JUNE 2015
 

Tuesday - June 30, 2015 - Today in History:

1841 - The Erie Railroad rolled out its first passenger train.
1913 - Fighting broke out between Bulgaria and Greece and Spain. It was the beginning of the Second Balkan War.
1915 - During World War I, the Second Battle Artois ended when the French failed to take Vimy Ridge.
1921 - U.S. President Warren G. Harding appointed former President William Howard Taft chief justice of the United States.
1934 - Adolf Hitler purged the Nazi Party by destroying the SA and bringing to power the SS in the "Night of the Long Knives."
1950 - U.S. President Harry Truman ordered U.S. troops into Korea and authorizes the draft.
1951 - On orders from Washington, General Matthew Ridgeway broadcasts that the United Nations was willing to discuss an armistice with North Korea.
1953 - The first Corvette rolled off the Chevrolet assembly line in Flint, MI. It sold for $3,250.
1955 - The U.S. began funding West Germany’s rearmament.
1958 - The U.S. Congress passed a law authorizing the admission of Alaska as the 49th state in the Union.
1964 - The last of U.N. troops left Congo after a four-year effort to bring stability to the country.
1971 - The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified when Ohio became the 38th state to approve it. The amendment lowered the minimum voting age to 18.
1994 - The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of the 1994 national championship and banned her from the organization for life for an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.
1998 - Officials confirmed that the remains of a Vietnam War serviceman buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery were identified as those of Air Force pilot Michael J. Blassie.
2000 - U.S. President Clinton signed the E-Signature bill to give the same legal validity to an electronic signature as a signature in pen and ink.
2004 - The international Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn's orbit. The craft had been on a nearly seven-year journey.
2005 - Spain legalized gay marriage.

Some 1,000 Bank Branches to Open for 3 Days in Greece to Serve Retirees
Sputnik News - Approximately 1,000 bank branches will open throughout Greece for three days to serve retirees who do not have bank cards, the Greek Finance Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.... The banks have also been instructed to immediately issue debit cards to all retirees so that they may withdraw funds of up to 60 euros a day like everyone else.
* Related: Greek Supermarkets Begin To Resemble Those Of Venezuela

16 Facts About The Tremendous Financial Devastation That We Are Seeing All Over The World
Economic Collapse - As we enter the second half of 2015, financial panic has gripped most of the globe. Stock prices are crashing in China, in Europe and in the United States. Greece is on the verge of a historic default, and now Puerto Rico and Ukraine are both threatening to default on their debts if they do not receive concessions from their creditors. Not since the financial crisis of 2008 has so much financial chaos been unleashed all at once. Could it be possible that the great financial crisis of 2015 has begun?

Australian Parliament Slams TPP, Calls it an 'Attack on Internet Freedoms'
Sputnik News - The Australian parliament has issued a harsh verdict on the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal currently being negotiated, calling it an "attack [on] internet freedoms" and seriously lacking in oversight, in a report released Monday. The "Blind Agreement" report — by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee — criticized the secrecy of the negotiations crafting the deal, which would bind 12 Pacific Rim countries. The report denounces the "all-or-nothing choice" that Parliament is given to approve or reject a deal, the detail of which they can't examine until after the deal is passed.

WikiLeaks: EU Diplomat Interpreted US TPP as Hostile to China
Sputnik News - A European Union (EU) trade expert secretly told a French economics minister that America's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) seemed designed to provoke a confrontation with China, according to a US intelligence intercept published on WikiLeaks. “[The EU Trade Section head Hiddo] Houben stated [to French Minister-Counselor Jean-Francois Boittin] that the TPP… seems devised as a confrontation with China,” the document, one of seven published by WikiLeaks on Monday, said. The TPP is an ambitious trade pact negotiated between the United States and 12 Asian and Pacific Rim nations covering 40 percent of the world economy. The pact excludes China.

U.S. Will Resume Sending Weapons to Bahrain Despite Ongoing Repression
The Intercept - The State Department announced it will lift its freeze on arms sales to the repressive government of Bahrain on Monday, despite the country’s myriad human rights abuses in recent years, including arbitrary detention of children, torture, restrictions for journalists and a brutal government crackdown on peaceful protestors in 2011.

Greece Will Default To IMF Tomorrow, Government Official Says
Zero Hedge - Earlier today, as the exchange between Greece and its creditors got increasingly belligerent, Estonian Prime Minister Taavi said that "Greece’s debt would still remain outstanding and creditors would expect this money back." So did this latest antagonism change the Greek mind? According to a flash headline by the WSJ released moments ago, not all. In fact, Greece just made it official that it would default to the IMF in just over 24 hours: "Greece won't pay IMF tranche due Tuesday, government official says" Related: Greece May Not Even Have The Funds To Conduct A Referendum

IMF has made €2.5 billion profit out of Greece loans
Jubilee Debt Campaign - Ahead of the payment of €462 million by Greece to the IMF on Thursday 9 April, figures released by the Jubilee Debt Campaign show that the IMF has made €2.5 billion of profit out of its loans to Greece since 2010. If Greece does repay the IMF in full this will rise to €4.3 billion by 2024. The IMF has been charging an effective interest rate of 3.6% on its loans to Greece. This is far more than the interest rate the institution needs to meet all its costs, currently around 0.9%. If this was the actual interest rate Greece had been paying the IMF since 2010, it would have spent €2.5 billion less on payments.

China's Stock Slump Widens as Stimulus Fails to Calm Investors
Sputnik News - The mainland’s historical longest bull market has come to an end effectively with capital fleeing China at an accelerated pace, while the real economy is ever staggering. One of the PBoC stimulus moves on Sunday was aimed at stabilizing the market situation, but the mad fluctuations showcased today suggested that Beijing’s plan failed… the CSI300 Index dropped as much as 7% during the day, the next hour it was regaining ground into the green so rapidly that most market participants agreed the Chinese state-owned asset management enterprises must have intervened to save the day. Such moves do not add to investors’ confidence, the result is the ever-deepening decline… All in all, mainland China has so far lost some $2.62 trln (more than the GDP of Russia and Saudi Arabia combined) in market capitalization since its June 12 peak.

The world is defenceless against the next financial crisis, warns BIS
London Telegraph - The world will be unable to fight the next global financial crash as central banks have used up their ammunition trying to tackle the last crises, the Bank of International Settlements has warned. The so-called central bank of central banks launched a scatching critique of global monetary policy in its annual report. The BIS claimed that central banks have backed themselves into a corner after repeatedly cutting interest rates to shore up their economies. These low interest rates have in turn fuelled economic booms, encouraging excessive risk taking. Booms have then turned to busts, which policymakers have responded to with even lower rates.

Sweden to Integrate Former Jihadists by Giving Social Benefits
Sputnik News - As of late, Scandinavia could easily be Europe's main jihadist recruitment center… Oftentimes, these people come back to their home countries to "rest" or even worse, to recruit new jihadists. The situation is particularly bad in Sweden, where such recruiting "agencies" have spread all over the country, the newspaper said. To tackle the problem, the Swedish government responded with a strategy of reintegrating former jihadist-returnees. According to this program, jihadist fighters who are now back in Sweden will receive a number of social benefits, including low-cost housing and help with finding employment. Needless to say, this has caused anger and resentment from the rest of Swedish public, Fria Tider said.

Goldman-Sachs Boss, Bilderberg Member Peter Sutherland: Europe Needs More Refugees from Africa, Syria
Kurt Nimmo - Following a meeting with Pope Francis, the boss of Goldman-Sachs International and Bilderberg attendee Peter Sutherland said European countries have not taken their “fair share” of refugees from African countries and Syria. Sutherland told RTÉ radio 240,000 immigrants flooding into Europe each year is not an economic burden on countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. On the contrary, he said, a quarter million or more immigrants a year represents an economic and social benefit for Europe, Britain and Ireland.... A report by University College London, however, found that migrants in fact represent a huge economic drain on host countries. According to the study, non-European migrants living in Britain have drained public finances by almost £120 billion since 1995. The situation is similar in Germany, by far Europe’s most prosperous and productive nation.

Obama Signs “Fast Track” Bill, TPP Inches Closer to Completion
TruthInMedia - On Monday President Obama signed into law the so-called “fast-track” bill, setting the stage for approval of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership.... Despite the bipartisan nature of the bill, President Obama acknowledged the hurdles that remain for the TPP. “We still have some tough negotiations that are going to be taking place. The debate will not end with this bill signing,” Obama said.... With the passing of the TPA and TAA, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is possibly only weeks away from approval. The trade agreement has been notoriously secret, with the public only viewing chapters of the text which have been leaked by WikiLeaks.

If Terrorist Attacks are on the Rise, What Does that Say about the 13-Year-Old "War on Terror"?
AllGov - The most recent figures from the State Department show that there was a sharp increase in terror attacks worldwide in 2014 over the numbers from the previous year. According to its figures, attacks increased 35% and fatalities jumped 81% over 2013’s numbers, with the increase coming mainly in Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Part of the reason for the huge increase in fatalities was the jump in large-scale attacks, those killing more than 100 people. There were 20 such attacks in 2014, compared to two in 2013. There were a total of 13,463 terrorist attacks last year… Those aren’t the only metrics available on the war on terror, of course. Another is how much money has been spent.

Terror Talk: Politicians, Former CIA Head, FBI, DHS All Ramp Up Warnings For July 4th
Steve Watson - It’s a good job no one in the US watches the mainstream news media any more. Any one who did take in the multitude of news shows over the weekend, however, is now most probably convinced that they are about to be attacked any second by armies of terrorists in their own back yard. Politicians and intelligence officials were paraded out one after the other to harp on about how terrorists hate the freedom of Americans and blah blah blah July the 4th is most likely going to end up in a terrorist attack. Following attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait Friday, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued alerts to local law enforcement and urged Americans to “remain vigilant” for the upcoming INdependence Day celebrations. “They don’t put those statements out that far in advance, unless there’s reason for concern,” said harbinger of doom New York Rep. Peter King in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”

First Amendment Defense Act Proposed to Protect Business Owners from SCOTUS Ruling on Same-sex Marriage
Kurt Nimmo - Court uses 14th Amendment to undermine the First. The First Amendment Defense Act proposed Senator Mike Lee and Rep. Raul Labrador prior to the Supreme Court ruling upholding homosexual marriage under the 14th Amendment right to equal protection reveals that the United States no longer functions as a constitutional republic. The First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) would bar the federal government from imposing penalties on individuals, businesses, groups, and especially religious organizations for refusing to participate in same-sex weddings. In particular, the bill would not allow the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profit organizations that believe same sex marriage is inappropriate.

The Real Reason for the Anti-Confederate Flag Hysteria
Lew Rockwell Blog - The anti-Confederate flag hysteria is only one small part of the Left’s general strategy, however. It is part of their overriding strategy of diverting the public’s attention away from all the grotesque failures of leftist interventionism, from the welfare state to the government takeover of education to the war on drugs and beyond.... The welfare state has decimated the black family and is hard at work destroying the white family as well by eliminating the stigma against a man’s abandoning his wife and children with welfare checks. What does the Confederate flag have to do with this? The welfare state has destroyed the work ethic of millions of Americans. What does the Confederate flag have to do with this? The Fed caused the biggest depression since the Great Depression with its latest boom-and-bust-cycle act. What does the Confederate flag have to do with this?

Revealed: Feds predicted surge of illegals, see another 127,000 this year
Washington Examiner - Despite claims the administration was caught off guard, the White House and four Cabinet departments predicted last year’s surge of at least 60,000 illegal juveniles over the U.S.-Mexico border and expect it to more than double to 127,000 this year, according to an internal document. A 24-page administration PowerPoint for congressional appropriators dated April 22, 2014 bluntly stated that border arrivals of “unaccompanied alien children” would rise “by nearly a factor of 10″ in 2014 to 60,000 and jump to 127,000 “if these growth rates continue.”

UPDATE: Arkansas Takes Away 7 Homeschool Children because Father had Unapproved Mineral Supplement
Medical Kidnap - From Bringthestanleykidshome Facebook Page: On June 24, 2015 the court returned custody of the final three children. Now all seven are back in our custody.... As you all know, we have a major battle ahead to prevent Michelle and me from being put on the Child Maltreatment Registry. We have not neglected or abused our children, and in six months the officials have found no neglect or abuse. The school issue of not being properly registered is not sufficient to remove our children from our home school and place them in public school. We must win the battle on July 10th at the Child Maltreatment Registry Hearing.

America’s Greece: Puerto Rico Can’t Pay Its Massive Public Debt
Daily Sheeple - Puerto Rico has long been one of the most impoverished territories in the United States. With over 40% of the population living under the poverty line (almost twice as high as Mississippi, the poorest state), and an unemployment rate of over 12%, they’ve been in a recession since 2006. But their financial problems don’t stop there. A recent economic report has found that Puerto Rico is carrying one of the heaviest debt loads of any state or territory in the US. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced last weekend, that the territory has a public debt of over $72 billion, a debt which he doesn’t think they can pay.

New York State Officially Bans Fracking
Glenn Coin - After more than seven years of study, the state Department of Environmental Conservation today issued the final document needed to ban the controversial drilling practice, known formally as high-volume hydraulic fracturing. "Prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the only reasonable alternative," said DEC Commissioner Joe Martens in a prepared statement. "High-volume hydraulic fracturing poses significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated. This decision is consistent with DEC's mission to conserve, improve and protect our state's natural resources, and to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state."

EPA Forced to Study Impact of Atrazine and Glyphosate on US Endangered Species
Sustainable Pulse - The Environmental Protection Agency will analyze the impacts of atrazine and glyphosate — the two most commonly used pesticides in the United States — on 1,500 endangered plants and animals in the United States under the terms of a settlement reached today with the Center for Biological Diversity.... The EPA has, for decades, continued to register and allow the use of pesticides without considering their impacts to endangered species, despite the legal requirement for them to do so and the well-documented risks of pesticides to thousands of imperiled species. A series of lawsuits by the Center has forced the agency to consult on the impacts of scores of pesticides on some endangered species, primarily in California, and resulted in temporary restrictions on pesticide use in sensitive habitats.

DHS/Police say criminals drive cars that's why they're using a new infrared license plate scanning system
MassPrivateI - A new infrared police license plate reader system called the Data Driver Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDCAT) can spy on nearly a million license plates in a two-month span. DDCAT's are being used by police across the country, they're in NJ, NY, Boston and California to name a few. DDACT's are basically $11,0000 fortune telling machines that analyze crimes and PREDICT where future crimes will take place!... DDACT's equipped police cars use three high-resolution digital cameras which point forward and cover both sides of the vehicle. Each police car is equipped with infrared lighting which enables them to see in the dark. GPS is integrated into the system, and the digitized pictures of license plates are captured to a laptop.

One Of The World's Top Universities Is Offering All Of Their Courses Online, To Anyone, For Free
InvestmentWatchBlog - With the advent of the internet came a revolution of information becoming available to the average person. MIT University took it one step further when they began a program called OpenCourseWare, which allowed anyone to download full course materials for virtually all classes for free. But the new MITx interactive online learning platform will go further, giving students access to online laboratories, self-assessments and student-to-student discussions… “This is not MIT light. This is not an easier version of MIT,” said Provost L. Rafael Reif. “An MITx learner, anywhere they are, for them to earn a credential they have to demonstrate mastery of the subject just like an MIT student does.”

Light-Turmeric Extract Combo Treats Psoriasis Effectively
Green Med Info - Oral turmeric extract (curcumin) in combination with light therapy produces remarkable healing results in patients with severe-to-moderate psoriasis.... The study concluded: The results suggested that moderate to severe plaque psoriasis should show a therapeutic response to orally administered Curcuma if activated with visible light phototherapy, a new therapeutic method that would be safer for patients than existing treatments."

EU To Ban Triclosan, While EPA and FDA Reject Calls for U.S. Ban
Beyond Pesticides - The agency responsible for chemical oversight in the European Union announced today that the antibacterial pesticide, triclosan, is toxic and bioaccumulative, and will be phased-out for hygienic uses and replaced by more suitable alternatives. According to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), “[N]o safe use could be demonstrated for the proposed use of Triclosan.” This decision has renewed calls for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove the chemical from the consumer market. EPA in May rejected a consumer petition that asked the agency to ban triclosan.... Triclosan is an antimicrobial pesticide used in cosmetics, personal care products and treated plastics and textiles. It has been linked to hormone disrupting effects, bacterial and antibiotic resistance, cancer, and impacts on aquatic organisms.

Sick: ‘Intolerable Levels’ of Monsanto’s Glyphosate Found in Breast Milk
Natural Society - After testing 16 women from different regions all over Germany, the Green Party has found that traces of the chemical glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide Round Up, are appearing in breast milk at ‘intolerable levels’ that could harm a developing baby and the mother. The weed killer traces in breast milk were found to be between 0.210 and 0.432 nanograms per millilitre (PPB). Drinking water is allowed to have no more than 0.100 nanograms of glyphosate. Irene Witte, professor of toxicology at the University of Oldenburg, described the findings as “intolerable.”
 

Monday - June 29, 2015 - Today in History:

1776 - The Virginia constitution was adopted and Patrick Henry was made governor.
1804 - Privates John Collins and Hugh Hall of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were found guilty by a court-martial consisting of members of the Corps of Discovery for getting drunk on duty. Collins received 100 lashes on his back and Hall received 50.
1901 - The first edition of "Editor & Publisher" was issued.
1905 - Russian troops intervened as riots erupted in ports all over the country. Many ships were looted.
1917 - The Ukraine proclaimed independence from Russia.
1932 - Siam’s army seized Bangkok and announced an end to the absolute monarchy.
1946 - British authorities arrested more than 2,700 Jews in Palestine in an attempt to end alleged terrorism.
1950 - U.S. President Harry S. Truman authorized a sea blockade of Korea.
1951 - The United States invited the Soviet Union to the Korean peace talks on a ship in Wonson Harbor.
1953 - The Federal Highway Act authorized the construction of 42,500 miles of freeway from coast to coast.
1966 - The U.S. bombed fuel storage facilities near the North Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Haiphong.
1972 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment." The ruling prompted states to revise their capital punishment laws.
1995 - The shuttle Atlantis and the Russian space station Mir docked, forming the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.
2007 - The first generation Apple iPhone went on sale.
2011 - The state of Nevada passed the first law that permitted the operation of autonomous cars on public roads. The law went into effect on March 1, 2012 and did not permit the use of the cars to the general public. Google received the first self-driving vehicle license in the U.S. on May 4, 2012 in Nevada.

European Parliament to Debate Amendments to TTIP Deal With US
Sputnik News - A special European Parliament committee will meet Monday for an urgent debate on a set of 116 amendments to the controversial EU-US free trade deal, the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).... The Trade Committee’s extraordinary meeting on Monday will decide whether the amendment package should be put to a vote by the European Parliament as a whole.... An amendment package vote, if successful, will enable EU lawmakers to put TTIP recommendations to a plenary vote in July or September. The TTIP agreement seeks to establish a transatlantic free trade zone for a market of about 820 million people.... Opponents to the hotly-debated treaty claim the deal gives too much power to transnational corporations, making it harder for EU nations to regulate their own markets.

Terrorist Attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait Kill Dozens
New York Times - In a matter of hours and on three different continents, militants carried out attacks on Friday that killed scores of civilians, horrified populations and raised thorny questions about the evolving nature of international terrorism and what can be done to fight it. On the surface, the attacks appeared to be linked only by timing. In France, a man stormed an American-owned chemical plant, decapitated one person and apparently tried to blow up the facility. In Tunisia, a gunman drew an assault rifle from a beach umbrella and killed at least 38 people at a seaside resort. And in Kuwait, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque during communal prayers, killing at least 25 Shiite worshipers.

Eurozone Rejects Greek Bailout Extension: All Bailout Programs Expire On June 30, Referendum Moot
Zero Hedge - Regrettably, despite efforts at all levels and full support of the Eurogroup, this proposal has been rejected by the Greek authorities who broke off the programme negotiations late on the 26 June unilaterally. The current financial assistance arrangement with Greece will expire on 30 June 2015, as well as all agreements related to the current Greek programme including the transfer by euro area Member States of SMP and ANFA equivalent profits."

‘We don’t need EU permission’: Greek parliament ratifies bailout referendum
RT - As an equal member of the EU, Greece does not need to ask permissions from anyone to let the Greek people speak and have their voices heard, PM Tsipras told his parliament, promising that the state’s sovereignty and future will be decided via referendum. Referendums have been used all across Europe as a way for people to directly express their will and have their voices heard, and Greece is fully in its right to conduct one PM Alexis Tsipras said during a late-night debate in parliament.

Greek Capital Controls Begin: Banks To Remain Closed Until At Least July 5th, Stock Market Will Not Open Monday
Zero Hedge - Despite the reassurances from any and all elected (and unelected) officials, given the run on bank ATMs in Greece has turned into a stampede, it is not surprising that the CEO of Piraeus Bank just announced Greek banks would remain closed for at least one week; further as reported yesterday, the Greek stock market will also remain closed.

A Desperate China Cuts Key Policy Rates After Stock Market Crash; "It's Just Like 1987"
Zero Hedge - For the first time since October, 2008, China cuts both the benchmark lending rate and RRR on the same day, in a frantic attempt to sustain the country's equity bubble after stocks collapsed to the edge of bear market territory on Friday…Analysts saw the PBOC’s [Peoples Bank of China] moves as a reaction to the massive stock market decline… Some analysts went so far as to liken the action by PBOC to that taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve following the infamous “Black Monday”—or Oct. 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed… “It’s just like what the Fed did in 1987,” said Larry Hu, China economist at Macquarie Group Ltd., a Sydney-based investment bank. “The PBOC is trying to stabilize the market with the unprecedented easing moves.”

Iceland Just Jailed 7 Bank Executives For Market Manipulation
(True Activist) According to The icelandmonitor: “By fully financing share purchases with no other surety than the shares themselves, the bank was accused of giving a false and misleading impression of demand for Kaupþingi shares by means of deception and pretence.” They were accused of trying to artificially inflate share prices in 2008 by using the bank’s funds to buy shares.

Australian Government Contractors Will Now Go to Jail for Reporting Child Abuse in Detention Centers
Vice - Last month the Australian government, with the support of the opposition, passed the Border Force Protection Act through both houses of Parliament. It will come into effect on July 1. If the act defines you as an "entrusted person," you might be facing jail for up to two years if you reveal anything about what happens in Australia's immigration detention centers to anybody else.... Refugee advocates and human rights lawyers say the legislation is a veiled attempt to silence whistleblowers from revealing human rights violations inside Australia's detention centers. And the mounting evidence of such violations makes this legislation all the more disturbing.

British Police Order Citizens: “Surrender Your Knives!”
Citizen Action - The British police have recently joined forces with liberal grassroots activists in the UK, launching the “Save a Life–Surrender Your Knife” program. Knife crime has been climbing recently in major UK cities like London. The program involved several weeks of “amnesty” for “pointed knives.” Civilians can turn in these apparently dangerous weapons at their local police station in exchange for “amnesty,” apparently, even though knives (rounded or pointed) aren’t illegal in the United Kingdom.... Incidentally, the knife violence rate in the United Kingdom is about double the rate of gun violence in the United States. Possibly because Americans haven’t yet been asked to throw away their right to self-defense in a bin at the police station.

Truth is a Crime Against The State
Paul Craig Roberts - Truth comes from foreign news sources, such as RT, and from Internet sites, such as this one. Thus, Washington and its vassals are busy at work closing down independent media. Washington and its vassals have redefined propaganda. Truth is propaganda if it is told by countries, such as Russia and China, that have independent foreign policies. Propaganda is truth if told by Washington and its puppets, such as the EU Observer. The EU Observer, little doubt following Washington’s orders, has denounced RT and Sputnik News for “broadcasting fabrications and hate speech from their bureaus in European Union cities.” Often I appear on both RT and Sputnik. In my opinion both are too restrained in their reporting, fearful, of course, of being shut down, than full truth requires. I have never heard a word of hate speech or propaganda on either. Washington’s propaganda, perhaps, but not the Russian government’s. In other words, the way Washington has the news world rigged, not even independent news sites can speak completely clearly.

Antietam, other parks stop selling items with the Confederate flag
Baltimore Sun - Workers at Antietam National Battlefield took Confederate flags, T-shirts and magnets off gift shop shelves Thursday as the National Park Service announced plans to stop selling some items with the increasingly controversial symbol. Park service officials said they would stop "stand-alone depictions" of the familiar battle flag, which has 13 white stars on a blue "X" over a red field. They said educational items such as books, exhibits, and media showing re-enactments and interpretive programs may use images of the battle flag "in its historical context" as long as they cannot be "physically detached."

Woman arrested for removing Confederate flag from SC Capitol (VIDEO)
RT - The Confederate flag in front of the South Carolina Statehouse was removed by an African-American woman on Saturday. She was arrested by local authorities, and the flag was soon raised again.... She was arrested upon her return to the ground, along with another man, 30-year-old James Ian Tyson, who had also entered the wrought-iron fence surrounding the flag. The two were charged with defacing a monument and face a fine of up to $5,000 or up to three years in prison, NBC reported. The flag, which is protected by state law, was raised again a short time later. The incident occurred just after dawn on Saturday, hours before a rally by flag supporters was scheduled at the Capitol.

US officials warn of ISIS-inspired attack through July 4
RT - US intelligence and law enforcement authorities share a growing concern of terror attacks in the country through the July 4 weekend. On Friday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson issued a statement in response to the terror attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia, saying, “particularly with the upcoming July 4 holiday here in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI continue to communicate with state and local law enforcement about what we know and see.” The analysis of the threat is based in part on the “new normal” of Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL) strategies, which uses social media to encourage people worldwide to attack on both small and large scales. Federal authorities have been scrambling to arrest homegrown terror suspects before Independence Day, when they warn that the likelihood of such attacks may be elevated.

$200 Million Went to House Members to Pass Fast Track – Here’s Who Took the Cash
OpEd News - TPA passed with a mere 219-211 vote with only 218 needed to pass. The real shocker comes from the amount of money each Representative received for a yes vote. In total, $197,869,145 was given to Representatives for a yes vote where as $23,065,231 was given in opposition.

Alito Warns: Defenders of Traditional Marriage Now Risk Being Treated as Bigots by Governments, Employers, Schools
CNS News - In his dissent from the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which declared that same-sex marriage is a right, Justice Samuel Alito said the court had falsely likened opposition to same-sex marriage to racism and that its decision “will be used to vilify Americans unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy.” Alito warned that in the wake of the court’s ruling, Americans who dare to publicly express views in favor the traditional understanding that marriage is between a man and a woman will risk recrimination. “I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools,” Alito wrote.
* Related: FLASHBACK--Q&A With Judge Robert Bork: Moral Life of Nation Could be Decided by One Judge

Bad Medicine: Obamacare “Doctors Should Warn Global Warming Could Make Patients’ Health Worse”
Mac Slavo - If having your doctor quiz you about owning a gun isn’t enough to raise your blood pressure, then this new Obamacare policy surely will. Obama’s White House is once again politicizing health care, even as the net/noose tightens, now asking medical professionals to advise patients on the effects that global warming/climate change will supposedly have on their health. The Daily Caller reported: Americans trust their doctors, so the White House wants these medical professionals to be a mouthpiece for President Obama’s global warming agenda. […] The Obama administration has been hard at work trying to draw a link between global warming and public health issues. The summit included the U.S. Surgeon General, top administration officials, and public health experts from around the country telling doctors, nurses and other conference goers how to talk about global warming with their patients.

VIDEO: David Sweat's DNA Found on Food a Mile From Where Richard Matt Killed, Official Says
ABC News - DNA belonging to the convicted murderer who remains on the loose after escaping prison three weeks ago was found on remnants of food a mile from where his accomplice was killed Friday, an official briefed on the manhunt efforts said Sunday. About 1,300 law enforcement officers were involved in the search for David Sweat as they concentrated their efforts near the village of Malone, New York, about 20 miles from where fellow escapee Richard Matt was found in a wooded area Friday....
* Related: Richard Matt, Escaped Prisoner in New York Manhunt, Is Fatally Shot

Cops Refuse to Stop Chase Plowing Over Multiple Children, Killing Them During Neighborhood Pursuit
Free Thought Project - “Officers must place the protection of human life above all other considerations.” Or so says the official policy of the Detroit Police Department. Yet, on Wednesday, Detroit police continued a high-speed chase into a busy neighborhood, resulting in two small children being killed and others injured.... Even after the car had dragged the children a distance down the street, the police did not stop their pursuit. They continued to chase the car across one front lawn after another, finally crashing, critically injuring three more children including three year old Darius Andrews, Jr., Isaiah Williams, 5, and Zyaire Gardner, 7. Twenty-two-year-old LaKendra Hill sustained injuries.

Rand Paul: Government Should Get Out of the Marriage Business
Time - While I disagree with Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage, I believe that all Americans have the right to contract. The constitution is silent on the question of marriage because marriage has always been a local issue. Our founding fathers went to the local courthouse to be married, not to Washington, DC. I’ve often said I don’t want my guns or my marriage registered in Washington.

In 5 Years, Average CEO Income has Increased 54%; Average Worker 0%
AllGov - As the economy, which cratered at the end of the George W. Bush administration, has improved since 2009, the average CEO of the 350 largest corporations has gotten a 54% raise and is making $16.3 million a year. His employees, on the other hand, haven’t done as well, according to a study from the Economic Policy Institute. The average pay in those companies in 2009 was $53,200. Five years later, it’s still $53,200.

It Shall be Suitable for Use in Pet Food - Action Alert (Video)
Susan Thixton - In a last moments effort to get signatures on our petitions to FDA and AAFCO, here is a brief video showing how FDA allows hideous waste into pet food. Would you buy a meal for your family that was prepared with spoiled, decomposing meat? You might be doing that right now – for your furry family – without even knowing. The FDA allows pet food to be made from spoiled, decomposing meat and moldy, rotten vegetables – with no disclosure to the consumer.... In early August 2015, FDA and AAFCO will meet to discuss quality of ingredient statements on pet food labels. Numerous pet food consumer advocates will be at this meeting to tell authorities consumers have a right to know the quality of ingredients used in their pet food. Here are our two petitions: Whitehouse.gov petition closes July 5, 2015.... Change.org petition closes July 31, 2015.
 

Friday - June 26, 2015 - Today in History:

1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the mouth of the Kansas River after completing a westward trek of nearly 400 river miles.
1819 - The bicycle was patented by W.K. Clarkson, Jr.
1844 - John Tyler took Julia Gardiner as his bride, thus becoming the first U.S. President to marry while in office.
1870 - The first section of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ, was opened to the public.
1900 - The United States announced that it would send troops to fight against the Boxer rebellion in China.
1900 - A commission that included Dr. Walter Reed began the fight against the deadly disease yellow fever.
1926 - A memorial to the first U.S. troops in France was unveiled at St. Nazaire.
1924 - After eight years of occupation, American troops left the Dominican Republic.
1927 - The Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster opened in New York.
1945 - The U.N. Charter was signed by 50 nations in San Francisco, CA.
1948 - The Berlin Airlift began as the U.S., Britain and France started ferrying supplies to the isolated western sector of Berlin.
1951 - The Soviet Union proposed a cease-fire in the Korean War.
1959 - U.S. President Eisenhower joined Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in ceremonies officially opening the St. Lawrence Seaway.
1963 - U.S. President John Kennedy announced "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner) at the Berlin Wall.
1971 - The U.S. Justice Department issued a warrant for Daniel Ellsberg, accusing him of giving away the Pentagon Papers.
1979 - Muhammad Ali, at 37 years old, announced that he was retiring as world heavyweight boxing champion.
1996 - The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Virginia Military Institute to admit women or forgo state support.
1997 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that made it illegal to distribute indecent material on the Internet.
1997 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld state laws that allow for a ban on doctor-assisted suicides.
1998 - The U.S. and Peru open school to train commandos to patrol Peru's rivers for drug traffickers.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers are always potentially liable for supervisor's sexual misconduct toward an employee.
2000 - The Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics Corp. jointly announced that they had created a working draft of the human genome.
2003 - The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, struck down state bans on gay sex.
2003 - Strom Thurmond, the second longest-serving senator in U.S. history, died in Edgefield, S.C., at age 100.
2008 - The Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in the District of Columbia as it affirmed, 5-4, an individual right to gun ownership.

1 beheaded, several injured in suspected Islamist attack on French gas factory
RT - The attack in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Grenoble in eastern France was initially reported by local newspaper Le Dauphiné libéré. A single assailant stormed the factory compound in his car and detonated gas canisters that he had brought with him. The attacker reportedly waived an Islamist black flag, possibly that of terrorist group Islamic State. The flag was left at the site. The headless body of a man was found near the factory. A French official later said the head was found at the entry gate of the factory and that two Islamist flags were found nearby.

