers' Eggs and Sperm
Yahoo News - An embryologist handles frozen sperm. The Pentagon is starting a pilot program that would pay for soldiers to freeze their eggs and sperm in order to put off starting a family. In an effort to keep young military enlistees from leaving to start a family, the Pentagon is going to start offering to freeze their eggs and sperm, the New York Times reports. According to the Military Times, nearly 72% of enlistees are 30 or younger—prime years for starting a family. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says freezing soldiers’ eggs and sperm—which will start as a two-year pilot program—will “provide greater flexibility for our troops who want to start a family.” He says it will also give soldiers facing injury “additional peace of mind."

Chicago Stock Exchange Says It's Being Sold to Chinese-Led Group
Bloomberg - The Chicago Stock Exchange said a Chinese investor group agreed to acquire it, giving the buyer entry into the intensely competitive U.S. equity market. Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the company, according to a statement Friday. The deal values the Chicago Stock Exchange at less than $100 million, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked to not be identified because the terms weren’t disclosed publicly. The exchange expects the deal to close in the second half of the year, though that will require regulatory approval.

Dot-Com Bubble 2.0 Is Bursting: Tech Stocks Are Already Down Half A Trillion Dollars Since Mid-2015
Economic Collapse - Do you remember how much stocks went down when the first dot-com bubble burst? Well, it is happening again, and tech stocks are already down more than half a trillion dollars since the middle of 2015. On Friday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped to its lowest level in more than 15 months, and it has now fallen more than 16 percent from the peak of the market. But of course some of the biggest names have fallen much more than that. Netflix is down 37 percent, Yahoo is down 39 percent, LinkedIn is down 60 percent, and Twitter is down more than 70 percent. If you go back through my previous articles, you will find that I specifically warned about Twitter again and again. Irrational financial bubbles like this always burst eventually, and many investors that got in at the very top are now losing extraordinary amounts of money.

Antibiotic Resistant Gene a Concern for Pets and People
Susan Thixton - Researchers in China found a gene that makes bacteria highly resistant to a class of ‘last-resort’ antibiotics. The finding has caused decision makers in Europe to reconsider some antibiotics used in livestock feed. There is no word on what the FDA will do.... The FDA over the past several years has initiated various programs to “help ensure judicious use of antibiotics in food-producing animals”. One is a Veterinary Feed Directive that requires certain antibiotics to only be used under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. This is a good step forward however, it does not appear that Colistin or similar line of antibiotics (the last-resort antibiotics) are included under FDA’s new supervision program. Pet owners can safely assume that this gene linked to antibiotic resistance can move to animals/our pets as well. The gene was found in pigs and poultry as well has human patients in China. As if this isn’t enough for consumers to be concerned with, the last-line antibiotic in question – Colistin – brings up another concern – jerky treats imported from China. The drug Colistin is linked to kidney disease.
 

Friday - February 5, 2016 - Today in History:

1783 - Sweden recognized the independence of the United States.
1881 - Phoenix, AZ, was incorporated.
1917 - Mexico's constitution was adopted.
1917 - The U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 (Asiatic Barred Zone Act) with an overwhelming majority. The action overrode President Woodrow Wilson's December 14, 1916 veto.
1937 - U.S. President Roosevelt proposed enlarging the U.S. Supreme Court. The plan failed.
1952 - In New York City, four signs were installed at 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square that told pedestrians "don't walk."
1962 - French President Charles De Gaulle called for Algeria's independence.
1982 - Great Britain imposed economic sanctions against Poland and Russia in protest against martial law in Poland.
1988 - A pair of indictments were unsealed in Florida, accusing Panama's military leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, of bribery and drug trafficking.
1997 - Switzerland's "Big Three" banks announced they would create a $71 million fund for Holocaust victims and their families.
1997 - Investment bank Morgan Stanley announced a $10 billion merger with Dean Witter.
2003 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presented evidence to the U.N. concerning Iraq's material breach of U.N. Resolution 1441.

22 Signs That The Global Economic Turmoil We Have Seen So Far In 2016 Is Just The Beginning
Economic Collapse - As bad as the month of January was for the global economy, the truth is that the rest of 2016 promises to be much worse. Layoffs are increasing at a pace that we haven’t seen since the last recession, major retailers are shutting down hundreds of locations, corporate profit margins are plunging, global trade is slowing down dramatically, and several major European banks are in the process of completely imploding. I am about to share some numbers with you that are truly eye-popping. Each one by itself would be reason for concern, but when you put all of the pieces together it creates a picture that is hard to deny.

Japan's Sakurajima volcano erupts some 50km from nuclear plant - Met Agency (VIDEO)
RT - Japan’s Sakurajima volcano, situated about 50km from the Sendai nuclear station, has erupted with the country's meteorological agency issuing an orange warning not to approach it. Residents in the area were evacuated in August last year after an alert for the volcano was raised to its second highest level. When Sakurajima erupted in 1914, it was Japan’s most powerful of the 20th century. The lava flows filled the strait separating the island from the mainland, turning the area into a peninsula. The Sendai nuclear plant which is located some 50 kms from the volcano, was the first to be restarted after 2011’s Fukushima disaster following the implementation of new safety rules. It’s built to withstand a tsunami of 15 meters, well below 2011’s peak tsunami height of 40 meters. Tremors have been felt in the area since December 2015 with warnings in place. The government’s nuclear agency had previously dismissed volcanic risks over Sendai’s lifetime as “negligible.”

Saudi Arabia Declares Its Ground Forces Ready to Invade Syria
Sputnik News - A Saudi military spokesman has confirmed that Riyadh is prepared to join any US-led ground operations to fight Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State, in Syria, if such operations are approved by the coalition. "The kingdom is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition (against Islamic State) may agree to carry out in Syria," Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri told al-Arabiya TV. Asseri is also the spokesman for the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen. "If there was a consensus from the leadership of the coalition, the kingdom is willing to participate in these efforts because we believe that aerial operations are not the ideal solution and there must be a twin mix of aerial and ground operations," Asseri added.

Professor Demands Mandatory Arabic Lessons For German Children
Paul Joseph Watson - Kids forced to assimilate to migrants, not the other way around. A prominent professor has demanded that children in Germany be made to take mandatory Arabic lessons in order to help the millions of Muslim migrants pouring into the country. Computer science professor Thomas Strothotte writes that Arabic should be a “compulsory” lesson for kids so that Germany can, “be a country of immigration and a multilingual society.” According to Strothotte, the lessons would help prepare the children, “for the profound transformation process in the Middle East.”

World's Biggest Containership "Hard Aground" As Baltic Dry Crashes Below 300 For First Time Ever
Zero Hedge - Before this year the lowest level The Baltic Dry Index had reached was 556 in August of 1986 and the highest was in June 2008 at a stunning 11,612. Today saw the freight index hit a new milestone however, crashing through the 300 barrier for the first time ever - at 298, this is almost 50% below the previous record low. But it's not just commodities and the Baltic Dry that stalled, as gCaptain reports, one of the world’s biggest containerships is hard aground in Germany’s Elbe River leading to the port of Hamburg.

Julian Assange says he will 'accept arrest' on Friday if UN rules against him
The Guardian - The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will agree to be arrested by British police on Friday if a UN investigation into his three-and-a-half years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in central London does not rule that he is being illegally detained. Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy since June 2012, after Swedish authorities sought his extradition. He has not been charged with any offence, but has been sought for questioning in Sweden in relation to sexual assault allegations made against by two women [CIA trolls] against him. The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention is set to hand down a determination on Assange's case on Friday morning.

Going green? 85,000 tons of chemical-brightened olives seized in Italy
RT - Police in Italy have seized more than 85,000 tons of green olives painted with copper sulphate to make them look fresher, adding to thousands of tons of counterfeit foreign olive oil passed off as “Made in Italy.” Italy’s top-selling products – green olives and olive oil – have long been a source of national pride and are successful exports.... On Wednesday, Italian police said 19 people are facing charges over “painting” green olives from previous years’ harvests with copper sulphate to give them an intense, uniform green color. The “painted olives cases” also include the use of banned additives and plans to sell edible goods containing dangerous substances. Police said using copper sulphate was a “smart choice” because it is not usually classified as a chemical colorant, so food control authorities do not test or look for it.

Brazil’s baby defects outbreak could be caused by new vaccine, activists say
Breitbart - What Doctors Don’t Tell You - Health activists are suspecting the sudden outbreak of cases of microcephaly, a birth defect that causes abnormally small heads in newborns, isn’t caused by the Zika virus, but by the Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis) vaccine that pregnant women in Brazil started to be given last year. The Zika virus has been around for at least 70 years, and hasn’t caused any long-term ill effects—and yet the outbreak of microcephaly cases in Brazil coincides with the start of the new vaccination programme, designed to slow the progress of pertussis, or whooping cough. Pregnant women started to be given the vaccine at the beginning of 2015, and cases of microcephaly have been reported since last October—10 months later. By December, 2,400 cases had been reported, and the Brazilian government declared a state of emergency. The virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, has been linked to microcephaly because it was found in a baby who had died after contracting the condition. The virus was also found in the amniotic fluid of two mothers whose babies were born with microcephaly.

Zika Virus Hits Mexican Border City near Texas
The appearance of the Zika virus in Mexico has kept Mexican health officials on alert after the country has seen more than 34 cases in recent weeks. In the border city of Reynosa, authorities have confirmed one case.... So far the cases that have been reported in Mexico are linked to the “importation” of the virus by people who were infected in Central and South America.

Zika: Vicious Fraud – Abortions At Sea – The War On Women
Jon Rappoport - You’re a pregnant woman in Central America. You’ve just been told you could have the Zika virus. No tests. No confirmation. And of course, no one is telling you that Zika has not been proved to cause anything. But you’re offered an abortion at sea, because the country you live in doesn’t allow abortions, except in very restricted cases. A group will take you out on a ship, and when you come back your baby will be gone. He or she will never be born. You’re just another casualty in the campaign to provoke fear, but now it has been your very personal experience.

Red Cross: Wait to donate blood after visiting Zika areas
CBS News - The American Red Cross is asking prospective blood donors who have recently visited areas where Zika virus is spreading to wait at least 28 days before giving blood. The guidance applies to those who have visited Mexico, the Caribbean, or Central or South America during the past four weeks. The Red Cross is also asking donors who give blood and subsequently develop symptoms of Zika virus within 14 days of the donation to notify the organization so their donated blood can be quarantined.... The Red Cross is not yet able to test for Zika in blood donors or in the blood supply. "There is no licensed blood donor screening test currently available for Zika virus in the U.S.," the Red Cross told CBS News. "Investigational tests may be available in the future."

Indian biotech firm says it has developed 2 vaccines for Zika virus
RT - Indian scientists say they have developed two vaccines for the Zika virus, which is linked to underdeveloped brains in babies. The infection, dubbed a "global health emergency" by the WHO, is believed to have infected millions of people this year. The two candidate vaccines, reportedly developed by Bharat Biotech International in Hyderabad, India, were created following research that began nine months ago. "...The formulated inactivated vaccine is expected to elicit a strong antibody response as we see humoral immunity offering a primary defense against Zika infection,” he told the International Business Times. They will now be tested in animal and human trials. If those trials are successful, a vaccine could become available to the public in around four months. The best case scenario is that the biotech firm could make one million doses in that time, according to Ella.