Secret doc: US to give Tehran nuclear technology, refurbish reactor under deal
RT - As negotiators are about to gather in Vienna for the final round of talks on Iran’s controversial nuclear program, the US is offering concessions to Tehran to sweeten the deal, a draft document detailing would-be deal’s term shows. The negotiations between Iran and six leading world powers are to kick off in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Friday, with deadline set for June 30. Diplomats however indicated that the talks may drag past the date, as was the case with the previous round that produced a preliminary agreement, which seeks to scale down the program in exchange for lifting of international sanctions. As the hard talks are set to start, the US is willing to offer concessions to Tehran that would boost its civilian nuclear industry, AP reported citing a confidential document perpetrating to the deal.

German EU commissioner says 'Grexit' unavoidable if no solution found in 5 days
RT - It’s not the European Commission’s aim to see Greece exit the EU, but this may become unavoidable if no solution to the debt stand-off is found in the next five days, Commissioner Günther Oettinger said, according to Reuters. "We will do everything up until the 30th for the Greeks to show they are prepared to reform," Oettinger, the EU commissioner for digital economy and society, told Deutschlandfunk radio. "A 'Grexit' isn’t our aim but would be unavoidable if there is no solution in the next five days," he said.

Forget Grexit, "Madame Frexit" Says France Is Next: French Presidential Frontrunner Wants Out Of "Failed" Euro
Zero Hedge - There has been some confusion why Germany and the Eurozone are so strict in negotiating with France and unwilling to concede even to the smallest of what they deem as outlandish Greek demands. The reason is not so much whether Spain or even Italy, both countries with soaring unemployment, a lost generation and a sweeping movement against "austerity", follow with comparable demands should Europe concede to Tsipras, but France, where the frontrunner for the next president, the National Front's Marine Le Pen, has just warned that not only is a Grexit inevitable, but that France would follow shortly.

China Plunges Most Since 2008, Points Away From Bear Market; Greek Drama Continues
Zero Hedge - Following yesterday's furious market drop in Chinese stocks, just before the overnight open, Morgan Stanley came out with a much distributed report urging investors "Not to buy this dip", and so they didn't. As a result, the Shanghai Composite imploded, at one point trading down 8% while the Chinext and Shenzhen markets crashed even more. This was the single biggest Shanghai Composite one-day drop since 2007, and with a close at 4192.87 the SHCOMP is now on the verge of a bear market, down 19% from its June 12 highs. China's second largest market, Shenzhen, is now officially in a bear market.

‘We always knew missile defense shield was against Russia & China’ – top Moscow security official
RT - The head of Russia’s Security Council says the West’s recent actions prove the NATO anti-missile defense system was always aimed at hemming in Moscow and Beijing, and promises the Kremlin will “react” to the alliance’s expansion in Europe. “Washington insisted that the missile defense shield was a deterrent to Iran, but now the world powers are negotiating with Iran, so logically plans for the system should be dropped, but this isn’t happening,” Nikolay Patrushev told an international security summit in the Siberian city of Ulan Ude. “We already knew that the missile defense shield was aimed at Russia and China, but current events confirm this.”

Russia to Deploy S-400 Air Defense Systems Near Western Borders by End 2015
Sputnik News - Russia’s Western Military District will receive an unspecified number of advanced S-400 Triumf and Pantsir-S air defense systems by the end of 2015, the district’s spokesman, Col. Oleg Kochetkov, said Thursday. “Modern S-400 Triumf long-range air defense systems and Pantsir-S gun-missile air defense systems will be put in service with air defense units of the Western Military District by the end of this year,” Kochetkov said. The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is a Russia’s next-generation anti-aircraft weapon system, carrying three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at short-to-extremely long range.... Russia is currently undergoing a $325-billion rearmament program for a 70-percent modernization in its military’s weaponry by 2020.

ISIS is ‘not strong,’ could be defeated ‘within two days’ – ex-Israeli PM Ehud Barak
RT - The Islamic State militant group that has been terrorizing the Middle East with its yet greatest offense for over a year, is "not strong," former Israli PM Ehud Barak told RT. With a proper coordinated response, they could be suppressed quickly, he said. I think that ISIS is somewhat successful because it doesn't face a coherent coordinated effort to destroy it. Technically speaking they are not strong. Some 30,000 - 40,000 people. Their vehicle is a Toyota pickup and some machine gun on it,” the Israeli politician said in an interview with RT's Oksana Boyko in her Worlds Apart show.

‘ICC credibility test’: Palestinians submit first war crimes evidence against Israel
RT - After meeting the ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that he had submitted the dossiers concerning the 2014 Gaza war, as well as Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian land and treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Palestine is a test for the credibility of international mechanisms ... a test the world cannot afford to fail. Palestine has decided to seek justice, not vengeance,” Maliki said. He also added that he had agreed with prosecutors on a date of their visit to Palestine, although he did not reveal the exact time. “It depends on their ability to enter Palestinian territory without problems,” he added. ICC prosecutors intend to make a field visits both to Palestine and Israel, but they have not received a formal permission from Israel yet, Reuters reports.

Pentagon Paying ISIS-Linked ‘Rebels’ $400 per Month to ‘Eventually’ Fight Assad
Mikael Thalen - Recently declassified Pentagon documents confirmed West’s role in using radicals to topple Syria. The program, deemed “critical” by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, aims to equip as many as 5,400 fighters within the next 12 months, reports USA Today. According to Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith, roughly 6,000 Syrians have already expressed interest in the program, with more than half preparing to be vetted. The program has reportedly taken months to move forward due to a lack of fighters willing to “adhere to laws of war and pledge to conduct themselves properly.” The announcement raises several red flags given recently declassified Pentagon documents confirming Western governments’ regional support of al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization now deceptively labeled “moderate.”

"Most Liberal Supreme Court Since 1960s" Gives Obama Huge Victory With 6-3 Vote In Favor Of Obamacare
Zero Hedge - The Supreme Court has ruled that people who bought healthcare coverage through federal exchanges as part of Obamacare can keep subsidies that effectively limit the amount low- and middle-income Americans pay for health insurance to 9.5% of their income or less. This is, naturally, a huge win for Obama whose Affordable Care Law has just overcome its last legitimate legal challenge. The outcome is hardly unexpected (see below on "most liberal Supreme Court since 1960"), but that the final vote was 6-3 is clearly surprising as most pundits were expecting a 5-4 Roberts-led tiebreaker. As The Hill summarizes, the SCOTUS upheld a key provision of ObamaCare, affirming that 6.4 million people can continue to receive subsidies that allow them to purchase healthcare plans.

I am a black South Carolinian. Here's why I support the Confederate ...
Washington Post - Thomas is a senior and student senator at the University of South Carolina, where he is majoring in public relations and political science. Four years ago, I became a national news story after I hung a Confederate flag in my dorm room window at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. Controversy wasn’t my intention. For me and many Southerners, the flag celebrates my heritage and regional pride. One of my ancestors, Benjamin Thomas, was a black Confederate cook, and I do not want to turn my back on his service to the South. So I hang the flag in honor of his hard work and dedication to South Carolina during the Civil War. My Confederate flag isn’t racist; after all, I am black. I’m also an American who strongly believes in the constitutional right to free speech.
* Related Video: CNN's Hala Gorani speaks to Byron Thomas

House bill would force the Supreme Court to enroll in ObamaCare
The Hill - A House Republican on Thursday proposed forcing the Supreme Court justices and their staff to enroll in ObamaCare. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) said that his SCOTUScare Act would make all nine justices and their employees join the national healthcare law’s exchanges. “As the Supreme Court continues to ignore the letter of the law, it’s important that these six individuals understand the full impact of their decisions on the American people,” he said. “That’s why I introduced the SCOTUScare Act to require the Supreme Court and all of its employees to sign up for ObamaCare,” Babin said.

IRS Deleted Backups Of 24,000 Lois Lerner Emails Months After Subpoena
Zero Hedge - According to the IG's deputy Timothy Camus, two "lower-graded" employees at the IRS center in Martinsburg, West Virginia, erased 422 computer backup tapes that contained as many as 24,000 emails to and from former IRS official Lois Lerner. It gets better: the tapes were erased in March 2014, months after congressional investigators requested all of Lerner's emails, and months after Zero Hedge, among many others, said to simply track down the server back ups. And the punchline: according to George, the workers might be incompetent, a lead investigator said Thursday, but there is no evidence they were part of a criminal conspiracy to destroy evidence.

Confederate Flag Controversy: Will Obama Resign Because His Family Owned Slaves?
Kit Daniels - If liberals want to ban the Confederate flag due to its historical link to slavery, shouldn’t they also demand President Obama’s resignation because his family owned slaves? Obama’s great-great-great-great grandfather, George Washington Overall, owned two slaves who were recorded in the 1850 census in Nelson County, Ky., the Baltimore Sun reported in 2007, and Obama’s great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Duvall, also owned slaves. Obama’s campaign team in 2008 did not dispute the information.

Confederate Frenzy: NY Film Critic Calls for Banning of ‘Gone With the Wind’
Breitbart - In just three days, the left’s mob mentality took us from removing the Rebel Flag from a state capitol to banning “Gone with the Wind.” Lou Lumenick in today’s New York Post: If the Confederate flag is finally going to be consigned to museums as an ugly symbol of racism, what about the beloved film offering the most iconic glimpse of that flag in American culture? I’m talking, of course, about “Gone with the Wind[.]’’ … Lumenick isn’t beating around the bush. He’s serious about calling on Warner Bros. to smother the movie outside of museum screening — a self-imposed ban, but a ban nonetheless. This is akin to book burning.
* Related: Iconic Dukes of Hazzard Car 'General Lee' Stripped Of Confederate Flag: "This Is A New Level Of P.C. Idiocy"

Amazon Staff: Government Ordered Us Not to Sell Confederate Flag
Paul Joseph Watson - Amazon.com staff are telling irate customers that the company was ordered by the federal government not to sell items featuring the Confederate flag in the aftermath of the Charleston shooting. Amazon made the announcement this week, along with eBay, Sears and Walmart, that it would no longer sell products bearing the rebel flag, but according to a conversation posted on YouTube between a customer and an Amazon sales rep, the decision could have been made as a result of pressure from the government.

Rick Perry becomes first presidential candidate to reveal Big Pharma connection to mass shootings
(NaturalNews) He was widely panned for it, but former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who recently joined the crowded field of Republican presidential contenders, became the first – and so far, only – member of that group that has tied the recent Charleston, S.C., shootings to Big Pharma. In an appearance on NewsmaxTV's Steve Malzberg Show, Perry made the claim that the killing of nine African American worshippers by avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof was caused by mind-altering drugs.... He went on to point out that mood-and-mind-altering psychotropic drugs have been at the center of virtually all mass shootings in the U.S. since the Columbine school shootings in the late 1990s.

The Economic Collapse Blog Has Issued A RED ALERT For The Last Six Months Of 2015
Economic Collapse - I have never done anything like this before. Ever since I started The Economic Collapse Blog in late 2009, I have never issued any kind of “red alert” for any specific period of time. As an attorney, I was trained to be level-headed and to only come to conclusions that were warranted by the evidence. So this is not something that I am doing lightly. Based on information that I have received, things that I have been told, and thousands of hours of research that have gone into the publication of more than 1,300 articles about our ongoing economic collapse, I have come to the conclusion that a major financial collapse is imminent. Therefore, I am issuing a RED ALERT for the last six months of 2015.
* Related: 18 Years Ago This Country Collapsed Almost Overnight. Is This Time Different?

Smart Meters Fire, Living Hell and Bureaucratic Messes
Activist Post - This is the real life story about what a Smart Meter can do to your home and your life, especially when a public utility company, a state regulatory agency and insurance company are involved. Colleen, of Yardley, Pennsylvania, has been living a Faustian nightmare and feels she has been pressed to all reasonable limits all because of PECO, an Exelon company, installing a SMART METER on her house.... No utility customer should have to go through with the devastatingly unknown problems Smart Meters cause: fires, explosions, problems with insurance companies, housing displacement, etc.—even some deaths due to Smart Meter fires. Nonetheless, it seems Pennsylvania state officials are turning totally deaf ears to consumer complaints about Smart Meters.

Two rival self-driving cars have close call in California
(Reuters) - Two self-driving prototype cars, one operated by Google Inc and the other by Delphi Automotive Plc, had a close call on a Silicon Valley street earlier this week, a Delphi executive told Reuters on Thursday. It was believed to be the first such incident involving two vehicles specially equipped for automated driving. The incident occurred Tuesday on San Antonio Road in Palo Alto, said John Absmeier, director of Delphi's Silicon Valley lab and global business director for the company's automated driving program, who was a passenger in one of the cars. No collision took place. Google declined to comment.

Thursday - June 25, 2015 - Today in History:

1767 - Mexican Indians rioted as Jesuit priests were ordered home.
1788 - Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the 10th state of the United States.
1864 - Union troops surrounding Petersburg, VA, began building a mine tunnel underneath the Confederate lines.
1868 - Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina were readmitted to the Union.
1876 - Lt. Col. Custer and the 210 men of U.S. 7th Cavalry were killed by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians at Little Big Horn in Montana. The event is known as "Custer's Last Stand."
1877 - In Philadelphia, PA, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone for Sir William Thomson (Baron Kelvin) and Emperor Pedro II of Brazil at the Centennial Exhibition.
1910 - The U.S. Congress authorized the use of postal savings stamps.
1917 - The first American fighting troops landed in France.
1946 - Ho Chi Minh traveled to France for talks on Vietnamese independence.
1950 - North Korea invaded South Korea initiating the Korean War.
1951 - In New York, the first regular commercial color TV transmissions were presented on CBS using the FCC-approved CBS Color System. The public did not own color TV's at the time.
1962 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of unofficial non-denominational prayer in public schools was unconstitutional.
1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson ordered 200 naval personnel to Mississippi to assist in finding three missing civil rights workers.
1970 - The U.S. FCC handed down a ruling (35 FR 7732), making it illegal for radio stations to put telephone calls on the air without the permission of the person being called.
1973 - White House Counsel John Dean admitted that U.S. President Nixon took part in the Watergate cover-up.
1981 - The U.S. Supreme Court decided that male-only draft registration was constitutional.
1986 - The U.S. Congress approved $100 million in aid to the Contras fighting in Nicaragua.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the line-item veto thereby striking down presidential power to cancel specific items in tax and spending legislation.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that those infected with HIV are protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act.
2009 - Michael Jackson died at age 50 from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol. (The singer's doctor, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.)

Events in Armenia Identical to First Stage of Ukrainian Coup – Russian Official
Sputnik News - Current protests in Armenia are completely identical to the first stage of the state coup in Ukraine and might be orchestrated by the United States, Igor Morozov, member of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, said Wednesday. Mass protests against the rise in household electricity prices erupted in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan on Friday, and on Monday and Tuesday thousands of protesters attempted to march to the presidential residence. On Tuesday morning, police dispersed the crowd using water cannons. Almost 240 people, including journalists, were brought to police stations, and 25 have sought medical assistance. According to city officials, all those detained were subsequently freed. According to Morozov, the events in Armenia are a repeat of those in Ukraine with exact precision. Thus, he concludes that Armenia is close to an armed coup.

Step closer to surveillance state? France passes new spying law
RT - The French parliament has adopted new legislation, giving the intelligence services more leeway to spy on the public. The bill comes the same day as French politicians voiced anger over revelations of US spying on three French presidents.... With their new legal powers French intelligence services may circumvent the need for judicial warrants to use wiretapping and other surveillance methods to gather intelligence from the public. Private residences could now be monitored using geolocation measures, while mobile communications can be intercepted and web-page visits can be monitored using a complex algorithm that internet providers will be forced to install. Installation of keyloggers to track computer usage in real time will now also be possible.

U.K. Bankers to Wait Seven Years for Bonuses, under new law
WSJ - Senior U.K. bankers will have to wait seven years to collect their annual bonus payments in full under tough new rules released Tuesday. Three years must pass from the time of an award to receive any pay out, and top bank executives will have a 10-year wait to be sure the bonus won’t be clawed back. Risk managers will wait five years to receive any performance awards in full, while traders and other “risk takers” will have at least a three-year wait.... While annual bonuses for many bank workers already must be paid in a mix of cash and shares and can’t be more than 100 percent of salary, Tuesday’s announcement also explicitly bans any bonuses for management at a bailed-out bank and for nonexecutive directors of any bank.

President Putin signs order to extend counter-sanctions for another year
RT - President Vladimir Putin has signed the order to extend Russian counter-measures in response to Western sanctions. They restrictions will be prolonged for a year starting from June 24, 2015.... The move comes in response to the EU decision on Monday to extend sanctions against Russia for six months. They were first imposed on August 1, 2014 over the events in Ukraine and the reunification with Crimea. Russia responded on August 7 when Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree to ban imports of beef, pork, poultry meat, fish, cheese, milk, vegetables and fruit from Australia, Canada, the EU, the US and Norway.

Colombian army killed hundreds of civilians to fake successful battles and "boost body count" in war against rebels
Washington Post - In a twisted attempt to show battlefield success against FARC rebels, the Colombian military killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians between 2002 and 2008, falsely depicting them as slain combatants, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The killings, known as “false positives,” were the source of a huge scandal in 2008, but the new report alleges that the practice was far more extensive and systematic than previously known. Many of Colombia's highest-ranking military officials either condoned the practice or did nothing to stop it, according to the rights group.

Greece Withdraws Proposal to Increase Pension Cuts says Reports
Sputnik News - Greece has withdrawn its recent proposal to increase the insurance fees from pensioners during Wednesday's round of the negotiations with its international creditors, Greek media reported. The government's proposal concerned the increase of fees in insurance funds to five percent from the additional pension and one percent with the basic one, the Greek ERT Channel reported.

NSA spied on French presidents: WikiLeaks
Reuters -The United States National Security Agency spied on French presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, WikiLeaks said in a press statement published on Tuesday, citing top secret intelligence reports and technical documents. The revelations were first reported in French daily Liberation and on news website Mediapart, which said the NSA spied on the presidents during a period of at least 2006 until May 2012, the month Hollande took over from Sarkozy.
* Related: Obama Reassures Hollande of “Not Targeting” French Leader’s Communications

Gardasil Vaccine in Denmark: Serious Adverse Reactions Now Number 1 in 500 Girls
Health Impact News - In March 2015, a Danish national television station (TV2) aired a documentary focusing on girls who suspected they had been injured by the HPV vaccine Gardasil. Immediately after the airing of the show, girls with similar experiences started coming out of the woodwork. Virtually all of the girls had the same story to tell. Dr. Jesper Mehlsen is now reporting that one in 500 girls – or 1,000 of the 500,000 vaccinated experience serious side effects.

Fifteen Questions that Are Being asked about the Charleston Shooting
James Perloff - I am not asserting that Dylann Roof did not commit the crime attributed to him. If the tragedy occurred just as the media has said, my heart goes out to the victims’ families, and nothing here is intended to disparage the memory of the dead. However, those who realize America has long been run by a shadow oligarchy know our country has experienced many false flags. Some have been used to attempt to bring us into wars... We have also seen false flags used to advance gun control and a domestic police state.... So we would not be injudicious to examine the Charleston incident closely, and we do find that reasonable questions are being raised.

Famous Autism Researcher, Dr. Jeff Bradstreet Found In River - Suicide By Gunshot to Chest?
I’m sad to say that two prominent doctors in the “alternative medicine” world have died in the past few days. The first is the accomplished, well known and much loved Dr. Jeffrey Bradstreet.. Fox Carolina is reporting that his body was found in a river in North Carolina and that he died of an apparent “self inflicted gunshot wound to the chest". The funeral is in Shelby, North Carolina. Shelby is a small town of 20k people, and the same town where they just apprehended the Charleston South Carolina mass church killer Dylann Roof around the time of Dr. Bradstreet’s death. Some doctors are reading this tonight and writing me that they find it suspicious and are concerned. I too am concerned, as my other half is a prominent controversial doctor as well. I suspect we’ll know more as the investigation continues.... Another doctor (whose name I cannot yet disclose) died suddenly on Father’s Day here on Florida’s East Coast. He was healthy and fit with a thriving practice, had an additional PhD in Nutrition from Harvard.
* Related: Dr. Jeff Bradstreet: Where are the unvaccinated homeschooled children with autism?

List of Sixty Traitors in U.S. Senate Who Voted to Advance Obama's Secret TPP
Citizens for Legitimate Government - U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 114th Congress - 1st Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Sen. Rand Paul to sue IRS, U.S. Treasury
Washington Times - Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will sue the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service for denying his constitutional right to vote on treaties that the Obama administration unilaterally negotiated with dozens of foreign governments, The Washington Times has learned. The treaties, which the administration calls “intergovernmental agreements,” require foreign banks to gather and share private financial information about millions of Americans living and working outside the U.S. – information they would not have to disclose to the U.S. government if they lived and worked in the U.S.

Revolt: Millions of N.Y. Gun Owners Refuse to Register Firearms
Kit Daniels - So far only around 24,000 gun owners, many of them cops, registered their semiautomatic rifles with the state, meaning that the law has effectively been repealed through civil disobedience. “I am amused at the pathetically low numbers of New Yorkers who registered their so-called assault rifles,” New York State Rifle & Pistol Association President Tom King said. “The number of individuals who registered their guns is 24,000 and many of these are law-enforcement officials mandated to comply by their department.”...The SAFE Act, which created a gun registry for semiautomatic weapons using detachable magazines, was practically ignored by both gun owners and sheriffs since it was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013.

Cop Named Officer of the Year, Months Later He’s Arrested for Strangling and Raping Two Women
Patriot Rising - Despite being accused of sexual assault back in 2007, Champaign Police Officer Jerad Gale was just given his department’s highest honor in March. On March 30, Gale was named Champaign’s Officer of the Year. Just three months later he would be arrested for strangling and raping two more women. Tuesday Officer Gale was arrested and charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and domestic battery.... The rates of sexual assault and domestic battery within the ranks of police officers are almost double that of the average citizen, according to a study conducted by Bowling Green State University. Another common occurrence is the fact that cops, who are named Officer of the Year, frequently commit some of the worst crimes. The most recent ‘Officer of the Year’ to be ousted by the community is Officer Eric Casebolt, who was captured on video brutalizing a teen girl and pulling his gun out on unarmed teens.

Obama And Hillary Both Had No Problem Using Confederate Flag During Presidential Campaigns
Steve Watson - In the wake of the Charleston shooting, and subsequent pictures of the shooter posing with a Confederate flag, Barack Obama this week said that the flag belongs in a museum. It seems he has changed his tune in the last three years somewhere, however, given that he was using the symbol during his 2012 re-election campaign. Indeed, Obama have built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.”.... Hillary clinton had her own brand of Confederate merchandise in 2008. Strange given that she has also stated that the flag has no place in the US today.

Yard Signs Help Warn 4th of July Revelers of Combat Vets' PTSD
Howard Altman - For Russell Cook, a combat-wounded Army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, the barrage on his overloaded senses begins with fireworks explosions in his Valrico neighborhood as the calendar turns to July.... Cook is one of more than a quarter-million men and women who have traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. No one knows how many have a hard time dealing with fireworks, but an Indiana-based nonprofit has come up with one way to help those who do -- red, white and blue lawn signs reading, "Combat Veteran Lives Here. Please Be Courteous With Fireworks."

The Liquidity Crisis Intensifies: ‘Prepare For A Bear Market In Bonds’
Economic Collapse - Are we about to witness trillions of dollars of “paper wealth” vaporize into thin air? During the next financial crisis, a lot of “wealthy” investors are going to be in for a very rude awakening. The truth is that securities are only worth what someone else is willing to pay for them, and that is why liquidity is so important.... The 76 trillion dollar global bond bubble is threatening to implode, and if it does, the amount of “paper wealth” that could potentially be lost during the months ahead is almost unimaginable.

Lying CEOs Crash Their Stocks (So Will The Fed)
Zero Hedge - CEOs are not the most trustworthy figures in society. They will lay off thousands of employees to beat analysts' estimates, and yet they have no trouble looting the stock to pay themselves millions while the company loses money. However, one theme that keeps coming up is that unethical behavior has a price tag. Layoffs do not always boost the stock price. Treating people as expenses instead of assets does not pay off in the long run. Corruption is a drag on stock performance. Now, a new study shows that CEOs who lie about poor performance end up crashing their company's stock.... With this study in mind, consider the implications when the New York Fed tells us that economic activity declined because of the weather.

How Turmeric Will Light Up The Future - Literally!
Green Med Info - Amazingly, Indian researchers discovered that a mixture of two commonly consumed edible plants, red pomegranate and turmeric, when exposed to light wavelengths just below the visible threshold (380 nm), produced almost pure white light emission (WLE). This finding represents a simple, cheap and environmentally safe alternative to current LED technology, which presently rely on toxic materials, including heavy metals such as arsenic, copper, nickel, and lead, in their production.

EPA to be Sued After Endangering Pollinators with New Chemical Cocktail
Natural Society - Concerned citizens from environmental and food safety groups gave formal notice of intent to sue to the Environmental Protection Agency for approving a toxic new pesticide called bicyclopyrone (BCP). The EPA is accused of not considering the fatal consequences to befall endangered animals and plants, especially butterflies and bees responsible for pollinating our food, should BCP be used. The agency’s own risk assessment found that BCP alone exceeds levels of concern for mammals and hundreds of plants protected under the Endangered Species Act.... Sadly, the EPA gave its makers permission for use on corn – one of the biggest GM crops grown across our country – despite the fact that no tests on the herbicide’s impact on wildlife have been conducted.

Wednesday - June 24, 2015 - Today in History:

1717 - The Freemasons were founded in London.
1861 - Federal gunboats attacked Confederate batteries at Mathias Point, Virginia.
1862 - U.S. intervention saved the British and French at the Dagu forts in China.
1896 - Booker T. Washington became the first African American to receive an honorary MA degree from Howard University.
1910 - The Japanese army invaded Korea.
1931 - The Soviet Union and Afghanistan signed a treaty of neutrality.
1940 - France signed an armistice with Italy.
1940 - TV cameras were used for the first time in a political convention as the Republicans convened in Philadelphia, PA.
1941 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt pledged all possible support to the Soviet Union.
1955 - Soviet MIG's down a U.S. Navy patrol plane over the Bering Strait.
1964 - The Federal Trade Commission announced that starting in 1965, cigarette manufactures would be required to include warnings on their packaging about the harmful effects of smoking.
1970 - The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to repeal the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
1982 - The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that no president could be sued for damages connected with actions taken while serving as President of the U.S.
1997 - The U.S. Air Force released a report titled "The Roswell Report, Case Closed" that dismissed the claims that an alien spacecraft had crashed in Roswell, NM, in 1947.
2002 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must make the decision to give a convicted killer the death penalty.
2004 - Federal investigators questioned President George W. Bush for more than an hour in connection with the news leak of a CIA operative's name.
2006 - Patsy Ramsey, who was thrust into the national spotlight by the unsolved slaying of her daughter JonBenet, died at age 49.
2009 - After going AWOL for seven days, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted that he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit his mistress.
2010 - Apple released the iPhone 4.
2011 - New York State legalized same-sex marriage.

Greek debt crisis LIVE UPDATES
RT - Greece and its lenders have been gridlocked in talks over its €240-billion debt for about six months. Fears of Greece defaulting are causing a run on the banks, with people withdrawing record amounts of deposits. RT will report on the latest developments.

Anti-ISIL Coalition Carries Out 17 Airstrikes in Iraq, Syria - CENTCOM
Sputnik News - The US-led coalition against Islamic State carried out 17 airstrikes on targets in Iraq and Syria, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Tuesday. Three airstrikes hit Islamic State positions near the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, where the US-led coalition has been providing support to a coalition of Syrian Kurdish forces of the YPG, Assyrian Christians and the Free Syrian Army group Burkan al-Firat.

Philippines Escalates Military Games with US, Japan in South China Sea
Sputnik News - In a move that could be interpreted as a warning to China, the Philippines is set to hold separate naval exercises with US and Japanese navies not far from the hotly disputed Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea. The two-week-long exercises with the US began last week off the east coast of Palwan Island, just 100 miles from the Spratly islands, according to US Navy spokesman Arlo Abrahamson, and will run until June 26. The exercises will overlap with drills held by the Philippines and Japanese navies around the same island through June 27.

Extended EU Sanctions Against Russia to Remain Ineffective
Sputnik News - Anti-Russian sanctions extended by the European Union over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine on Monday will remain unproductive, President of Athens Institute for Education and Research Gregory Papanikos told Sputnik on Tuesday.... On June 19, a study by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research revealed the European Union could lose up to 100 billion euros ($114 billion) due to the anti-Russian sanctions if things remain unchanged. Besides, according to the calculations, current political situation can also affect over 2 million EU jobs because of the declining exports. “There is no question that the economic impact will be negative for both Russia and EU. But this relates very much on the enforcement of economic sanctions and of course their duration…EU should scrap economic sanctions because they do not work from a political point of view.”

Greek government confident despite backlash over debt deal
(Reuters) - Greece's leftwing government expressed confidence on Tuesday that parliament would approve a debt deal with lenders, despite an angry reaction from some of its own lawmakers who accused it of caving in to pressure for more austerity. Concessions offered by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, including hikes to tax and pension contributions, garnered a cautious welcome from euro zone leaders but triggered a furious reaction from some leftists in the ruling Syriza party.
* Related: Why The IMF Will Reject The Latest Greek Proposal In Just Two Numbers

UPDATE 1-G4S says making plans with Greece to cope with a bank crisis
(Reuters) - Security services group G4S has drawn up plans with Greece's central bank to keep the country's cash machines stocked in the event of a full-blown economic crisis, the company told Reuters. Andreas Paterakis, the head of southern Europe for G4S, also said the Britain-based company stored cash for a handful of major businesses last week as fears grew about the stability of Greek banks. "Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were critical, really critical," he said, referring to withdrawals of cash from Greek banks. He added the situation eased over the weekend. Greeks withdrew more than 4 billion euros ($4.50 billion) from the banking system last week on fears the country was set to default and potentially leave the euro zone.

Does The IMF Actually Want To Cause A Greek Debt Default?
Economic Collapse - As this endless crisis has stretched on month after month, it has become increasingly apparent that more is going on here than meets the eye. In particular, the IMF has been standing in the way of a deal time after time. So what do IMF officials want? Are they looking for the “unconditional surrender” of this new Greek government in order to send a message to other governments that would potentially defy them? Or could it be possible that the IMF actually wants a Greek debt default for some other insidious reason? When the latest Greek proposal was embraced with enthusiasm by EU officials, many hoped that this meant that the crisis would soon be resolved. But it turns out that there is still one very important player that is not happy, and that is the IMF. The following comes from the Wall Street Journal…

Pentagon Rushing to Open Space-War Center To Counter China, Russia
Defense One - The Pentagon and intelligence community are developing war plans and an operations center to fend off Chinese and Russian attacks on U.S. military and government satellites. The ops center, to be opened within six months, will receive data from satellites belonging to all government agencies, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said Tuesday at the GEOINT symposium, an annual intelligence conference sponsored by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.... Senior officials at the Pentagon and Office of the Director of National Intelligence are still finalizing details of the new center, which will back up the military’s Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

New Pentagon manual declares journalists can be enemy combatants
Washington Times - The Pentagon’s new thick book of instructions for waging war the legal way says that terrorists also can be journalists.... The manual pushes aside the George W. Bush-era label of “unlawful enemy combatant” for al Qaeda and the like. The new term of choice: “unprivileged belligerent.” An eye-catching section deals with a definition of journalists and how they are expected to stay out of the fight. The manual defines them this way: “In general, journalists are civilians. However, journalists may be members of the armed forces, persons authorized to accompany the armed forces, or unprivileged belligerents.”

Manchin, Toomey both interested in reviving gun control push
Washington Post - In the wake of the Charleston shooting, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are considering ways to renew their failed push to pass meaningful gun-control legislation. “We want to make sure we have the votes. Pat’s going to have to, and I’ll work with him, to get some of our colleagues on the Republican side,” Manchin said, adding that he hasn’t talked directly to Toomey about a revival. Manchin specifically mentioned an effort aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of people diagnosed with mental illness.

Military Takes Over Florida High-School Parking Lot in Preparation for Terrorist Training
TheRundownLive - Marion County residents have been instructed to not worry about the 600-700 military soldiers who have occupied the Westport High School parking lot. According to the Ocala Post, the military drill is under the guise of “Operation Guardian,” and will improve their skills in the event of a “terrorist attack or natural disaster”. According to a government website Operation Guardian’s purpose is to “combat the importation of substandard tainted, and counterfeit products that pose health and safety risks to consumers” and is under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).... The homepage mentions no use of military involvement which if used domestically in real time, could be a direct violation of the Posse Comitatus act.

CNN Goes There: Asks If Thomas Jefferson Memorials Should Be Removed Because He Owned Slaves?
Zero Hedge - As the Confederate Flag hysteria escalates, CNN's Ashleigh Banfield asks fellow CNN mouthpiece Don Lemon if it’s now appropriate for lawmakers to start a future conversation about whether or not the monument of Thomas Jefferson should be removed from the U.S. Capitol. As DailySurge notes rather eloquently, Banfield is foolish to conflate the Confederate flag with a Thomas Jefferson memorial; but we fear the stupid won’t be receding anytime soon.

Pentagon Prepares for Rise of Great Power Competition - US Defense Official
Sputnik News - The US Department of Defense is preparing for the coming challenges of rivalries between world powers in Europe and Asia, US Department of Defense official for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict (SOLIC) Theresa Mari Whelan said on Tuesday. Both Russia and China have developed sophisticated intelligence gathering and operational capabilities that the US Defense officials have said could counter the US ability to project military power.

Corporations Win Again: Senate Passes Obamatrade Fast-Track Bill
Zero Hedge - From the Hill: The Senate on Tuesday voted to advance President Obama’s trade agenda, approving a measure to end debate on fast-track authority.... Thirteen Democrats backed fast-track in Tuesday’s vote, handing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a major legislative victory. They did so even though the trade package did not include a workers assistance program for people displaced by increased trade.... To move fast-track forward, the White House and GOP leaders in both chambers decided to break TAA away from fast-track, and to try to approve both in separate votes. After the Senate votes Wednesday on final passage for fast-track, it will take a procedural vote on a package that includes TAA and trade preferences for African countries known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

US criminal economics: TPP secret treaty = ‘constitutional republic,’ debt = ‘money’, 500 million+ dead from poverty = ‘necessary.’ Had enough to demand arrests?
Carl Herman - US criminal economics: TPP secret treaty = ‘constitutional republic,’ debt = ‘money’, 500 million+ dead from poverty = ‘necessary.’ Had enough to demand arrests? The .01% psychopathic oligarch “leaders” in US government, banking/finance, and corporate media wage war upon the 99.99% in ~100 crucial areas. Aside from lie-began overt unlawful military Wars of Aggression connected to economic domination with the US starting over 200 such armed attacks since WW2 and war-murdering ~30 million people (with these crimes “covered” by corporate media, let’s consider three central economic policies...

VIDEO: Police release dash cam video of Dylann Roof arrest
ABC News - Police have released video of Dylann Roof's arrest in Shelby, N.C. after he allegedly gunned down nine people in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. The video footage, taken from a police cruiser's dash cam on June 18, shows how officers swarmed around Roof's car on a busy street, and quickly took him into custody.

CNN Guest: Efforts to Remove Confederate Flag Are “Cultural Genocide”
Paul Joseph Watson - As the debate continues to rage over the Confederate flag in the aftermath of the Charleston massacre, one CNN guest claimed that efforts to remove the controversial symbol are predicated on “cultural genocide” against people from the south.
* Related: Cultural Revolution: Wallmart Amazon and eBay to ban Confederate merchandise

Autopsy shows Freddie Gray died of 'high-energy injury': Baltimore newspaper
(Reuters) - The autopsy of the Baltimore black man who died after being hurt while in police custody shows he suffered a "high-energy injury" like those in shallow-water diving accidents, the Baltimore Sun reported on Tuesday. The spinal injury to Freddie Gray, whose death in April triggered protests and rioting, was most likely caused when the police van in which he was riding suddenly decelerated, the newspaper said. It cited a copy of the autopsy report, which has not been made public. The state medical examiner's office concluded that Gray's death fit the medical and legal definition of an accident. But it ruled the death to be a homicide because officers failed to follow safety procedures "through acts of omission."

Big Investors Are Dropping Stocks Like Hot Potatoes
Daily Sheeple - The stock market has reached completely unrealistic levels, and it was only a matter of time before investors started getting out while the getting is good, which is exactly how most bubbles start to unravel.... Jill Carey Hall of Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced that their clients sold $4.1 billion in stocks last week. Coincidentally, this is largest sell-off that they’ve seen January of 2008. But more importantly, the bulk of these sales have been conducted by what she’s calling “institutional investors.” In other words, these are some of the biggest stock players, which often include insurance companies, hedge funds, banks, and pension funds. This sudden sell-off was just that. Sudden. According to Jill Carey “After three weeks of net buying, institutional clients’ net sales last week were the largest in our data history”.

Tuesday - June 23, 2015 - Today in History:

1683 - William Penn signed a friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania.
1700 - Russia gave up its Black Sea fleet as part of a truce with the Ottoman Empire.
1760 - The Austrians defeated the Prussians at Landshut, Germany.
1757 - Robert Clive defeated the Indians at Plassey and won control of Bengal.
1836 - The U.S. Congress approved the Deposit Act, which contained a provision for turning over surplus federal revenue to the states.
1860 - The U.S. Secret Service was created to arrest counterfeiters.
1902 - Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy renewed the Triple Alliance for a 12 year duration.
1931 - Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane.
1947 - The U.S. Senate joined the House in overriding President Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act.
1951 - Soviet U.N. delegate Jacob Malik proposed cease-fire discussions in the Korean War.
1952 - The U.S. Air Force bombed power plants on Yalu River, Korea.
1964 - Henry Cabot Lodge resigned as the U.S. envoy to Vietnam and was succeeded by Maxwell Taylor.
1966 - Civil Rights marchers in Mississippi were dispersed by tear gas.
1972 - U.S. President Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation.
2004 - The U.S. proposed that North Korea agree to a series of nuclear disarmament measures over a three-month period in exchange for economic benefits.
2005 - Former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the 1964 Mississippi slayings of three civil rights workers.

Airstrike Kills ISIL Militant Linked to 2012 Benghazi Attack on US Embassy
Sputnik News - An Islamic State militant linked to the 2012 attack on a US embassy in Benghazi, which killed US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, was wiped out during a US airstrike in Iraq, the Pentagon said late Monday. The Islamist was identified as Ali Awni Harzi, a "known Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant operative and organizational intermediary." "His death degrades ISIL's ability to integrate North African jihadists into the Syrian and Iraqi fight and removes a jihadist with long ties to international terrorism," Pentagon officials said in a statement.

NATO plans 40,000-strong rapid response force in E. Europe
RT - NATO’s rapid response Spearhead Force in Europe might reach 40,000 troops, a tenfold growth from the initial 4,000-strong force deployed last year, the military alliance’s chief said. Most of these troops will be stationed near Russian borders. “NATO defense ministers ... [will] make a decision to further increase the strength and capacity of the 13,000-strong NATO Response Force (NRF) to 30,000 or 40,000 troops,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. The decision is to be officially announced during NATO’s defense ministers meeting on June 24-25 in Brussels. The troops will be under the command of 6 HQs to be stationed in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The Spearhead Force will include Special Forces and rapid response teams, enforced with marine and air components.

Bundeswehr Can't Take Part in NATO Tasks Due to Lack of Equipment, Budget
Sputnik News - The Bundeswehr, the unified armed forces of Germany, is incapable of effectively participating in NATO tasks due to being ill-equipped, Hans-Peter Bartels, a member of the Bundestag, told Die Welt in an interview. To participate in NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) drills in Poland, Germany had to scrape much of its arms and equipment "from all around the Bundeswehr," Bartels said. That's why Germany should significantly increase its military spending, Bartels argued.

Greece Capitulates: Tsipras Crosses "Red Line", Will Accept Bailout Extension
Zero Hedge - Under pressure from all sides (and most importantly from Mario Draghi who holds the fate of the Greek banking sector in his hands) Greece looks to have folded and is now set to accept an extension of its current bailout program. PM Alexis Tsipras now faces an uphill battle to unite Syriza around what is likely to be an unpopular agreement. If he fails, the country could plunge into political and social turmoil.

‘Abortion drone’ to drop DIY drugs over Poland to women
The Telegraph - A drone carrying medical abortion pills is set to fly to Poland, where abortion is severely restricted for women. The ‘abortion drone’ is being sent by not-for-profit organization Women on Waves – which provides medical abortion pills around the world – in a bid to help Polish women terminate their pregnancies safely. Normally the company sends the pills by post, after women have placed their orders online, but this is the first time it has used the unorthodox method of delivery by drone. On Saturday, it will drop a number of packages of World Health Organization-approved abortion pills over a Polish town on the border of Germany, where it will be met by women’s groups who will hand the pills to individual women who need them.

Caribbean states developing biometric travel card
Planet Biometrics - The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is developing a biometric travel card which citizens can simply “swipe” to travel between the nations, according to local officials. Director-General of the OECS Commission, Dr Didacus Jules, said the initiative was part of regional integration plans, reported St Lucia Online. “We have already designed a single biometric ID card that contains all the information that is required so that in the near future, with the issuance of these cards, people from the OECS will not even have to fill out immigration cards to move – you just swipe and you move.”... Meanwhile, in February the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has also unveiled plans for a region-wide biometric identity card.

Last Chance to Stop Fast Track: Sen. Sessions Blasts Ugly Facts
New American - In a last-hour attempt to stop the U.S. Senate from committing a most dangerous act, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has once again taken the heroic stance of lone warrior, warning fellow Republicans against giving President Obama Trade Promotion Authority (TPA, aka Fast Track). After weeks of complicated maneuvering and a confusing jumble of votes, the stand-alone TPA bill passed by the House last week is set to go back to the Senate on Tuesday, for what could be the final vote to confer what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has admitted is “an enormous grant of power, obviously, from a Republican Congress to a Democratic president.”

Obama DOJ in $29 Million Charleston Shooting Payout
Memory Hole - On the late afternoon of Friday June 19 the Obama Justice Department led by new Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced it will “fast track” $29 million to victim families of the June 17 shooting at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina, Reuters reports. The exorbitant payout amounts to over $3.2 million per family.

#BlackLivesMatter Protesters Vandalize Statues In Charleston
Steve Watson - In the wake of the heinous mass shooting in Charleston last week, #BlackLivesMatter protesters descended on the city this weekend and set about vandalizing a historical monument to get their point across. The ‘protesters’ directed their anger at a Confederate memorial statue Saturday night, scrawling “black lives matter” and “This was the problem #racist” in red spray paint on the base of the Fort Sumter statue.... The City responded by covering the monument. Then others placed signs around it that read #AllLivesMatter – a clear rejection of the divisive agenda of the so called ‘protesters’.
* Related: ‘No Obama. No Sharpton.’ Charleston rejects racial hatemongers with #GoHomeDeray campaign

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley Calls for Removal of Confederate Flag from State Capitol
NBC News - South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state Capitol Monday. “Today we are here in a moment of unity to say it’s time to move the flag from the capitol grounds,” Haley said during a news conference attended by Republican senators Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott and other state leaders. Meanwhile, political and religious leaders in the state urged lawmakers to vote to remove the flag as early as Tuesday in tribute to the nine people gunned down at a historic black church in Charleston last week. Authorities have said the shooting was a hate crime, and a white supremacist website that may be linked to shooter Dylann Roof shows images that apparently show him holding the flag.

No Rolling Mainstream Media Coverage Of Two OTHER Mass Shootings
Steve Watson - While the nation’s mainstream media continues to obsess over the heinous Charleston shooting, two other mass shootings occurred this past weekend in Detroit and Philadelphia, but were barely covered at all, despite the fact that 19 people were shot and 1 person killed.... The two shootings constituted black on black violence, and as such do not neatly fit the constant barrage of race baiting division currently being pumped out by the mainstream media. This is why you probably didn’t hear about the incidents until now.

Free Range Parents Cleared: CPS Declares Kids Playing Outside Alone is Not Neglect
Activist Post - Police and Child Protective Services in Maryland twice removed the Meitiv children, 10 and 6, from their parents for child endangerment because they played alone at a nearby park. The generation that grew up as latchkey kids is now being called "free range" parents if they let their children play outside unattended. And they're being charged with neglect. Today it's being reported that CPS has cleared parents Danielle and Sasha Meitiv of a second case of neglect. They were cleared of wrongdoing in their first case less than a month ago. No harm ever befell the children except when they were kidnapped by overzealous authorities and kept away from their loving parents.

Establishment Media Links Rand Paul to White Supremacy Group
Kurt Nimmo - The political establishment will use a report that Rand Paul’s political action committee accepted a donation from the Council of Conservative Citizens to sabotage his presidential bid. Dylann Roof, the suspect in the Charleston church murders, allegedly mentioned the Council of Conservative Citizens in a so-called manifesto attributed to him. Roof wrote that he learned of “brutal black on white murders” on the group’s website following the killing of Trayvon Martin 2012. A story appearing in The Guardian on Sunday said the group donated to the campaigns of several prominent Republicans, including presidential candidates.

VA Wait List Continues to Grow at Alarming Rate
The Daily Sheeple - It’s been over a year since it was discovered that the Department of Veterans Affairs had been using “secret lists” to conceal the fact that they had abysmal wait times for veterans in need, some whom died while waiting to be treated… Now the number of veterans who are waiting one month or more for their treatment, has grown 50% since last year, and they’re currently facing a $3 billion budget shortfall. The VA is now considering furloughs and hiring freezes to continue their operation.

US military admits it carried out secret race-based experiments to test impact of mustard gas on US soldiers
The Independent - The US Department of Defence has for the first time admitted that it carried out race-based tests on American troops as part of its research about mustard gas. Up to 60,000 men were enlisted for a programme, declassified in 1993, to test mustard gas and other chemicals agents on US troops. But National Public Radio reported that the Pentagon has for the first time admitted that it grouped its test subjects by race as it believed African American and Puerto Rican US troops might respond to the poisonous gas different to white soldiers.

Warren Buffett: Derivatives Are Still Weapons Of Mass Destruction And ‘Are Likely To Cause Big Trouble’
Economic Collapse - The next great global financial collapse that so many are warning about is nearly upon us, and when it arrives derivatives are going to play a starring role. When many people hear the word “derivatives”, they tend to tune out because it is a word that sounds very complicated. And without a doubt, derivatives can be enormously complex.... At their core, derivatives represent nothing more than a legalized form of gambling. A derivative is essentially a bet that something either will or will not happen in the future. Ultimately, someone will win money and someone will lose money. There are hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of these bets floating around out there, and one of these days this gigantic time bomb is going to go off and absolutely cripple the entire global financial system.

Top CEO Warns Of Global Reset: “It’s In The Cards For Sure… It Could Happen This Year”
Mac Slavo - When this reset comes to pass the manipulations so apparent in commodities and broader stock markets today will be exposed, and according to Neumeyer, may lead to the biggest surge in precious metals we have ever seen. Echoing the forecasts of one of the world’s leading trend strategists Gerald Celenete, Neumeyer notes that the monetary system that takes hold after a global reset could result in gold rising to $3000 an ounce or more. Such a move would have a similar impact on silver, which may stabilize at it’s historical silver-to-gold ratio of 16:1, putting it’s strike price somewhere above $150 an ounce. Right now, you’re mining 10 ounces of silver for every one ounce of gold. So gold is trading at… let’s say $1,200 just to round it up. So that would be $120 silver, if the ratio was 10-to-1. So I say silver should be $120.
* Related: 'It's time to hold physical cash,' says one of Britain's most senior fund managers

VIDEO: American Adults Surpass Children in Taking Drugs to Stay Focused
Bloomberg - ADHD, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, isn’t just for kids anymore. Adults in the U.S. have overtaken children in taking medication for the condition and accounted for 53 percent of the industrywide 63 million prescriptions for ADHD drugs last year, according to data compiled by Shire Plc, which makes the top-selling Vyvanse treatment. That compared with 39 percent in 2007, the Dublin-based drugmaker said.

CDC already pushing next year's flu shot despite last year's vaccine debacle
(NaturalNews) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it plans to introduce two new flu vaccines this fall, a trivalent (three-in-one) and a quadrivalent (four-in-one) variety, that it hopes will work better than last year's jabs.... Part of the problem is that influenza strains are constantly mutating and developing resistance to conventional therapies, including flu shots and antiviral medications. With this in mind, it makes little sense to continue pushing more flu shots using the mantra that they at least provide some protection, when in fact they provide almost no protection and are clearly contributing to the spread of flu.

Health Benefits of Ginseng
Dr. Mercola - Ginseng is one of the most popular herbal supplements in the US, perhaps most well known for its traditional use of boosting memory and energy levels. However, it has many other uses. For starters, ginseng is considered an adaptogen, which means it helps your body to withstand mental and physical stress. Delving further into the benefits first requires understanding the different types of ginseng available. There are three major varieties, each with unique attributes, although only two are actually ginseng...

Black Widow Spider Can Kill Your Pet If You Don't Act Fast
Dr. Becker - Without the anti-venom, this bite is fatal for most cats and many dogs. They'll need hospitalization, and even then the prognosis may be unclear for days. This "cousin" inflicts bites that are just as disturbing, but with different symptoms. What to have on hand for both.
 

Monday - June 22, 2015 - Today in History:

1611 - English explorer Henry Hudson, his son and several other people were set adrift in present-day Hudson Bay by mutineers.
1807 - British seamen board the USS Chesapeake, a provocation leading to the War of 1812.
1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated a second time.
1868 - Arkansas was re-admitted to the Union.
1870 - The U.S. Congress created the Department of Justice.
1925 - France and Spain agreed to join forces against Abd el Krim in Morocco.
1933 - Germany became a one political party country when Hitler banned parties other than the Nazis.
1939 - The first U.S. water-ski tournament was held at Jones Beach, on Long Island, New York.
1940 - France and Germany signed an armistice at Compiegne, on terms dictated by the Nazis.
1941 - Under the codename Barbarossa, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
1942 - A Japanese submarine shelled Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River.
1942 - V-Mail, or Victory-Mail, was sent for the first time.
1944 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the "GI Bill of Rights" to provide broad benefits for veterans of the war.
1945 - During World War II, the battle for Okinawa officially ended after 81 days.
1946 - Jet airplanes were used to transport mail for the first time.
1970 - U.S. President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It required that the voting age in the United States to be 18.
1990 - Checkpoint Charlie was dismantled in Berlin.
1999 - The Supreme Court ruled that persons with remediable handicaps cannot claim discrimination in employment under the Americans with Disability Act.
2009 - Eastman Kodak Company announced that it would discontinue sales of the Kodachrome Color Film.
2011 - President Barack Obama announced he would pull home 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by the following summer.

Taliban attack on Afghan parliament in Kabul ends
BBC News - A co-ordinated Taliban attack on the Afghan parliament in Kabul has ended with all six gunmen killed, the interior ministry says. Attackers detonated a huge car bomb outside the gates, stormed the compound, then entered a building next to the chamber. Police evacuated the premises, while trying to fight the gunmen off. The Taliban say they carried out the attack to coincide with a vote to endorse a new defence minister.

U.N. to issue findings on war crimes in 2014 Gaza conflict
(Reuters) - The United Nations said it will publish the results of an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants during the 2014 Gaza conflict on Monday. The independent U.N. commission of inquiry, composed of chair Mary McGowan Davis, a former justice of the Supreme Court of New York, and Senegalese expert Doudou Diene, will publish the findings of their year-long probe at a news conference scheduled for 1130 GMT in Geneva.

12 Signs That The United States And China Are Moving Toward War
Michael Snyder - Thanks to events in the South China Sea and the blatant theft of the personal information of millions of U.S. government workers, tensions between the United States and China are the highest that they have been in decades. Most Americans typically assume that a real, actual shooting war between the U.S. and China could never possibly happen, but as you will see below the Chinese are actually spending a lot of time and money preparing for precisely such a conflict.

Saudi Arabia regime warns citizens against sharing 'faked documents'
The Nation - Saudi Arabia on Saturday urged its citizens not to distribute "documents that might be faked" in an apparent response to WikiLeaks' publication on Friday of more than 60,000 documents it says are secret Saudi diplomatic communications. The statement, made by the Foreign Ministry on its Twitter account, did not directly deny the documents' authenticity. The released documents, which WikiLeaks said were embassy communications, emails between diplomats and reports from other state bodies, include discussions of Saudi Arabia's position regarding regional issues and efforts to influence media.
* Related: WikiLeaks Reveals Saudi Arabia’s Efforts to Stir Political Unrest in Iran

Israel Bombing Elementary Schools Not Considered War Crimes, “Collateral Damage”. UN Commissioned Task Force
Global Research - The High Level International Military Group—a UN-commissioned group made up of 11 former chiefs of staff, generals, senior officers, and political leaders from the U.S., Germany, Spain, Holland, the U.K., Italy, Australia, and Colombia—dismissed all charges and allegations of Israel’s war crimes after investigating last summer’s attack on Gaza. The report was issued on Saturday following the group’s five-day trip to the region in March. It ultimately claims that Israel acted responsibly and with much restraint when the IDF bombarded Gaza last summer during what is known as “Operation Protective Edge.” The report even refers to the attack as “legitimate.”

Hungary, Greece, Cyprus to Restart Food Trade With Russia Despite Sanctions
Sputnik News - Hungary, Greece and Cyprus may soon be allowed to export fruit and vegetables to the Russian market, according to a report in the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Russian health authorities are conducting audits of suppliers in all three countries, as well as India, Alexey Alexeyenko, the director of Rosselkhoznadzor (the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) is quoted as saying… The US, the EU and other western countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Moscow in 2014 and early 2015. Russia responded by embargo of several foodstuffs, including dairy products, meat, fruits and vegetables from the EU, Canada, Australia and Norway.

Germany Makes Final Warning to Greece Over Foreign Debt
Sputnik News - Germany has issued a final warning to Greece threatening that Greece will have to leave the Eurozone if they fail to establish a deal with their creditors.... According to a source in the administration of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Greek deadline for reaching negotiations will not be changed. Leaders of the Eurozone countries are due to meet in Brussels tomorrow [Monday] for a final meeting to discuss needed reforms in order to meet the demands of Greek creditors. If the deal is not reached by June 30, when Greece’s international bailout ends, the country will run out of money and find itself unable to pay its debts or finance the running of the state.
* Related: Meanwhile, Greece Is Quietly Printing Billions Of Euros

S Korean Lawmaker Files Lawsuit Over Gov't Failure to Handle MERS Outbreak
Sputnik News - A South Korean lawmaker filed a lawsuit against the government over failure to provide an adequate response to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus’s outbreak in the country, local media reported on Sunday. The death toll from the MERS outbreak, which started in South Korea in May, stands at 25, while the total number of those infected with the virus amounts to 169, the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare said Saturday. "The government has a duty to ensure the people's rights to be cautious by revealing a list of hospitals where MERS patients stayed and to provide detailed information on other places visited by them," Moon Jeong-gu said as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Belgian Doctors Are Euthanizing Patients Without Their Consent
CNS News - The Belgian Society of Intensive Care Medicine Council released a paper in 2014 discussing the use of sedatives “with the direct intention of shortening the dying process of terminal palliative care in patients with no prospect of a meaningful recovery.” This document, which applies to both children and adults, holds that “suffering should be avoided at all times,” adding that the process of withdrawing treatment and increasing the doses of “sedative/opioids” to fatal levels in patients in intensive care “must not be interpreted as killing.” “Shortening the dying process by administering sedatives beyond what is needed for patient comfort can be not only acceptable but in many cases desirable,” the council document stated. Although end-of-life decisions should be discussed with the patient’s relatives, the statement noted that the final decision is “made by the care team and not by the relatives.”

Louisiana governor vetoes license plate reader bill, citing privacy concerns
Ars Technica - In a rare move against the advance of license plate readers, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) has vetoed a plan to acquire the scanners in the Bayou State. It had previously passed both houses of the Louisiana legislature overwhelmingly… Earlier this year, Ars obtained 4.6 million LPR records collected by the police in Oakland, Calif. over four years and learned that just 0.16 percent of those reads were "hits." We discovered that such data is incredibly revelatory. We were able to find the city block where a member of the city council lives using nothing but the database, a related data visualization tool, and his license plate number.

There’s a disturbing website with dozens of photos of the alleged Charleston shooter
Business Insider - Two people are claiming to have found the website belonging to a 21-year-old who’s accused of killing nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday. Using a reverse Whois finder, two Twitter users found lastrhodesian.com, which appears to have been registered by alleged Charleston shooter Dylann Roof in February. The Twitter users who found the site operate under the names Emma Quangel and Henry Krinkle. The Washington Post reported late Saturday afternoon that authorities confirmed that the site belonged to Roof. That website includes a number of pictures that appear to be Roof as well as a lengthy racist manifesto.

SUBOXONE: The Psych Drug Behind The Charleston Church Shooting?
Robert Harrington - Suboxone is a powerful psychoactive drug which is utilized in breaking heroin and narcotic pain reliever addictions. Just like methadone*, suboxone has it downside risks and adverse side effects. It is a medication which contains two primary ingredients — buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a synthetic opiate; naloxone is drug that blocks feelings of euphoria.... Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof was a known drug user who was caught with the powerful mind-altering narcotic Suboxone when apprehended by police during an incident on Feb. 28.
* Related: Every Mass Shooting Shares One Thing In Common & It’s NOT Weapons

VIDEO: No “Summer of Rage” or Shooting Hysteria in Charleston, SC Aftermath
Prison Planet - Citizens in Charleston, South Carolina, are demonstrating unity and forgiveness in the wake of the horrible shooting tragedy that shook the nation earlier this week.... Contrary to the unrest witnessed recently in Ferguson and Baltimore – which was agitated with the help of billionaire George Soros-backed organizations – and the predicted violence in the form of “Summer of Rage” riots, suspected shooter Dylann Storm Roof’s actions seem to have instead strengthened the community, suppressing the “race war” the suspect admittedly wished to foment.

12 Year Old SLAMS Obama on Charleston, His Video is Going Viral
GovSlaves - The young man already had one video go viral (see the bottom of this post) criticizing the president on several issues. That video garnered nearly 2 million views.

New York prison break manhunt follows 'credible sighting' 350 miles away
The Guardian - Authorities scrambled on Saturday afternoon and evening to get officers to the remote, rural area 350 miles south-west of the prison. At a Sunday afternoon press conference, Major Michael Cerretto of New York state police confirmed that the call which came in from a “witness” on Saturday was deemed credible because it “fit the description” of the two fugitives. Officers questioned the member of the public, Ceretto said, and began searching in the area of Friendship, New York, near the Pennsylvania border. The new search area prompted fierce media interest on Saturday evening but by Sunday afternoon there was still no confirmed sighting of the convicts and they were still at large.

10 Top Quotes from Rand Paul’s Book ‘Taking a Stand’
Breitbart - “A lot of what I’ve tried to do is talk about many of the things I’ve been talking about in different speeches across the country but it also has a lot of biographical detail and a little more about me personally and my family,” Paul told Breitbart News when asked about the book. “It shows a little about where I came from, studying to be a doctor and that sort of thing, and talks about Guatemala and some of the different battles we’ve had here in Congress to rein in big government. It has some anecdotes also from the things that have happened in the Senate, and sort of behind the scenes. It kind of also lays out a sort of a blueprint for how to make things better here.”

Privilege, Calls for Taking Guns From ‘Those Whose Hearts Are Filled With Hate’
Breitbart - In an emotional speech that heaped scorn and blame on America for failing to pass gun control measures while it supposedly perpetuates racism, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said white Americans need to “question our own assumptions and privilege.” “We still allow guns to fall into the hands of people whose hearts are filled with hate. You can’t watch massacre after massacre and not come to the conclusion that President Obama has said, ‘We must tackle this challenge with urgency and conviction,’” she said to applause at the 83rd annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in San Francisco.

Trump for President?
Paul Craig Roberts - Perhaps it has occurred to you as it has to me that the United States is no longer capable of producing political leadership. In the current issue of Trends Journal, Gerald Celente describes the eight candidates (at the time he went to press) for the US presidential nomination as “Liars, cowards, freaks & fools.” Celente put it well. If you look at the sorry collection that aspires to be the CEO of what continues to be described as the “exceptional, indispensable, most important country with the largest economy and military, the world’s only Superpower, the Uni-power,” you see a collection of nobodies. America is like the last days of Rome when contenting factions fought to put their puppet on the throne.

Signs Of Financial Turmoil In Europe, China And The United States
Economic Collapse - As we move toward the second half of 2015, signs of financial turmoil are appearing all over the globe.... In the U.S., stocks aren’t crashing yet, but we just witnessed one of the largest one week outflows of capital from the bond markets that we have ever witnessed. Slowly but surely, we are starting to see the smart money head for the exits. As one Swedish fund manager put it recently, everyone wants “to avoid being caught on the wrong side of markets once the herd realizes stocks are over-valued“.

For $150,000 UK Company Will Control The Weather On Your Big Day
GovSlaves - Weddings can be expensive and fraught with stress as brides and grooms fret over every last detail, from the color of the cake icing to how to handle the weather if it decides to rain all over them and their 250 guests on the lawn of a dream chateau in the country. Oliver’s Travels, a luxury holiday rental company, is offering to play weather god…for a price. For now only available in France, Oliver’s Travel’s cloud-bursting service sends out aircraft to trigger rain ahead of your wedding, hopefully leaving your special day clear of the wet stuff.... This type of cloud-bursting works by spreading silver iodide in clouds, causing moisture to condense around it, creating rain and encouraging the clouds to disperse.

Yes, Those Earthquakes Are Caused by Fracking Boom, Studies Confirm
Common Dreams - The surge in earthquakes shaking Oklahoma, Texas and other parts of the nation's mid-section are likely caused by million of gallons of toxic oil and gas wastewater being disposed of underground, two new studies have found.... Weingarten and his colleagues also discovered that wells blasting the most wastewater into the ground, and at a faster rate—more than 300,000 barrels a month—were more likely to be linked to earthquakes. Their research was published Thursday in the journal Science. Similarly, two geologists at Stanford University discovered that greater seismicity in certain counties in Oklahoma was often preceded by 5- to 10-fold increases in the volume of wastewater injected.

Avoid Tragedy: Check Your Yard for These Potentially Fatal Growths
Dr. Becker - Mushroom intoxication in pets is probably underestimated, according to some experts, even though it ranks near the top of the list of pet poisonings each year. Mushrooms present a special problem for pet parents because unless you're a mushroom expert (called a mycologist), it's next to impossible to tell the difference between toxic and non-toxic varieties.... Clinical signs of mushroom poisoning depend on the species of mushroom ingested, the specific toxin the mushroom contains, and the individual animal's susceptibility. Generally speaking, mushroom poisoning has four distinct clinical syndromes...
 

Friday - June 19, 2015 - Today in History:

1778 - U.S. General George Washington's troops finally left Valley Forge after a winter of training.
1862 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln outlined his Emancipation Proclamation, which outlawed slavery in U.S. territories.
1864 - The USS Kearsarge sank the CSS Alabama off of Cherbourg, France.
1865 - The emancipation of slaves was proclaimed in Texas.
1910 - The first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington.
1912 - The U.S. government established the 8-hour work day.
1917 - During World War I, King George V ordered the British royal family to dispense with German titles and surnames.
1934 - The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration was established.
1934 - The U.S. Congress established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The commission was to regulate radio and TV broadcasting (later).
1942 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington, DC, to discuss the invasion of North Africa with U.S. President Roosevelt.
1943 - Henry Kissinger became a naturalized United States citizen.
1944 - The U.S. won the battle of the Philippine Sea against the Imperial Japanese fleet.
1951 - U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the Universal Military Training and Service Act, which extended Selective Service until July 1, 1955 and lowered the draft age to 18.
1961 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision in Maryland's constitution that required state officeholders to profess a belief in God.
1964 - The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
1965 - Air Marshall Nguyen Cao Ky became South Vietnam's youngest premier at age 34.
1968 - 50,000 people marched on Washington, DC. to support the Poor People's Campaign.
1973 - The Case-Church Amendment prevented further U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.
1973 - Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) got his 2,000th career hit.
1973 - The stage production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" opened in London.
1981 - The European Space Agency sent two satellites into orbit from Kourou, French Guiana.
1997 - William Hague became the youngest leader of Britain's Conservative party in nearly 200 years.
1998 - Gateway was fined more than $400,000 for illegally shipping personal computers to 16 countries subject to U.S. export controls.
1998 - A study released said that smoking more than doubles risks of developing dementia and Alzheimer's.
1998 - Switzerland's three largest banks offered $600 million to settle claims they'd stolen the assets of Holocaust victims during World War II. Jewish leaders called the offer insultingly low.
1999 - Stephen King was struck from behind by a mini-van while walking along a road in Maine.
1999 - The Dallas Stars won their first NHL Stanley Cup by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in the third overtime of game six.
2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a group prayer led by students at public-school football games violated the 1st Amendment's principle that called for the separation of church and state.
2007 - A truck bomb struck a Shiite mosque in central Baghdad, killing at least 87 people.
2008 - Democrat Barack Obama announced he would bypass public financing for the presidential election, even though Republican John McCain was accepting it.

Poroshenko Offers Tony Blair a Job
Sputnik News - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko can't seem to get enough of foreign advisors telling his government how to carry out reforms, this time offering former British Prime Minister Tony Blair a job in his International Advisory Council for Reforms… the former prime minister had been invited "to share his experience of public administration" within the council, headed by corruption-mired former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has since moved on to become governor of the Odessa Region… US Senator John McCain was also offered a seat in the council, but said he couldn't accept due to constitutional regulations.