Navy staging 2-week long active shooter drills on bases nationwide
Guns.com - Starting this week, Sailors and Marines from coast to coast will spend half the month engaged in response training to stop active shooters and potential terrorists in their tracks. The exercise, Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield 2016 (SC/CS16), will run through Feb. 12 and will test base police, fire and emergency management on how they respond to threats of active shooters and potential terrorists including role-playing on installation buildings with safe or simulated weapons to get a grip on how a more serious event could take place. Navy officials cite past instances of attacks on installations stateside as a guide on what to be prepared for.

Ammon Bundy, other armed protesters at Oregon wildlife refuge, indicted
Fox News - The four remaining occupiers at an Oregon wildlife refuge all face charges, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. The indictment names a total of 16 defendants, including standoff leader Ammon Bundy and other occupiers who were arrested last week. A federal grand jury charged all with felony conspiracy, accused of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. A federal grand jury charged all with felony conspiracy, accused of using intimidation to prevent federal officers from doing their work at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The armed holdouts have said they wouldn't leave until receiving assurances they wouldn't be charged.

Border agent: 'We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether'
Washington Examiner - In a shocking reversal of policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are being told to release illegal immigrants and no longer order them to appear at deportation hearings, essentially a license to stay in the United States, a key agent testified Thursday. What's more, the stand down order includes a requirement that the whereabouts of illegals released are not to be tracked. "We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether," suggested agent Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.... The biggest change: Undocumented immigrants are no longer given a "notice to appear" order, because they simply ignore them. Judd said that Border agents jokingly refer to the NTAs as

Why Is My Kindergartner Being Groomed for the Military at School?
Truth Out - Perhaps the most insidious thing about this grooming is that it wasn't even deliberate. The worksheet did not come from military recruiters. It didn't have to. Search online for "military kindergarten printables" and you'll find a wealth of free materials for teachers - a welcome resource in cash-strapped public schools, where teachers often pay significant sums out of pocket for classroom materials.

After Obama Signs Trans-Pacific Partnership, Sessions Demands Candidates Reveal Their Position on 'Trade' Deal
Breitbart - Following the signing of the agreement, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who has been the fiercest GOP opponent in Congress of President Obama's globalist trade agenda, called upon every elected official and every Presidential candidate to reveal "where they stand on the TPP." ...While every other top polling candidate has made his stance on the issue known, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is refusing to tell voters whether he will vote the TPP, which he previously endorsed as the "second pillar" of a President Rubio's three-pillar foreign policy strategy. Rubio also voted to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership despite the fact that he continues to provide no evidence that he ever read the deal before doing so. However, Rubio is now refusing to reveal whether he will vote for the trade deal he endorses. Since Rubio has never retracted his support for TPP, it would thus be accurate to say he still regards the agreement as a "pillar" as his hoped-for Presidency.

Carson Cuts 50 Staffers; Down to Handful of Advisers…
Breitbart - Salaries are being significantly reduced. Carson’s traveling entourage will shrink to only a handful of advisers. And instead of flying on private jets, Carson may soon return to flying on commercial flights. The employees being released – about half of Carson’s campaign — mostly work in field operations and at his headquarters in Northern Virginia. Campaign officials, who confirmed the moves after The Washington Post obtained an internal memo about the layoffs, stressed that key aides in upcoming GOP primary contests will remain in place and that Carson is determined to stay in the 2016 race. But they acknowledged that Carson’s funds have diminished as he has fallen from the top tier, forcing him to make sweeping changes to a campaign that swelled into a bustling operation of about 125 people.

The lineup for the next GOP debate is out — and one notable name is missing
Business Insider - Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina did not make the cut for the ABC-hosted Republican presidential debate, set to be held Saturday. ABC on Thursday announced seven candidates would participate in the debate: real-estate mogul Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida).... In a tweet after ABC's announcement, a spokeswoman for Fiorina's campaign pointed out that Fiorina performed better in the Iowa caucuses than two of the "establishment's guys," Christie and Kasich.

7News/UMass Lowell New Hampshire tracking poll day 4
(WHDH) - Donald Trump stays in first, with 36%; Rubio takes over second place, with 15%. Ted Cruz, now in third, has 14%. Jeb Bush, 8%; and John Kasich 7%. For the rest of the Republicans: Chris Christie, 5 %, Ben Carson, 4%; Carly Fiorina 3% and undecided 8%.... In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton can start thinking about a comeback, and Bernie Sanders is coming down. Sanders still has a significant lead over Clinton-- 58% to 36%-- a 22 point margin.

The Men Behind Ted Cruz: Neocons and a CIA Propagandist
Kurt Nimmo - Remarkably, more than a few Republicans believe this guy is a libertarian. Ted Cruz, the junior Senator from Texas and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is routinely billed by the mainstream media as a Tea Party outsider who is reviled by fellow Republicans as a “wacko bird” along with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and GOP Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan. It is not simply his wife’s connection to Goldman Sachs and investment banking or his unreported loan from the multinational investment banking firm, however, that betrays this image. A closer look at Cruz reveals he is a neocon insider, not a renegade outsider....

Des Moines Register calls for audit of Iowa results: 'Something smells in the Democratic Party'
Politico - In a strongly worded editorial on Thursday, The Des Moines Register called on the Iowa Democratic Party to move quickly to prove that Monday's results are correct.... “What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy,” the DMR reads. “The Iowa Democratic Party must act quickly to assure the accuracy of the caucus results, beyond a shadow of a doubt.” The editorial cites Clinton’s razor-thin victory as too close “not to do a complete audit of results.”

Radiation Alert: L.A. Gas Well Spewing LETHAL LEVELS Of Breathable Nuclear Material: “Fukushima Class Disaster”
Mac Slavo - In a breaking development that has been completely ignored by mainstream news sources, the leaking natural gas well near Los Angeles, California is now reportedly spewing lethal levels of radioactive material, according to a report from Steve Quayle and a group with expertise in nuclear material.... Hal Turner of Super Station 95 reports that the well is releasing 1.91 Curies (Ci) of radiation per hour.... To put things into perspective, Turner explains that a single Curie is equivalent to about 37 Billion Becquerels (Bq) of radiation... in short, the leak is massive and researchers at UC Davis have indicated that they have never encountered as much methane in the air as they have over suburban Los Angeles in recent months. While resident complaints of feeling ill, vomiting and nausea have been chalked off by officials as the result of breathing in the natural gas, it is quite possible and increasingly likely that what they are experiencing is actually radiation poisoning.

Wrongful Death Suit Filed Over California Methane Leak
Sputnik News - In what is being called the worst environmental disaster since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, methane gas has been uncontrollably jetting into the atmosphere in California at about 1200 tons every day since October 2015. Now, the family of an elderly woman who lived close to the leak and recently succumbed to lung cancer is suing the Southern California Gas Company for wrongful death. Zelda Rothman, 79, died January 25, approximately three months after the leak began. She lived about three miles from the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field, the site of the ongoing leak. Her family claims she had been leading an active, normal life, despite having stage 4 lung cancer.... The lawsuit claims that by December 2015, following the leak, she required round-the-clock oxygen as her condition worsened.... "We're not claiming the gas company caused (Rothman's) cancer," Glovsky detailed, "we're claiming they essentially poisoned her and hastened her death and destroyed the quality of her life in the time she had left."

Thursday - February 4, 2016 - Today in History:

1783 - Britain declared a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, the United States of America.
1789 - Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.
1861 - Delegates from six southern states met in Montgomery, AL, to form the Confederate States of America.
1904 - The Russo-Japanese War began after Japan laid siege to Port Arthur.
1932 - The first Winter Olympics were held in the United States at Lake Placid, NY.
1941 - The United Service Organizations (USO) was created.
1945 - During World War II, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began a conference at Yalta to outline plans for Germany's defeat.
1964 - Administrator of General Services announced that the 24th Amendment to the Constitution had been ratified. It banned the poll tax.
1974 - Patricia (Patty) Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1976 - An earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras killed more than 22,000 people.
1985 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan's defense budget called for a tripling of the expenditure on the "Star Wars" research program.
1997 - A civil jury in California found O.J. Simpson liable in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Goldman's parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.
1999 - Warplanes from Israel attacked south Lebanon just after rockets were fired toward Israel. No casualies were claimed on either side.
2003 - Yugoslavia was formally dissolved by lawmakers. The country was replaced with a loose union of its remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.
2004 - The social networking website Facebook.com was launched.

‘Dangerous precedent’: Turkey denies Russian observation flight along Syrian border
RT - Turkey has set “a dangerous precedent” by denying an observation flight over its territories bordering Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said, vowing a “relevant reaction” to Ankara’s violation of its obligations under the international Open Skies Treaty. The Treaty on Open Skies which came into force in 2002 allows unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of its 34 signatories, which includes Turkey. However the Russian An-30B plane was banned from conducting its surveillance flight over Turkish territory which was scheduled for February 1-5, without any prior warning.... This is the first time that Turkey has refused a Russian observation flight over its territory. Since 2006 under the Treaty on Open Skies, Russia conducted approximately two observation flights a year. Turkey has flown over Russian airspace approximately four times a year.

TPP formally signed in New Zealand as mass protest paralyzes Auckland (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
RT - A group of around 1,000 activists protesting against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have blocked roads in Auckland, as the participant states’ delegations gathered in New Zealand to formally sign the controversial free trade agreement. The TPP agreement, hailed as the “biggest trade deal in a generation,” was signed in a ceremony attended by ministers from the 12 Pacific Rim countries at Auckland’s Sky City Casino, to the dislike of hundreds of protesters. Ahead of the signing, activists gathered on Aotea Square and set out on a march through the streets to SkyCity Auckland, where they were met by dozens of police officers outside the venue. Others staged a sit in at the intersection of Federal and Victoria Street, blocking traffic, to protest a deal that will now take up to two more years to ratify.... Activists oppose the agreement arguing that it will lead to job loss, stagnant wages, and increasing inequality among other negative consequences for workers. They also argue that TPP will likely protect the rights of large investors and corporations at the expense of workers. Protesters are also worried about currency manipulation, environmental and health protections, food safety, and internet privacy.

‘You created ISIS!’ Press conference scandal mars Kerry’s visit to Italy
RT - US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Italy was disrupted by a cry of protest at his joint press conference with Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni, when a woman in the audience shouted, “it’s you who created Daesh!” The press conference was coming to an end, when the woman stood up from the public, her head covered up by a black veil. “It’s you who created Daesh!” she shouted at the two ministers, using another name for the terror group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), reported the Italian state-owned television channel RAI. The woman was dragged away from the conference by the Carabinieri. After meeting with Gentiloni, Kerry said he was convinced that the US-led international coalition would “crush ISIS” eventually. His Italian counterpart expressed much more caution.

Asia stocks gain as dollar slide boosts oil
Reuters - Asian shares rebounded on Thursday as speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve might opt to not raise interest rates at all this year hammered the dollar and sparked a huge rally in oil prices. By some measures the U.S. currency suffered its largest one-day percentage drop outside of the crises of 1998 and 2008, symptomatic of just how crowded bullish positions had been. The sudden reversal provided a much-needed boost to beleaguered commodities, sending oil up no less than 8 percent, and easing pressure on energy shares and risk appetite.