Greece faces banking crisis after eurozone meeting breaks down
The Guardian - Greece is facing a full-blown banking crisis after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers broke down in acrimony and recrimination on Thursday evening, bringing the prospect of Greek exit from the eurozone a step nearer. Some €2bn of deposits have been withdrawn from Greek banks so far this week – including a record €1bn yesterday – triggering fears that a breakdown in talks would spark a further flight of funds. The German leader Angela Merkel, French president François Hollande and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to stage an emergency EU summit on Monday as a last critical attempt to prevent Greece going bankrupt. A representative of the European Central Bank told the meeting it was unsure whether Greek banks would have the funds to be able to open on Monday. Related: Greece could be forced to lock down savers’ cash as debt crisis worsens

Iceland Still Ranked World’s most Peaceful Nation: United States Inches up to 94th
AllGov - The Nordic island nation was designated the most peaceful nation on earth, according to the Institute for Economics & Peace’s latest Global Peace Index. Apparently there’s something about the Nordic countries that makes them prone to outbreaks of peace. Denmark was ranked second and Finland No. 6. The other two Nordic nations, Sweden and Norway, placed were No. 13 and 17, respectively. The United States was way down on the Global Peace Index, placing at No. 94, but a definite improvement from last year’s 101. Part of the improvement came from the partial withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and U.S. efforts to secure a nuclear deal with Iran. Canada placed seventh on the global list.

Ukraine’s National Guard, California National Guard Agree on Cooperation
Sputnik News - Commanding officers of Ukraine’s National Guard held a meeting in Kiev with their colleagues from the California National Guard, the press office of the Ukrainian entity reported. "A working meeting took place at the headquarters of the Ukrainian National Guard. A range of specific issues on cooperation were on the agenda. Representatives of the US delegation expressed hope for conducting joint exercises in the near future," the report read.


Anti-Russian Sanctions Can Cost EU Up to $114 Billion - Austrian Study
Sputnik News - The European Union could lose up to €100 billion ($114 billion) due to the anti-Russian sanctions if things remain unchanged, a study by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research revealed Friday.... “If the situation does not change fundamentally, our most pessimistic scenario will come true,” one of the research authors Oliver Fritz was quoted as saying by Die Welt. According to the calculations, current political situation can also affect over 2 million EU jobs because of the declining exports.


China Offers Food Aid to North Korea Suffering Worst Drought in a Century
Sputnik News - China expressed its willingness to provide food to North Korea after Pyongyang revealed that the country plagued by food shortages was suffering from a severe drought unseen for a century. The United States refused to help.... The United States has declined to offer assistance to North Korea. Earlier this week, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that he had no "specific information about the validity of the drought" and was not aware of any US plans to provide food assistance, according to Yonhap.

 

Pentagon Building Cruise Missile Shield To Defend US Cities From Russia
Defense One - The Pentagon is quietly working to set up an elaborate network of defenses to protect American cities from a barrage of Russian cruise missiles. The plan calls for buying radars that would enable National Guard F-16 fighter jets to spot and shoot down fast and low-flying missiles. Top generals want to network those radars with sensor-laden aerostat balloons hovering over U.S. cities and with coastal warships equipped with sensors and interceptor missiles of their own. One of those generals is Adm. William Gortney, who leads U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, and North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. Earlier this year, Gortney submitted an “urgent need” request to put those new radars on the F-16s that patrol the airspace around Washington. Such a request allows a project to circumvent the normal procurement process.

John Kerry ''Compiling'' More Lies Against Syria
Brandon Turbeville - Despite the fact that both John Kerry and the US State Department have been repeatedly disproven over their claims that the Syrian government is using chemical weapons against civilians and terrorists in Syria, John Kerry appeared via video from Boston to announce that he has proof that the Syrian government has done just that. He also indicated that the US government is “compiling” that evidence to be presented at a later date. “I am absolutely certain, we are certain that the preponderance of those attacks have been carried out by the regime,” Kerry said. He also claimed that “It has been significantly documented; it’s dropped from airplane. The opposition isn’t flying airplanes or helicopters.”

VIDEO: House approves fast-track 218-208, sending bill to Senate
The Hill - The House on Thursday took the first step toward resuscitating the White House’s trade agenda by passing legislation granting President Obama fast-track authority. The bill now goes to the Senate, where the White House and GOP leaders are seeking to strike a deal with pro-trade Democrats. The House vote was 218-208, with 28 Democrats voting for it. This is the second time in a week the House has voted to approve the controversial fast-track bill. On Friday, the House voted 219-211 in favor of fast-track, which would make it easier for Obama to complete a sweeping trans-Pacific trade deal.

Charleston Shooter Was on Drug Linked to Violent Outbursts
Paul Joseph Watson - Charleston shooter Dylann Storm Roof was reportedly taking a drug that has been linked with sudden outbursts of violence, fitting the pattern of innumerable other mass shooters who were on or had recently come off pharmaceutical drugs linked to aggression. According to a CBS News report, earlier this year when cops searched Roof after he was acting suspiciously inside a Bath and Body Works store, they found “orange strips” that Roof told officers was suboxone, a narcotic that is used to treat opiate addiction. Suboxone is a habit-forming drug that has been connected with sudden outbursts of aggression. Related: Charleston Shooting: What They’re Not Telling You

Army lab lacked effective anthrax-killing procedures for 10 years
USA Today - The U.S. Army research facility that has mistakenly shipped live anthrax to unsuspecting labs in the U.S. and abroad for more than 10 years failed to have effective and standardized procedures for killing the deadly bacteria with radiation, according to a federal investigation report... The report, dated June 5, cites the Dugway Proving Ground's Life Science Test Facility in Utah with three violations of federal regulations for working with potential bioterror agents and orders the facility to immediately cease all shipments of "inactivated" anthrax specimens.

2,666,000 Words: FDA Rules are Twice the Length of the Bible
CNS News - Since President Barack Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued 545 new final regulations, equaling 2,666 pages in the Federal Register and totaling approximately 2,666,000 words, according to a count of the regulations published in the Federal Register. The Gutenberg Bible is only 1,282 pages and 646,128 words.

The Last Rebels: 25 Things We Did as Kids That Would Get Someone Arrested Today
Daily Sheeple - Raise your hand if you survived a childhood in the 60s, 70s, and 80s that included one or more of the following, frowned-upon activities (raise both hands if you bear a scar proving your daredevil participation in these dare-devilish events).

Dylann Roof Could Not Legally Carry a Firearm
Truth Revolt - Many in the media and political spheres, including President Barack Obama, have used Wednesday’s tragic mass-shooting at Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina to push for further restrictions on gun ownership. But radio host and Second Amendment warrior Dana Loesch has revealed that under current South Carolina law, shooter Dylann Roof was already ineligible to purchase or carry a firearm due to a previous felony conviction and would have failed a background check.

 

Rand Paul To Unveil Plan To Replace IRS Tax Code With ‘Fair and Flat Tax’
Truth in Media - GOP presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced that he will release a plan to repeal the entire IRS tax code, making more than $2 trillion in tax cuts and replacing the code with “The Fair and Flat Tax” of 14.5 percent on individuals and businesses. In an editorial for the Wall Street Journal, Paul claimed that his plan will repeal the more than 70,000 pages that make up the Internal Revenue Service’s tax code and “eliminate nearly every special-interest loophole.” Paul wrote that although President Obama has talked about “middle-class economics,” his policies have “led to rising income inequality and negative income gains for families.” In contrast, Paul proposes that his plan would help the middle class by eliminating “the payroll tax on workers and several federal taxes outright, including gift and estate taxes, telephone taxes, and all duties and tariffs.”
 

Decades On, US Will Pay Millions to Vietnam Vets Exposed to Agent Orange
Sputnik News - Forty years after the end of the Vietnam War, American veterans are still feeling the effects. But on Thursday, the US government agreed to increase spending on a long-standing health concern, authorizing benefits to American veterans exposed to Agent Orange.... Health defects associated with Agent Orange include increased risks of cancer, nerve and respiratory disorders, leukemia, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. While Veterans Affairs has addressed the problem for ground troops exposed to the chemical, it has never recognized the need to treat the airmen involved in releasing the agent. But on Thursday, the White House Office of Management and Budget announced it would spend $47.5 million over the next 10 years on disability claims for 2,100 Air Force reservists.

The Hidden Enemy: Inside Psychiatry's Covert Agenda (Full Documentary)
This documentary shows how the army is exploited as Psychiatry's testing ground for drugs and other inhumane "treatment" which have resulted in exponential growth of military suicides. Currently, more US soldiers die from suicide than from combat. "The battlefield is safer than psychiatry. You understand that? Statistically you are less likely to be shot by an enemy than to be killed by a pharmaceutical drug. That's the truth about psychiatry." —Mike Adams...
 

Number of American McDonald's Locations to Shrink for 1st Time in Decades
ABC News - You may be seeing fewer of those "Golden Arches" as the number of McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. is shrinking as the company's sales sag. The world's biggest burger chain expects to close more of its restaurants than it opens domestically, which hasn't happened since at least 1970, the Associated Press reported. In April, the company announced the closure of 350 restaurants in the U.S, while it plans to add 300 globally. In the U.S., the chain has about 14,300 locations out of about 36,000 locations in 100 countries.
 

US mid-continent seismicity linked to high-rate injection wells: Earthquake numbers skyrocket ScienceDaily - The number of earthquakes associated with injection wells has skyrocketed from a handful per year in the 1970s to more than 650 in 2014, according to CU-Boulder doctoral student Matthew Weingarten, who led the study. The increase included several damaging quakes in 2011 and 2012 ranging between magnitudes 4.7 and 5.6 in Prague, Oklahoma; Trinidad, Colorado; Timpson, Texas; and Guy, Arkansas. "This is the first study to look at correlations between injection wells and earthquakes on a broad, nearly national scale," said Weingarten of CU-Boulder's geological sciences department. "We saw an enormous increase in earthquakes associated with these high-rate injection wells, especially since 2009, and we think the evidence is convincing that the earthquakes we are seeing near injection sites are induced by oil and gas activity."
 

10 Symptoms That You Should Never, Ever Ignore
Dr. Becker - Sometimes when your pet is acting a little "off," you can take a wait-and-see approach. But if you notice any of these 10 symptoms, it's a different story. Failing to act promptly can mean blindness, or even death in many of these situations.

 

Thursday - June 18, 2015 - Today in History:

1778 - Britain evacuated Philadelphia during the U.S. Revolutionary War.
1812 - The War of 1812 began as the U.S. declared war against Great Britain. The conflict began over trade restrictions.
1815 - At the Battle of Waterloo Napoleon was defeated by an international army under the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon abdicated on June 22.
1873 - Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote for a U.S. President.
1898 - Atlantic City, NJ, opened its Steel Pier.
1915 - During World War I, the second battle of Artois ended.
1918 - Allied forces on the Western Front began their largest counter-attack against the German army. (World War I)
1927 - The U.S. Post Office offered a special 10-cent postage stamp for sale. The stamp was of Charles Lindbergh’s "Spirit of St. Louis."
1928 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales.
1936 - The first bicycle traffic court was established in Racine, WI.
1959 - A Federal Court annulled the Arkansas law allowing school closings to prevent integration.
1959 - The first telecast received from England was broadcast in the U.S. over NBC-TV.
1961 - "Gunsmoke" was broadcast for the last time on CBS radio.
1979 - In Vienna, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) 2.
1982 - The U.S. Senate approved the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act for an additional twenty-five years.
1983 - Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
2009 - Greenland assumed control over its law enforcement, judicial affairs, and natural resources from the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenlandic became the official language.

Russia May Expand Countermeasures If EU Decides to Extend Sanctions
Sputnik News - Russia may expand countermeasures in response if the European Union decides to extend economic sanctions against the country, Russian Presidential Aide Andrei Belousov said Thursday.... On Wednesday, a source close to the EU leadership told RIA Novosti, that a formal decision on extending European Union sanctions against Russia until the end of January 2016 will be made when the bloc’s foreign ministers meet next week. The West has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia, accusing Moscow of fueling the internal Ukrainian conflict. The sanctions target Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors, as well as certain individuals.

Humanitarian Convoy With Russian, Cyprian Aid Departs for Donbass
Sputnik News - Russia’s 30th humanitarian convoy for residents of southeastern Ukraine (Donbass) has left the Rostov Region and is headed for Donetsk and Lugansk with over 1,000 tonnes of Russian and 12 tonnes of Cyprian aid.... The convoy consists of over 100 vehicles with more than 1,000 metric tons of aid, including food (flour, grains, pasta, vegetable oil), medicine and items of first necessity. The convoy also includes 12 metric tons of aid gathered by social and volunteer organizations in Cyprus. Overall, Russia has sent more than 37,000 metric tons of aid to Donbass since August 2014.

Humanitarian Ceasefire to Be Called in Yemen in Next Few Hours
Sputnik News - UN spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi said that all Yemeni parties involved in the first round of Geneva consultations have agreed to request a humanitarian truce in Yemen during the month of Ramadan. All Yemeni parties involved in the first round of Geneva consultations have agreed to request a humanitarian truce in Yemen during the month of Ramadan, UN spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi told Sputnik on Thursday.

Greeks Refuse to Pay Debt, Declare It “Illegal, Illegitimate, and Odious”
Kurt Nimmo - A committee formed by the speaker of the Greek parliament and Syriza member, Zoi Konstantopoulou, has released a report stating that the debt the IMF and the Europeans insist the people of Greece owe to the bankers is “illegal, illegitimate and odious.” Here is the conclusion from the report: All the evidence we present in this report shows that Greece not only does not have the ability to pay this debt, but also should not pay this debt first and foremost because the debt emerging from the Troika’s arrangements is a direct infringement on the fundamental human rights of the residents of Greece. Hence, we came to the conclusion that Greece should not pay this debt because it is illegal, illegitimate, and odious. The debt payment is due in two weeks.

Scotland To Issue Vaccine ID Card To Monitor Parents Who Refuse Vaccinations
GovtSlaves - It will work alongside the controversial Named Person scheme, allowing health workers to “monitor” youngsters at the click of a button and flagging up parents who refuse vaccinations. The network will join with another upgraded NHS database containing the medical records of everybody north of the Border, known as the Community Health Index (CHI). Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie called for a parliamentary debate on the plans, saying they would “fuel concerns” Scotland is moving closer to ID cards.

France Bans Sale of Monsanto Herbicide Roundup in Garden Centers
Health Impact News - French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal announced today a ban on the sale of popular weedkiller Roundup from garden centres, which the UN has warned may be carcinogenic. The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, was in March classified as "probably carcinogenic to humans" by the UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).... Her announcement comes after French consumer association CLCV asked French and European officials to stop selling glyphosate-based products to amateur gardeners.

McCain Calls Not Arming Ukraine 'Shameful Chapter' in US History
Sputnik News - Former presidential candidate John McCain revealed what he believes to be most shameful chapter of his country’s history. Is it the invasion of Iraq, might you ask? Or using chemical weapons in Vietnam? Or dropping atomic bombs on Japan? The answer is none of those. Senator McCain mostly regrets not starting yet another war – this time, in Ukraine. In a bizarre attempt to reinterpret history, US Senator John McCain said that the US not providing Ukraine with weapons for its armed conflict is "one of the most shameful chapters in American history."

You’ve Been Warned – Calls for Mandatory “National Service” for Americans Aged 18-28 Has Begun
Liberty Blitzkrieg - This is one of the most important articles I will write all year. The statists are coming for your kids, and the conditioning has already begun. Last night, I came across one of the most horrifying articles I have ever read, which is saying a lot. Before I get into it, take a look at the title and the tagline: How to Defeat ISIS With Millennial Spirit and Service If you think the title is bad, wait until you read the article. What becomes evident is that this grotesque concept of forced “national service” is being actively discussed at the highest levels of government. What Ron Fournier is doing in his National Journal article is conditioning the public to accept something that is completely unacceptable.

Charleston Shooting: Liberals Call for Disarming All White People
Paul Joseph Watson - Liberals reacted to the tragic shooting at an Episcopal Church in Charleston last night by calling for an immediate gun ban in order to disarm all white people. Police are still on the hunt for a 21-year-old slender, clean shaven white suspect who opened fire on a bible study group at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, killing nine people before fleeing the scene. One of the victims included Rev Clementa Pickney, a state senator and pastor. The incident is already being exploited by liberals to push their twin agendas of gun control and racial division, with many advocating that a total gun ban targeting only white people be immediately enacted.

U.S. House defeats bid to withdraw troops from Iraq
Reuters - The House voted 288-139 to defeat the concurrent resolution, which would have required Obama to remove the troops within 30 days, or by the end of 2015 if the administration determined it was not safe to do so within the 30-day timeframe.... The resolution was introduced by Democratic Representatives Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Barbara Lee of California and Republican Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina. The lawmakers said they hoped their introduction of the measure, allowed under the War Powers Authority, would lead to a broader debate on a formal authorization for the use of military force for the campaign against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

U.S. House moves to revive Obama's Pacific trade pact
Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives plans to bring legislation central to President Barack Obama's Pacific Rim trade agreement back to the floor for debate on Thursday, giving lawmakers a chance to deal with it in a different format.... The House Rules Committee on Wednesday approved the rules for the debate. This time, the fast-track bill would be taken up on its own, not paired with another measure to renew an expiring aid program for workers who lose their jobs due to trade deals.

Sessions: Fast Track Would Lead to 3 Pacts Encompassing 90% of World GDP
Weekly Standard - Senator Jeff Sessions is worried that the adoption of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would lead to an "historic international regulatory Commission" that would encompass 90 percent of the world's GDP.... "It is essential that there be no misunderstanding: fast-track preapproves the formation of not only the unprecedentedly large Trans-Pacific Partnership, but an unlimited number of such agreements over the next six years.... After TPP comes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union, followed by the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), seeking as one its goals labor mobility among more than 50 nations. Together, these three international compacts encompass three-fourths of the world’s GDP. Including the nations whose membership is being courted for after enactment, the countries involved would encompass nearly 90 percent of global GDP.

Almost $3 billion in Obamacare subsidies unaccounted for in CMS audit
Personal Liberty - A new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services reveals that $2.8 billion in Obamacare subsidies may have been awarded to the wrong people — and for the wrong amount of money. According to the audit summary, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) lacked internal controls to “effectively ensure the accuracy of nearly $2.8 billion in aggregate financial assistance payments made to insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act during the first four months that these payments were made.”

Shooting at Charleston, South Carolina, church leaves at least eight people dead, several injured
(WTVD) - Police are on the scene of a mass shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. It happened around 9 p.m. Wednesday around the Emanuel AME Church. Sources told ABC News that at least eight people are dead, and several are injured. Emanuel AME Church is one of the largest, oldest black congregations in the South.... At last report, the gunman was still on the loose and a manhunt is underway on the ground and in the air around downtown Charleston.

Deportable Violent Sex Offenders Can Go Free when Home Country Refuses to Take Them
AllGov - Hundreds of immigrants convicted of violent sex crimes have been allowed to go free in the United States because their home country has refused to take them back. An investigation by the Boston Globe revealed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tried unsuccessfully to deport 424 immigrants who had been convicted of sex-related offenses from 2008 to 2012. But once these individuals’ home countries refused to accept their deportation, ICE had no other recourse than to let them go. The 424 included convicted rapists, child molesters, and kidnappers. The newspaper also found that ICE failed to track these criminals after releasing them, or to ensure that they registered themselves as sex offenders.

Crohn’s disease sufferer Shona Banda who uses medical marijuana faces up to 30 years in prison
Truth in Media - As cannabis oil activist and Crohn's disease patient Shona Banda, who lost custody of her son and is facing over 30 years in prison after her son spoke out about her cannabis oil treatment during a school anti-drug presentation, surrendered herself to authorities, her attorney Sarah Swain said at a press conference that she intends to challenge cannabis' classification as a hardcore Schedule 1 narcotic with no medical use as a part of her defense of Banda and that she will take her case to the Supreme Court if necessary.

You Can Now Be Fired in Colorado for Using Medical Marijuana on Your Time Off
Daily Sheeple - Thanks to a landmark ruling in Colorado’s Supreme Court, there is new clarification to the state’s medical marijuana law—though employees may not like the news. If a workplace has a policy prohibiting drug use, workers who test positive for marijuana are not protected from termination—even if they are registered for medical use. In other words, you can be fired in Colorado for using marijuana during your time off.

Donald Trump reportedly paid actors $50 to cheer for him at his 2016 announcement
Business Insider - Real estate mogul Donald Trump is being accused of hiring actors to cheer for him at his 2016 presidential campaign announcement in New York City on Tuesday. The allegations first surfaced in a post by anti-Trump activist and liberal blogger Angelo Carusone that was published on Medium shortly after Trump's event. On Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter said it obtained an email that allegedly came from a casting company named Extra Mile offering actors $50 to attend the announcement and pose as Trump supporters.

45 veterans sign letter urging drone pilots to stand down
RT - A group of 45 former American military members have issued a jointly signed letter pushing drone operators to step away from their controls and refuse to fly any more lethal missions. The letter draws attention to the controversial operation of drones in foreign nations, where lethal strikes in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan have damaged terrorist networks but have also claimed the lives of innocent civilians. “At least 6,000 lives have been unjustly taken by US drone attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, the Philippines, Libya and Syria. These attacks are also undermining principles of international law and human rights,” the authors write, according to the Guardian.

How Walmart Spun an 'Extensive and Secretive Web' of Overseas Tax Havens
Common Dreams - Walmart has built a vast, undisclosed network of overseas tax havens—accounting for more than $76 billion of assets—that allows the multinational corporation to shirk public disclosure laws as well as its fair share of both foreign and U.S. taxes, according to a groundbreaking report published Wednesday by Americans for Tax Fairness. All told, the retail behemoth has established at least 78 subsidiaries in 15 offshore tax havens, none of them publicly reported before.

New $10 bill will feature a woman, Treasury Department announces
CBS News - The department has yet to determine which woman will be featured on the bill, though [Treasury Secretary Jack] Lew said he will pick "a woman who has played a major role in our history who represents the theme of democracy." Additionally, the law dictates that currency cannot feature a living person... The current $10 bill features a picture of Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first Treasury Secretary. While the new note will feature a woman, Lew said Hamilton won't be completely replaced. That could mean the new design will feature a picture of Hamilton and a woman (or women), or Hamilton will be featured on just some of the new $10 notes.

Wednesday - June 17, 2015 - Today in History:

1775 - The British took Bunker Hill outside of Boston.
1789 - The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly, and began to frame a constitution.
1799 - Napoleon Bonaparte incorporated Italy into his empire.
1837 - Charles Goodyear received his first patent. The patent was for a process that made rubber easier to work with.
1856 - The Republican Party opened its first national convention in Philadelphia.
1879 - Thomas Edison received an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the trustees of Rutgers College in New Brunswick, NJ.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1913 - U.S. Marines set sail from San Diego to protect American interests in Mexico.
1926 - Spain threatened to quit the League of Nations if Germany was allowed to join.
1928 - Amelia Earhart began the flight that made her the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
1930 - The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill became law. It placed the highest tariff on imports to the U.S.
1932 - The U.S. Senate defeated the bonus bill as 10,000 veterans massed around the Capitol.
1940 - The Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
1940 - France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II.
1941 - WNBT-TV in New York City, NY, was granted the first construction permit to operate a commercial TV station in the U.S.
1944 - The republic of Iceland was established.
1950 - Dr. Richard H. Lawler performed the first kidney transplant in a 45-minute operation in Chicago, IL.
1963 - The U.S. Supreme Court banned the required reading of the Lord's prayer and Bible in public schools.
1965 - Twenty-seven B-52’s hit Viet Cong outposts but lost two planes in South Vietnam.
1970 - North Vietnamese troops cut the last operating rail line in Cambodia.
1982 - Former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on "The CBS Morning News."
1991 - The Parliament of South Africa repealed the Population Registration Act. The act had required that all South Africans for classified by race at birth.
1994 - After leading police on a chase through Southern California, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and Ronald Goldman.

The Second Nuclear Arms Race Arrives: Russia Will Add 40 ICBMs In 2015 In Response To “NATO Encroachment”
Zero Hedge - With the US and Russia in a state of (renewed) cold war for over a year now, it was inevitable that that “other”, far more important attribute of the first Cold War would soon return: the nuclear arms race. And indeed it did just around dinner time in Russia today when speaking at an arms race fair, president Putin said that Russia will put more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles into service in 2015 as part of a wide-reaching program to modernize the military.

Greeks are stashing €10,000 bundles in their homes in fear of Grexit
The Guardian - “Everybody’s doing it,” said Joanna Christofosaki, in front of a Eurobank cash dispenser in the leafy Athens neighbourhood of Kolonaki. “Our friends have all done it. Nobody wants their money to be worthless tomorrow. Nobody wants to be unable to get at it.”... Bank deposits have been falling steadily since October and now stand at their lowest level since 2004. Withdrawals in recent weeks have averaged €200-250m a day, but on Monday – after the shock collapse of last-ditch talks between the Greek government and its eurozone and international lenders – withdrawals surged to €400m

Monsanto Linked to Israel's Illegal Use of White Phosphorous in Gaza War
Sputnik News - Agribusiness giant Monsanto - best known for their genetically modified soybeans and "probably carcinogenic" herbicide - has supplied the US government with white phosphorous used in incendiary weapons for at least 20 years, and some of that made its way to Israel for use in Operation Cast Lead. The blog Current Events Inquiry dug into some heavily redacted documents posted in 2012 on the US Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website, to discover that Monsanto was the purveyor of white phosphorous to the US, and subsequently Israel, including during Operation Cast Lead, which resulted in heavy casualties among Palestinians in Gaza in 2008 and 2009.

Bitcoin Spikes As Greeks Follow Cyprus "Template"
Zero Hedge - In March/April 2013, Bitcoin prices started to soar as Dijsselbloem's "template" applied to Cyprus prompted many to rethink money entirely. As the reality of a possible Grexit looms and Capital Controls are denied (just as they were in Cyprus), so Bitcoin prices are once again surging (up 10% in the last few days) as non-fiat currency once again becomes bid.

The Next Great European Financial Crisis Has Begun
Economic Collapse - The Greek financial system is in the process of totally imploding, and the rest of Europe will soon follow. Neither the Greeks nor the Germans are willing to give in, and that means that there is very little chance that a debt deal is going to happen by the end of June. So that means that we will likely see a major Greek debt default and potentially even a Greek exit from the eurozone. At this point, credit default swaps on Greek debt have risen 456 percent in price since the beginning of this year, and the market has priced in a 75 percent chance that a Greek debt default will happen. Over the past month, the yield on two year Greek bonds has skyrocketed from 20 percent to more than 30 percent, and the Greek stock market has fallen by a total of 13 percent during the last three trading days alone. This is what a financial collapse looks like, and if Greece does leave the euro, we are going to see this kind of carnage happen all over Europe.

Pope Calls for Global Authority to Impose Climate Change Agenda
Kurt Nimmo - Pope Francis would like to see a new global political authority to coerce the “rich” nations of the West to force citizens to adopt radical lifestyle and energy consumption changes in response to unverified and widely debunked climate change alarmism. Pope Francis would like to see a new global political authority to coerce the “rich” nations of the West to force citizens to adopt radical lifestyle and energy consumption changes in response to unverified and widely debunked climate change alarmism.... The release of the encyclical comes ahead of international climate negotiations in Paris this December.
* Related: Catholics Attack Pope Over “Climate Change” Fearmongering

South Korea Lures Travelers With MERS Insurance to Keep Tourism Afloat
Sputnik News - With 16 people dead and thousands under quarantine after an outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Seoul is struggling to manage the countrywide health-panic as well as its impact on the tourism industry. As of Tuesday, there have been 162 confirmed cases of MERS in South Korea.... According to the Strait Times, tourist arrival in South Korea has dropped by 24.6% in just the first 11 days of June, and the country may eventually lose $900 million in tourism revenue if things don’t improve.... Seoul is also taking alternative measures to respond to the tourism crisis. Namely, the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism has announced that it will offer any tourist free "MERS insurance" that will cover all their medical, and even travel expenses should they catch the virus.

UK: Teachers Use Spy Software to Detect Potential Child Terrorists
Mikael Thalen - Schools throughout the United Kingdom are being provided new surveillance software aimed at detecting “extremist” students. The program, designed by UK-based Impero Software, assists schools in building threat profiles on individual students by utilizing real-time electronic monitoring. Installed on school laptops and tablets, the software uses keyword search capabilities and URL monitoring to detect the use of “terrorism-related” words or phrases, allowing teachers to examine suspicious behavior patterns among students.

Senate passes torture ban despite Republican opposition
The Guardian - More than 20 Republican senators rejected a ban on the use of cruel and degrading treatment of prisoners on Tuesday, voting against an ultimately successful measure to permanently prevent a repeat of the CIA’s once secret and now widely-discredited torture program. The bipartisan amendment reaffirms President Barack Obama’s prohibition of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding and sleep deprivation, which were developed by the CIA under the administration of his predecessor, George W Bush. The measure passed in the Senate, 78-21.

Alabama city tosses property rights aside, threatens military vet for living ‘off the grid’
Yellowhammer - According to a report by WAFF, Tyler Truitt currently lives inside the city limits of Huntsville, but is not connected to city utilities. City officials have told him they consider his residence a “trailer” and say he must be connected to city hookups, and they are so adamant about it they have decided to come after him in court. “They came and they condemned our house and told us if we stayed here we’d be arrested for trespassing on our own property, and the reason why is (because) they said it was unsafe living conditions because we don’t have city utilities hooked up,” Truitt told the local TV station.

VIDEO: Benghazi Committee Discovers Clinton Correspondences Withheld
Breitbart - The patented Obama/Clinton slow walk technique, in which important information is held back from the public, press, and congressional investigators until scandals die of old age, is evidently still in use. A congressional source tells Politico that “House GOP Benghazi investigators have discovered additional Libya communications between Sidney Blumenthal and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” long after subpoenas were filed and supposedly responded to.

Indictment Alleges Garland Cartoon Contest Shooters Had Help
Breitbart - The indictment of a third man in the anti-free speech terror plot to murder Pamela Geller and others at the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest in Garland, Texas in May indicates that the planning and coordination is deeper than previously known. The indictment also points to the possible involvement of other co-conspirators. Decarus Thomas, aka Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, is scheduled to appear in a Phoenix courtroom on Tuesday afternoon, facing three counts: conspiracy, interstate transportation of firearms with intent to commit a felony, and making a false statement.

Military surveillance technologies are being integrated into law enforcement by DHS
MassPrivateI - It always begins with a trickle or in this case hot air. When D.C. politicians and law enforcement announced they would spend nearly $3 billion in taxpayer dollars to install surveillance blimps, the first Homeland Security run Department of Transportation (DOT) announced they want one or more.... "It is the first department of transportation in the country to use a blimp to monitor traffic" CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford said. The tethered balloon allowed officials to attain a view from 400 feet up, allowing a view of up to more than 10 miles. The balloon, which was located near one of the department’s node buildings, allowed anyone with access to the camera control system to view a live stream of the video and then zoom, tilt or pan the camera to get a better shot of the action.

Knife Regulation Arrives: This Is The US Government, Hard At Work
Zero Hedge - S. 1315 would allow people to possess knives in states where they are illegal if the person is travelling to and from states where the knife is legal, if the knife is secured, or if the knife is a safety blade designed for cutting seatbelts. Based on information provided by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1315 would have no effect on the federal budget. Because enacting S. 1315 would not affect direct spending or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

Federal Judge Gives Go-Ahead to Class Action Lawsuit against Pepsi for Exceeding California Carcinogenic Substance Limit
AllGov - Pepsi is headed to court in California, where a federal judge has ruled (pdf) it must confront allegations that its popular soft drinks contain unhealthy levels of a carcinogen. The civil case, representing nine class action lawsuits combined together, claims Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi One have levels of the carcinogenic 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI) that exceed what’s allowed under California Proposition 65. That law established a maximum allowable limit of 4-MeI at 29 micrograms a day. Drinks containing the chemical at higher levels have been proven to produce a significant risk of cancer.

New US Regulations Allow Food Producers to Hide Trans Fats - Advocacy Group
Sputnik News - New US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that ban food manufacturers to use partially hydrogenated oils have a loophole allowing them not to disclose trans fat content, Environmental Working Group (EWG) Director of Research Renee Sharp stated in a press release. We applaud the FDA for taking an important step that would eventually eliminate partially hydrogenated oils,” Sharp said on Tuesday. “[But] the FDA has failed to close the labeling loophole that allows processed food manufacturers to avoid full disclosure.”... The FDA set a three-year period for companies to reformulate products without using partially hydrogenated oils or petition the FDA to use trans fat. However, EWG stated the new rules allow companies to label their food as “trans fat free” even if it contains 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving.

Banks Demanding Customers Account for Every Deposit & Withdrawal Before Offering Mortgages
Paul Joseph Watson - Banks are beginning to demand that customers account for every deposit and withdrawal in their account before they can obtain a mortgage, another illustration of how capital controls imposed on the middle class are intensifying. “My sister just bought a house and to get the mortgage she had to explain every deposit and cash withdrawal in her account going back five years. My mother had simply written her a check for $400 to reimburse her for picking up some medicine. They wanted her to explain why my mother gave her $400,” writes economist Martin Armstrong, adding that his sister was also grilled on the $2,000 she withdrew ever few months to pay for incidental purchases. Another of Armstrong’s friends who shared an apartment with his girlfriend was also forced to account for five and a half years worth of rent checks he had written her before they could get a mortgage together.

Income Inequality Increasing: Millionaires Set to Control Half World Wealth
Sputnik News - Boston Consulting Group's annual Global Wealth report says that in 2014 there were 17 million millionaires in the world, up from 15 million in 2013, and they now account for 41% the world's $164 trillion in private wealth, which is expected to rise to 46% share by 2019. "The wealthier are getting more and more wealthy," BCG partner and managing director Anna Zakrzewski told MSNBC. "They have a much larger share of their wealth invested in equity markets and last year was a good year for market performance." In another indication that those gaining wealth are making money from money itself, the report says 73% of the world's gains in private wealth in 2014 came from gains on existing assets rather than the creation of new wealth or business.

California Water Cuts Leave City Days Away From Running Out Of Water
(CBS13) - The upscale community of Mountain House, west of Tracy, is days away from having no water. It’s not just about lawns—there may not be a drop for the 15,000 residents to drink.... “We’re out there looking for water supplies as we speak,” said Mountain House general manager Ed Pattison. “We have storage tanks, but those are basically just to ensure the correct pressurization of the distribution system. No more than 2 days are in those storage tanks.”

America’s Most Advanced Climate Station Data Shows US In A 10-Year Cooling Trend
Daily Caller - The U.S. Climate Reference Network was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide “high-quality” climate data. The network consists of 114 stations across the U.S. in areas NOAA expects no development for the next 50 to 100 years. The climate stations use three independent measurements of temperature and precipitation to provide “continuity of record and maintenance of well-calibrated and highly accurate observations,” NOAA states on its website. “The stations are placed in pristine environments expected to be free of development for many decades.” In essence, NOAA chose locations so they don’t need to be adjusted for “biases” in the temperature record.

US Customs Agents Target Russian-American Animal Rescue Group
Sputnik News - US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have threatened to seize animals belonging to the animal rescue group Sochi Dogs, which offers homeless dogs from Russia up for adoption worldwide... “We never had a problem until recently,” Sochi Dogs President Anna Umansky told Sputnik on Tuesday. “A Customs officer said we were told we [sic] are not allowed to pick up the dogs.” CBP had seized two dogs at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York Cityafter they arrived in crates from Sochi, Russia.... She explained US agents eventually handed over the dogs, but told her future shipments will be denied until Sochi Dogs abides by US Customs regulations. “We always have the correct documents, vaccinations and are able to give ample notice before every pick-up,” Umanksy said.
* Related: Sochi Dogs Extraordinary Strays
 

Tuesday - June 16, 2015 - Today in History:

1815 - Napoleon defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny, Netherlands.
1858 - In a speech in Springfield, IL, U.S. Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved. He declared, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
1884 - At Coney Island, in Brooklyn, NY, the first roller coaster in America opened.
1890 - The second Madison Square Gardens opened.
1897 - The U.S. government signed a treaty of annexation with Hawaii.
1903 - Ford Motor Company was incorporated.
1932 - The ban on Nazi storm troopers was lifted by the von Papen government in Germany.
1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the closure of all German consulates in the United States. The deadline was set as July 10.
1955 - The U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend Selective Service until 1959.
1978 - U.S. President Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos ratified the Panama Canal treaties.
1992 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush welcomed Russian President Boris Yeltsin to a meeting in Washington, DC. The two agreed in principle to reduce strategic weapon arsenals by about two-thirds by the year 2003.
1993 - The U.S. Postal Service released a set of seven stamps that featured Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Clyde McPhatter, Otis Redding, Ritchie Valens, Dinah Washington and Elvis Presley.
1996 - Russian voters had their first independent presidential election. Boris Yeltsin was the winner after a run-off.
1999 - The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that a 1992 federal music piracy law does not prohibit a palm-sized device that can download high-quality digital music files from the Internet and play them at home.
2000 - U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson reported that an employee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico had discovered that two computer hard drives were missing.
2008 - California began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

US may send F-22 fighter jets to Europe to counter Russian ‘threat’
RT - A senior US Air Force official called the current situation with Russia “the biggest threat” on her mind, hinting at a possible display of power that could see American military aircraft, including F-22 Raptor fighter jets, deployed to Europe. The Air Force is now considering a plan to further increase the number of its rotational forces in Europe, the US Secretary of the Air Force, Deborah Lee James, told reporters at the Paris Airshow at Le Bourget. “That’s the beginning, there will be more. You’ll continue to see more and more rotational forces,” James said as quoted by Reuters. “The biggest threat on my mind is what’s happening with Russia and the activities of Russia. That’s a big part of why I’m here in Europe.”

Greece’s Syriza weaves scheme for default, return to national currency - media
RT - A wing of Greece’s anti-austerity Syriza party is eyeing a plan to default on government debt and replace the euro with its own national currency in case negotiations on a bailout with its creditors fail, media have reported. The plan envisions a default similar to the one implemented by Iceland during the 2008 financial crisis, along with the nationalization of the Greek banking system. The party faction considers the continuing negotiations with European creditors useless, The Telegraph reported Monday citing sources familiar with the matter. It also foresees controlling capital movements and the establishment of a sovereign central bank to serve as a basis for a new financial system. The introduction of a dual currency is possible, the source said, but would violate the terms of membership in the eurozone, which could mean a quick return to Greece’s previous currency, the drachma.

Russia Sells Off More Than 40 Percent of US Treasuries in One Year
Sputnik News - The amount of US government bonds held by Russia reduced by more than 40 percent in the space of one year, according to figures released by the US Treasury on Monday. In April 2015, Russia held $66.5 billion in US government debt, down from $69.9 billion in March, and 43 percent less than the $116.4 billion it held in April 2014, when it was the twelfth largest holder of US debt. In April 2014, Russia was the 22nd largest creditor of the US.... Over the same period, the amount of gold reserves held by the Russian Central Bank rose from $44.3 billion in April 2014, to $48.3 billion in April 2015.

Big Business Behind New European Trade Secrets Law
Sputnik News - MEPs in the European Parliament are due to vote on a new Trade Secrets Directive which critics say threatens people and the planet by letting companies keep information on the health and environmental impact of their operations secret, and sue anyone who reveals it. According to lawyers at ClientEarth, the new law has been moulded by corporations like Michelin and lobbyists Business Europe, among others, with almost no input from organizations working to protect public health. On Tuesday, the European Parliament's legal affairs committee has the opportunity to change the proposal before it is finally adopted by the European Parliament in plenary.

‘Most aggressive since Cold War’: Russia may beef up border if US arms stationed in E. Europe
RT - Russia has no binding obligations limiting its armed forces in its western region, which means if the US deploys heavy weapons in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, there will be an equivalent response from Moscow, Russia’s top general said. “If America’s heavy arms, be it tanks, artillery systems or other heavy military hardware are deployed to Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, it will be the Pentagon’s and NATO’s most aggressive step since the end of the Cold War a quarter of a century ago,” General Yury Yakubov, a senior Defense Ministry official, was quoted as saying by Interfax.

US, China strike deal, set to hold joint military drills
RT - The US and China have signed a rare agreement to strengthen ties and develop a more productive military relationship. However, mistrust still remains, with Beijing saying progress can only be made if Washington respects China’s South China Sea ambitions. The understanding mainly concerns a deepening of cooperation between the two nations, following a meeting between Fan Changlong, the vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission and US Defense Secretary, Ashton Carter.

BP and Rosneft to make $700mn deal despite sanctions
RT - Russian oil major Rosneft and BP are close to signing a $700 million deal for BP to acquire a 20 percent stake in the Taas-Yuriakh Siberian oilfield, reports the FT. The deal could be announced this week at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The introduction of EU sanctions against Russia hasn’t scared off the largest European companies, working in the fuel and energy sector, according to Financial Times. Besides BP, Italy’s Eni and Norway's Statoil have already received governmental approval to continue working on joint projects with Rosneft. Shell continues to work with Gazprom Neft over the Salym project in the Siberian Khanty-Mansiysk area and is seeking Dutch government approval for other joint ventures.

EU preparing for ‘state of emergency’ after Greek talks collapse
Reuters - Greece and its creditors hardened their stances on Monday after the collapse of talks aimed at preventing a default and possible euro exit, prompting Germany's EU commissioner to say the time had come to prepare for a "state of emergency". Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ignored pleas from European leaders to act fast. Instead he blamed creditors for Sunday's breakdown of the cash-for-reform talks, the biggest setback in long-running negotiations to unlock aid. He said his government had a responsibility to defend Greece's dignity and would resist demands for further pension cuts.... Despite the deepening crisis, Tsipras is going ahead with a planned visit to Russia from Thursday, the day euro zone finance ministers hold a crucial meeting to review the standoff with Greece. He is due to stay till Saturday, attend an economic forum in Saint Petersburg and meet President Vladimir Putin. EU officials said that without improved Greek proposals by Thursday, the Eurogroup session would be very tough and was likely to present Greece with an ultimatum.
* Related: Stocks fall globally as Greek talks collapse

Zimbabwe phases out local currency at 35 quadrillion to US$1
Hang The Bankers - Zimbabwe has started retiring its almost worthless local currency in favor of the US dollar. Today, 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars are equal to US $1, as a result of hyperinflation which hit the country in 2009. The demonetization process of the Zimbabwe dollar started on Monday and will run till September 30. People with accounts of up to 175 quadrillion (175,000,000,000,000,000) Zimbabwean dollars will be paid $5. Those who preserved bills at home will receive a rate of 250 trillion to $1 for their 2008-issued notes and 250 to $1 for their 2009-issued notes.

Shock Video: Rioting Migrants Attempt to Hijack Trucks Heading for UK
Paul Joseph Watson - Shocking footage filmed in the French port town of Calais shows desperate migrants attempting to break into delivery trucks heading to the United Kingdom in another illustration of how the country’s generous welfare system acts as a beacon for illegal aliens.... The migrants are keen to reach the UK because they can exploit the country’s generous welfare system and obtain a much higher standard of living than in France, where they are forced to reside in a makeshift tent village in Calais known as “the jungle”. Around 2,500 migrants live in the tent village, with most of them coming from Sudan, Eritrea, Libya and Syria.

Vatican Speaker on Climate Thinks There are 6 Billion Too Many of Us
Breitbart - One of the speakers slated for the Vatican rollout of the long-awaited Papal document on climate change once said the earth is overpopulated by at least 6 billion people. The teaching document, called an encyclical, is scheduled for release on June 18 at Vatican City. Perhaps with the exception of the 1968 encyclical on contraception, no Vatican document has been greeted with such anticipation. The political left is hoping for a document that ties belief in global warming to a religious obligation. Climate skeptics have already started criticizing the document. The choice of Professor John Schnellnhuber, founding director of the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, as one of three presenters may be giving the left added hope and giving giving skeptics severe heartburn. He has been described as one of the more aggressive scientists on the question of man-made global warming.

 
Roll Call - House Republicans had intended to hold a vote Tuesday to reconsider last week’s failed vote on Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation, needed to send the Trade Promotion Authority bill — which passed — to the president’s desk. But the Rules Committee on Monday evening put language in its rule governing floor debate for an unrelated measure — the fiscal 2016 authorization of intelligence programs — to extend the House’s ability to reconsider the TAA vote up until July 30, the very last possible moment before the monthlong August recess. This gives lawmakers and the White House seven more weeks to engage members on both sides of the aisle and determine the best course of action.

US Marines: Our Sniper Rifles Are Outdated on the Battlefield
Sputnik News - The Marine Corps is notorious for fielding outdated equipment – some of which can be as many as 30 years old. When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Marine snipers carried the M40A1 sniper rifles, many of which were introduced shortly after the end of the Vietnam War. The Marines currently use a newer variant of the M40 as its primary sniper rifle – and it still shoots roughly the same distance it did 12 years ago: 1,000 yards. Active and former Marine Corps snipers say their weapons are inferior to that of other American military branches, and they do not match what the Taliban and the so-called Islamic State carry either. "It doesn't matter if we have the best training," one anonymous reconnaissance sniper told the Washington Post. "If we get picked off at a thousand yards before we can shoot, then what’s the point?"

US Army Loses Track of Own Personnel - GAO Report
Sputnik News - The US Army quite literally does not know what its own personnel are doing when they are on “borrowed” duty, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said. The Army does not know the extent to which it used borrowed military personnel during fiscal years 2013 and 2014 because it is unable to distinguish borrowed military personnel from the larger category of special duty personnel in its monthly special duty reports,” the report said. The term borrowed appears to be used in the report to define US military personnel who are taken from their regular duties to carry out more informal activities.

ATF To Join NYPD In Fighting New York City Gun Crime
CBS2 - Now in an unprecedented move, a federal agency is joining the effort to get gun crimes under control, CBS2’s Marcia Kramer reported Monday. Kramer is told it was a collective decision made by the federal government, the NYPD, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Those agencies are mounting a first-ever anti-gun initiative in high-crime areas. “There’s going to be an increase in federal arrests – no doubt,” said AFT agent Charles Mulham. Mulham’s words were intended to be a stiff warning to city residents who would carry weapons, and seem all to ready to use them. They will not only have to deal with the NYPD, but they will have the feds on their tail too.

USMan Spends 7 Years in Notorious Rikers Jail Awaiting Trial for a Murder He Didn’t Commit
Sputnik News - Carlos Montero, who is now 24 years old, has been held in pretrial detention since he was 17 for a murder he did not commit. But the judge refuses to separate his case from that of the actual murderer, leaving him hopelessly trapped.... There is a New York state statute guaranteeing a prisoner’s right to a speedy trial, stating that they must see trial within 180 days, but it does not apply to murder cases. Again, Montero is not accused of murdering anyone.

US Meals Programs for Elderly Miss 90% of People in Need
Sputnik News - Many elderly Americans with low incomes who need meals services do not receive them despite the growing need for such programs, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed.... Many elderly Americans with low incomes who need meals services do not receive them despite the growing need for such programs, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed.

Hillary Clinton Backs Fast-Track On Obama's Trade Deals
Zero Hedge - Hillary Clinton actually supports Barack Obama’s trade-policy, and even supports the way in which he is trying to get it through Congress. However, the news-media didn’t report it that way. Hilary is repeating her earlier tactics, in 2008, when she tried to give the impression that she had opposed her husband Bill Clinton’s NAFTA, though in fact she had earlier bragged about how great it was for the country and claimed it as if it were her own.

In Dramatic Decision Judge Finds Fed Bailout Of AIG Was "Illegal", Government "Violated Federal Reserve Act"
Zero Hedge - "Starr alleges in its own right and on behalf of other AIG shareholders that the Government’s actions in acquiring control of AIG constituted a taking without just compensation and an illegal exaction, both in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.... Having considered the entire record, the Court finds in Starr’s favor on the illegal exaction claim. As the Court noted during closing arguments, a troubling feature of this outcome is that the Government is able to avoid any damages notwithstanding its plain violations of the Federal Reserve Act. "

We Might As Well Face It – America Is Addicted To Debt
Economic Collapse -Corporations, individuals and the federal government continue to rack up debt at a rate that is far faster than the overall rate of economic growth.... Consumer credit has doubled since the year 2000. Student loan debt has doubled over the course of the past decade. Business debt has doubled since 2006. And of course the debt of the federal government has doubled since 2007.... We have accumulated the greatest mountain of debt that the world has ever seen, and yet despite all of the warnings we just continue to race forward into financial oblivion.... Companies are sitting on a record $1.82 trillion in cash. That might sound impressive until you hear companies owe three times more – $5.8 trillion, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Debt levels are soaring at U.S. non-financial companies so quickly – total debt outstanding rose $650 billion in 2014, which is six times faster than the $100 billion in added cash.

Gap To Fire Thousands, Close A Quarter Of All Specialty Locations
Zero Hedge - Moments ago, one of the biggest clothing retailers in the US confirmed the worst nightmares about the state of US consumer spending, when it reported that it would shut down over 25% of all of its specialty stores in the US, or about 175 (of which 140 will be shut in the current year), leaving the firm just 500 specialty locations and 300 outlet stores. And, in addition to the thousands of job terminations these closures would entail, the company will further fire another 250 in its headquarters.

California’s Super Wealthy Refuse to Cut Water: ‘No, We’re Not All Equal’
Sputnik News - Residents of extremely wealthy suburbs in Southern California are claiming that there is a “war on suburbia,” and that they are being “drought-shamed” for their wasteful habits. They believe that if they can afford it, the water should be theirs, and all theirs. A resident of Rancho Santa Fe, an ultra wealthy community that uses five times the statewide average of water, believes that water is not a basic human right to be shared and preserved for all to use, but rather a commodity similar to gas.... After Governor Jerry Brown called for a 25% reduction in the state’s water use in April, Rancho Santa Fe snubbed their wealthy noses at the directive and actually used 9% more water than the previous month.

Fracking to blame? Alabama earthquakes occurring near shale-gas developments
RT - More than a dozen minor earthquakes have struck western Alabama’s Greene County since November. The area is near the Black Warrior Basin, where thousands of hydraulic fracturing natural gas wells have been operating in recent years. The Associated Press reported Sunday that Greene County has had 14 notable yet inexplicable seismic events since November 20, starting with a magnitude 3.8 quake 10 miles northwest of Eutaw. The latest was a magnitude 3.0 earthquake on June 6.... Some wonder if hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the area is the source of unusual seismic activity, as the oil and gas extraction process has been the cause of quakes in other areas of the United States, including Oklahoma and Ohio.

Monday - June 15, 2015 - Today in History:

1215 - King John of England put his seal on the Magna Carta.
1752 - Benjamin Franklin experimented by flying a kite during a thunderstorm. The result was it showed the relationship between lightning and electricity.
1775 - George Washington was appointed head of the Continental Army by the Second Continental Congress.
1836 - Arkansas became the 25th U.S. state.
1846 - The United States and Britain settled a boundary dispute concerning the boundary between the U.S. and Canada, by signing a treaty.
1864 - An order to establish a military burial ground was signed by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The location later became known as Arlington National Cemetery.
1898 - The U.S. House of representatives approved the annexation of Hawaii.
1916 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
1944 - American forces began their successful invasion of Saipan during World War II.
1947 - The All-Indian Congress accepted a British plan for the partition of India.
1948 - Soviet authorities announced that the Autobahn would be closed indefinitely "for repairs."
1981 - The U.S. agreed to provide Pakistan with $3 billion in military and economic aid from October 1982 to October 1987.
1983 - The U.S. Supreme Court reinforced its position on abortion by striking down state and local restriction on abortions.
1986 - Pravda, the Communist Party newspaper, said the chief engineer of the Chernobyl nuclear plant was let go for mishandling the incident at the plant.
1992 - It was ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court that the government could kidnap criminal suspects from foreign countries for prosecution.
1992 - U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle instructed a student to spell "potato" with an "e" on the end during a spelling bee. He had relied on a faulty flash card that had been written by the student's teacher.
1994 - Israel and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations.
1999 - South Korean naval forces sank a North Korean torpedo boat during an exchange in the disputed Yellow Sea.
2003 - A jury in Houston convicted accounting firm Arthur Andersen of obstruction of justice.
2006 - A divided Supreme Court made it easier for police to barge into homes and seize evidence without knocking or waiting.

MI6 Recalls Secret Agents From Abroad for Fear of Uncover by Russia, China
Sputnik - The British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has withdrawn its agents out of live operations in foreign countries as they could allegedly be identified by Russia and China with the help of files stolen by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, The Sunday Times reports.The newspaper claimed on Sunday citing senior British officials that Moscow has gained access to over 1 million classified files that contain details of secret intelligence techniques and information that could be used to identify British and American spies.

US conducts ‘counter-terrorism’ airstrike in Libya, unsure of result
RT - The Pentagon has announced it conducted an airstrike in Libya targeting an Al-Qaeda-associated militant, but could not be completely sure that it succeeded. The Libyan government, meanwhile, has claimed the strike killed the notorious Mokhtar Belmokhtar.... The Pentagon has not released any details about the operation, nor the name of the alleged terrorist who was targeted. In the past, Americans have used drones to strike targets in the region. Warren did emphasize that there had been no US boots on the ground assisting the operation, Reuters reports.

Poland, Lithuania discussing plans with Washington to harbor US army equipment
RT - Warsaw and Vilnius are in talks with Washington about the permanent stationing of US army equipment warehouses, officials from the two countries said. Heavy weapons may be stored in the Baltic States, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary. The Polish Defense Ministry tweeted that during his recent visit to Washington Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak was given assurances that a final decision on stationing the warehouses would be taken shortly....The Pentagon's far-reaching proposal requires approval from Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the White House. Should the move be given the go-ahead, it would be the first deployment of military hardware in Europe since the end of the Cold War 25 years ago. The plan falls short of a permanent boots-on-the-ground presence.

Saudi Warplanes Destroy 2,500 Year Old Heritage Site In Yemen
Zero Hedge - On Friday, the proxy wars that, thanks in large part to US foreign policy, now plague the Middle East, took their toll on another UNESCO heritage site when Saudi warplanes decimated Old City, a 2,500 year-old collection of homes, towers, gardens, mosques, and public baths in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a. [The] NY Times has more: A protected 2,500-year-old cultural heritage site in Yemen’s capital, Sana, was obliterated in an explosion early Friday, and witnesses and news reports said the cause was a missile or bomb from a Saudi warplane. The Saudi military denied responsibility.

BRICS Central Bank experts meet in Turkey to finalise joint Monetary Fund
The BRICS Post - Officials from the five BRICS countries are meeting in Bodrum, Turkey on Saturday and Sunday to finalise the joint monetary fund ahead of the 7th Leaders Summit in Russia. Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Jacob Zuma from South Africa, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and India’s Narendra Modi will meet for the Summit on 8-9 July in Ufa… The CRA is meant to provide an alternative to International Monetary Fund’s emergency lending. In the CRA, emergency loans of up to 30 percent of a member nation’s contribution will be decided by a simple majority. Bigger loans will require the consent of all CRA members.

"Last Chance" Greek Bailout Talks End Without Deal
Zero Hedge - What this means is that Greece came to Brussels and presented the same "not serious" proposals Tsipras submitted last week. That is, Athens is willing to deal on fiscal targets and is more than willing to accept free money from the EFSF and ESM.. but is not yet desperate enough to concede to pension cuts or VAT hikes... As we noted earlier today (and on countless occasions previously), 'deadlines' and 'ultimatums' are largely meaningless because even if Greece misses its June 30 bundled payment to the IMF, Christine Lagarde would need to send a formal failure to pay letter to the Executive Board… It’s up to Lagarde to decide when to send that letter and she would have at least 30 days.

Bilderberg Media Mogul Confronted at Airport
Paul Joseph Watson - Bronner, publisher of Der Standard, a major national daily broadsheet newspaper published in Vienna, spent the last few days meeting with influential power brokers from the world of politics, media, academia, business and banking at the elitist confab in Telfs, Austria, safely enclosed behind a huge security operation enforced by over 2,000 police. Bronner stated, “It was a very interesting meeting,” before referring to the Bilderberg Group’s official website for the list of topics that were discussed (the topics are so vague as to be almost meaningless).

MERS death toll reaches 16 among 150 confirmed S. Korea outbreak victims
RT - Two more patients with the MERS virus have died, South Korea’s health ministry has announced. In addition, five new cases have been confirmed, bringing the official total to 150 patients.... The hospital has placed some 400 patients, families and medical staff under quarantine. As of Sunday, at least 4,856 people possibly exposed to the MERS virus were under observation nationwide.... The World Health Organization (WHO) will be holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday to address the “large and complex” MERS outbreak, the biggest outside Saudi Arabia where it was first identified in humans in 2012. There is no vaccine or cure for the virus which has a fatality rate of around 35 percent. All of South Korea’s cases are believed to be linked to hospitals and have been traced back to a businessman who returned from the Middle East. So far all of the deaths have involved elderly people or patients suffering from other illnesses in addition to MERS.

The GOP Leadership’s Latest Obamatrade Ploy: Small Business Tax Hike That Violates GOP’s Anti-Tax Pledge
Breitbart - TAA was originally supposed to be financed with Medicare cuts – which sparked major outrage, and cries of hypocrisy in what would have certainly turned into boldly negative campaign advertisements against Republicans by Democrats this next cycle. But under pressure, Republican leadership, mainly Boehner and Ryan, negotiated with Democrats to remove the Medicare cuts from the financial backing of TAA and instead using direct tax hikes by raising the penalties for misfiled taxes. “A vote for Obamatrade on Tuesday is a vote to give the IRS more power and more incentives to go after small businesses,” said Curtis Ellis, founder of the Obamatrade website, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News.

VIDEO: CNN: Attacking Dallas Police HQ ‘Courageous and Brave’
Breitbart - CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield called the attack on Dallas Police Headquarters “very courageous and brave” on Saturday’s “CNN Newsroom.” Whitfield, while discussing the shooting with legal analyst Philip Holloway, said, “It was very courageous and brave, if not crazy as well, to open fire on the police headquarters, and now you have this scene, this standoff. So you believe these are the hallmarks of more than one person’s involvement?”... “Well, first off, I will say that the Dallas police department did an excellent job handling this situation, and no one other than the suspect was injured,” he said. “Yes, I think it’s very likely he had some degree of assistance. These bombs that detonated immediately when the robot made contact with them, that suggests there might be some level of sophistication that may go beyond what this person is capable of.”
* Related: How the Dallas police attack suspect got an armored van and Joe Biggs reports from behind the yellow tape at the Dallas Police shooting crime scene

House Kills Fast-Track Of Obamatrade After Pelosi-Led Democrat Rebellion
Zero Hedge - And just like that, President Obama's fast track of his "great job creation" bill is defeated in a 126-302 procedural vote which stumbled over what is known as the Trade Adjustment Assistance. Following Pelosi's comments that "its defeat is the only way we will be able to slow down fast track," and "people would rather have a job than assistance", the defeat of a measure to provide aid to workers displaced by trade deals means the fast-tracking of the TPP is done (for now).

Secret CIA effort in Syria faces large funding cut
Washington Post - Key lawmakers have moved to slash funding of a secret CIA operation to train and arm rebels in Syria, a move that U.S. officials said reflects rising skepticism of the effectiveness of the agency program and the Obama administration’s strategy in the Middle East. The House Intelligence Committee recently voted unanimously to cut as much as 20 percent of the classified funds flowing into a CIA program that U.S. officials said has become one the agency’s largest covert operations, with a budget approaching $1 billion a year.

Four Weeks Later: Waco Police Narrative Unravels
Breitbart - Four weeks after the deadly May 17th shooting incident outside a Waco Twin Peaks restaurant, more details have come out concerning the incident, but significant questions still remain about the actions taken by law enforcement and the police’s account of what transpired. Although the national mainstream media has largely moved on from the Waco story, if critics of the police are correct, the incident represents an unprecedented civil rights violation and media cover-up campaign by the Waco authorities. Police in Waco still have yet to state how many bikers, if any, were killed by the police, or to explain why the police showed up in force at all prior to the meeting on May 17th.

7 Reasons Why Police are More Dangerous to Americans than ISIS
Free Thought Project - Everywhere, USA: If you think it’s absurd to compare the men and women in blue uniform to terrorists, just read the definition of terrorism. Terrorism: the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. The Free Thought Project has compiled a list of 7 examples that shows why comparing police to ISIS is not so crazy. In fact, it proves that police are far more dangerous to Americans, and our freedoms than any terrorist group on earth.

Police Seize 6 Children Simply Because Family Was Camping
Off the Grid News - A Michigan family which had dreams of camping during the summer in the great outdoors was horrified when state officials seized their six children simply because they were temporarily living in tents... The nightmare experience for Christopher and Antonia Hernandez began May 19 when Otsego County sheriff deputies and a CPS official took their children, and ended June 10 when their children were returned after the parents won a court ruling based on the fact the mother and children are eligible for enrollment in the Tlingit Native American tribe. The federal Indian Child Welfare Act makes it more difficult for state officials to separate Native American families. Michigan has a similar state law. If the family had not had the Tlingit link, the case still would be ongoing, with the children still in foster care.

Iowa GOP cancels straw poll
USA Today - The governing board for the Republican Party of Iowa voted unanimously Friday to cancel the straw poll, a milestone on the path to the White House that had passed the strategic tipping point. It was no longer a political risk for presidential campaigns to walk away from the straw poll, and too many of the 2016 contenders had opted to skip it for it to survive.

Writing's On The Wall: Texas Pulls $1 Billion In Gold From NY Fed, Makes It "Non-Confiscatable"
Zero Hedge - The lack of faith in central bank trustworthiness is spreading. First Germany, then Holland, and Austria, and now - as we noted was possible previously - Texas has enacted a Bill to repatriate $1 billion of gold from The NY Fed's vaults to a newly established state gold bullion depository..."People have this image of Texas as big and powerful … so for a lot of people, this is exactly where they would want to go with their gold," and the Bill includes a section to prevent forced seizure from the Federal Government.

Food Banks In New York Are Running Out Of Food
Zero Hedge - Welcome to the Recovery! Food banks across the US state of New York are running out of food (37% of food pantries say they have had to turn away needy people because they ran out of food), amid falling funds and rising demand from people that have trouble affording food. About 2.6 million people have trouble affording food across New York with about 1.4 million New York City residents relying on food pantries to feed themselves, according to the Food Bank For New York City. But as PressTV reports, contrary to the belief that people visiting food pantries are homeless and jobless, most customers are employed, but are not paid enough money to put food on the table without help.

Costco Decides to Sell Controversial GM Salmon
Natural Society - As major supermarkets like Safeway, Target, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s refuse GM salmon, the mega store Costco is planning on selling the genetically modified fish to its customers while attempting to dress itself as a big organic seller. This is odd, since Costco has just announced that it will become one of the largest sellers of organic products in the US, and also since Costco customers recently rallied in Seattle to deliver more than 50,000 signatures asking the company not to sell GM salmon.

Billionaire: $25M Prize to Solve Global Warming by Geoengineering
The New American - Richard Branson (shown), chairman of Virgin Group Ltd., has offered a $25-million prize for the best solution for ending so-called global warming using geoengineering (also called climate engineering), which is the deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climatic system… “Some proposals are uncontroversial, such as using charcoal to lock carbon dioxide into soil or scattering carbon-absorbing gemstones.” However, other proposals seem quite bizarre, considering how environmentalists usually are so wary of any human activity that impacts our climate.

California Water Wars Escalate: Government Orders Massive Supply Cuts To Most Senior Rights Holders
Zero Hedge - Just two weeks after California's farmers - with the most senior water rights - offered to cut their own water use by 25% (in an attempt to front-run more draconian government-imposed measures), AP reports that the California government has - just as we predicted - ignored any efforts at self-preservation and ordered the largest cuts on record to farmers holding some of the state's strongest water rights. While frackers and big energy remain exempt from the restrictions, Caren Trgovcich, chief deputy director of the water board, explains, "we are now at the point where demand in our system is outstripping supply for even the most senior water rights holders."

Drought-stricken California - Thieves hijack water tanks, siphon private wells, illegally tap industrial pipelines
(NaturalNews) Special law enforcement task forces, believe it or not, are reportedly being deployed throughout California to deal with a new crime wave blossoming in what 10 years ago would have been a rather unlikely economic sector: water. The water wars have apparently already begun, as police battle a growing "gray market" for stolen water, with thieves now hijacking water tanks, siphoning private wells and even digging under city streets to illegally tap into industrial water pipelines, according to reports.

Canadian Court: Yes, We Can Order Google To Block Websites Globally
Techdirt - Almost exactly a year ago we wrote about a troubling lawsuit in British Columbia, where a court ruled that Google needed to block access to a website globally. The case involved one company accusing another of selling counterfeit or copied equipment, and despite Google not even being a party to the case, said that Google needed to make sure no one could find the site in question via Google anywhere in the world. As we noted, this had tremendously problematic consequences. For example, China doesn’t think anyone should be able to learn about the protests in Tiananmen Square. Can it now order Google to remove all links to such references globally? That result seems crazy. And, of course, there was a separate issue of how the court even had jurisdiction over Google, seeing as it does not have any operations, staff or servers in British Columbia. Google stepped in to protest the injunction at the appeals court.

Friday - June 12, 2015 - Today in History:

1665 - England installed a municipal government in New York. It was the former Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam.
1838 - The Iowa Territory was organized.
1901 - Cuba agreed to become an American protectorate by accepting the Platt Amendment.
1918 - The first airplane bombing raid by an American unit occurred on World War I's Western Front in France.
1921 - U.S. President Warren Harding urged every young man to attend military training camp.
1935 - U.S. Senator Huey Long of Louisiana made the longest speech on Senate record. The speech took 15 1/2 hours and was filled by 150,000 words.
1937 - The Soviet Union executed eight army leaders under Joseph Stalin.
1939 - The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated in Cooperstown, New York.
1941 - In London, the Inter-Allied Declaration was signed. It was the first step towards the establishment of the United Nations.
1967 - State laws which prohibited interracial marriages were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1982 - 75,000 people rallied against nuclear weapons in New York City's Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Ronstadt were in attendance.
1985 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved $27 million in aid to the Nicaraguan contras.
1987 - U.S. President Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
1992 - In a letter to the U.S. Senate, Russian Boris Yeltsin stated that in the early 1950's the Soviet Union had shot down nine U.S. planes and held 12 American survivors.
1997 - The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled a new $50 bill meant to be more counterfeit-resistant.
1998 - Compaq Computer paid $9 billion for Digital Equipment Corp. in largest high-tech acquisition.
1999 - NATO peacekeeping forces entered the province of Kosovo in Yugoslavia.
2003 - In Arkansas, Terry Wallis spoke for the first time in nearly 19 years. Wallis had been in a coma since July 13, 1984, after being injured in a car accident.
2009 - In the U.S., The switch from analog TV transmission to digital was completed.