10,000 Migrants to be Housed in Berlin’s Luxury Hotels While Local Homeless Go Without Shelter
Breitbart - The Berlin Senate has announced an audacious, and some would say totally inappropriate plan to house 10,000 migrants in mid level to luxury hotels in the city with a total price tag of at least 600 million euros. The senate has requested a contract with Grand City Hotels to lease out 22 hotels to house migrants in the city. According to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine the senate entered negotiations with London-based Hampton Holding, the owners of the popular Holiday Inn and Wyndam hotels in Berlin. The costs break down at 50 euros a night, 1500 euros a month and 18,000 euros a year. The costs to rent an apartment in Berlin, even in the centre of the city average far lower prices. A quick look on apartment rental sites show much cheaper prices even in the centre of Berlin.

Bizarre Video Teaches Finnish Women to Use ‘The Force’ to Defend Against Rapists
Paul Joseph Watson - In the aftermath of the mass molestation of women in Cologne by migrants on New Years’ Eve, Finnish police have released a bizarre video which teaches women to use ‘the force’ to deter rapists and robbers. In the absence of being allowed to carry guns, tasers or pepper spray, the clip simply advises women to hold their hands out to stop a would-be sex attacker in the belief that some kind of invisible energy force is enough to make the perpetrator back away. It is important to emphasize that this is NOT a satire. It is posted on the official Facebook page of top Finnish broadcaster Yle Oulu. The video also educates women that swinging their handbag is also a sufficient way to make a determined sexual predator lose his nerve.

Bharat Biotech seeks govt. approval of two Zika vaccine candidates
The Hindu - If approved the Hyderbad-based firm can manufacture up to one million doses of the vaccine in the next four months. Vaccines manufacturer, Bharat Biotech, on Wednesday, announced a breakthrough in developing the world’s first Zika vaccine. The Hyderabad-based company has submitted two vaccine candidates —— one inactivated and one recombinant —— to the Indian government. The company maintain that pre-clinical studies will be concluded in the next five months, after which the process for regulatory approval will commence.

Zika Virus is Available For Sale Online, Courtesy of the Rockefeller Foundation
Natural Blaze - The virus was “discovered” in 1947, however, it was not discovered in the wild nor did it spontaneously arise. In fact, it was discovered by Rockefeller Foundation scientists in a monkey that they had in captivity, leading many to believe that this was the result of some type of experiment. Since then, cases of Zika have been extremely rare, but in the past few years, outbreaks of Zika have been on the rise, especially in South America and specifically Brazil.... As news of Zika spread this week, rumors also reached the internet that the virus was available for purchase online. Sure enough, there is actually a sale listing for Zika online through a website called atcc.org, where a number of different viruses and biological agents are sold to research teams. For the sake of investigation, the Free Thought Project tried to go through the application process that was required to buy the virus, just to see if anyone with $516 to spend would be able to get their hands on it.

Aggressive tropical mosquitos–a breed that can carry the Zika virus–have are “infesting” Orange County, authorities warn
Breitbart - The invasive species–which can also carry yellow fever, dengue fever and chinungunya–could pose a risk to the public. None of the mosquitoes in question has yet been found to be carrying Zika, but could provide a vector for its transmission. Authorities recently admitted that there have been six Zika cases in the last three years in California, and that the mosquitos responsible for Zika have been found in 12 of the 58 counties in California.... It remains unconfirmed whether the rapidly spreading Zika virus actually causes birth defect microcephaly, but the World Health Organization (WHO) this week declared a global emergency over the virus. There has however, been a spike in the “small head” birth defect in Brazin since discovery of the virus there last year. An estimated 80 per cent of cases don’t produce symptoms in those stricken according to the Associated Press. There is currently no known treatment for the virus.

10 Zika Virus Cases Confirmed in Texas, For Now
Breitbart - The latest statistics show seven cases in Harris County (Houston), one in Bexar County (San Antonio), and two in Dallas County (Dallas) where Tuesday, health officials announced the first case of the Zika virus being sexually-transmitted in the United States. The second case in Dallas County accounts for “patient zero,” the individual who contracted the virus on recent travel to Venezuela and then, once back in Dallas, transmitted the virus through sexual contact to a partner.... University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Hospital’s Dr. Jeffrey Kahn told NBC DFW that infected people could infect the mosquitos and “start the transmission cycle.” Although sexual transmission raises key concerns about the virus spreading, most officials remain concerned with local mosquitoes becoming infected by an individual diagnosed with the Zika virus.

Florida Gov. Declares State of Emergency in Counties With Zika Virus
ABC News - Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency today in the four counties where people have been diagnosed with the Zika virus. There have been nine people in total who have been diagnosed with the Zika virus in Florida, though health officials believe that all of them contracted the disease while outside of the U.S. Scott said he wanted the state to be prepared for the chance that the virus could start to be spread from mosquito to person within the state. The Aedes aegypti mosquito that is the primary vector of Zika virus infections is present in the southeast portion of the country, including Florida, though in winter the mosquito populations are low.

Colorado hospital: 2,900 Patients may be at risk for hepatitis, HIV
(CNN) - A Colorado hospital says a former employee may have exposed patients who had surgery there to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado, said Wednesday about 2,900 patients should get tested for the viruses. Hospital officials did not detail how the patients could have been put at risk. The medical center said it began contacting patients who had surgery at the hospital between August 17, 2015, and January 22, 2016, as part of an investigation into a former employee who may have stolen narcotic pain medication intended for patients. The hospital has no evidence of any patient exposure to the viruses but wants to be cautious, Swedish Medical Center spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.... Authorities haven't identified the former employee who is the focus of the investigation. Hospital officials said they were working with state public health officials and police and that criminal charges are possible.

Obama Goes Trolling at Baltimore Mosque: ‘Islam Has Always Been Part of America’
Breitbart - President Obama spoke warmly about Islam during his speech at a mosque today, highlighting the contributions that Muslims had made to the fabric of American society. “Islam has always been part of America,” he said, detailing the beginnings of the religion among African slaves brought to America. He also pointed out that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Virginia statute for religious freedom that the “Mohammedan” should have his faith protected in the United States. Obama met with Muslim leaders during a visit to the Islamic Society of Baltimore, before delivering a speech there. This is Obama’s first visit to a mosque as president – although George W. Bush also visited a mosque in New York City after the attacks of 9/11. During his speech, he praised the religion for being a religion of peace – not the hate preached by groups like ISIS.
* Related: Obama Hid the Jesu Symbol at Catholic University – But Allows “Allah” to Be Widely Displayed During Islamic Center Speech

So it begins here: U.S. city 'overrun' with criminal refugees
WND - More than 120 people braved the snow and ice Monday to rally in front of the Missoula County Courthouse, protesting an effort by the Obama administration and its army of community organizers to plant foreign “refugees” into small cities in western Montana. One of the speakers was a woman who moved recently to Montana from Amarillo, Texas, which has been inundated with thousands of refugees over the past 15 years.... “Our city is failing because of the refugees. We have 22 different languages spoken in our schools. We’ve got 42 languages being fielded by our 9-1-1 call centers, and crime is just through the roof. We need to exercise caution, especially for the sake of our children,” she said.

The Truth Behind Federal Land Grabs
David Knight & Kit Daniels - Is the federal government so desperate to monopolize land that it’s literally burning down the forests they are supposed to manage? Infowars interviewed Oregon logger Tad Houpt, with the Grant Co. Forest Commission, who had organized the meeting where Ammon Bundy, LaVoy Finicum and others were going to speak to 400 people and the Grant Co. Sheriff before Finicum was killed by the FBI and the other speakers were arrested. “This last summer we had the biggest fire we’ve ever had here, 110,000 acres,” Houpt said. “I was one of the people who got burned out; close to 50 homes burnt.” He believes this happened because the forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service are “a disaster.” Houpt also mentioned there were “about 2 tons [per acre] of light fuels [dead trees & other organic matter] on the ground are known to be acceptable and the live trees will withstand the fire,” but he added that “some areas of the federally managed lands exceed 500 tons per acre of fuel on the ground,” i.e. 250 times the safe limit. “I’m telling you this is intentional,” he said. “If a jet liner crashes there’s an immediate investigation into what caused that jet liner’s crash.”

'Not some Third World country': Anger and blame at Flint water hearing in Congress
RT - Anger ran hot and fingers of blame were pointed every which way at the first congressional hearing about the water disaster in Flint, Michigan. Health officials faced withering criticism, while the committee vowed to “hunt down” missing witnesses. “This is a failing at every level. The public has a right to be outraged and it must be fixed,” thundered the chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) in his opening remarks. “This is the United States of America – this isn't supposed to happen here,” Chaffetz said. “We are not some Third World country.”

There Is No Freedom Without Truth
Paul Craig Roberts - Eisenhower was a five-star general in charge of the Normandy Invasion and a popular two-term President of the United States. Today he would be called a “conspiracy theorist.” Were Ike to be issuing his warning from the White House today, conservative Republicans like Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) would be screaming at Ike for impugning the motives of “the patriotic industry that protects our freedom.” Neoconservatives such as William Kristol would be demanding to know why President Eisenhower was issuing warnings about our own military-industrial complex instead of warning about the threat presented by the Soviet military. The presstitute media would be implying that Ike was going a bit senile in his old age, a tactic the presstitutes used against President Reagan as he struggled to end stagflation and the Cold War.

Rand Paul Quits Presidential Race
Steve Watson - A statement released by Paul this morning confirmed that following a fifth place finish in Iowa, Paul is facing up to the reality that he does not have the numbers to carry on in the race. The son of former Congressman Ron Paul polled 4.5 percent in the Iowa caucuses. Although he bettered the majority of other GOP candidates, including Jeb Bush, Paul finished behind Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson. “It’s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty,” Paul said. The Senator has clearly opted to concentrate 100 percent of his efforts on reelection in the Senate. “Although, today I will suspend my campaign for president, the fight is far from over. I will continue to carry the torch for Liberty in the United States Senate and I look forward to earning the privilege to represent the people of Kentucky for another term.” Paul noted.

7News/UMass Lowell New Hampshire tracking poll
(WHDH) Donald Trump is still in first place, but he's frozen at 38%. Ted Cruz is second with 14%. Marcio Rubio is third with 12%. Jeb Bush has 9% and John Kasich has 7%.... Looking at the Democrats: Bernie Sanders still looks like he'll win, but Clinton is cutting into his lead.... She has a long way to go. Sanders gets 61% in our poll and Clinton gets 32%. Only 5% of voters remain undecided.

Donald Trump: ‘Ted Cruz Didn’t Win Iowa, He Stole It’; Votes Should Be ‘Nullified’
Washington Times - Donald Trump said Ted Cruz “stole” his win in the Iowa caucus after the Texas senator’s staff spread rumors that Ben Carson was dropping out of the race with the hopes of garnering the retired neurosurgeon’s votes — and as a result, Mr. Cruz’s votes should be “nullified” “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified,” Mr. Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “During primetime of the Iowa Caucus, Cruz put out a release that @RealBenCarson was quitting the race, and to caucus or vote for Cruz,” Mr. Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!” Mr. Trump wrote.

MARCO RUBIO: Legalization of Illegal Immigrants Comes First – Then Border Security
Gateway Pundit - In 2013 Gang-of-Eight member Marco Rubio told Spanish station Univision that amnesty of illegal immigrants must come first – then border security. The interview with Univision was in Spanish–Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) told Univision yesterday that legalization of illegal immigrants will come first and then new border security measures.

DISGUSTING. GOP Is Fundraising Off of Donald Trump – As They Bash Him
Gateway Pundit - Even though the Republican establishment privately calls leading GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump a “misguided missile” who is “subject to farcical fits” and advises candidates to emulate but not tie themselves too closely to Trump, the National Republican Party is still soliciting donations using Trump’s name as a motivator to contribute.... In the fundraising letter the GOP wants you to fill its coffers so they can defend Donald Trump.