US Intelligence Forges Documents Against Iran - Envoy
Sputnik News - US intelligence services are forging documents against Iran, Tehran’s permanent representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday. Talking to the media on Thursday, Reza Najafi he said the claims about Iran’s forbidden activities at the country’s Marivan nuclear site were also based on these kinds of documents, IRNA news agency reported. Iran has repeatedly said such documents are faked and forged by the American intelligence services against Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, Reza Najafi stressed. Referring to the claims included in the latest IAEA report about Iran’s forbidden operations in Marivan, he said that his country had already voiced readiness to take the IAEA inspectors to any point they wanted but received no response from the organization.

US Refrains From Prohibiting Companies to Attend Russia's Economic Forum
Sputnik News - In 2014, US authorities called on US executives to refrain from attending the economic forum in Russia. "The message is: If you’re asking us, we still won’t encourage you to go, but if you don’t ask, nothing will happen." Two executives from US companies with operations in Russia reportedly said government officials had told them there would be "no punishment" if the companies attended the forum. According to The Financial Times, the chairmen of AT Kearney, Boston Consulting Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young are among those who are expected at the event. The chief executives of Shell, BP, Societe Generale, Total, and Carlsberg are also expected to be present at the St. Petersburg forum.

Japan Delays Removal of Fuel Rods From Fukushima Power Plant by 3 Years
Sputnik News - The removal of spent uranium fuel rods from the Fukushima power plant will begin three years later compared to the originally planned date, the Japanese government said in a roadmap published on Friday. Initially, the removal was scheduled for the end of 2015 for Unit 3 and for late 2017 for Units 1 and 2. Due to the high level of radiation in the area and the difficulty of the operation, it was decided to postpone the work for Unit 3 until 2017, and until 2020 for the first two units. The schedule for the removal of the dangerous fuel remains unchanged and will take place in 2021. Cleanup efforts around Fukushima could take up to 40 years.

Activists to shut down Israeli arms factory in Gaza war anniversary protest
RT - Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems’ UK factory will become the target of a protest to mark the anniversary of the Gaza conflict in July. Anti-arms trade campaigners will join forces with students unions and pro-Palestinian groups in a bid to shut down the factory, which they say manufactures drones.... Campaigners are calling for the UK to stop selling arms to Israel, highlighting the state’s role in last year’s Gaza conflict, which caused the death of over 2,200 Palestinians.

Bloomberg Coverage of Bilderberg Ignores Attendance of Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief
Mikael Thalen - The first notable coverage of the 2015 Bilderberg conference by media outlet Bloomberg unsurprisingly omits the attendance of its editor-in-chief John Micklethwait. A video article entitled, “Here’s Who’s Going to The Secret Bilderberg Summit,” which features a brief synopsis of the group’s 63rd gathering, fails to mention the numerous high-profile media attendees. Micklethwait, who joined Bloomberg after stepping down as The Economist’s editor-in-chief in 2014, has been a regular attendee of the group since at least 1996. Despite attending for the better part of two decades, Micklethwait, as the Bloomberg video states, will remain tight-lipped due to Bilderberg’s policy of secrecy.
* Related: Mainstream Reporters Attend Bilderberg – But WON’T Report On It

‘No progress’: IMF walks out of bailout talks with Greece
RT - International Monetary Fund representatives have cut short negotiations with Greek officials in Brussels, after they failed to present a viable reform plan. The move has left Athens, due to repay €1.6 billion by the end June, on the edge of default. The ball is very much in Greece’s court,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told the media during a specially scheduled announcement, before his team returns to Washington. “There are major differences between us in most key areas. There has been no progress in narrowing these differences recently.” With wages and pensions at 80 percent of total public spending “it’s not possible for Greece to achieve its medium-term fiscal targets without reforms, and especially of pensions.” Rice also told Athens to eschew “unsustainable” tax increases, but called on Athens to collect it’s existing VAT taxes.

Poll Finds Majority Of Greeks Ready To Fold To Troika, Even As Anti-Austerity Protests Return
Zero Hedge - As unemployment rises to near 27%, a new poll shows more than half of Greeks support giving in to creditors "if they insist on it." Meanwhile, anti-austerity protests are back, with communist-affiliated union members demonstrating at the finance ministry in Athens.

IMF data shows Iceland's economy recovered after it imprisoned bankers and let banks go bust - instead of bailing them out
Belfast Telegraph - Iceland’s finance minister has announced a 39 per cent tax on investors looking to take their money overseas. The country has imposed the tax to prevent it hemorrhaging money as it loosens bank laws imposed six years ago, when Iceland made the shocking decision to let its banks go bust. Iceland also allowed bankers to be prosecuted as criminals – in contrast to the US and Europe, where banks were fined, but chief executives escaped punishment. The chief executive, chairman, Luxembourg ceo and second largest shareholder of Kaupthing, an Icelandic bank that collapsed, were sentenced in February to between four and five years in prison for market manipulation.

US House Votes to Defund Warrantless NSA-CIA Communications Collection
Sputnik News - The amendment to the annual US defense appropriations bill would prevent the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from searching or collecting communications data under the controversial Section 702 program of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without due process. The amendment would also prevent the intelligence community from forcing US technology companies from building in security vulnerabilities, or “backdoors,” which allow surveillance of the companies' clientele. The FISA Section 702 program allows US intelligence agencies to siphon off internet communications data such as e-mails, instant messages, and web browsing history, according to the internet advocacy group, the Electronic Frontiers Foundation.

10 countries that hate the U.S. the most
MarketWatch - Public opinion alone does not dictate foreign policy. However, a country’s perception of another country can have a meaningful impact on foreign policy decisions that both governments make. Keeping global approval ratings of the U.S. high strengthens what is called soft power, which captures how diplomatic goals can be accomplished without military force.

Police State America sends 450 cops to illegally search people's homes looking for escaped prisoners
MassPrivateI - In Vermont And New York Hundreds of law enforcement officers swept through the small Adirondack foothills town. Searchers walked shoulder to shoulder, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying sidearms as they went through hilly woods, fields and swamps, checking every home, garage, shed and outbuilding, then yelling, “Clear!” when there were no signs of the inmates. By early evening, it appeared the sweep had come up empty, and there was no confirmation from police that the escaped convicts had been there. State Police said more than 450 corrections and other law enforcement officers were in the area and planned to go door to door, checking homes and seasonal camps.

Texas Police Shut Down Little Girls’ ‘Illegal’ Lemonade Stand, Citing Lack Of Permit
Truth in Media - Two young sisters were forced to shut down the lemonade stand they were running to buy their dad a Father's Day present, after they were informed by a police officer that in order to run the stand, they must undergo a health inspection and obtain a Peddler's Permit.... Overton Police told KLTV that following the exchange, a family friend went to Overton City Hall to obtain a Peddler’s Permit for the girls. While the city was willing to waive the $150 fee, staff members would not let the Green sisters obtain a permit until they contacted the health department and an inspection was conducted.

Obamatrade Chaos: Bill Barely Clears Hurdle… ‘Courageous Conservatives’ Vote Against… Showdown Friday
Breitbart - Most importantly about this is that the vote passed with less than a majority of the full House of Representatives. Boehner was only able to–on a purely procedural vote–obtain 217, rather than the 218 votes for a majority, votes for the rule. It passed the House 217-212.

Big Pharma Revealed As Puppetmaster Behind TPP Secrecy
Zero Hedge - When it came to the highly confidential TPP, it was unclear just which corporations were dominant in pulling the strings. Now thanks to more documents published by Wikileaks, and analyzed by the NYT, it appears that "big pharma" is the mastermind behind the Trans Pacific Partnership, which if passed will "empower big pharmaceutical firms to command higher reimbursement rates in the United States and abroad, at the expense of consumers" according to "public health professionals, generic-drug makers and activists opposed to the trade deal."

Paul Ryan’s Pelosi-Esque Obamatrade Moment: ‘It’s Declassified And Made Public Once It’s Agreed To’
Breitbart - Chief Obamatrade proponent House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) admitted during Congressional testimony on Wednesday evening that despite tons of claims from him and other Obamatrade supporters to the contrary, the process is highly secretive. He also made a gaffe in his House Rules Committee testimony on par with former Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)’s push to pass Obamacare, in which she said infamously said: “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

Obama Administration Attempts to Tack 20 Years onto Man’s Sentence for Possession of Books
Daily Sheeple - The Obama administration is trying to tack 20 years onto a Florida man’s tax fraud sentence for the supposed crime of possessing books the government doesn’t like. The Intercept reports: Now, to demonstrate that Robertson’s tax charges merit a terrorism enhancement, the government has cited a number of books owned by Robertson that allegedly extol extremist beliefs. Robertson, who is recognized as an Islamic scholar, owned a library which included roughly 10,000 e-books, a small number of which are alleged by the government to have contained passages deemed controversial.

Probable cause found to charge cops with murder & negligent homicide of Tamir Rice
RT - A judge has found that there is probable cause to charge the Cleveland, Ohio police officer accused of shooting and killing 12-year-old Tamir Rice with murder, while his partner could be charged with negligent homicide, according to local news reports. A Cuyahoga County judge found probable cause to charges against Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback in connection with Rice’s death. Judge Ronald B. Adrine wrote in his judgment entry that there is cause to bring charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty against Loehmann, who shot the preteen while he was playing with a toy gun at a recreation center playground in November.

11 Year Old Boy Kidnapped By CPS, Parents Arrested, After He Played In Back Yard Alone For 90 Minutes
Steve Watson - A couple in Florida were arrested and charged with felony neglect after their 11-year-old son was left alone in the back yard playing basketball for 90 minutes. Furthermore, the child was taken from the parents and placed into foster care. The remarkable story was related to the website Free Range Kids, which advocates raising children to be self reliant, rather than succumbing to the nanny state. The boy found himself locked out of the family home in April, after the parents became stuck in traffic. A busy body neighbor decided that this was far too dangerous, and called the cops.

Lawmakers seek to cut federal gas tax, give states control over transportation spending
RT - Even as gas prices have fallen of late, two Republican lawmakers want to make gas even cheaper. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida introduced a bill that would gradually eliminate the gas tax that funds federal transportation projects. The two men unveiled their bill, called the Transportation Empowerment Act (TEA), on Wednesday. They propose cutting the current gas tax by 16.4 cents per gallon to just 3.7 cents over the next five years. It would also transfer the responsibility for transportation projects that are currently funded by the gas tax to the states, which Lee and DeSantis said would allow the states to eliminate “restrictive and costly red tape imposed by the federal government.”

Rail to Nowhere: House Votes to Cut Some High-Speed Train Spending
Breitbart - U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), chairman of the House rail subcommittee, has proposed an amendment that could cripple plans for the construction of California’s high-speed rail project. Denham’s amendment would eliminate a 2012 agreement between California and the Obama administration that permitted the state to obtain federal grant money without matching those funds with money from state coffers.... Denham said on the floor of the House Tuesday night, “We are $87 billion short. The governor’s not proposing $87 billion. The president’s not proposing $87 billion. So, we’re really leaving the state of California at risk,” according to KCRA.

'Who' Really Runs Your State?
Zero Hedge - A state's economy is nothing without the businesses that call it home. However, these companies are not created equally - bigger businesses naturally have outsized influence, generating more revenue, employing more people and (at least theoretically) paying more taxes. So given that corporations are now 'people', who really runs your state in this crony-capitalist land of the free?

How Obama Will Centrally-Plan Your Neighborhood: Here Comes The "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" Rule
Zero Hedge - Because centrally-planning the market and the double seasonally-adjusted economy was not enough, the Obama administration is now set to create a wealth-adjusted community utopia. According to The Hill, the administration is moving forward with regulations designed to help diversify America’s wealthier neighborhoods, such as building affordable housing in more affluent areas. The name of Obama's latest proposal to have the government centrally-plan your community? The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. A name that only the person who penned the US Freedom Act could have come up with.

New Jersey Fights USA Over Fish
Courthouse News - New Jersey sued the United States to try to stop tests involving offshore "powerful sonic blasts every five seconds for thirty days" during prime fishing season.... The defendants want to fire high-energy seismic blasts from a research vessel every 5.4 seconds into the ocean floor for about a month. New Jersey says the blasts will be felt "far outside of the study area" and will reduce commercial and recreational catch and harass marine mammals.

Owner of Biggest U.S. Coal Mine May Lack Insurance for Mine Cleanup, Dumping $1.4 Billion Risk onto Taxpayers
AllGov - An investigation by Reuters has shown that Peabody does not have the financial resources to self-bond. That means if the world’s largest private coal company goes belly up, the federal government would have to step in and help pay to clean up Peabody’s mines, which would cost about $1.38 billion, Reuters reported. When companies abandon a strip mine, they’re required to replant vegetation, restore topsoil “to match the original topography,” and rebuild the original surface ecosystem, according to ThinkProgress.

Thursday - June 11, 2015 - Today in History:

1770 - Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia when he ran aground.
1776 - In America, the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence from Britain.
1798 - Napoleon Bonaparte took the island of Malta.
1889 - The Washington Business High School opened in Washington, DC. It was the first school devoted to business in the U.S.
1927 - Charles A. Lindberg was presented the first Distinguished Flying Cross.
1930 - William Beebe dived to a record-setting depth of 1,426 feet off the coast of Bermuda. He used a diving chamber called a bathysphere.
1940 - The Italian Air Force bombed the British fortress at Malta in the Mediterranean.
1942 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union signed a lend lease agreement to aid the Soviets in their effort in World War II.
1943 - During World War II, the Italian island of Pantelleria surrendered after a heavy air bombardment.
1947 - The U.S. government announced an end to sugar rationing.
1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Florida for trying to integrate restaurants.
1963 - Alabama Gov. George Wallace allowed two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama.
1967 - Israel and Syria accepted a U.N. cease-fire.
1981 - The first major league baseball player's strike began. It would last for two months.
1987 - Margaret Thatcher became the first British prime minister in 160 years to win a third consecutive term of office.
1991 - Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted. The eruption of ash and gas could be seen for more than 60 miles.
1993 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people who commit "hate crimes" could be sentenced to extra punishment. The court also ruled in favor of religious groups saying that they indeed had a constitutional right to sacrifice animals during worship services.
1998 - Mitsubishi of America agreed to pay $34 million to end the largest sexual harassment case filed by the U.S. government. The federal lawsuit claimed that hundreds of women at a plant in Normal, IL, had endured groping and crude jokes from male workers.
2001 - Timothy McVeigh was executed by injection for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
2009 - The World Health Organization declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic.

US Secret Military Biolabs at Russian Border Arouse Grave Concern - Moscow
Sputnik News - Moscow is extremely concerned over the US deployment of medical-biological laboratories near the Russian border, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday. The Foreign Ministry said that the US Richard G. Lugar Public Health Research Center in Tbilisi, Georgia, is a high level biological isolation laboratory. The laboratory is overseen by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Moscow says that a branch of the Walter Reed US Army Medical Research Institute is operating under the Lugar Research Center’s roof. “The US and Georgian authorities are taking efforts to cover the true contents and direction of their activity in the US Army’s military branch, which is studying especially dangerous and infectious diseases. The Pentagon is trying to camouflage its military medical-biological facilities in other CIS countries,” the statement continues.

Iran nuclear talks venues hit by $10mn ‘state-sponsored’ virus – Kaspersky to RT
RT - The venues of Iranian nuclear talks were targeted by sophisticated spyware, which costs “at least $10 million” and was likely “state-sponsored,” the CEO Kaspersky Lab exclusively told RT. He said his company came under threat as well. Among the hacks primary targets were hotels and conference halls where P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany) held talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

German Banker: Obama Is Destroying Europe
Washington's Blog - Interviewed on June 6th by German Economic News, the chief economist at Bremer Landesbank, Folker Hellmeyer, says that because of Obama’s sanctions against Russia, German exports declined year-over-year by 18% in 2014, and by 34% in the first two months of 2015 (no later figures), but he asserts that “The damage is much more comprehensive than these statistics show,” because those are only the “primary losses,” and there are in addition “secondary effects,” which get even worse over time.

ISIS may have enough material to make a "dirty" WMD, experts warn
The Independent - The Isis militant group has seized enough radioactive material from government facilities to suggest it has the capacity to build a large and devastating “dirty” bomb, according to Australian intelligence reports. Isis declared its ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction in the most recent edition of its propaganda magazine Dabiq, and Indian defence officials have previously warned of the possibility the militants could acquire a nuclear weapon from Pakistan. According to the Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, Nato has expressed deep concerns about the materials seized by Isis from research centres and hospitals that would normally only be available to governments.

Bilderberg Deploys Hi-Tech Jamming to Shut Down Communications (Video)
Paul Joseph Watson - The secretive Bilderberg Group has deployed a hi-tech jamming system to shut down communications around the site of the elitist confab’s luxury hotel in order to strangle media coverage of the event. After visiting one of the closest spots to the InterAlpen hotel that is still accessible, Infowars filmed a communications truck owned by the Federal Ministry for Transport and Technology. Large antennas are also visible on top of the hotel, as well as a giant newly erected mast in the forest near the hotel.... Apparently, Bilderberg is so afraid of media coverage, that police checkpoints miles away from the hotel are not enough, now they have resorted to installing expensive devices which shut down communications, presumably at taxpayer expense.

Number of People Infected With MERS in South Korea Rises to 122
Sputnik News - The number of people infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea rose from 108 to 122, the country’s Health and Welfare Ministry said Thursday. The number of people quarantined exceeded 3,400, with 2,200 educational facilities closed across the country over fears of the disease spreading further.... Hong Kong earlier issued a red alert advisory against trips to South Korea. Russia's Far East regions began thorough health checks of those arriving from South Korea.

China Launches Internet Police, Governments Everywhere Jealous
Activist Post - On June 1 China’s Ministry of Public Security announced the formation of an Internet police force that would actively patrol social media. For Chinese citizens it was official confirmation of what they already knew—the government is monitoring their speech. Dubbed “Internet Police Inspection and Law Enforcement,” the program consists of a network of social media accounts tasked with, among other things, preventing the spread of “improper” words and detecting “illegal and harmful information.”

West African Country Dumps Monsanto’s GM Cotton, Seeks Compensation
Natural Society - Due to ‘disappointing yields and poor quality cotton fiber,” the country of Burkina Faso in West Africa is ditching Monsanto’s genetically modified cotton. Jeune Afrique reports that Interprofessional Cotton in Burkina Faso has decided to phase out the use of Monsanto’s GMO cotton seeds over the next three years. This is a group of cotton farmers, banks, research institutions, private stakeholders and the government.... All of these groups have complained that Monsanto’s GM cotton did not produce quality cotton fiber, and farmers have experienced lower yields than with non-GM cotton.

Pentagon Expands Plans to Aid US States After ‘Complex Catastrophes’
Sputnik News - The Department of Defense is stepping up its capability to assist civic authorities following any complex catastrophe covering multiple US states, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report. The Department of Defense is stepping up its capability to assist civic authorities following any complex catastrophe covering multiple US states, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report.... “It is critical that the Department of Defense proactively and regularly engage with a broad range of interagency partners it may need to support, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Customs and Border Protection,” the GAO explained.

US Congress Proposal Would Cut Funding for 8,000 UN Peacekeepers
Sputnik News - A Republican budget plan to cut US support for UN international peacekeeping operations would leave 8,000 peacekeepers in various global hot spots unfunded, Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan said in a letter to US House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers.... “The reductions in the bill, which impact every active mission, would not only undercut the US Government's commitment to paying its UN dues in full and on time, but translate into nearly 8,000 fewer peacekeepers in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world,” Donovan said in the letter on Wednesday.

Yet Another Anti-Supplement Sneak Attack from Blumenthal and Durbin —This time it’s been slipped into a defense bill. Major Action Alert!
Alliance for Natural Health - The bill this time is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an appropriations bill to fund the military for FY 2016. The House passed its version of the bill in May. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced what is called “an amendment in the nature of a substitute” to create a Senate version of the House-passed bill. The Blumenthal/Durbin amendments were introduced on top of the McCain legislation. Because it is a defense bill, the Blumenthal/Durbin amendments pertain to the supplement use of the US armed forces. There are three amendments....

'Profits over public health': Secret TPP Healthcare Annex published by WikiLeaks
RT - WikiLeaks published more secret documents from the controversial TPP agreement on Wednesday. The leaked drafts concerning healthcare in the US have activists worried the agreement might play into the hands of big pharmaceutical companies. The secret Trans-Pacific Paternship (TPP) negotiations showed that the Healthcare Annex has been seeking to regulate state schemes for medicines and medical devices. WikiLeaks said "it forces healthcare authorities to give big pharmaceutical companies more information about national decisions on public access to medicine." Related:

US Congress Holds Classified Hearing to Investigate DoD’s Anthrax Shipments
Sputnik News - “We are conducting thorough oversight and will continue to do so,” Congressman Jim Langevin said on Wednesday before a classified briefing with Pentagon officials. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry told the press that Congress requested the classified briefing on the anthrax scare to better understand the cause of the accident. “This is something you have got to take very seriously. Something did not go right, and we have to find out what did not go right,” Thornberry stated.

CA Vaccine Bill Passes Health Committee, Heads to Full Assembly for Final Vote
Daily Sheeple - The state’s controversial and tyrannical mandatory vaccine bill has jumped another hurdle on its path to becoming law.... California lawmakers approved the bill, which requires all schoolchildren be vaccinated before being permitted to attend public or PRIVATE schools unless they have a MEDICAL exemption.... The bill was approved after five hours of emotional testimony from hundreds of opponents.

Grave concern: US medical examiners can keep organs from dead bodies, NY court rules
RT - Medical examiners don't have to return all organs from autopsied bodies to the deceased person's family, New York's Appeals Court ruled on Wednesday. The decision also added that it is not necessary to inform relatives if any body parts are missing. A verdict allowing city coroners to return the body with missing organs for burial after performing an autopsy was ruled on in New York, AP reported. The appeals court had reversed a lower court's decision, which involved a family who unknowingly buried their son with parts of his body missing. "There is simply no legal directive that requires a medical examiner to return organs or tissue samples derived from a lawful autopsy and retained by the medical examiner after such an autopsy," NY Daily News quoted Judge Eugene Pigott as saying.

Bilderberg chooses Hillary Clinton for 2016?
Global Research - Perhaps the biggest piece of news coming out of Austria and Bilderberg 2015 so far is the fact that a major Hillary Clinton advisor is on the list and set to attend. Longtime Clinton friend and ally Jim Messina of The Messina Group will be attending the globalist conference where the globalist favorite for United States 2016 election will surely be decided. This news indicates that the powers that be have most likely decided to back Clinton for President.

New Pentagon Plan Would Cut Future Military Pensions by 20%
Sputnik News - A proposal by the US Department of Defense submitted to Congress would reduce military pensions by 20 percent after troops complete their 20 years of duty. For the first time, members of the US armed services will automatically, upon entry, contribute to their retirement plan from their current compensation, according to the white paper. “Future Service members will receive 80% of the current defined benefit (pension) if they serve for 20 years,” the six-page white paper sent to legislators on Wednesday said.

‘You’re Fired – Now Train Your Much Cheaper Foreign Replacement’
Economic Collapse - If you were laid off from your job, would you be willing to train your replacement if your company threatened to take away your severance pay if you didn’t do it? And how would you feel if your replacement came from India, and the only reason your company was replacing you was because the foreign worker was a lot less expensive? Sadly, this is happening all over America – especially in the information technology field. Huge corporations such as Disney and Southern California Edison are coldly firing existing tech workers and filling those jobs with much cheaper foreign replacements. They are doing this by blatantly abusing the H-1B temporary worker visa program. Workers that had been doing a solid job for decades are being replaced without any hesitation just because it will save those firms a little bit of money. There is very, very little loyalty left in corporate America today.

California Oil Spill Cleanup Stretches On, Costing $3 Million Per Day
Sputnik News - The cost of cleaning up the massive oil spill on the Southern California coast last month has already cost a whopping $62 million dollars, and is going to cost a whole lot more - at $3 million a day and no estimate on a date for the cleanup completion. The spilling of up to 101,000 gallons of crude oil was caused by a pipeline break near Santa Barbara on May 19 and was the largest of its kind in 25 years. The cause of the leak has not yet been determined, but extensive external corrosion was found along sections of the pipeline during testing in early May.

Obama Expands Refuge to Stop Oil Drilling–Where No Oil Exists
Breitbart - To buy peace with climate change activists after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that oil fracking does not poison water, President Obama has signed an executive order tripling the size of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, just north of San Francisco. The order bans oil drilling in the area Obama renamed the “Greater” Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The move is merely symbolic, since there are no oil reserves in the area.

This Vaccine Can Impair Your Dog's Immune System
Dr. Becker - Earlier this year, a local ABC affiliate in Chicago, ABC7 Eyewitness News, decided to investigate dog owner claims (no mention of how many) that vaccine side effects had caused harm to their pets. According to Julie Harding, owner of a 4-year-old Vizsla, her pet suddenly became violent and vicious, foamed at the mouth, thrashed about, and suffered unexplained seizures. The woman took her dog, Piper, to a veterinary neurologist who diagnosed her with autoimmune meningitis.... The veterinary neurologist asked Harding if her dog had been vaccinated recently, and learned that indeed, Piper had just received the leptospirosis vaccine. The neurologist noted in Piper’s paperwork that her brain swelling could have been triggered by the vaccine and her predisposition to allergic conditions.
 

Wednesday - June 10, 2015 - Today in History:

1776 - The Continental Congress appointed a committee to write a Declaration of Independence.
1801 - The North African State of Tripoli declared war on the U.S. The dispute was over merchant vessels being able to travel safely through the Mediterranean.
1854 - The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, held its first graduation.
1898 - U.S. Marines landed in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
1903 - Binney & Smith Company began developing a product line of wax crayons. The product was named Crayola.
1909 - The SOS distress signal was used for the first time. The Cunard liner SS Slavonia used the signal when it wrecked off the Azores.
1933 - Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were in a car accident on a rural road in north Texas. The third-degree burns suffered by Parker resulted in a pronounced limp for the rest of her life.
1943 - The Allies began bombing Germany around the clock.
1970 - A fifteen-man group of special forces troops began training for Operation Kingpin. The operation was a POW rescue mission in North Vietnam.
1984 - The U.S. Army successfully tested an antiballistic missile.
1984 - The United States and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations for the first time in 117 years.
1985 - The Israeli army pulled out of Lebanon after 1,099 days of occupation.
1994 - U.S. President Clinton intensified sanctions against Haiti's military leaders. U.S. commercial air travel was suspended along with most financial transactions between Haiti and the U.S.
1998 - The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that poor children in Milwaukee could attend religious schools at taxpayer expense.
1999 - NATO suspended air strikes in Yugoslavia after Slobodan Milosevic agreed to withdraw his forces from Kosovo.

Oil prices rise, on higher Saudi Arabian output due to strong demand
RT - Oil prices are at their highest for a month on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia said it had raised output over the past three months in response to stronger global demand. It refuted media report it was pumping more to compensate for lower prices. Brent futures for July were up $1.15 cents trading at $66.03 a barrel at 13:10 MSK. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up $1.30 at $61.44 a barrel.

Nuclear power station cancer warning: Breast cancer rates are FIVE TIMES higher at Welsh plant - and twice as high at Essex and Somerset sites, experts reveal
Daily Mail - In three separate studies, a team of scientists looked at the rates of various cancers in populations living close to Trawsfynydd power station in North Wales, Bradwell in Essex and Hinkley Point in Somerset. They discovered breast cancer rates, in particular, were higher than expected national averages at all three sites. At Trawsfynydd, rates of the disease were five times greater than average, while in Essex and Somerset women had double the risk of developing breast cancer.... The prevailing winds at the site are south westerly and more than 90 per cent of those living downwind of the power station were surveyed by researchers working for Dr Busby.

West Coast of North America to be Slammed by 2016 with 80% As Much Fukushima Radiation As Japan
Washington's Blog - This is not news for those who have been paying attention. A professor from Japan’s Fukushima University Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (Michio Aoyama) told Kyodo in April that the West Coast of North America will be hit with around 800 terabecquerels of Cesium- 137 by 2016.

US accuses Russia of missile violations to cover Europe deployment plans – Moscow
RT - The US is ramping up the controversy over alleged violations of a key missile ban treaty to cover up its own plans to deploy missiles in Europe, a top Russian military official said. Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov was commenting on a reported plan by the US to deploy nuclear-capable intermediate-range cruise missiles in Europe and Asia targeting Russian territory. The plan was cited by AP, which said it was penned by the office of US General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and contained several contingencies for a scenario in which a key missile treaty between US and Russia fails.

U.S. to establish new military base in Anbar Province and send 400 additional American military advisers to Iraq - officials
NY Times - In a major shift of strategy in Iraq, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province and send hundreds of additional American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi and repel the Islamic State. Although a final decision by the White House has yet to be announced, the plan follows months of behind-the-scenes debate about what strategy the American-led coalition should pursue in Iraq.

NATO starts ‘very high readiness’ force drills in Poland
RT - NATO’s newly formed rapid response force; designed to strengthen the “defensive” alliance’s eastern borders against the perceived Russian threat, has launched its first full deployment military drills in Poland. This is the first full deployment of the new force,” NATO spokesman, Polish Colonel Marek Pietrzak, told AFP. The Noble Jump 2 exercises at the Zagan training range in the north west of Poland will last until June 19. It is featuring some 2,100 soldiers from nine NATO states. The servicemen form the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), created last year at the NATO Summit in the UK, is in response to a perceived Russian threat.

Major TTIP vote at European Parliament postponed due to 'political divisions'
RT - A key vote on the controversial TTIP resolution was postponed by European Parliament last minute on Tuesday. While a large number of amendments have been cited as the reason for the delay, some believe the "mounting public pressure" is "bearing fruit." The plenary Wednesday vote on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) resolution was postponed by the European Parliament's president on Tuesday evening. The vote on the controversial report following the ongoing EU-US TTIP trade and investment negotiations will not take place "in view of the fact that more than 200 amendments and requests for split or separate votes have been tabled," President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz announced.
* Related: Grassroots Pressure Kills EU’s ‘Corporatist’ Trade Deal… Farage: ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It’

The PetroYuan Is Born: Gazprom Now Settling All Crude Sales To China In Renminbi
Zero Hedge - Western economic sanctions on Russia have pushed domestic oil producers to settle crude exports to China in yuan just as Russian oil is rising as a percentage of total Chinese crude imports. Meanwhile, the collapse in crude prices led to the first net outflow of petrodollars from financial markets in 18 years, and if Goldman's projections prove correct, the net supply of petrodollars could fall by nearly $900 billion over the next three years. All of this comes as China is making a concerted push to settle loans from its newly-created infrastructure funds in renminbi. Putting it all together, the PetroYuan represents the intersection of a dying petrodollar and an ascendant renminbi.

Pentagon: We sent live anthrax to UK lab
RT - An unnamed UK company received a batch of samples with unsafe levels of anthrax in 2007, bringing up the number of facilities that were shipped the deadly bacteria from the US to 68, according to the US Department of Defense. "The company has informed us it destroyed samples shortly after testing," said a statement from the UK Health and Safety Executive.

The Pentagon Doesn’t Know What it Spent 8.5 Trillion Dollars on
Blacklisted News - When government is completely dysfunctional and seems not to serve the people’s interests, we have to wonder where our tax dollars are going. Thanks to a Reuters investigation by Scot Paltrow, we have an answer—or, rather, a non-answer. Apparently, the Pentagon has made use of $8.5 trillion of our tax money handed over by Congress since 1996—but don’t ask what was done with the money. The Department of Defense doesn’t have a clue.... In almost 20 years, the Pentagon has never accounted for trillions it spent, in part because “plugging”—fudging the numbers—is standard operating procedure.

Say What? Obama Claims He Reinstated US as World’s Most Respected Country
Sputnik News - During a news briefing, President Barack Obama had some strong words of encouragement for himself: now that former president Bush is gone, the world loves America again! Of course, when you actually survey global citizens, the US is still far from being the most respected nation on Earth.... "…Today, once again, the United States is the most respected country on Earth," he said during a news briefing last week. "Part of that, I think, is the work that we did to reengage the world, and that ‘We want to work with you as partners, with mutual interest and mutual respect." Which is all well and good, until you look at the figures for last year.