Never Play With Your Dog Using A Laser Pointer!
Sam The Dog Trainer - People use laser pointers, a kind of laser flashlight, to shine a light spot on the floor. If you move the light spot around, most dogs will chase the spot and try to pounce on it (the same effect can be produced using a flashlight). I have seen numerous dogs harmed by this game. A laser light is an abnormal, unnatural stimulus that “addicts” a dog to chasing lights. The dogs become obsessive about chasing lights and shadows, to the point of becoming compulsive about it, running around the yard or home, not being able to relax, and causing the dog to enter into a state of almost permanent anxiety. In the long run, it is not a fun game for the dog. It can permanently harm your dog., and you’ll hate how your dog acts once it becomes a set behavior pattern to chase lights and shadows. It’s heartbreaking. Don’t do it! I have also heard of kids shining the laser at their friends and themselves and losing some of their eyesight. I bet this has to dogs and cats as well. Do you REALLY trust a kid, or your goofy neighbor or uncle, not to shine it in your dog’s eyes? I wouldn’t.
* Related: Why Laser Pointers Could be Bad for your Cat (it’s not what you think!)

Wednesday - February 3, 2016 - Today in History:

1690 - The 1st paper money in America was issued by the Massachusetts colony. It was used to pay soldiers fighting in the war against Quebec.
1783 - Spain recognized the independence of the United States.
1809 - The territory of Illinois was created.
1869 - Edwin Booth opened his new theatre in New York City. The first production was "Romeo and Juliet".
1900 - In Frankfort, KY, gubernatorial candidate William Goebels died from an assasin's bullet wounds. On August 18, 1900, Ex-Sec. of State Caleb Powers was found guilt of conspiracy to murder Gov. Goebels.
1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It authorized the power to impose and collect income tax.
1917 - The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, which had announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
1927 - The Federal Radio Commission was created when U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill.
1941 - In Vichy, France, the Nazis used force to restore Pierre Laval to office.
1945 - Russia agreed to enter World War II against Japan.
1966 - The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made by the Soviet space vehicle Luna IX.
1998 - Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker. She was the first woman executed in the U.S. since 1984.
1998 - In Italy, a U.S. Military plane hit a cable causing the death of 20 skiers on a lift.
2009 - Eric Holder was sworn in as attorney general. He was the first African-American to hold the post.
2015 - The British House of Commons voted to approve letting scientist create babies from the DNA of three people.

US-NATO Invade Libya to Fight Terrorists of Own Creation
Tony Cartalucci - Up to 6,000 troops are being sent to invade and occupy Libya, seizing oilfields allegedly threatened by terrorists NATO armed and put into power in 2011. The London Telegraph, almost as a footnote, reports of a sizable Western military force being sent in on the ground to occupy Libya in an operation it claims is aimed at fighting the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS). In its article, “Islamic State battles to seize control of key Libyan oil depot,” it reports: Under the plan, up to 1,000 British troops would form part of a 6,000-strong joint force with Italy – Libya’s former colonial power – in training and advising Libyan forces. British special forces could also be engaged on the front line. One would suspect a 6,000-strong foreign military force being sent into Libya would be major headline news, with debates raging before the operation even was approved. However, it appears with no debate, no public approval, and little media coverage, US, British, and European troops, including Libya’s former colonial rulers – the Italians – are pushing forward with direct military intervention in Libya, once again.

Iran Warns US: We Have Even More Embarrassing Footage of Your Captured Sailors
CNS News - The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy said Monday that if the U.S. seeks to humiliate Iran, the IRGC would release footage of ten U.S. sailors detained last month that is much more embarrassing than images released earlier. Addressing Iranian lawmakers a day after being awarded a medal by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for the Jan. 12-13 incident in the Persian Gulf, Sardar Fadavi also said his personnel had obtained information from the U.S. sailors’ laptops and phones. “We have extracted extensive information from their laptops and cell phones,” the state-owned Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying, adding that the material could be made public. A U.S. Navy investigation is underway. Earlier, U.S. Central Command said that when Iran released the sailors and boats, “all weapons, ammunition and communication gear are accounted for minus two SIM cards that appear to have been removed from two handheld satellite phones.”

New transatlantic data transfer deal sealed with ‘written assurances’ of US spying limitations
RT -The US and the EU have agreed on new rules for sharing personal data across the Atlantic that will allegedly better protect Europeans’ privacy from US intelligence agencies after the previous Safe Harbour mechanism was deemed inadequate.... The vital deal, called the 'Privacy Shield' was reached months after the so-called Safe Harbour agreement was annulled by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in October last year. The new 'Privacy Shield', the EU Commission believes, abides by the ECJ requirements to ensure stronger obligations that American companies, such as Facebook and Google, protect the personal data of Europeans. The new framework is expected to be in place in three months.

Norwegian Army Chief: Europe Will Have to “Fight” to Preserve Its Values
Paul Joseph Watson - European citizens can “no longer expect to live in peace and security without defending themselves”. Norwegian Army Chief Odin Johannessen warns that European countries must be reading and willing to fight against radical Islam in order to preserve the values that unite the continent. “I think we must be ready to fight, both with words, actions – and if necessary weapons – to preserve the country and the values we have in common,” Johannessen said in a speech to the Oslo Military Society on Monday. Citing the Islamist attacks in Paris, Johannessen said that, “Europe can no longer expect to live in peace and security, without having to defend its interests and values.”

Burkina Faso Abandons GMO Cotton in Blow to Biotech’s Africa Plans
Sustainable Pulse - In a move that could help decide the future of GM crops in Africa, Burkina Faso has abandoned GM Bt cotton. The country has begun a complete phaseout of the crop, citing the inferior lint quality of GM cultivars. This story of a major GMO failure is documented in a new briefing by Brian Dowd-Uribe... The briefing traces the rapid decline of Burkina Faso’s cotton crop following the introduction of GM Bt cotton. At the time, Burkinabè cotton was renowned for its high quality, the product of a highly successful non-GM breeding programme founded by the French government and spanning 70 years.

UN nuclear agency suggests using radiation to fight Zika mosquitos
RT - Aiming to prevent the further spread of the dangerous mosquito-borne Zika virus in Brazil, male insects might be exposed to X- or Gamma rays to irradiate their sperm, the UN’s nuclear agency announced on Tuesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the so-called Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) can help tackle the outbreak which has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). IAEA experts are set to meet with Brazilian officials on February, 16, Reuters reported.... The method involves exposing laboratory-bred male mosquitoes to nuclear radiation, and making their sperm sterile before their release into the wild to mate with the females. Mosquito eggs from such copulation never hatch, helping reduce populations of the insect.

Colombia: Venezuela Is Hiding Hundreds of Thousands of Zika Cases
Breitbart - Venezuela may be the weakest link in the fight against Zika in the Americas, Colombian Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria warned this week, with experts asserting that the socialist nation may be hiding hundreds of thousands of cases of contamination of the pervasive virus. Accusing Venezuelan health officials of “an epidemiological silence,” Gaviria noted that Venezuela appears to have “no systematic reporting of the data” regarding how many people nationwide have been confirmed to carry the Zika virus. “This is a serious problem,” he underlined. Gaviria estimates that Colombia may conclude 2016 with up to 650,000 cases of Zika recorded within their borders.

Zika Virus Hysteria Got You Worked Up?
Natural Blaze - I do not buy for one moment that the Zika virus— which was been studied for 70 years and has never been linked to microcephaly– is causing babies in Brazil to be born with tiny heads [...] three questions first came to mind... What is the pesticide regulation situation in Brazil? Is there a Zika virus vaccine coming down the turnpike? Have prenatal vaccines been recently introduced to Brazilian women? ... It turns out that Brazil has the dubious distinction of buying even more pesticides than the United States, which was previously the largest consumer of pesticides in the world.... Not only that, but Brazil uses highly poisonous pesticides that are not even allowed to be used in the US, trumping our high threshold for toxic exposure to our peoples. Most of the food grown and sold in Brazil violates their own national safety standards; it certainly violates the standards for the rest of the world.... There is one particular insecticide class called pyrethroids that act on insect sodium channels and disrupt neuro-development. It is also known that if a seizure medicine that acts on the very same sodium channels is used in pregnancy it has a side effect of… can you guess? Microcephaly.
* Related: Zika Hoax: five things that will happen next

First Case Of Sexually Transmitted Zika Virus Confirmed In Texas
Zero Hedge - On Tuesday afternoon, we’re reminded that you don’t have to be bitten by a South American mosquito to get Zika as Dallas officials confirmed the first Zika virus case in Dallas County acquired through sexual contact. "Dallas County Health and Human Services confirmed the case Tuesday afternoon and said the patient was infected after having sexual contact with an ill individual who returned from a country where the virus is known to be present," NBC reports, adding that "Dallas County health officials said there are no reports of the Zika virus being transmitted locally by mosquitoes [but] imported cases of the virus make local spread possible.

Pentagon plans more money and troops for anti-ISIS operations
Military Times - The Pentagon plans to sharply increase spending on the fight against the Islamic State group and potentially put more American troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria later this year, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday. The Defense Department budget request slated for release next week is seeking $7.5 billion for operations in Iraq and Syria for fiscal year 2017, up nearly 50 percent from the $5.3 billion requested in 2016, Carter said. “We have 3,700 boots on the ground in Iraq today, and we're looking to do more. We're looking for opportunities to do more,” Carter said Tuesday.... For example, a big chunk of that money will go to replenishing depleted stocks of the “GPS-guided smart bombs and laser-guided rockets” that are used for air strikes on Islamic State targets. The new budget sets aside $1.8 billion to buy 45,000 new bombs and rockets, Carter said.

Cliven Bundy defies son Ammon in call for Oregon militia to stand their ground
The Guardian - Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who led a standoff with the federal government in 2014, wants the protesters in Oregonto stand their ground – directly defying the message of his son, Ammon. Days after militia leader Ammon Bundy, now in jail in Portland, Oregon, called on the final four occupiers at the Malheur national wildlife refuge to surrender and go home, the elder Bundy sent a letter to government officials declaring that the armed militia would not be backing down.

Harney County Protest Draws Hundreds on Both Sides
Oath Keepers - Several hundred people attended a protest rally at the Harney County Courthouse in Burns, Oregon on Monday. There was a definite division between groups. Supporters of Judge Grasty, Sheriff David Ward, and the local government stood on the grounds and sidewalks, with their backs to the courthouse. Citizens upset with LaVoy Finicum’s Death, overwhelmed with the BLM land grab issues, and others responding to a ‘Call-to-Action’ by the Pacific Patriot Network of militias, stood facing them in the street and surrounding areas. Overall, it was a mostly peaceful rally, even if it was rather loud.

Police across America are forcing high school students to take breathalyzers
MassPrivateI - A high school in Nyack, New York is considering a policy requiring students submit to alcohol breath tests. “We want to try to deter high school students from consuming alcohol and the board felt this was a good way to do it,” Board of Education President Karen Hughes said. "We hope it acts as a deterrent." Students who have watery eyes, are argumentative, combative, refuse to follow instructions or inordinately jovial, will be forced to take a breathalyzer!... Police and school officials consider students with flush faces to be suspicious.... Students who refuse a breathalyzer will be marked as suspicious, how is that not punishment? This is about forcing students to submit to authority.

Jimmy Carter calls US campaign finance ruling 'legalised bribery'
The Guardian - Former US president Jimmy Carter has warned that US politics has been corrupted by billions of dollars of campaign financing following a supreme court ruling that he said legalised “bribery”. He described the landmark 2010 Citizens United court decision, which equated campaign spending with free speech, as an “erroneous ruling”. Speaking after the Iowa caucuses, in which Republican candidates spent $43m on TV advertising and Democratic candidates spent $16.8m, Carter said the domination of money in politics represented the biggest change since he was elected president in 1976.... Without mentioning it by name, he blamed the Citizens United ruling, which paved the way for Super Pac funding vehicles that many fear are being used by big business to buy political influence.

Bernie Sanders to skip debate unless Hillary Clinton agrees to future showdowns
Washington Times - The campaign of Bernard Sanders said Tuesday that the Vermont senator will not participate in Thursday’s planned debate unless Hillary Clinton agrees to further debates. Tad Devine, a Sanders campaign official, told The Hill on Tuesday that the sticking point is a debate in New York, the state which elected Mrs. Clinton to two U.S. Senate terms. The Sanders team wants a debate there, and Mrs. Clinton doesn’t, he said.... Thursday’s New Hampshire debate is scheduled for 9 p.m. on MSNBC with Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd as moderators.

Missing precinct scrambles to report Sanders won
Des Moines Register - Votes from one precinct in Iowa were still missing Tuesday morning, and Democrats from that neighborhood scrambled to find party officials so that they could report their tally: Bernie Sanders won by 2 delegates over Hillary Clinton. With Des Moines precinct No. 42's results, Clinton's excruciatingly close lead narrowed further, making the final tally for delegate equivalents in the Democratic Iowa caucuses: Clinton: 699.57, Sanders: 697.77. It quickly raised questions about whether Sanders had won the popular vote in Iowa. Sanders backers called for Iowa Democratic Party officials to release the raw vote totals.

Video: Ron Paul: Why Bernie Sanders Is Wrong
Kit Daniels - Socialists – and progressives in general – say they want more freedom from the state except when it comes to economics, as Dr. Ron Paul points out.

The Establishment Push for Rubio
Kurt Nimmo -The Washington Post, the neocon standard, the National Review, and much of the rest of the corporate media are touting Rubio’s 23.1% and seven delegates, right behind Trump’s 24.3% with the same number of delegates. Iowa weeded out the crowded Republican field. Carson, Bush, Fiorina and the rest remained in the single digits. The former Arkansas Baptist Convention president Mike Hukabee threw in the towel Monday night. Ben Carson’s campaign said he would travel home and “get a fresh set of clothes.” The Washington Post hailed the junior senator from Florida “for being the Trump-slayer” and declared “the Iowa results put Rubio in a strong position to break away from the crowded establishment pack and claim the mantle of alternative to Cruz and Trump,” in other words the preferred favorite of the establishment. Fox News has relentlessly pushed Rubio.

Ted Cruz Apologizes to Dr. Ben Carson for ‘Dirty Tactics’ at Iowa Caucuses
Gateway Pundit - On Monday Dr. Ben Carson accused the Cruz camp of foul play in the Iowa Caucuses. Carson said the Cruz camp told voters Carson was dropping out and to support Ted Cruz. Carson was right to be outraged… The Cruz camp sent this message out at 7:01 PM before the caucuses.... Tuesday afternoon the Cruz campaign apologized for their dirty tricks. CNN reported: Republican Ben Carson Tuesday called for the firing of a Ted Cruz campaign staffer who said the retired neurosurgeon was planning to drop out. “I think whoever is responsible for blatant lying should be dismissed, absolutely. Unless that kind of behavior is acceptable in your campaign culture,” Carson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.” One day after winning the Iowa caucuses, Cruz issued an apology to Carson after his staff falsely told Iowa caucusgoers that Carson planned to quit the race, calling it a “mistake.”...

Army and Marine Corps chiefs: It’s time for women to register for the draft
Washington Post - The top officers in the Army and Marine Corps testified on Tuesday that they believe it is time for women to register for future military drafts, following the Pentagon’s recent decision to open all jobs in combat units to female service members. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chief of staff of the Army, and Gen. Robert B. Neller, the Marine Corps commandant, both said they were in favor of the change during an occasionally contentious Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the full integration of women in the military. The generals, both infantry officers, offered their opinions in response to a question from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who said that she also is in favor of the change.

Negative Interest Rates Already In Fed’s Official Scenario
Zero Hedge - "The severely adverse scenario is characterized by a severe global recession, accompanied by a period of heightened corporate financial stress and negative yields for short-term U.S. Treasury securities.... As a result of the severe decline in real activity and subdued inflation, short-term Treasury rates fall to negative ½ percent by mid-2016 and remain at that level through the end of the scenario."

S&P Just Downgraded 10 Of The Biggest US Energy Companies
Zero Hedge -Just 10 days after "Moody's Put Over Half A Trillion Dollars In Energy Debt On Downgrade Review", moments ago S&P decided it wanted to be first out of the gate with a wholesale downgarde of the US energy companies, and announced that it was taking rating actions on 20 investment-grade companies, including 10 downgrades as follows: Chevron Corp.; EOG Resources; Apache Corp; Devon Energy Corp; Hess Corp; Marathon Oil Corp; Murphy Oil Corp; Continental Resources; Hunt Oil; Southwestern Energy. The full release is below...

Retail Collapsing in America As Shoppers Tighten Spending: “Entire Malls Now Completely Abandoned”
Michael Snyder - Major retailers in the United States are shutting down hundreds of stores, and shoppers are reporting alarmingly bare shelves in many retail locations that are still open all over the country. It appears that the retail apocalypse that made so many headlines in 2015 has gone to an entirely new level as we enter 2016. As economic activity slows down and Internet retailers capture more of the market, brick and mortar retailers are cutting their losses. This is especially true in areas that are on the lower portion of the income scale. In impoverished urban centers all over the nation, it is not uncommon to find entire malls that have now been completely abandoned. It has been estimated that there is about a billion square feet of retail space sitting empty in this country, and this crisis is only going to get worse as the retail apocalypse accelerates. We always get a wave of store closings after the holiday shopping season, but this year has been particularly active. The following are just a few of the big retailers that have already made major announcements…

Molecular Hydrogen for Cancer and other Diseases
Natural Blaze - Scientific researchers tell us, “Hydrogen is extremely unique since it has the capability to act at the cellular level. Hydrogen is qualified to cross the blood brain barrier, to enter the mitochondria, and even has the ability to translocate to the nucleus under certain conditions. Once in these ideal locations of the cell, previous studies have shown that hydrogen exerts antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory, and cytoprotective properties that are beneficial to the cell.”... Each drink of hydrogen water will flush our bodies with trillions of hydrogen molecules. H2 is an effective molecule to scavenger or pair up with toxic hydroxyl radicals in the body that need to be neutralized. Hydrogen therapy is safe as there is no upper limit of use. The more water you drink infused with hydrogen the better, especially if you have late stage cancer and need to turn things around quickly.

Polysorbate 80: A Risky Vaccine Ingredient
Health Impact News - The recent public conversation about the safety of vaccine ingredients has centered primarily around mercury (thimerosal), aluminum and formaldehyde. However, there are other concerning ingredients in vaccines that are not talked about as often, one of which is Polysorbate 80—also known as Tween 80 and polyoxyethylene-sorbitan-20 mono-oleate.... The fact that Polysorbate 80 “may cause cancer based on animal test data” and may be mutagenic alone should be enough to require vaccine manufacturers and the Food and Drug Administration to provide credible scientific evidence that it is safe to include Polysorbate 80 in vaccines given to humans.... Polysorbate 80 is used in pharmacology to assist in the delivery of certain drugs or chemotherapeutic agents across the blood-brain-barrier. This raises serious concerns of using Polysorbate 80 in combination with other reactive vaccine ingredients, which have the potential to damage the brain.

Ibuprofen (Advil) Kills Thousands Each Year, Here’s What You SHOULD Be Using Instead
Natural News Blogs - Nowadays, NSAID drugs, such as Ibuprofen (Advil) or diclofenac (Voltaren), are widely (over-)used to treat pain and inflammation. Chronic inflammation has shown to be the culprit of many of our modern day diseases. It can easily be prevented through a healthy, whole food diet, regular exercise and reducing stress levels. But these approaches take time, energy, and discipline. Therefore, many people choose the easy way out and opt for over-the counter drugs, such as ibuprofen, which stops the pain immediately. While these drugs may be a quick-fix-solution to soothe pain, they don’t tackle the root cause of the pain and inflammation. They merely mask the symptoms and allow your body to get more inflamed, instead of providing a long term cure and solution.

Terrific Banana Drink That Will Burn Stomach Fat Immediately
Natural News Blogs - Americans eat more bananas each year than any other fresh fruit, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is known that bananas are abundant in potassium. The potassium is necessary to the body for building strong muscles and it is also rather beneficial for getting rid of the toxins from your body.

Tuesday - February 2, 2016 - Today in History:  Groundhog Day!!!

1848 - The Mexican War was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty turned over portions of land to the U.S., including Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The U.S. gave Mexico $15,000,000 and assumed responsibility of all claims against Mexico by American citizens. Texas had already entered the U.S. on December 29, 1845.
1848 - The first shipload of Chinese emigrants arrived in San Francisco, CA.
1887 - The beginning of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA.
1897 - The Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg was destroyed by fire. The new statehouse was dedicated nine years later on the same site.
1935 - Leonard Keeler conducted the first test of the polygraph machine, in Portage, WI.
1943 - During World War II, the remainder of Nazi forces from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered to the Soviets. Stalingrad has since been renamed Volgograd.
1945 - U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill left for a summit in Yalta with Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
1962 - The 8th and 9th planets aligned for the first time in 400 years.
1989 - The final Russian armored column left Kabul, Afghanistan, after nine years of military occupation.
1990 - South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted a ban on the African National Congress and promised to free Nelson Mandela.
1998 - U.S. President Clinton introduced the first balanced budget in 30 years.
2004 - It was reported that a white powder had been found in an office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) later confirmed that the powder was the poison ricin.
2007 - The world's leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is "very likely" caused by humans and will be unstoppable for centuries.
2009 - Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as U.S. secretary of state.

World Health Organization declares Zika virus public health emergency
The Guardian - The World Health Organisation has declared that the clusters of brain-damaged babies born in Brazil – linked to but not proven to be caused by the Zika virus – constitute a public health emergency of international concern. The declaration, made by the WHO director Margaret Chan, will trigger funding for research to try to establish whether the Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, is responsible for the large numbers of babies born with abnormally small heads in Brazil. It will also put resources behind a massive effort to prevent pregnant women becoming infected and, through mosquito control, stop the virus spreading.

Comment Isn't Free: Guardian to CLOSE Comments On Articles About 'Race, Immigration and Islam'
Breitbart - The article, written by the Observer’s “reader’s editor” Stephen Pritchard, outlines how the paper – which recently announced a massive cost cutting exercise – is going to start censoring its readers on articles about race, immigration, and Islam. “We are living in an age of rage,” the piece begins, going on to explain that because “People are angry with government, with media, with religion, with migration, with Europe, [and] with big business”, the paper will no longer tolerate its readers expressing these views “below the line” on its website; ironically named “Comment is Free”… Mary Hamilton, the paper’s executive editor “for audience, overseeing participation, loyalty and reach” says that “Certain subjects – race, immigration and Islam in particular – attract an unacceptable level of toxic commentary”.