The Supreme Court May Have Just Banned Using A Gun In Your Home — And Virtually No One Noticed
Off the Grid News - Local governments now have the right to tell you how to store your guns thanks to the inaction of the US Supreme Court. The court Monday refused to hear an appeal of a US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a San Francisco ordinance requiring owners in their own home either to store firearms in a locked container or disable them with trigger locks when not in use. Gun owners can wear the gun in a holster, but other than that, the gun must be put away.... The court’s ruling means that the San Francisco ordinance and similar laws in states and territories in the Ninth Circuit can be enforced. The Ninth Circuit covers Hawaii, Alaska, California, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington state.

McKinney police officer resigns following ‘indefensible’ actions at pool party
Washington Post - The Texas police officer at the center of a controversial video that showed him forcefully handcuffing and drawing his gun on a group of black teenagers at a pool party last weekend has resigned, the city’s police chief announced Tuesday. McKinney Police Cpl. Eric Casebolt, who was under investigation, “resigned on his own will,” police Chief Greg Conley said at a news conference. He called Casebolt’s actions “indefensible.”... But a decision hasn’t yet been made regarding possible criminal charges, Conley said, according to the AP.

Kalief Browder, Jailed at Rikers as a Teen for 3 Years Without Trial, Kills Himself
Activist Post - Kalief Browder, the young man who was held for years in New York’s Rikers Island prison as a teen without trial or conviction, killed himself on Saturday. In 2014, Jennifer Gonnerman of The New Yorker brought attention to Browder’s plight with her poignant article titled "Before the Law." Browder ended up in one of America’s most corrupt and violent prisons after being accused – at age 16 – of stealing a backpack on May 15, 2010. Because his family was unable to raise his $10,000 bail and because of repeated court delays and an overwhelmed system, Browder was forced to endure three years of hell – including beatings and deprivation of food – at Rikers Island waiting for a trial that never happened. He refused to accept several plea deals on principle, maintaining his innocence throughout his entire ordeal.

Homeless Vets Move Into Swanky Apartments in L.A.
Breitbart - “When I walked into this building,” the Army veteran said, “it was like one of those movies when you walk through a cloud and you’re like: ‘Whoa! Wow!’ Everything was state of the art, brand new.” That was Keith Hudson’s reaction when he looked inside his new home at the Veteran Affairs campus in West Los Angeles. Before that, the fifty-two-year-old was living on the streets, homeless for years, mired in depression and alcoholism.... The facility administrators hope to provide effective job training to help launch the veterans into permanent jobs and permanent housing off of the campus. While they are living on campus, they will be compensated for the work they do. Right now Hudson is a housekeeper in the WLA VA hospital, but he hopes to pursue his old career as a paralegal.

HSBC To Fire 50,000, One In Five Jobs, To Fund Dividends To Shareholders
Zero Hedge - Just days after JPMorgan revealed it would fire another 5,000 by the end of the year... HSBC unleashed the "machete" and announced it would cut almost 50,000 workers, or one in five bankers, a move which would shrink the investment bank division by one-third. The reason: the same why US corporations are laying off tens of thousands so they can fund record stock buybacks and enrich their shareholders - to boost profits so that more money can be channeled in the form of dividends.

Student Debt Cancellations Begin: Government To "Forgive" $3.6 Billion After Corinthian Closure
Zero Hedge - The Department of Education says it will forgive federal student loans made to Corinthian Colleges students who can prove they were victims of fraud. The potential cost to taxpayers: nearly $4 billion. With the precedent thus set, the question now is whether continued pressure on for-profit colleges will result in further closures and more petitions from hundreds of thousands of students with hundreds of billions of loans they now know can be legally discharged.

Hospitals Are Blatantly Ripping Us Off
Economic Collapse - In America today, hospitals and doctors are blatantly ripping us off and they aren’t making any apologies for it. As you will read about below, some hospitals mark up treatments by 1,000 percent. In other instances, basic medical supplies are being billed out at hundreds of times what they cost providers. For example, it has been reported that some hospitals are charging up to 30 dollars for a single aspirin pill. It would be difficult to argue that the extreme greed that we see in the medical system is even matched by the crooks on Wall Street. These medical predators get their hands on us when we are at our most vulnerable. They know that in our lowest moments we are willing to pay just about anything to get better or to make the pain go away. And so they very quietly have us sign a bunch of forms without ever telling us how much everything is going to cost.

Federal Court Tells Postal Service its Temporary Rate Increase must be…Temporary
AllGov - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last week that USPS’s emergency price increase of 4.3%, in place since January 2014, cannot last forever. The increase raised the price of stamps from 46 cents to 49 cents. Postal service officials asked for and got the bump from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which oversees USPS, claiming it needed to recover some of the revenues lost during the Great Recession. The agency said its regular rate increase, based on inflation, wasn’t enough of a revenue generator. The increase came with a cap on how much money the USPS could recover, which is scheduled to be hit this summer. When postal officials asked to make the increase permanent, the PRC turned them down.... Right now it’s unclear when rates might be rolled back. So don’t buy any more of those “Forever” stamps than you have to.

Fracking Has Contaminated Drinking Water In Eleven States, EPA Study
GovSlaves - After years of asserting that hydraulic fracturing has never tainted drinking water, the Obama administration issued a long-awaited study of the controversial oil and gas production technique that confirmed “specific instances” when fracking “led to impacts on drinking water resources, including contamination of drinking water wells.” The conclusion was central to a nearly 1,000-page draft assessment issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency to address public concerns about the possible effects of fracking on drinking water.... Still, the EPA determined that the number of contamination cases “was small compared to the number of hydraulically fractured wells.”
* Related: U.S. Natural Gas Price Collapsing after EPA Says Fracking Safe

Tuesday - June 9, 2015 - Today in History:

1790 - John Barry copyrighted "Philadelphia Spelling Book." It was the first American book to be copyrighted.
1860 - The Ms. Ann Stevens book "Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter" was offered for sale for a dime. It was the first published "dime novel."
1923 - Bulgaria's government was overthrown by the military.
1931 - Robert H. Goddard patented a rocket-fueled aircraft design.
1940 - Norway surrendered to the Nazis during World War II.
1943 - The withholding tax on payrolls was authorized by the U.S. Congress.
1945 - Japanese Premier Kantaro Suzuki declared that Japan would fight to the last rather than accept unconditional surrender.
1959 - The first ballistic missile carrying submarine, the USS George Washington, was launched.
1978 - Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood.
1980 - Richard Pryor was severely burned by a "free-base" mixture that exploded. He was hospitalized more than two months.
1985 - Thomas Sutherland, an American educator, was kidnapped in Lebanon. He was not released until November 1991.
1986 - The Rogers Commission released a report on the Challenger disaster. The report explained that the spacecraft blew up as a result of a failure in a solid rocket booster joint.
1999 - NATO and Yugoslavia signed a peace agreement over Kosovo.
2000 - Canada and the United States signed a border security agreement. The agreement called for the establishment of a border-enforcement team.
2000 - The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal gift and estate taxes. The bill called for the taxes to be phased out over 10 years.
2001 - Patrick Roy (Colorado Avalanche) became the first National Hockey League (NHL) player to win three Conn Smythe Trophies. The award is given to the playoff's Most Valuable Player.
2011 - The world's first artificial organ transplant was performed. It was an artificial windpipe coated with stem cells.

Terrorist Act Ruled Out in Kiev Oil Depot Fire - Press Secretary
Sputnik News - According to Ukrainian Presidential Press Secretary, terrorist act has been ruled out as the reason for a large fire and explosion at an oil depot near Kiev.... A fire erupted at a BRSM-Nafta oil depot late on Monday evening and a blast was reported on Tuesday morning. According to the latest information, 16 oil cisterns, each containing around 900 cubic meters of fuel, are ablaze. A fire in one cistern was extinguished earlier in the day. At least one person has died.

G7 threatens Russia with further sanctions over Ukraine conflict ‘if required’
RT - The leaders of the G7 states are ready to impose additional sanctions on Russia, if the situation in Ukraine worsens, according to a joint statement issued by the member states, following a two-day summit in the south of Germany. On Monday, the G7 issued a joint communiqué summing up the results of their meeting. In regard to the Ukrainian crisis, the leaders agreed, “that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty." “However, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require,” it added.

GDP of BRICS could surpass G7 in 2-3 years - senior Duma MP
RT - The GDP of the BRICS countries may surpass that of the G7 within two or three years, as it has already hit $32.5 trillion and rising, claims State Duma Foreign Relations chief Aleksey Pushkov.

Russia and Egypt Hold Joint Naval Exercise
Reuters - Russia and Egypt are holding their first ever joint naval exercise, Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday, strengthening the ties between two states which were once Cold War allies. The eight-day drills off the Mediterranean Egyptian port of Alexandria, beginning today, will include supply and communication at sea, search operations, all forms of defence at sea and firing exercises. “The goal of the exercise is to strengthen and develop military co-operation between Egypt’s navy and Russia’s navy in the interests of security and stability on the sea,” the ministry said.... Russia's President Vladimir Putin has been cultivating ties with Egypt, a Soviet ally for much of the Cold War and traditional export market for Russian arms.

Israel tests ‘dirty' bombs in fear of enemy attacks says report
RT - Israel has carried out a series of test detonations to measure the effects of a “dirty” radiological bomb if it were used by “hostile forces,” according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Twenty detonation tests were performed involving between 250 grams and 25 kilograms of explosives together with the common radioactive substance known as 99mTc, according to the report. ... The so-called “dirty bomb” combines conventional explosives with, radioactive materials and is not considered to be a nuclear weapon or a weapon of mass destruction.

Bilderberg 2015: Full Attendee List & Agenda
InfoWars - The official Bilderberg Group website has released the full attendee list and agenda for this year’s conference. As ever, the list of topics to be discussed is so vague as to almost be meaningless.... Telfs-Buchen, 8 June 2015 – The 63rd Bilderberg conference is set to take place from 11 – 14 June 2015 in Telfs-Buchen, Austria. A total of around 140 participants from 22 countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media have been invited.

Google Exec Behind Ingestible ID Chips to Attend Bilderberg 2015
Paul Joseph Watson - Former DARPA director and now Google executive Regina Dugan, who is helping to develop and promote the idea of an ingestible identification microchip, will be in attendance at the secretive 2015 Bilderberg conference in Telfs-Buchen, Austria. Dugan’s name appeared on the official list of participants released today on the Bilderberg Group’s official website. One of the topics up for discussion will be “artificial intelligence.” Google Chairman Erich Schmidt along with Demis Hassabis, Vice President of Engineering for Google DeepMind, will also meet with over 100 global power brokers from finance, politics and academia during the elitist confab.

Reports: Army.mil hacked, pro-Assad group takes credit
armytimes.com - The Army took down its homepage Monday after the site was hacked, the Army confirmed, with a group loyal to the Syrian government claiming responsibility.

U.S. base shipped live anthrax to 19 states plus D.C.: Pentagon
Reuters - The number of labs that received live anthrax samples from a U.S. military base in Utah has risen to 66 in 19 states, Washington and three foreign countries, the Pentagon said on Monday. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Defense Department spokesman, said 31 people were receiving precautionary treatment for exposure to live anthrax, unchanged since the Pentagon's last update on the incident. Warren said one new state, Pennsylvania, had been added to the list of locations where live anthrax had been sent. In addition to the U.S. states and Washington, the pathogen was sent to South Korea, Canada and Australia. Investigators are trying to ascertain whether the inadvertent shipments of the anthrax, which can be used as a biological weapon, stemmed from quality control problems at the base, the Dugway Proving Ground, Pentagon officials said.

Patient With Extreme Form of TB Sent to NIH
NBC News - A female patient with an extremely hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis is being treated at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington D.C., and federal and state officials are now tracking down hundreds of people who may have been in contact with her.... "The patient traveled in April from India to the United States through Chicago O'Hare airport," the CDC said in a statement provided to NBC News. "The patient also spent time in Missouri and Tennessee. Seven weeks after arriving in the United States, the patient sought treatment for and was diagnosed with active TB." She was isolated in a suburban Chicago hospital before she was sent to NIH.

New Public Database Shows Total People Killed by Police in Real Time (Video)
Activist Post - The UK Guardian has started keeping an interactive database of citizens murdered by local police departments across America in a project called “The Counted”. This year the Guardian estimates that a total of 479 deaths were as a result of crossing paths with law enforcement, roughly twice as many as those published by the FBI. The process uses social media, local news reports, and public records to catalog men and women killed by the police in the United States this year.

Ex-US Intelligence Officials Confirm: Secret Pentagon Report Proves US Complicity In Creation Of ISIS
Zero Hedge - … in a follow up piece to his stunning original investigative report, Nafeez Ahmed reveals that according to leading American and British intelligence experts, the previously declassified Pentagon report confirms that the West accelerated support to extremist rebels in Syria, despite knowing full well the strategy would pave the way for the emergence of the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS). The experts who have spoken out include renowned government whistleblowers such as the Pentagon’s Daniel Ellsberg, the NSA’s Thomas Drake, and the FBI’s Coleen Rowley, among others.

Privacy Activists Alarmed by Details of Secret U.S. Trade in Services Negotiations with EU and 23 other Countries
AllGov - The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) agreement being negotiated by the Obama administration with representatives from 23 other nations, mostly in Europe and South America, but also including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Israel, has provisions that could allow personal data to be stored in other countries. Unlike the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which deals mostly with goods, TiSA is intended to regulate services, such as the Internet. This concerns privacy advocates, particularly those in Europe, where governments are more concerned with such issues. Emma Woollacott at Forbes says TiSA, if adopted, could bar countries “from trying to control where their citizens’ personal data is held or whether it’s accessible from outside the country.”

Let us spy for 6 months more: NSA asks court for extension of expired surveillance program
RT - Department of Justice officials have asked a federal court to restart the NSA spy programs shut down when portions of the Patriot Act expired on June 1. The US government claims the Freedom Act allows surveillance to continue for six more months. In a filing to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), revealed Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) requested permission to continue the “bulk production of call detail records” for 180 days, arguing that the USA Freedom Act allows a six-month transition period.

Yellen: Fed won't comply with House subpoena yet
The Hill - Yellen told House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) that the Fed’s inspector general, as well as the Justice Department, told her that responding to his panel’s “extremely broad” legal demand for documents could get in the way of their own investigations… The Fed and Justice Department are currently probing how an investment advisory firm was able to detail for clients discussions at a private 2012 meeting one day before the meeting minutes were made public. Yellen promised that the Fed will ultimately comply with Hensarling’s demands but only after the criminal investigation is complete.

TSA didn’t spot airport workers with potential terrorism links: Audit
The Washington Times - The Transportation Security Administration failed to screen out more than 70 airport workers who appeared on terrorist-related vetting lists, the agency’s inspector general reported Monday, saying officials weren’t checking all of the right databases. Airport operators and vendors are supposed to vet their employees with the TSA, which performs the background checks and does a fingerprint check with the FBI, then sends the information to airports to make a final decision. But the Homeland Security inspector general, who oversees the airport agency, said the TSA missed potential red flags for 73 individuals because the agency didn’t search all terrorism-related databases when it did its checks.

Angry homeowner brands cops 'thugs' after SWAT team blows his house apart looking for a gunman leaving him with $250,000 worth of damage
Florida Newstime - An angry homeowner has branded the police 'thugs' after a SWAT team demolished his house in a hail of bullets and grenades during a hunt for a gunman who was holed up inside. Leo Lech has been left with $250,000 worth of damage to his home in Greenwood, Colorado, following the 20-hour police shootout. He says he told the chief of the Greenwood Village Police Department: 'In any civilized nation ... this is the act of paramilitary thugs,' but he claims that the chief dismissed his comments.... According to police, the SWAT team used chemical agents, flash-bang grenades and a 'breaching ram.' Lech added: 'They methodically fired explosives into every room in this house in order to extract one person. Granted, he had a handgun, but against 100 officers?

White South Carolina Cop Who Shot Black Motorist in the Back Indicted
Sputnik News - On April 4, a bystander filmed Slager, a then-patrolman with the North Charleston police department, fatally shooting 50 year-old Walter Scott. While Slager said he reacted out of fear for his own life, bystander video of the incident shows an unarmed Scott running as he is shot in the back.... Slager, 33, was fired after the incident, but on Monday, a grand jury also indicted the former officer. While no trial date has been set at this time, Slager could face between 30 years and life in prison without parole if convicted.

Judge says he quit over speeding ticket quota
WFAA - First, it was the "Dirty Thirty," a line of four towns along a 30-mile stretch of Interstate 45 south of Dallas that issue a high volume of traffic tickets. Now, welcome to the "Texas Triangle" – a group of small towns in Falls and Robertson counties southeast of Waco that are also in the ticket game, according to a longtime municipal court judge who said he quit over what he described as a ticketing quota system.... He told News 8 that he quit as judge there because he was getting pressure from city officials to push speeding tickets through court. "The pressure to collect revenues in Calvert — and probably other small towns in Texas — is excessive," he said. "And what happens is, you got judges like me who say they've got better things to do with my time. 'Thank you very much, and God bless you, I'll move on.'"

Guess How Many Nations In The World Do Not Have A Central Bank?
Economic Collapse - Central banking has truly taken over the entire planet. At this point, the only major nation on the globe that does not have a central bank is North Korea. Yes, there are some small island countries such as the Federated States of Micronesia that do not have a central bank, but even if you count them, more than 99.9% of the population of the world still lives in a country that has a central bank.

Monsanto Ordered To Pay $93 Million For Poisoning Residents With Agent Orange
Global Research - Earlier this month the State Supreme Court of West Virginia dealt a huge blow to the biotech company Monsanto, ordering it to pay $93 million to the small town of Nitro, West Virginia for poisoning local citizens with Agent Orange chemicals.... Approved last year, the details were only recently worked out a few weeks ago as to how the funds would be dispersed. In order to receive the benefits outlined in the settlement, residents of Nitro still need to fill out a register. And due to the serious importance of this landmark case, residents in the area are urged to participate as fully as possible to set a precedent for other class action suits that farmers and consumers of GMO foods around the world might ignite against Monsanto in the future.

Gardasil Vaccine Survivors in Ireland Launch Support Group
Health Impact News - The R.E.G.R.E.T. Support Group was launched recently in Ireland by parents of chronically ill teenage girls. These parents blame an injection the girls received at school as the cause of their daughters’ illness. The drug in question is called Gardasil and is being marketed as an anti-cancer vaccine. R.E.G.R.E.T. is an acronym for “Reactions and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma”.... A high incidence of serious reactions have been reported in the U.S ever since Gardasil was released there in 2006. Even the drug manufacturer’s own clinical trials reveal a 1 in 40 (2.5%) incidence of a serious adverse reaction*, yet Irish parents are still told by the HSE that Gardasil is ‘very safe’.

Study: BPA-lined Containers Hike Blood Pressure - Immediately
Green Med Info - Most of us know – or should know by now – that bisphenol-A mimics estrogen and can thus interrupt our cells' reception of hormones. This is called hormone disruption. But most of us probably figure that drinking from a BPA-lined container won't do much immediate harm, right? Such a notion is shared by many, but unfortunately, it is wrong. Drinking from a BPA-lined container can cause immediate cardiovascular harm. The ramifications of such a presumption, if true, is disastrous. Today, bisphenol-A and its supposedly-safer version, bisphenol-S, are found in many plastic food and beverage containers along with the linings of many canned food and beverage containers.

Coconut Oil Pulling Chews
Wellness Mama - If you aren’t familiar with oil pulling, it is simply swishing oil (usually sesame or coconut oil) in the mouth for a period of time (5-20 minutes) and then spitting it out in the trash. It is said to help reduce plaque and coconut oil is naturally antibacterial and even said to kill the specific bacteria that causes cavities. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with adding essential oils to oil for oil pulling to improve the taste and to get the added benefits of the essential oil. My favorites so far have been essential oils that are naturally found in toothpaste, like peppermint, cinnamon and clove.

12 Signs Your Pet Is Too Hot: Can You Recognize Them All?
Dr. Becker - Once summer arrives, the danger of overheating returns. And for many areas, these dangers can arrive even sooner, which can be especially life-threatening. Know how to tell if it's getting too hot for your pet, and what to do if you see these 12 signs.

Wikileaks Reveals Full Text Of Trans-Pacific Partnership
Zero Hedge - Finally "America's biggest secret" has been revealed and now the full, formerly confidential text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, aka Obamatrade, has been made public. You just have to be quick.
 

Monday - June 8, 2015 - Today in History:

1786 - In New York City, commercially manufactured ice cream was advertised for the first time.
1790 - The first loan for the U.S. was repaid. The Temporary Loan of 1789 was negotiated and secured on September 18, 1789 by Alexander Hamilton.
1861 - Tennessee voted to secede from the Union and joined the Confederacy.
1872 - The penny postcard was authorized by the U.S. Congress.
1904 - U.S. Marines landed in Tangiers, Morocco, to protect U.S. citizens.
1947 - "Lassie Show" debuted on ABC radio. It was a 15-minute show.
1953 - The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregated restaurants in Washington, DC.
1965 - U.S. troops in South Vietnam were given orders to begin fighting offensively.
1967 - Israeli airplanes attacked the USS Liberty in the Mediterranean during the 6-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors. 34 U.S. Navy crewmen were killed. Israel later called the incident a tragic mistake due to the mis-identification of the ship. The U.S. has never publicly investigated the incident.
1969 - U.S. President Richard Nixon met with President Thieu of South Vietnam to tell him 25,000 U.S. troops would pull out by August.
1982 - U.S. President Reagan became the first American chief executive to address a joint session of the British Parliament.
1987 - Fawn Hill began testifying in the Iran-Contra hearings. She said that she had helped to shred some documents.
1988 - The judge in the Iran-Contra conspiracy case ruled that Oliver North, John Poindexter, Richard Secord and Albert Hakim had to be tried separately.
1991 - A victory parade was held in Washington, DC, to honor veterans of the Persian Gulf War.
1995 - U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O'Grady was rescued by U.S. Marines after surviving alone in Bosnia after his F-16 fighter was shot down on June 2.
1998 - The space shuttle Discovery pulled away from Mir, ending America's three-year partnership with Russia.
2004 - Nate Olive and Sarah Jones began the first known continuous hike of the 1,800-mile trail down the U.S. Pacific Coast. They completed the trek at the U.S.-Mexico border on September 28.

Putin intends to undermine NATO - Jt. Chiefs Chairman Dempsey
RT - Russia is seeking to “discredit and eventually undermine” NATO, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said in an interview published shortly after President Vladimir Putin said only a madman would think of Russia as a threat to NATO. “I can’t tell you, as we sit here today, precisely what Putin and Russia intend to do,” Dempsey said in the interview to the Wall Street Journal. “They have demonstrated some behaviors outside the international order that clearly indicate that they are willing to push beyond what most of the nations with whom we deal consider to be international norms.”

G7 leaders urge tough line on Russia at Alpine summit
Reuters - Group of Seven (G7) leaders vowed at a summit in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday to keep sanctions against Russia in place until President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-backed separatists fully implement the terms of a peace deal for Ukraine. The Ukraine conflict and a long-running debt standoff between Greece and its European partners dominated the first day of the annual meeting hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel... Merkel is hoping to secure commitments from her G7 guests to tackle global warming ahead of a major United Nations climate summit in Paris in December. The German agenda also foresees discussions on global health issues, from Ebola to antibiotics and tropical diseases. But Ukraine took center stage on Sunday, with U.S. President Barack Obama calling for "standing up to Russian aggression".

South Korea reports jump in MERS infections
Reuters - The Health Ministry announced 23 new infections, bringing the total to 87. South Korea now has the second highest number of infections in the world after Saudi Arabia, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The latest MERS patient to die in South Korea was hospitalised for pneumonia when he was infected, officials in the city of Daejeon said. He was confirmed to have contracted the virus from another patient at a hospital. Underlining concern about the spread of the disease, South Korean authorities said they would track the cellphones of about 2,500 people under quarantine who may have been in contact with patients. Some of those under quarantine are in healthcare facilities although most are at home.

Preparing for War? 11 Countries to Supply Lethal Weapons to Ukraine
Sputnik News - Ukraine needs “only defensive weapons to protect its territory”, a report for President Petro Poroshenko’s annual address to the parliament read. Ukraine has reached agreements for the supply of lethal weapons from 11 countries, according to an analytic report for President Petro Poroshenko’s annual address to the parliament. “Ukraine reached agreements with 11 countries on weapons supplies, including lethal weapons. Significant progress on the issue has been made by our principal ally, the United States,” the document read. The document also says Ukraine needs “only defensive weapons to protect its territory from aggression.”

In Major Escalation, Yemen Rebels Fire Scud Missile Into Saudi Arabia
Zero Hedge - On Saturday, Riyadh claimed the Houthis, in concert with forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, fired a scud missile at Saudi Arabia for the first time. The scud, which apparently targeted the city of Khamis Mushait in southwest Saudi Arabia, was intercepted by two Patriot missiles. “At 2:45am on Saturday morning, the Houthi militias and ousted [president] Ali Abdullah Saleh launched a Scud missile in the direction of Khamees al-Mushait, and praise be to God, the Royal Saudi air defences blocked it with a Patriot missile," a statement said.

Israeli Mossad posed as CIA to recruit terrorists to attack Iran
Hang The Bankers - Israeli Mossad agents posed as CIA officers in order to recruit members of a Pakistani terror group to carry out assassinations and attacks against the regime in Iran, Foreign Policy revealed on Friday, quoting U.S. intelligence memos. Foreign Policy’s Mark Perry reported that the Mossad operation was carried out in 2007-2008, behind the back of the U.S. government, and infuriated then U.S. President George W. Bush. Perry quotes a number of American intelligence officials and claims that the Mossad agents used American dollars and U.S. passports to pose as CIA spies to try to recruit members of Jundallah, a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization that has carried out a series of attacks in Iran and assassinations of government officials.

Greek Banks On Verge Of Total Collapse: Bank Run Surges "Massively" As Depositors Yank €700 Million Today Alone
Zero Hedge - While the Greek government believes it may have won the battle, if not the war with Europe, the reality is that every additional day in which Athens does not have a funding backstop, be it the ECB (or the BRIC bank), is a day which brings the local banking system to total collapse. And another day, or two, like today, and it may all be over: According to banking sources, the Greek bank outflows on Friday soared to 700 million Euros from 272 million Euros on Thursday.

Why Is The EU Forcing European Nations To Adopt 'Bail-In' Legislation By The End Of The Summer?
Economic Collapse - It turns out that there are 11 of them… The article “EU regulators tell 11 countries to adopt bank bail-in rules” [Reuters] reported how 11 countries are under pressure from the EC and had yet “to fall in line”. The countries were Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France and Italy. France and Italy are two countries who are regarded as having particularly fragile banking systems. But why only two months to get this done?... Normally, things in Europe take a very long time to get done. It is out of character for the European Commission to rush to get something like this done so quickly.

10 Reasons Why You Should Oppose TPP and TTIP
New American - The U.S. Senate’s passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation on May 22 means that the TPA bill (also known as “Fast Track”) will soon be up for a vote in the House of Representatives. If the House follows suit and approves it, we can be certain that President Obama and his Republican supporters in Congress will move for expedited action on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), both of which, Obama has stated, are top priorities of his administration.

Man Who Filmed Freddie Gray Arrest Charged With ‘Inciting a Riot’
Counter Current News - Charged with “terrorism” and “inciting a riot” as backlash for filming the police?... Kevin Moore, the man who filmed the now infamous Freddie Gray arrest, just before police apparently killed the Baltimore resident in the back of a police van, was harassed continuously after he filmed the police. Following that harassment, he was arrested and charged with such outlandish crimes as “terrorism” and “inciting a riot” as well as “evading police,” “driving with no license,” and an open container charge. Baltimore prosecutors recently dropped the charges against Moore, but just yesterday as his friends and fellow Cop Watchers Chad Jackson, and Aahil TalalAbdullah (Tony White) appeared in court, they made it clear that the charges would stick for the others.

TPP Begins to Unravel as Obama Launches Final Push For Votes
Paul Joseph Watson - The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade package is beginning to unravel, with more prominent voices slamming President Obama and the Republican leadership over the secretive deal that threatens to cost American jobs and hand big corporations new powers that would violate national sovereignty. House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Rules Committee chairman Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) refused to reveal to Breitbart whether they had read the TPP agreement but still said they would support the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and allow President Barack Obama to fast-track the TPP. Lawmakers claim that TPA is separate from TPP and that they will review the final TPP agreement before it is considered by Congress. However, as Matthew Boyle explains, this explanation doesn’t wash. A vote for the TPA is a de facto green light for the TPP since there is essentially no way to halt a trade deal once it has been fast-tracked.

TPP Emails Show CEO Joked About Making “Royalty Payment” to US Officials
Paul Joseph Watson - Emails released under a Freedom of Information Act request show how one chemical company CEO was so pleased with the rules being set by the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal that he joked about making a “royalty payment” to U.S. government officials before bragging, “these rules are our rules.” 400 pages of confidential emails between industry advisors and USTR officials were obtained by Intellectual Property Watch. The USTR (Office of the United States Trade Representative), is the U.S. government agency responsible for developing the United States’ trade policy.

Energy Dept. Fines Two Nuclear Weapons Labs for Misplacing Classified Materials and Publically Sharing Weapons Designs
AllGov - At Los Alamos National Laboratories, officials couldn’t account for a piece of classified “matter” that had been scheduled to be shipped to a nuclear disposal site in Nevada. The material, last logged in at Los Alamos in 2007, is assumed to have been shipped out, but officials can’t confirm that. It wasn’t noticed for five years that the material wasn’t accounted for… At the Sandia National Laboratory, officials had included classified nuclear weapon design information on a server able to be accessed by the public for years. They even gave PowerPoint demonstrations from 2003 to 2011 that exposed the information to outside groups and handed out computer disks with the demo.

NRA: Gun blogs, videos, web forums threatened by new Obama regulation
Washington Examiner - Commonly used and unregulated internet discussions and videos about guns and ammo could be closed down under rules proposed by the State Department, amounting to a "gag order on firearm-related speech," the National Rifle Association is warning. In updating regulations governing international arms sales, State is demanding that anyone who puts technical details about arms and ammo on the web first get the OK from the federal government — or face a fine of up to $1 million and 20 years in jail. According to the NRA, that would include blogs and web forums discussing technical details of common guns and ammunition, the type of info gun owners and ammo reloaders trade all the time. "Gunsmiths, manufacturers, reloaders, and do-it-yourselfers could all find themselves muzzled under the rule and unable to distribute or obtain the information they rely on to conduct these activities," said the NRA in a blog posting.

Arizona Continues Record Pace of Taking Children out of Homes into State Custody - Now 1 of every 100 Children in Foster Care
Health Impact News - Are we to believe that there are more criminal, abusive parents in Arizona than anywhere else? Reports show that these state-sponsored kidnappings are only getting worse in 2015. Local media reports that the numbers are still rising.... The only thing more shocking than the number of Arizona children still in crisis is the governor’s failure to develop a concrete plan for fixing the year-old Department of Child Safety. The Brewer administration created this department after disbanding the overwhelmed Child Protective Services, which left more than 6,000 reports of abuse and neglect uninvestigated.

Survivor Contestant & Iraq War Vet Currently Being Held Against His Will In VA Hospital
The Free Thought Project - Iraq Veteran and Freedom Fighter Shamar Thomas is currently being held against his will at the Northport Medical VA Center in Northport, NY. Thomas spoke with The Free Thought Project today and explained that he went in Tuesday when he experienced suicidal thoughts while drinking. This is not uncommon for war veterans, as statistics show that 22 veterans take their own lives every day. Thomas explained to us that when he sobered up, he expressed that he was no longer having thoughts of hurting himself and wished to be released to seek counseling. He was told by Dr. Gregory Gunyan that he was not permitted to leave or even be evaluated until he agreed to swallow a cocktail of drugs, to which Thomas refused. According to Thomas, he was then informed he would be held indefinitely.... Even more disturbing, Thomas was then informed by Dr. Gunyan that his outside privileges were being taken away as punishment for the phone calls made to the hospital seeking a statement. Thomas expressed to The Free Thought Project that he is concerned that if any more calls are made, he may be further punished.

Cash-Strapped Kansas Moves to Limit ATM Withdrawals for Residents on Welfare
Bloomberg - Kansas is in trouble. After slashing income taxes in 2012, the state faces a revenue gap of more than $400 million. Republican Governor Sam Brownback and state legislators are debating how to make up the shortfall. So far they’ve agreed on one way to control how state money is spent. Starting in July, people on the dole will be limited to a single ATM withdrawal of no more than $25 per day.... Kansas is among several Republican-controlled states that have recently cut or limited public-assistance funds.

The "Illegal Immigrant" Recovery? The Real Stunner In The Jobs Report
Zero Hedge - In the latest jobs report we find the following stunner: since the start of the Second Great Depression, the US has added 2.3 million "foreign-born" workers, offset by just 727K "native-born". This means that the "recovery" has almost entirely benefited foreign-born workers, to the tune fo 3 to 1 relative to native-born Americans!