Merkel, Greek islanders among Nobel Peace Prize nominees
Deutsche Welle - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is understood to have been nominated for the prestigious accolade… Other nominees revealed publicly ahead of the closing date include Pope Francis, US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden and the Greek islanders who have come to the aid of refugees turning up on their shores… US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has also been nominated… Other favorites include Ernest Moniz of the US and Ali Akbar Salehi of Iran, who helped negotiate a deal on the Iran nuclear standoff and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi abducted by "Islamic State" (IS) fighters from her village in Iraq and held for three months as a sex slave. The Afghani women's cycling team has been nominated by 118 Italian lawmakers to promote "the most democratic means of transportation for all mankind."

Oil Price Reverses Gains as OPEC Meeting Remains Uncertain
Sputnik News - After staging an almost two-week long rally, oil prices tended downwards in Monday's afternoon trading. WTI crude showed the largest decline of over five percent, falling from a morning peak of $34.07 per barrel to less than $32 per barrel by 17:20 GMT. Brent peaked at almost $36 per barrel around noon before plunging rapidly to $34.24 per barrel by 17:40 GMT… OPEC's failure to announce a meeting on the issue of stemming plunging prices and curbing production has put downward pressure on oil prices… China's economy has also undermined the rally, with its Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which measures private sector company variables such as output, new orders, prices and employment, sliding from 49.7 in December to 49.4 in January. The index has now reached its lowest point since August 2012.

Puerto Rico "Generously" Offers To Repay 54 Cents On The Dollar To Creditors Owed $70 Billion
Zero Hedge - "Puerto Rico on Monday announced a major exchange offer to creditors that could reduce its debt by about $23 billion, the opening salvo in efforts to resolve the island's crippling $70 billion debt crisis," Reuters reports, adding that "the new plan would reduce a $49.2 billion chunk of Puerto Rico's debt by about 46 percent, to $26.5 billion, by offering creditors payout reductions under a new, so-called "base bond" with better legal protections." GO [General Obligation] bond holders would take a 28% hit, COFINA [Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation] holders would lose 51%, and everyone else would take a 61% haircut.

Britain gives scientist go-ahead to genetically modify human embryos
Yahoo News - Less than a year after Chinese scientists caused an international furor by saying they had genetically modified human embryos, Kathy Niakan, a stem cell scientist from London's Francis Crick Institute, was granted a license to carry out similar experiments… It said the work carried out "will be for research purposes and will look at the first seven days of a fertilized egg's development, from a single cell to around 250 cells". The scientists will not be allowed to develop the modified embryos for clinical purposes or implant them into any women… David King, director of the UK campaign group Human Genetics Alert, said Niakan's plans would eventually lead to "a future of consumer eugenics". "This research will allow the scientists to refine the techniques for creating GM babies," he said in a statement. But Sarah Norcross, director of Progress Educational Trust, which campaigns for ethically sound research in genetics, said the HFEA's decision was "a victory for level-headed regulation over moral panic".

U.K. Town Moves Forward with Fluoridated Milk for Children
Activist Post - On Monday January 18, the Blackpool Council approved a plan to introduce fluoridated milk to school children via the town’s free breakfast program. The Council is attempting to tackle a dental health problem that has caused nearly half of all 12-year olds in Blackpool to have at least one decayed, missing, or filled tooth… The proposal will allow for children to opt out and requires the schools to provide non-fluoridated milk. First proposed in 2013 the plan was delayed while studies were conducted. The studies found that children in the town have “lower than normal” levels of fluoride… The Blackpool Council also writes that the benefits of fluoridated milk have been proven by the European Union and the World Health Organisation… However, critics have long argued that any benefits of fluoride are only effective when applied topically, directly to the teeth.

**Bundy Ranch Information:
Bundy Blog: http://bundyranch.blogspot.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/bundyranch 
E-Mail: cbundyemails@gmail.com
Hashtag on Social Media: #bundyranch #clivenbundy #standwithbundy

Pentagon to hike spending request by 35 percent to over $7 billion to fund 'fight against' Islamic State
Reuters - President Barack Obama's administration will seek a significant increase in funding for the 'fight against' Islamic State [I-CIA-SIS] as part of its 2017 defense budget request, U.S. officials say, in another possible sign of U.S. efforts to intensify the campaign. The fiscal year 2017 Pentagon budget will call for more than $7 billion for the fight against Islamic State, a roughly 35 percent increase compared with the previous year's request to Congress, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is due to disclose his spending priorities for the $583 billion 2017 defense budget on Tuesday in an address to the Economic Club of Washington.

Los Angeles Police Urge Residents ‘To Protect Themselves’ As Violent Crime Skyrockets
Economic Collapse - All over America, rates of violent crime are absolutely soaring. As you will see below, violent crime overall shot up by 20 percent in Los Angeles last year, and the police are telling people that “they need to be able to protect themselves” because the police may not be able to get there in time when they call. Thanks to deep budget cuts, police departments across the nation are already severely undermanned, and our major cities are now seeing crime rates increase at a pace that we have not seen in ages. In a previous article, I encouraged my readers to focus on the five basics of preparation – food, water, shelter, energy and self-defense. Of those five, it is often self-defense that is the most neglected. When bad people break into your house in the middle of the night intending to do bad things, what are you going to do? Many of us have not had to think about that for a long time, but now conditions are rapidly changing in America.

Plans For Hidden IT Network To Help Clinton Skirt Rules Uncovered by Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch - Judicial Watch announced today that it recently received records from the Department of State disclosing plans by senior State Department officials to set up a “stand-alone PC” so that Clinton could check her emails in an office “across the hall” through a separate, non-State Department computer network system… The email exchange discussing plans to provide Clinton a separate computer to skirt the internal State Department computer network begins with a message from Mills to Lukens in which she requests Clinton being able to access her emails through “a non-DOS computer.”… “These emails are shocking. They show the Obama State Department’s plan to set up non-government computers and a computer network for Hillary Clinton to bypass the State Department network,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “That these records were withheld from the American people until now is scandalous and shows the criminal probe of Hillary Clinton’s email system should include current and former officials of the Obama administration.”

Landmark 1st episode of The Patriot Report. Stewart and LaVoy’s last interview.
Oath Keepers - Here is the the first landmark episode of the Patriot Report with Jason Van Tatenhove radio show. This was the last interview Jason did with LaVoy before he was killed. In this he speaks directly to Stewart Rhodes about the progress being made in Utah with Several County Sheriffs stepping up and defending ranchers who are also stepping up and unplugging from the BLM system of paying grazing fees. This idea could truly ignite a wildfire of change across the western states.

300 Plumbers Volunteer to Help Those Affected by Flint Water Crisis
Natural Society - Government officials put the lives and safety of Flint, Michigan, residents in jeopardy to keep a dollar in the bank and save face, but the story of what hundreds of plumbers did to help those residents will restore your faith in humanity.
* Related: Flint Mayor: Water Still Showing Lead Levels Beyond What Filters Can Remove

Republican Cruz bests Trump in Iowa race, Clinton edges out Sanders
Reuters - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz soundly defeated billionaire Donald Trump in Iowa's Republican nominating contest on Monday, upending the party's presidential race and creating a three-way competition with establishment candidate Senator Marco Rubio. On the Democratic side, officials said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had won by a razor-thin margin against U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the closest in Iowa Democratic caucus history. Cruz, a conservative lawmaker from Texas, won the first state Republican contest in the 2016 race with 28 percent of the vote compared with 24 percent for businessman Trump. Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, came in third with 23 percent, making a stronger-than-expected finish. With Democrat Clinton prevailing by only four delegates, according to party figures, Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, declared the result a "virtual tie."
* Related: Clinton’s lucky quarter: Democrat wins 6 coin tosses in desperately close Iowa Caucus victory

Here’s Why Trump Lost Iowa—and Why It Doesn’t Matter
Kurt Nimmo - Everything will change during the primaries in open voting states. Don’t put too much credence is Trump’s loss in the Iowa caucus. It really isn’t significant. Why? Because the votes in Iowa were restricted to registered Republican voters and a lot of them are sticking to the party line. Trump’s support among Republicans is out on the periphery. The Democrat establishment knows a lot of registered Democrats favor Trump. According to The Upshot by Civis Analytics, a Democratic data firm, Democrats in the South, Appalachia and the industrial North support Trump.

Gov. Mike Huckabee Suspends Campaign
Breitbart - GOP presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee announced he is suspending his campaign Monday night. After failing to catch much support in the Hawkeye state, Huckabee posted on Twitter: I am officially suspending my campaign. Thank you for all your loyal support.

Martin O’Malley Drops Out of Presidential Race
Breitbart - It is now officially a two-person race on the Democratic side, as Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland, is suspending his campaign to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States.

Bush's final rally interrupted by 'seat fillers' demanding to be paid
USA Today - A little flier showed up early Monday morning on social media. A handful of Twitter users supporting various Republican presidential candidates tweeted a photo of slip of paper with a headline reading “$$$ Earn fast cash today! $$$” and an offer for $25 an hour to attend Jeb Bush’s final campaign event at the Embassy Suites in downtown Des Moines.

VIDEO: Donald Trump Exposed

Ron Paul: DNC May Dump Hillary & Ask Kerry to Jump In Race
Kit Daniels - The Democratic establishment is likely in talks with John Kerry – and Joe Biden again – to enter the presidential race against Hillary if the Emailgate scandal gets worse, according to Dr. Ron Paul. The former congressman said there’s still time for a new candidate to enter considering that during the 1968 race, Democratic frontrunner Lyndon B. Johnson dropped out on March 31, a little over seven months before the Nov. 5 election. “I bet [the chances] are better than 50/50 they’re going to need somebody else because the establishment Democrats are not going to accept Sanders,” Dr. Paul said. “It looks like right now it must be really, really bad if they’re going to dump an establishment person like Hillary.” “So I bet they’re doing a lot of thinking and a lot of talking… whether it’s Kerry, Biden, or who knows, maybe somebody else.”

Microsoft Calls Iowa For Hillary Before it Helps Count the Vote
Paul Joseph Watson - Microsoft’s Bing technology has called Iowa for Hillary Clinton, a result that has not gone unnoticed amongst Bernie Sanders supporters given that an app created by Microsoft will help tally the vote during tonight’s caucus. Using, “data from polls, prediction markets, and anonymized and aggregated search-engine queries to predict its results,” Microsoft forecasts that Hillary will win three out of the first four Democratic primaries, taking Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada, with Sanders taking New Hampshire. Although the technology isn’t perfect, Microsoft correctly predicted the outcome of the 2015 Academy Awards, the ‘No’ vote for Scottish independence, and the outcome of more than 95 percent of the 2014 U.S. midterm elections. That track record is causing consternation amongst some Bernie Sanders supporters, who have pointed out a potential conflict of interest given that precinct officials will be using an app created by Microsoft to report caucus results.

One of Marco Rubio’s Biggest Financial Backers to Tally Iowa Caucuses
Breitbart - As Breitbart News has previously reported, according to Open Secrets, Microsoft is the second largest contributor to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s campaign committee since 2011, donating $33,100. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is a member of Mark Zuckerberg’s immigration lobbying firmFWD.us and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is a co-chair of the immigration lobbying firm the Partnership for a New American Economy—along with Fox News’s founderRupert Murdoch. Both immigration lobbying firms have endorsed and lobbied for Marco Rubio’s 2015 immigration expansion bill—known as the Immigration Innovation Act, or I-Sqaured—which would have tripled the issuances of low-wage H-1B guest worker visas. According to USCIS data analyzed by ComputerWorld’s Patrick Thibodeau, Microsoft is the 12th biggest user of the H-1B program—having brought in 1,048 foreign workers on H-1Bs in 2013.

Goldman Sachs Employees Shift to Rubio as Bush Support Fades
Bloomberg Business - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employees gave $107,000 to Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign in the final three months of the year, a 50 percent jump from the previous two quarters, as support for Jeb Bush faded. The contributions mark a shift at the investment bank, where employees gave a combined $773,000 to Bush’s campaign committee, leadership PAC and the super-PAC backing him since the opening months of the campaign. In the fourth quarter, Bush only got two contributions from Goldman Sachs donors, totaling $2,950… Ted Cruz, whose wife Heidi worked for the firm, which even provided a low interest loan to help out his upstart 2012 Senate bid, has received $52,000 from Goldman Sachs employees, all of it to his campaign. The other Republican presidential candidates collectively received less than $19,000 from Goldman Sachs donors last year. Hillary Clinton fared better than that all by herself in the fourth quarter. She received about $32,000 in the fourth quarter of 2015, bringing her campaign’s total from Goldman Sachs employees to $103,000. The super PAC supporting her, Priorities USA Action, got $100,000.

Survey: 1 in 4 Federal Employees Say They Will Consider Quitting If Trump Elected
Breitbart - The trade publication Government Executive reports that a survey of federal employees found that 14 percent said they would consider leaving the federal service if Trump were elected. Another 11 percent said “maybe.” Democrats and Democrat-leaners were more likely to say they would bail on their job if Trump were elected — 26 percent of whom said they would definitely leave compared to 4 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners. Another 16 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaners said they would “maybe” leave compared to 4 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners. Just 48 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaners said they would definitely remain in government if Trump were elected. Eighty-nine percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners said they would stay if Trump were elected.

Under Obama: U.S. Has Dropped from No. 6 in Economic Freedom to No. 11
CNS News - According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication by The Heritage Foundation, America’s economic freedom has tumbled. With losses of economic freedom in eight of the past nine years, the U.S. has tied its worst score ever, wiping out a decade of progress. The U.S. has fallen from the 6th freest economy in the world, when President Barack Obama took office, to 11th place in 2016. America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts… This is not something to take lightly. Economic freedom is the foundation of U.S. economic strength, and economic strength is the foundation of America’s high living standards, military power, and status as a world leader. The perils of losing economic freedom are not fictional.

Monday - February 1, 2016 - Today in History:

1788 - Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patented the steamboat.
1790 - The U.S. Supreme Court convened for the first time in New York City.
1793 - France declared war on Britain and Holland.
1861 - Texas voted to secede from the Union.
1862 - "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," by Julia Ward Howe was first published in the "Atlantic Monthly."
1865 - President Abraham Lincoln signed a Joint Resolution submitting the proposed 13th Amendment to the states.
1898 - The Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, CT, issued the first automobile insurance policy. Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, NY, paid $11.25 for the policy, which gave him $5,000 in liability coverage.
1900 - Eastman Kodak Co. introduced the $1 Brownie box camera.
1913 - Grand Central Terminal (also known as Grand Central Station) opened in New York City, NY. It was the largest train station in the world.
1919 - The first Miss America was crowned in New York City.
1951 - The first telecast of an atomic explosion took place.
1960 - Four black college students began a sit-in protest at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. They had been refused service.
1968 - During the Vietnam War, South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. The scene was captured in a news photograph.
1979 - Patty Hearst got out of prison after serving 22 months of a 7 year sentence for bank robbery. Her sentence had been commuted by President Carter.
1994 - Jeff Gillooly pled guilty in Portland, OR, for his role in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Gillooly, Tonya Harding's ex-husband, struck a plea bargain under which he confessed to racketeering charges in exchange for testimony implicating Harding.
1999 - Monica Lewinsky gave a deposition that was videotaped for senators weighing impeachment charges against U.S. President Clinton.
2001 - Three Scottish judges found Abdel Basset al-Mergrahi guilty of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people. The court said that Megrahi was a member of the Libyan intelligence service. Al-Amin Khalifa, who had been co-accused, was acquitted and freed.
2003 - NASA's space shuttle Columbia exploded while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. All seven astronauts on board were killed.
2011 - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced he would not run for a new term but rejected protesters' demands he step down immediately.

El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel is hit by Mexican-American forces in joint raid
The Independent - The Sinaloa Cartel has been hit with a "strong blow", in a raid which resulted in the deaths of two of its members and arrests of 22 more. Mexican federal police and US security forces came under fire after surrounding a building in the desert near the US-Mexico border, near the town of Sonoyta. Inside, a cache of weapons was discovered along with evidence of drug trafficking and people smuggling… Observers have suggested that raid demonstrates further evidence of a more co-operative relationship between the governments of the US and Mexico in dealing with the drug cartels… American security forces helped extensively in the operation to re-capture El Chapo.

Boko Haram: children among villagers burned to death in Nigeria attack
The Guardian - Scores of people, including children, have been killed in a Nigerian town by Boko Haram fighters who shot at villagers and set fire to their homes in the latest deadly attack by the Islamist militant group. The attack took place on Saturday in the village of Dalori, which lies about 12km (seven miles) from the northern city of Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest city in Nigeria’s north-east. Some 86 people died after Boko Haram fighters arrived in the village, initially shooting at locals from their cars before setting fire to huts with people inside. The militants also tried to storm a nearby refugee camp, housing 25,000 people.

So Iran Is Now Flying Drone Missions Directly Over U.S. Navy Vessels As Obama Does Nothing (Video)
Truth Revolt - From Fox News, via RedState: Iran claimed Friday it flew a surveillance drone over a U.S. aircraft carrier and took “precise” photographs as part of an ongoing naval drill, as Iranian TV broadcasted video purportedly showing the incident. The U.S. Navy confirmed to Fox News that an unarmed Iranian drone flew “directly over” the USS Harry Truman earlier this month on Jan. 12, but did not say whether it was the same incident. That happened on the same day Iran captured 10 U.S. Navy sailors accused of “trespassing.” It also was less than a week before the U.S. and European nations lifted sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but months after their initial deal was signed.

Taliban Control of Afghanistan Highest Since U.S. Invasion
NBC News - America's 14-year project to defeat the Taliban and build a stable Afghanistan is teetering on the brink of failure, according to a sobering report Friday by a government watchdog. The Taliban controls more of the country than at any time since U.S. troops invaded in 2001, notes the quarterly report to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. The fragile economy is worsening. One of the few bright spots of the troubled reconstruction effort — getting more girls in school — has been tainted by allegations of fraud. "The lack of security has made it almost impossible for many U.S. and even some Afghan officials to get out to manage and inspect U.S.-funded reconstruction projects," wrote John Sopko, the inspector general. The U.S. has spent more than $113 billion on Afghan reconstruction, more in constant dollars than it spent rebuilding Western Europe after World War II under the Marshall Plan.

Norway to disarm its police force after officers ordered to carry guns for just one year
The Independent - Norway has announced that the armament of its police officers, which began in 2014, will cease "as soon as possible" after it was no longer deemed necessary. A raised terror threat level saw officers ordered to carry firearms at all times in November 2014, but the measure was described as temporary. Norway’s police force has traditionally been trained in the use of weapons in an emergency situation, but firearms were previously locked away in patrol vehicles rather than being carried by officers.

10,000 kids missing in EU as criminals 'exploit' migrant flow - Europol chief of staff
RT - The EU police’s chief of staff told the Observer that some 10,000 minors have gone missing since crossing into the EU. Thousands of underage refugees have reportedly disappeared since registering with authorities, Europol’s chief of staff, Brian Donald, told The Observer. At least 5,000 children have gone missing in Italy alone, Donald said, adding that another 1,000 have vanished in Sweden. Donald stressed that an EU-wide “criminal infrastructure” could be specially targeting refugee children. “It’s not unreasonable to say that we’re looking at 10,000-plus children. Not all of them will be criminally exploited; some might have been passed on to family members. We just don’t know where they are, what they’re doing or whom they are with.”

Vaccines Suspended at UK School After Up to 15 Students Collapse
Adan Salazar - As many as 15 Year 10 students at the Northampton School for Boys collapsed onto the floor Tuesday following a series of vaccines which resulted in severe adverse side effects. As one mother who preferred to remain anonymous described: “Several different vaccines were being administered, and around 10 to 15 pupils keeled over and paramedics were called.”... At least one child was sent to emergency care as a precaution, but was “later discharged with no further effects,” according to a letter sent home to parents. The letter blamed “unforeseen circumstances” for the complications, and advised parents to monitor their child’s health, specifically looking for signs of dizziness, nausea or skin rash...

Oregon 'rolling rally' protests killing of LaVoy Finicum
UPI - About 100 people and dozens of vehicles participated in a "rolling rally" to protest the killing of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, one of the armed protesters occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon for the last three weeks. Saturday night's rally represented strong anti-government sentiment with some vehicles displaying the United States flag and others the Confederate flag. Signs read "Entering Nazi Germany" and "FBI Go Home." One person protested against the rally, holding a sign reading "Militia Go Home." There are still four armed protesters occupying the refuge, which was seized by the group on Jan. 2 in protest over the federal government's land-use policies.

Why Is Obama Flooding Small Towns In The Most Conservative Parts Of America With Refugees?
Economic Collapse - Just look at the uproar that refugee resettlement is now causing in small communities in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Kansas. The Obama administration has deemed large cities such as Washington D.C. to be “too expensive” for the refugees, and so large numbers of them are being dispersed throughout smaller communities all over the nation. If you drop a few hundred refugees into a major city of several million people, it isn’t going to make much of a difference. But if you drop a few hundred refugees into a small town that has only a few thousand people living there, you can start to fundamentally alter the character of the whole area. Could it be possible that this is yet another way that Barack Obama is attempting to “fundamentally transform” America?

VIDEO: Oath Keeper Minstrel Jordan Page – Ballad of LaVoy Finicum (Cowboy’s Stand for Freedom)
Dedicated to the memory of Robert LaVoy Finicum; AZ rancher, father of 11 children, patriot, and member of Citizens for Constitutional Freedom who was killed by police with his hands above his head on 1/26/16

A pregnant woman is among three people in New York City infected with the Zika virus
Daily Mail - A pregnant woman is one of three people in New York City who are infected with the Zika virus, it was revealed Thursday. There are 31 confirmed diagnoses of the mosquito-borne illness, believed to cause birth defects, in the United States. All of them are believed to have caught the infection, which is transferred by the Aedes mosquito, while traveling in the Caribbean or Latin America where there are outbreaks of the tropical illness.
* Related: Third Zika case confirmed in Illinois: health officials

Second Eyewitness: Chronicling the Tragic Ambush and Murder of LaVoy Finicum (Video)
Oath Keepers - January 30, 2016 (Last Updated 1/31/2016 at 3:37 AM) — BREAKING NEWS: Shawna Cox is one of five occupants who traveled in with LaVoy Finicum in his white pickup truck on January 26, 2016. Tonight at 10pm Mountain, Rick Koerber and Free Capitalist Radio broadcast ((video below)) her first-hand statements from a telephone interview earlier in the day, recounting the events she experienced, including the tragic shooting death of Mr. Finicum on January 26. This is the second eyewitness account being reported to the public, both differ dramatically from the official FBI story.

VIDEO: Burns Oregon--LaVoy Finicum--Freedom’s Cry
A song by LaVoy's daughters!

FBI Blocking Most Lines Of Communication, Militants Say
Oregon Public Broadcasting - As the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge enters its 30th day, it appears the FBI may be locking down lines of communication… David Fry, one of the four remaining militants, said the FBI made it so the occupiers can’t make outgoing calls on their cellphones. Fry said he can receive incoming calls, but that the other three in the refuge appear unable to receive calls on their cellphones. The militants also said they’ve lost access to the internet… Sean Anderson, another of the remaining militants inside the refuge, expressed frustration with the FBI’s barricade that is preventing media from getting into the refuge.

Killing of an Oregon wildlife refuge occupier has re-energized protesters
The Washington Post - Finicum’s killing has ­re-energized anti-government activists, even as the occupation at the nearby Malheur National Wildlife Refuge seemed to be running out of steam. Only four occupiers remained holed up at the refuge, while 11 others have been arrested. Their jailed leader, Ammon Bundy, who was arrested in the same operation in which Finicum was killed, has called for the three men and one woman at the refuge to go home peacefully. The FBI took the unusual step of releasing a video of Finicum’s shooting, and officials said it shows him reaching at least twice for a holstered handgun. But the video, taken from an FBI aircraft, has only added to the conviction of Finicum’s supporters that his killing was nothing less than an execution. “It was an assassination,” said Monte Siegner, 79, a Harney County resident who attended the protest and held a sign that read “Ambushed and assassinated.”

Flint Water Crisis: Snyder Admin Trucked In Clean Water for State Building in January 2015
Progress Michigan - “It appears the state wasn’t as slow as we first thought in responding the Flint Water Crisis. Sadly, the only response was to protect the Snyder administration from future liability and not to protect the children of Flint from lead poisoning,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “While residents were being told to relax and not worry about the water, the Snyder administration was taking steps to limit exposure in its own building.” An email chain connected to the document shows that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was aware of the notification and action taken to limit state workers exposure to Flint’s water… Scott continued… “Governor Snyder needs to explain to the people of Flint why his administration trucked water into a state building while allowing residents to drink unsafe water.”

U.S. Health Agency Accused of Releasing Lone Migrant Children to Traffickers
AllGov - Systemic regulatory flaws allowed human traffickers to abduct a number of children who entered the United States without adult supervision, Senate investigators said Thursday, summarizing the findings of their latest report… The report centers on a case from 2014 in which the Department of Health and Human Services released at least six unaccompanied children into the hands of human traffickers in Marion, Ohio. The traffickers forced the children, some as young as 14, to work 12 hours a day on egg farms in and around Marion, and crammed them into or even under a small, white trailer, investigators found. In addition to identifying 13 other cases involving the trafficking of unaccompanied minors, the report said 15 more showed "serious trafficking indicators."

Elementary School Bans Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving & Christmas to Avoid Offending Minorities
Paul Joseph Watson - “I have come to the difficult decision to discontinue the celebration of the dominant holidays until we can come to a better understanding of how the dominant views will suppress someone else’s view,” principal Scott Masini wrote in a letter to parents. Masini said the decision was based on his concerns for “tolerance” and “respect,” prompting a backlash from parents who told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the move was “very sad” and “totally ridiculous”. “Masini’s letter states the decision was made in consultation with the school staff, but at least one person who posted online said the principal “is under an immense amount of pressure from many of his own staff who dispute his decision,” reports EAG News. The St. Paul school district has spent almost $1.5 million dollars on “white privilege” teacher training which includes treating shouting out in class as a “black cultural norm” while characterizing being on time as a white cultural stereotype.

Texas Supreme Court Sides with Cheerleaders' Desire to Put Bible Quotes on School Football Game Banners
AllGov - The Texas Supreme Court on Friday sided with a group of school cheerleaders and their parents who are seeking to have a lower court give them the right to put religious messages and biblical quotes on banners at football games. The decision did not grant the right to display the messages but sent the case to an appeals court that had previously said there was no need to rule because the school district already allowed the messages on the so-called "Bible banners."… The Republican leaders of Texas, who have stood by the cheerleaders, saw the court's decision as a victory for religious freedom while the group that brought the initial complaint over the banners to the school district saw the court's decision as narrow and limited… The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which brought the complaint, said it sees the banners as violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution regarding government prohibitions on establishing religion.

Universities are asking students to divulge ANY contact they've had with the police or courts
MassPrivateI - According to the 'Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law' SEVENTEEN universities require students to divulge ANY contact they've had with the police or courts. "The first phase of the initiative seeks information from 17 colleges and universities that include inquiries on their applications regarding contact with the criminal justice system, including arrests that did not lead to conviction, sealed or expunged youthful offender records, or pardoned records."... Below, are two more disturbing examples of the types of questions being asked... From the University of Alabama: “Have you ever received a written or oral warning not to trespass on public or private property?” From Virginia Tech: “Have you ever been arrested or convicted of a violation of any local, state or federal law, other than a minor traffic violation?”

The State Department: Hillary Clinton’s Email Correspondence Contained ‘Top Secret’ Material
Washington Post - The State Department acknowledged for the first time Friday that “top secret” information has been found in emails that passed through the private email server Hillary Clinton used while leading the agency, elevating the issue in the presidential campaign three days before the hotly contested Iowa caucuses. The information was contained in 22 emails, across seven email chains, that were sent or received by Clinton, according to a State Department spokesman. The emails will not be disclosed as part of an ongoing release of Clinton’s email correspondence from her years as secretary of state, even in highly redacted form. he finding is likely to complicate Clinton’s efforts to move past the controversy, which has dragged down her poll ratings in her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Trump Announces 22 Veterans Groups to Receive $6 Million Raised at Iowa Rally
Gateway Pundit - Twenty-two groups supporting veterans will split the more than $6 million raised Thursday night at a rally organized by Donald Trump in Des Moines, Iowa, according to a statement released by Trump after the event. The rally was hastily organized by Trump to compete with Republican presidential debate held at the same time over perceived mistreatment of Trump by debate host Fox News.... The list of the groups with details can be found here.
* Related: Trump wary of Wounded Warrior Project

Trump Pulls Away From Pack As Iowa Countdown Begins; Hillary Tied With Bernie
Zero Hedge - Now, with the caucuses just a day away, a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows Trump has a “clear lead” over his closest rival Senator Ted Cruz. “Mr. Trump leads the Republican field as the preferred pick of 28% of likely caucusgoers, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 23% and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 15%,” WSJ writes, adding that “the results show Mr. Trump overtaking Mr. Cruz from an earlier Register poll conducted Jan. 7-10.”… Meanwhile on the Democratic ticket, the same Des Moines Register poll shows Hillary Clinton has a slight lead over Bernie Sanders going into the caucuses. "Clinton is the top pick for 45 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers, with Sanders at 42 percent," The Register writes. “This race is as tight as can be,” David Axelrod, a national political strategist, said. "If Bernie Sanders had momentum headed into the final month, the race now is static and essentially tied."

Iowa's Secretary of State blasts Ted Cruz for 'misrepresenting election law' after candidate sent out mailers accusing voters of a 'violation' for not turning out in the past (Pics)
Daily Mail - Iowa's Secretary of State has slammed Ted Cruz for ignoring the 'spirit' of the caucus after he sent out controversial mailers to voters, accusing them of a 'Voting Violation' for failing to turn out in past elections. The letter, which was flagged by Twitter users on Saturday, was circulated to certain homes in a bid to shame recipients because of 'low expected voter turnout in your [the recipient's] area'. The document, which has 'official public record' printed in red on the top, then grades the resident's voting history and that of several neighbors, citing public records. Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate said the Texas senator's mailers 'misrepresents the role of my office, and worse, misrepresents Iowa election law.'

A Bloomberg Poll Finds Little Support for Michael Bloomberg
NY Times - A poll of likely caucusgoers conducted for Bloomberg Politics and The Des Moines Register and released on Saturday night found just 17 percent of Democrats and 9 percent of Republicans had a “favorable” view of Mr. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York. Among likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa, half had an unfavorable view of Mr. Bloomberg; 26 percent of the Democrats had an unfavorable view of him. By comparison, 50 percent of the Republicans polled had a favorable view of another Manhattan billionaire, Donald J. Trump, whose candidacy has offended and baffled Mr. Bloomberg. And 46 percent of the Democrats had a favorable view of Martin O’Malley, who is faring poorly in polls, nearly three times the proportion viewing Mr. Bloomberg favorably.

21 Lawmakers Push Veterans Affairs to Allow Medical Marijuana
Natural Society - Under a policy expiring on January 31, 2016, Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors are not allowed to discuss medical marijuana treatments to their patients. Twenty-one lawmakers are urging VA doctors to allow medical marijuana to be not only discussed, but sometimes recommended in states where it is legal. Nineteen Democrats and two Republicans, including Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada, a physician and Army Reserve brigadier general who chairs the House Armed Services personnel panel, want a new policy that “removes barriers that would interfere with the doctor-patient relationship” in states where medical marijuana is legal.... Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, and 17 states have laws regulating oils derived from marijuana plants. Unfortunately, marijuana possession and use continues to be a crime under federal law.

Strike shuts down third-biggest U.S. port
CBS MoneyWatch - A labor dispute has shut down one of America's busiest ports. More than 1,000 union dock workers in New York City walked off the job Friday, halting business at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey shipping terminals. The bi-state agency operates a vast complex of terminals in Newark, Elizabeth, Brooklyn and Staten Island and rents those facilities to 40 different shippers.... A spokesperson for the New York Shippers Association (NYSA), which represents the port's shipping companies, told CBS MoneyWatch the group believes the job action constitutes an "illegal strike" because the ILA is operating under a current and binding contract.

When The Economy Collapses The Government Will Implode : “The Support Mechanisms On Which We Depend Will Break Down” (Video)
Mac Slavo - For twenty years Micheal Rivero of What Really Happened has been exposing the lies and corruption emanating from the Federal government, Wall street bankers, and big business. In his latest interview with Crush The Street he sounds one of his most dire warnings yet: “When the economy implodes here in the United States it’s probably going to take the Federal government with it.” The implications, as Rivero notes in the following must-see video, are such that the entire system upon which we depend for essential services will completely fall apart. That means access to food, basic supplies and even your bank account will become next to impossible...

Court Orders DuPont to Go to Trial 40 Times a Year to Face Thousands of Toxic Chemical Victim Lawsuits
AllGov - Chemical maker DuPont will face 40 trials a year starting April 2017 involving plaintiffs who say they developed cancer from a toxic chemical used to make Teflon that leaked from one of the company’s plants in West Virginia. The schedule laid out by U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus in the Southern District of Ohio during a hearing Wednesday is aimed at pushing the parties closer to resolving more than 3,550 lawsuits… The cases have been filed by individuals who say they developed one of six diseases linked to perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOA or C-8, which was found in their drinking water. Their cases are consolidated before Sargus. The initial 40 trials will be selected from between 250 and 300 lawsuits brought by individuals who say they contracted kidney or testicular cancer from C-8.

15 Things You Do That Are Unintentionally Breaking Your Dog’s Heart
BarkPost - There are several things we as puppy parents unintentionally do that mess with our dogs’ emotions. No matter how hard we try in our effort to be perfect, some of our human ways can lead to one confused pup. And sending mixed signals to our pups will make them more likely to misbehave. But is it really bad behavior, or just bad communication? Here are fifteen common puppy-parenting missteps you can easily avoid.
 

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