Organic Takeover: Toxic Food Makers Lose $4 Billion in Sales in One Year
Natural Society - Consumers are leaving toxic food makers’ products behind on grocery store shelves faster than you can say ‘organic.’ Big Food lost $4 billion in sales last year alone due to their inability to answer market demand for non-GM, organic food that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup, gluten, antibiotics, growth hormones, MSG, and other toxic additives. Meanwhile, organic food is absolutely exploding.

Farmers Say Oil Firms and Governor Brown Colluded to Pollute Aquifer
Courthouse News - The Committee to Protect Agricultural Water sued the oil companies and the state of California on Wednesday in Federal Court. It claims that defendant Gov. Jerry Brown et al. violated the Safe Drinking Water Act by approving permits for underground oil wells in the San Joaquin Valley, through the co-defendant California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. Also sued is the Western States Petroleum Association, a trade group. The 50-page lawsuit gets right to the point: "Every month, Occidental and Chevron directly pump 2.63 times more toxic waste water into the San Joaquin Aquifer than oil released into the Gulf during the entire BP spill," it begins. "The California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) plans to allow them to continue for another 21 months. This lawsuit is brought to stop the poisoning of the San Joaquin aquifer and to remediate the damage already done to the farmland of Kern County."

Drought: Lacking Water, Bakersfield Water Plant May Shut Down
Breitbart - A water plant in northeast Bakersfield in California’s Central Valley may shut down by the fall due to lack of available water for filtration, according to local ABC News affiliate KERO-23. The Kern River, which flows from the Sierra Nevada range south to the Central Valley, is near record low levels, which has potentially dire consequences for the plant and the city.

Friday - June 5, 2015 - Today in History:

1752 - Benjamin Franklin flew a kite for the first time to demonstrate that lightning was a form of electricity.
1794 - The U.S. Congress prohibited citizens from serving in any foreign armed forces.
1851 - Harriet Beecher Stow published the first installment of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in "The National Era."
1865 - The first safe deposit vault was opened in New York. The charge was $1.50 a year for every $1,000 that was stored.
1917 - American men began registering for the World War I draft.
1933 - President Roosevelt signed the bill that took the U.S. off of the gold standard.
1940 - During World War II, the Battle of France began when Germany began an offensive in Southern France.
1944 - The first B-29 bombing raid hit the Japanese rail line in Bangkok, Thailand.
1956 - Premier Nikita Khrushchev denounced Josef Stalin to the Soviet Communist Party Congress.
1973 - The first hole-in-one in the British Amateur golf championship was made by Jim Crowford.
1975 - Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to international shipping, eight years after it was closed because of the 1967 war with Israel.
1981 - In the U.S., the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that five men in Los Angeles were suffering from a rare pneumonia found in patients with weakened immune systems. They were the first recognized cases of what came to be known as AIDS.
1986 - A federal jury in Baltimore convicted Ronald Pelton of selling secrets to the Soviet Union. He was sentenced to 3 life prison terms plus 10 years.
1987 - Ted Koppel and guests discussed the topic of AIDS for four hours on ABC-TV’s "Nightline".
1998 - C-Span reported that Bob Hope had died. The report was false and had begun with an inaccurate obituary on the Associated Press website.
1998 - A strike at a General Motors parts factory began. It lasted for seven weeks.
2001 - Amazon.com announced that it would begin selling personal computers later in the year.
2004 - The U.S.S. Jimmy Carter was christened in the U.S. Navy in Groton, CT.

Greece Refuses to Fulfill Creditors' Proposals on Economic Reforms
Sputnik News - Greece cannot agree to the new proposals on extensive economic reforms made by the international creditors, Greek Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis said Friday. Greece and its lenders, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union and the European Central Bank, are currently negotiating a debt relief deal. On Wednesday, the European Commission and the debt-laden country failed to reach an agreement on a bailout package as Athens refused to compromise on unpopular social reforms demanded by the creditors.
* Related: Putin to hold phone call with Tsipras as Greece delays €300mn IMF payment

‘Reading tea leaves’: German expert questions Bellingcat’s MH17 photo scoop
RT - A German image forensics expert has debunked the analysis of British online investigative group Bellingcat, which accused Russia of altering satellite images from the MH17 disaster. He labeled the probe “subjective” and “not based entirely on science.”... But, German image forensics expert Jens Kriese said in an interview with Der Spiegel that it is, in fact, not possible to tell whether the images have been manipulated.

49 NATO vessels, 5,600 troops gear up for major US-led drills in Baltics
RT - Around 50 vessels from 17 countries, involving overall 5,600 troops, will be taking part in US-led exercise BALTOPS in the Baltic Sea starting June 5. In 15 days, NATO allies will show their eagerness and ability to protect the region. Featuring anti-submarine warfare, air defense, interception of suspect vessels and amphibious landings, the annual BALTOPS will run through June 20.

US knowingly conceals E. Ukrainian ceasefire violations by Kiev – leak
RT - The US and its Western allies are well aware of all the ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine but, deliberately turn a blind eye to Kiev’s actions, hackers said after obtaining the emails of top Ukrainian official overseeing the truce. The correspondence contained satellite images proving multiple violations of the Minsk peace agreements between Kiev and the rebels by the Ukrainian military, they said.

China Blamed For "Largest Theft Of US Government Data Ever" - 95% Of Federal Employees Affected
Zero Hedge - A week ago, Russian "crime syndicates" were blamed when the IRS announced that a "major cyber breach allowed criminals to steal the tax returns of more than 100,000 people." Today, it is China's turn to be blamed following a report that the FBI is probing what has been described as "one of the largest thefts of government data ever seen." The alleged penetration by Chinese hackers breached the files of the Office of Personnel Management, in which a vast amount of information about federal employees was accessed. According to the WSJ, investigators believe the hack compromised the records of approximately 4 million individuals. Indicatively, according to the OPM, there are about 4.2 million total personnel, so the hack affected some 95% of all Federal workers.

Tens of Thousands March Against Global Elites Ahead of G7
Common Dreams - 'As representatives of some of the most powerful countries in the world prepare to gather for their annual Group of Seven (G7) meeting, this time at a castle in the German town of Elmau, tens of thousands marched through nearby Munich on Thursday to protest the summit's politics of "neo-liberal economic policies, war and militarization, exploitation, poverty and hunger, environmental degradation, and the closing-off towards refugees." Over 34,000 people reportedly turned out for Thursday's march, with one demonstrator identified as Julia by Euronews declaring "we must not lose hope that one day the world really will be equal, and we will all have the same values."

‘Where’s the $500 mn?’ Red Cross promises houses for 130,000 Haitians, ’builds only 6’
RT - An investigation has found that the American Red Cross wasted $500 million in its bid to help Haiti, underperformed in its programs, and then tried to cover it up. Despite the NGO’s celebrated success, insider accounts point to failures. When a devastating earthquake struck the Western hemisphere’s poorest country in 2010, the American Red Cross was one of the organizations at the forefront of the humanitarian effort to rebuild it a year later, launching a multi-million-dollar effort. The main program – LAMIKA (a Creole acronym for ‘A Better Life in My Neighborhood’) – was to build hundreds of permanent homes to house some 130,000 people living in abject poverty after the quake. Now, in 2015, the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Campeche is as dilapidated as ever, with hardly any new buildings, trash strewn around, animals walking the streets, and people enduring sub-standard conditions in self-made shacks.

N.S.A. Secretly Expands Internet Spying at U.S. Border
NY Times - Without public notice or debate, the Obama administration has expanded the National Security Agency‘s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic to search for evidence of malicious computer hacking, according to classified N.S.A. documents. In mid-2012, Justice Department lawyers wrote two secret memos permitting the spy agency to begin hunting on Internet cables, without a warrant and on American soil, for data linked to computer intrusions originating abroad — including traffic that flows to suspicious Internet addresses or contains malware, the documents show.... The disclosures, based on documents provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, and shared with The New York Times and ProPublica, come at a time of unprecedented cyberattacks on American financial institutions, businesses and government agencies, but also of greater scrutiny of secret legal justifications for broader government surveillance.

Land of the Unfree – Police and Prosecutors Fight Aggressively to Retain Barbaric Right of “Civil Asset Forfeiture”
Liberty Blitzkrieg - Efforts to limit seizures of money, homes and other property from people who may never be convicted of a crime are stalling out amid a wave of pressure from prosecutors and police. Their effort, at least at the state level, appears to be working. At least a dozen states considered bills restricting or even abolishing forfeiture that isn’t accompanied by a conviction or gives law enforcement less control over forfeited proceeds. But most measures failed to pass.

FREEDOM Act Passes, Effectively Kills Freedom
Brandon Turbeville - The FREEDOM Act does nothing to punish or prevent intelligence agencies who have been illegally wiretapping innocent Americans. In fact, it has simply legalized the process. According to Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Institute, the bill is able to legalize the storage and collection of bulk data by putting the responsibility upon the back of the major telecommunications companies who will be tasked with doing just that – storing and retaining all data – for future use by intelligence agencies. This data must be turned over to the agencies upon request. It is, essentially, the privatization of mass surveillance. These Telecom giants who will now be in charge of the data collection have worked hand in glove with intelligence agencies for some time. Now the law will require them to do so.

VIDEO: Pentagon: Live Anthrax Sent to 52 Labs in 18 States, 3 Countries
NBC News - Pentagon officials announced Thursday the number of kits containing live anthrax has grown again to 52 labs in 18 states, Washington, D.C., and three foreign countries, Australia, South Korea and Canada — more than twice as high than first reported. Two labs, one in Maryland the other in Canada, received live anthrax spores. Pentagon officials stressed that they don't believe the public is in danger from the live spores. Some 31 military and civilian lab workers who came into contact with the vials are being treated with antibiotics for potential exposure.

15 Ridiculous Ways to get on the FBI Terrorist Watchlist
GovSlaves - In hopes of catching more terrorists, the FBI released twenty five instructional pamphlets intended for everyone from hobby store owners to karate instructors. The idea being that these businesses will turn in their customers to the FBI as suspected terrorists. Every single one of these examples were taken directly from FBI lists distributed to places of business in how they can help fight the war on terror. Do one of these, and you might end up at FEMA camp.

VIDEO: Mosby says she'll seek order to block release of Freddie Gray autopsy report
The Baltimore Sun - Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby plans to seek a protective order that would block the release of Freddie Gray's autopsy report and other "sensitive" documents as she prosecutes the six police officers involved in his arrest. Mosby told The Baltimore Sun that prosecutors "have a duty to ensure a fair and impartial process for all parties involved" and "will not be baited into litigating this case through the media." But an attorney for one of the officers said the effort shows that "there is something in that autopsy report that they are trying to hide."... The move is the latest effort by Mosby's office to restrict information in the high-profile case. Her office has also sought a gag order to prevent participants from discussing the case in public, and has broken with a long-standing practice by not giving a copy of the autopsy report to Baltimore police.... The Sun is one of 19 news organizations contesting Mosby's gag order request.

3,700 Illegal Immigrant ‘Threat Level 1’ Criminals Released Into U.S. by DHS
Washington Times - Most of the illegal immigrant criminals Homeland Security officials released from custody last year were discretionary, meaning the department could have kept them in detention but chose instead to let them onto the streets as their deportation cases moved through the system, according to new numbers from Congress. Some of those released were the worst of the worst — more than 3,700 “Threat Level 1” criminals, who are deemed the top priority for deportation, were still released out into the community even as they waited for their immigration cases to be heard.

Kids Abused, Choked And Beaten In Dark Rooms At Police “Leadership Camp”
Steve Watson - Several children aged 12 to 16 have come forward declaring that they were abused at the hands of cops at at 20 week “leadership camp” in California. The police training camp claims to teach ‘discipline and leadership’ in order to keep kids out of trouble and reduce family conflict. The program, which costs $400, is sponsored by the Huntington Park Police Department, South Gate Police Department, and the California National Guard. However, police with San Luis Obispo County have been accused of pulling children into dark rooms and punching, choking and beating them.

‘Off Grid Kids’ Still in State Custody One Month Later
Paul Joseph Watson - All ten of the children seized from “off grid” parents Joe and Nicole Naugler remain in state custody almost one month after they were first taken, with the Nauglers none the wiser as to when their kids will be returned.... Despite substantial media coverage of the case, the children remain in state custody with the parents set to attend another court hearing next week to try and discover their fate.

Proof You’re Better Off Fighting Traffic Tickets in Court
Kit Daniels - A small town in Texas known as a “speed trap” doesn’t have a prosecutor and relies on motorists to pay their tickets without challenging them in court, the city’s former judge admitted. The former judge of Calvert, Texas, David Viscarde, said that small towns write so many tickets not only for the revenue but also because they know the vast majority of drivers who simply pay up have no idea that the towns are incapable of trying the cases.

The Central Banks Are Losing Control Of The Financial Markets
Economic Collapse - Every great con game eventually comes to an end. For years, global central banks have been manipulating the financial marketplace with their monetary voodoo. Somehow, they have convinced investors around the world to invest tens of trillions of dollars into bonds that provide a return that is way under the real rate of inflation. For quite a long time I have been insisting that this is highly irrational. Why would any rational investor want to put money into investments that will make them poorer on a purchasing power basis in the long run? And when any central bank initiates a policy of “quantitative easing”, any rational investor should immediately start demanding a higher rate of return on the bonds of that nation. Creating money out of thin air and pumping into the financial system devalues all existing money and creates inflation.

All in How You Phrase it: EPA Claims Fracking Doesn’t Cause 'Widespread' Pollution, Experts Cry Foul
Sputnik News - The US Environmental Protection Agency says that, while hydraulic fracturing has the potential to contaminate drinking water, and has done so on some occasions, there is no evidence of "widespread" pollution across the country, according to a draft report released by Thursday. he report, commissioned by Congress, claims to be the most comprehensive evaluation to date of the effect on drinking water of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The process involves pumping chemical-laden water deep underground under intense pressure to shatter rock formations and release valuable oil and gas.

VIDEO: Harvard, Syracuse Researchers Caught Lying to Boost Obama Climate Rules
Breitbart - E-mails obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency show that Harvard University, Syracuse University and two of their researchers appear to have falsely claimed a study supporting EPA’s upcoming global warming rules was conducted “independent(ly)” of the agency. In early May, a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change purported to support a key EPA claim about its forthcoming global warming rules aimed at coal-fired power plants.

Thursday - June 4, 2015 - Today in History:

1784 - Marie Thible became the first woman to fly in a hot-air balloon. The flight was 45 minutes long and reached a height of 8,500 feet.
1792 - Captain George Vancouver claimed Puget Sound for Britain.
1794 - British troops captured Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
1805 - Tripoli was forced to conclude peace with U.S. after conflicts over tribute.
1812 - The Louisiana Territory had its name changed to the Missouri Territory.
1816 - The Washington was launched at Wheeling, WV. It was the first stately, double-decker steamboat.
1911 - Gold was discovered in Alaska's Indian Creek.
1918 - French and American troops halted Germany's offensive at Chateau-Thierry, France.
1919 - The U.S. Senate passed the Women's Suffrage bill.
1924 - An eternal light was dedicated at Madison Square in New York City in memory of all New York soldiers who died in World War I.
1942 - The Battle of Midway began. It was the first major victory for America over Japan during World War II. The battle ended on June 6 and ended Japanese expansion in the Pacific.
1944 - The U-505 became the first enemy submarine captured by the U.S. Navy.
1944 - During World War II, the U.S. Fifth Army entered Rome, which began the liberation of the Italian capital.
1947 - The House of Representatives approved the Taft-Hartley Act. The legislation allowed the President of the United States to intervene in labor disputes.
1954 - French Premier Joseph Laniel and Vietnamese Premier Buu Loc initialed treaties in Paris giving "complete independence" to Vietnam.
1989 - In Beijing, Chinese army troops stormed Tiananmen Square to crush the pro-democracy movement. It is believed that hundreds, possibly thousands, of demonstrators were killed.
2003 - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban "partial birth" abortions with a 282-139 vote.
2008 - The United Kingdom and Canada became the first countries to be able to buy and rent films at the iTunes Store.

Lavrov: Russia Ready to Work With Afghanistan on Curbing Drug Production
Sputnik News - Lavrov said during opening comments at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s conference on regional security in Moscow: “We are ready to deepen constructive cooperation with Kabul in all areas. We believe that special attention is needed in the expansion of mutual action with the Afghan side in fighting against drug plantations and drug laboratories. The volume of drug production in Afghanistan is growing at a threatening pace and the income is being absorbed not only by terrorist groups in the country, but also beyond its borders.”

Greece: Out Of Cash, Out Of Time, Out Of Options
Zero Hedge - Most commentary still appears predicated on the idea that there will be some last-minute deal - either because the creditors will back down and give Greece some more money without requiring it to be paid back or because the Greek government will back down if it understands that not doing so would ultimately mean leaving the euro. On the other hand, some believe neither side is particularly interested in achieving a deal.

Investors Start To Panic As A Global Bond Market Crash Begins
Economic Collapse - Is the financial collapse that so many are expecting in the second half of 2015 already starting? Many have believed that we would see bonds crash before the stock market crashes, and that is precisely what is happening right now. Since mid-April, the yield on 10 year German bonds has shot up from 0.05 percent to 0.89 percent. But much of that jump has come this week. Just a couple of days ago, the yield on 10 year German bonds was sitting at just 0.54 percent. And it isn’t just Germany – bond yields are going crazy all over Europe. So far, it is being estimated that global investors have lost more than half a trillion dollars, and there is much more room for these bonds to fall. In the end, the overall losses could be well into the trillions even before the stock market collapses.

US-Led Coalition Carries Out 22 Airstrikes Against ISIL in Iraq, Syria
Sputnik News - “In Syria, Coalition military forces conducted four airstrikes using attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft,” CENTCOM said. “Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 18 airstrikes approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL [Islamic State] terrorists.”... More than 4,000 Coalition airstrikes have so far failed to stem the advances of the Islamic State. The Coalition has carried out airstrikes against the Islamic State since August 2014.

Multiple airstrikes in Gaza after two rockets launched into Israel
RT - Several massive explosions rocked the Gaza Strip on Thursday night amid multiple reports of Israeli jets buzzing the area. It follows reports that two rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel but failed to cause any damage.... Earlier on Wednesday, two missiles were fired into Israel from Gaza. However, it was not Hamas, but its rival Salafist group called Omar Brigades, loyal to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) that claimed responsibility for the attack.... An Israeli army statement cited by Haaretz blamed Hamas for Wednesday’s missile attack.

'Exploitation of a Higher Kind': How the G7 is Fueling Corporate Dominion of Africa
Common Dreams - Under the specious claim of delivering "aid to Africa," western governments are backing an initiative—described by some as another form of "colonialism"—that is effectively enabling the corporate takeover of African nations by some of the world’s biggest food and agriculture companies. On Wednesday, as corporate executives, politicians, and G7 officials assembled in Cape Town, South Africa for a closed-door meeting of the G7’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a coalition of small scale farmers, unions, workers, and food sovereignty groups released a statement condemning the program.

The Next Epidemic? 1,364 Now Under Quarantine for Novel MERS Virus in South Korea
The Daily Sheeple - It has now been confirmed that 30 people in South Korea have contracted MERS, a deadly virus from the same family as SARS, and officials believe that number is going to grow. Two people have died, and another 1,364 people are currently being quarantined. The Korean government has closed down over 230 schools to prevent the infection from spreading. MERS, which stands for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, is a relatively new virus discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012. According to the CDC, people who contract MERS wind up with a severe and often deadly acute respiratory illness.

Barack Obama: China might join trade deal — eventually
Politico - China could eventually join the trade pact currently under negotiation with 12 Pacific Rim nations, President Barack Obama said Wednesday. A central part of Obama’s pitch for the trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been that it would prevent China from making the rules in the region. But in an interview set for broadcast Wednesday evening on public radio’s “Marketplace,” Obama said that China is showing interest joining the agreement. “They’ve already started putting out feelers about the possibilities of them participating at some point,” Obama told host Kai Ryssdal. Those feelers, he added, are being directed “to us, to Jack Lew, the Treasury secretary.”

The Next Escalation: FBI Launches Probe Of Russia 2018 World Cup Award
Zero Hedge - With The FBI now reportedly investigating the award of The Soccer World Cup to Qatar and Russia, it appears, as Mises' Lew Rockwell exclaimed, "FIFA has got to change its name, it’s going to have to take out the “I” and put in an “A” for American." This sudden act of imperialism by The US, putting itself in charge of world soccer, as Paul Craig Roberts notes, it "is another Washington-British scam against Russia," adding "law is a weapon that Washington uses to achieve its agenda."

Under Hillary, US Sold $66 Million In Chemical Arms To Clinton Foundation Donors Gassing Their Citizens
Zero Hedge - "During the roughly two years of Arab Spring protests that confronted authoritarian governments with popular uprisings, Clinton’s State Department approved $66 million worth of so-called Category 14 exports -- defined as "toxicological agents, including chemical agents, biological agents and associated equipment" -- to nine Middle Eastern governments that either donated to the Clinton Foundation or whose affiliated groups paid Bill Clinton speaking fees," IBTimes reports.

Live anthrax sent to 51 labs in 17 states and 3 nations – Pentagon
RT - The Department of Defense admitted that 51 labs in 17 states and three different countries received suspected live samples of anthrax over the course of a one-year period, and added that the number of recipients may rise as the investigation continues.... The Department of Defense said that the probe has not found any indication that the samples were sent as a result of a deliberate action or that anyone had been infected by the lethal bacteria. The agency also said there was no danger to the public from the anthrax. The Pentagon previously said that the anthrax had “accidentally” been sent to 24 laboratories in 11 states and two foreign countries.... As a precaution, the DoD has asked labs to stop working on those samples until further notice from the Pentagon and the CDC. The government is also in the midst of testing every previously inactivated anthrax sample ‒ 400 lots worth ‒ to ensure that it does not contain any live spores.

WikiLeaks Strikes Again: Leaked TISA Docs Expose Corporate Plan For Reshaping Global Economy
Common Dreams - An enormous corporate-friendly treaty that many people haven't heard of was thrust into the public limelight Wednesday when famed publisher of government and corporate secrets, WikiLeaks, released 17 documents from closed-door negotiations between countries that together comprise two-thirds of the word's economy. Analysts warn that preliminary review shows that the pact, known as the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), is aimed at further privatizing and deregulating vital services, from transportation to healthcare, with a potentially devastating impact for people of the countries involved in the deal, and the world more broadly.

VIDEO: Explosions rock Michigan neighborhood as US Army urban training begins
Blacklisted News - A ten-day US Army urban military training exercise has begun in Flint, Michigan with explosions rocking neighborhoods and scaring residents who had no idea what was actually happening. With less than three hours between a city press release and the beginning of the exercise, residents were left in the dark about the urban military training until the last possible moment. Most had no idea what was happening as their homes shook from the force of the simulated explosions. “It was like a big huge explosion, it shook my whole house, it shook the ground.”

Dems push gun control with smart tech handgun rules
The Hill - The Handgun Trigger Safety Act introduced Tuesday by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) aims to block criminals and children from using guns that do not belong to them. Gun dealers would be required to install smart gun technology that fires only if it recognizes the shooter, such as the person who purchased the gun or someone they designate as an authorized user. Some smart gun technologies use fingerprints, while others require the shooter to wear a bluetooth bracelet or receive a microchip implant that unlocks the gun.

Michigan City Raises Citizens’ Taxes to Pay for Police Brutality
Sputnik News - The city of Inkster is giving residents a one-time tax hike to pay for the massive settlement for Floyd Dent, a man brutally beaten during a traffic stop. In January, police were caught on camera brutally dragging Dent from his vehicle, then choking, beating, and tasing him. Dent had no criminal history and did not appear to be resisting arrest in the footage. Dent was charged with assault, resisting arrest, and possession of cocaine after the violent beating that left him hospitalized for two days. All charges against Dent have been dropped. A video later emerged of an officer placing what appeared to be cocaine from his pocket in Dent’s car.... Now, Inkster is set to add a charge for all taxpayers on July 1, a hike that’s expected to bring in $6.45 million to cover the costs of the lawsuit.

Baltimore Police Fired 72 Officers in 3 Years for Misconduct, Crimes
Sputnik News - Seventy-two police officers have been fired in Baltimore for misconduct and illegal activities since Police Commissioner Anthony Batts took office in September 2012, Baltimore Police Department said in a statement. “Under the Police Commissioner’s [Batts] tenure there have been a total of 72 forced separations from the agency,” the statement said on Wednesday. “These are individuals who have been internally charged with misconduct, false statements, criminal activities, neglecting their duty and other offences.”

Sens. Booker and Boxer Introduce Bill Requiring Data Collection Of Police-Involved Killings
Truth in Media - Washington, D.C.- On Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D- N.J.) introduced legislation that would compel all 50 states to submit reports of people killed by police officers to the Justice Department, as well as reports of people injured by police. The bill also calls for mandated reporting of cases in which police officers are killed or injured. The legislation is titled the Police Reporting of Information, Data and Evidence (PRIDE) Act and according to Booker’s press release, the law would require states to “report to the Justice Department on any incident in which a law enforcement officer is involved in a shooting, and any other instance where use of force by or against a law enforcement officer or civilian results in serious bodily injury or death.”

Native Tribes Have Withdrawn from the State of Maine
The Daily Sheeple - Since 2011, Maine Governor Paul LePage has used executive orders to dictate the state’s relationship with native tribal governments. In April of this year, he declared that the state of Maine and the native tribes now have a “relationship between equals with its own set of responsibilities” which effectively cedes control of their land and natural resources to the state government. After fighting the state in court, 3 out of 4 of the state’s native tribes issued a declaration last week, which claims that they will no longer recognize the authority of any political official from the state of Maine.... As a result, these tribes have withdrawn their representatives from the state legislature.

Get Jailed For Toys In Yard, Missing Shingles In This American Town
GovSlaves - Not mowing the lawn regularly, having a missing shingle, and even failing to put curtains or screens on windows can lead to thousands of dollars in fines in some communities – and even jail if fines aren’t paid. Pagedale, Missouri, residents Valarie and Vincent Blount face $1,810 in fines for such offenses as having peeling paint, having an overgrown tree and also not recycling, The St. Louis Post-Dispatchreported. Other residents have been fined for having barbecue pits and toys in the front yard, for having basketball hoops in the street, for not making their children wear bicycle helmets, and for walking in the street.

Economist: Financial Elites Fear Provoking Bank Runs
Paul Joseph Watson - Economist Martin Armstrong warns that the financial elite are plotting to abolish cash but are wary of the public becoming aware of the plan because it could cause bank runs. A meeting to discuss the move towards eliminating physical currency took place at the luxury Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel in London recently during which Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University and Willem Buiter, the Chief Economist at Citigroup, gave presentations. According to Armstrong, “The lack of press coverage was deliberate, and intended to avoid sending panic to the people, which would lead to a massive bank run if people understood what these guys are discussing.”

47% of Americans would have to Borrow or Sell Something to Cover an Unexpected Expense of $400
AllGov - The Federal Reserve asked 50,000 people if they could handle an unexpected “financial disruption” costing them $400. Just over half (53%) said they could “fairly easily handle such an expense.” But for 47% of respondents, $400 was a tougher problem to handle. Within this group, 14% said they simply couldn’t cover it. Another 10% would have to sell something, 13% would have to borrow money from a friend or relative and 2% would have to resort to a high-interest payday loan.

Oklahoma Joins Texas in Prohibiting Local Bans on Fracking
AllGov - The restrictions in both states came at the behest of oil and gas producers, who are big contributors to GOP politicians. Municipalities and environmental groups opposed the Oklahoma bill signed by Gov. Fallin. “There’s nothing in the bill that says cities can have the authority to protect local drinking water supplies,” said Norman Mayor Rosenthal. She's concerned about wastewater from fracking operations ending up in Lake Thunderbird, which supplies drinking water to about 200,000 people.

Wednesday - June 3, 2015 - Today in History:

1784 - The U.S. Congress formally created the United States Army to replace the disbanded Continental Army. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress had created the Continental Army for purposes of common defense and this event is considered to be the birth of the United States Army.
1800 - John Adams moved to Washington, DC. He was the first President to live in what later became the capital of the United States.
1805 - A peace treaty between the U.S. and Tripoli was completed in the captain's cabin on board the USS Constitution.
1888 - "Casey at the Bat" the poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer was first published.
1932 - Lou Gehrig set a major league baseball record when he hit four consecutive home runs.
1952 - A rebellion by North Korean prisoners in the Koje prison camp in South Korea was put down by American troops.
1959 - The first class graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.
1965 - Edward White became the first American astronaut to do a "space walk" when he left the Gemini 4 capsule.
1989 - Chinese army troops positioned themselves to began a sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.
2008 - Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination.
2009 - New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage.
2011 - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded when rebel rockets barraged his palace; he later went to Saudi Arabia for treatment.
2011 - Physician-assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian died at a Michigan hospital at age 83.

Russian investigators reveal identity of key witness in MH17 crash
RT- The Russian Investigative Committee has identified a key witness to the MH17 crash in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region. He is Evgeny Agapov, an aviation armaments mechanic in the Ukrainian Air Force. The man is currently under Russian state protection.... Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said. Agapov, a Ukrainian citizen, was serving as a military mechanic in the first squadron of the Ukrainian Air Force’s tactical aviation brigade. According to Markin, the man “voluntarily crossed the state border of the Russian Federation and expressed a desire to cooperate with the Russian investigation.”

US Set to Deploy Advanced Weapons to Asia-Pacific to Counter China
Sputnik News - The United States plans to relocate advanced military hardware, including its newest stealth missile destroyer, to the Asia-Pacific region as tensions are growing between Washington and China over South China Sea, one of the key waterways globally.... The United States worries that "China now has an interest in trying to become a more prominent international power in the region and elsewhere," analyst William Beeman told Iran's Press TV. According to the expert, Beijing was focused on its economy and trade with foreign partners, "but it hasn't really been a strong political power" up until recently. Washington is concerned that this is about to change.

ISIS, Assad Regime Now Fighting Together In Syria, US Alleges
Zero Hedge - When last we checked in on the situation in Syria, ISIS (who a secret Pentagon document recently revealed was, and probably still is, considered a US “strategic asset”) was supposedly on the move, emboldened by recent successes in the ancient city of Palmyra and the conquest of Ramadi in Iraq, where, you’re reminded, Iraqi forces showed “no will” to fight according the Pentagon. Recent reports also indicated that the militants may have commandeered 2,300 humvees worth more than $1 billion when the group sacked Mosul last summer, a convenient “loss” for the US which can now justify four times that amount in arms sales to allies who will now need to counter a ‘better-equipped’ ISIS.

Ukraine plans to seize Russian foreign property to compensate for ‘lost’ Crimea
RT - Kiev will nationalize Russian overseas property as compensation for the losses over Crimea’s reunification with Russia, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Justice Natalia Sevostyanova said. The decision is now up to the European Court of Human Rights. Ukraine will be able to use this effective instrument if the European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of Kiev, Sevostyanova told “Channel 5,” Ukraine’s National News (UNN) reported on Tuesday.

Hacked Emails Expose George Soros As Ukraine Puppet-Master
Zero Hedge - In 3 stunning documents, allegedly hacked from email correspondence between the hedge fund manager and Ukraine President Poroshenko, Soros lays out "A short and medium term comprehensive strategy for the new Ukraine," expresses his confidence that the US should provide Ukraine with lethal military assistance, “with same level of sophistication in defense weapons to match the level of opposing force," and finally explained Poroshenko's "first priority must be to regain control of financial markets," which he assures the President could be helped by The Fed adding "I am ready to call Jack Lew of the US Treasury to sound him out about the swap agreement."

Food, Water, Health, Life: UN Experts Warn of Threats Posed by Secret 'Trade' Deals
Common Dreams - Echoing the protests of civil society organizations and social movements around the world, a panel of United Nations experts on Tuesday issued a stark warning about the threats that secret international "trade" agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pose to the most fundamental human rights.... The UN experts warn that "ISDS chapters are anomalous in that they provide protection for investors but not for States or for the population. They allow investors to sue States but not vice-versa." Under this framework, states have faced penalties for "for adopting regulations, for example to protect the environment, food security, access to generic and essential medicines, and reduction of smoking, as required under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, or raising the minimum wage," resulting in a "chilling effect," the officials warn.

Greece made ‘difficult concessions’ in new reform plan – Tsipras
RT - Greece’s left-wing government has made several concessions to the country’s lenders in an updated reform plan that aims to break a five-month deadlock over a new €7.2 billion austerity deal – and stave off bankruptcy.... The sides have failed to reach a deal on vital issues as the labor market and the pension system, while making progress on value-added tax reform. The sides have failed to reach a deal on vital issues as the labor market and the pension system, while making progress on value-added tax reform.

Six Nigerian Central Bankers Arrested In Currency Rigging "Mega Scam"
Zero Hedge - According to Bloomberg, six Nigerian central bankers were charged with fraud in an 8 billion naira ($40.2 million with an m, not a b, not a tr) currency "scam." No chat rooms here, just a plain old "mega scam involving the theft and recirculation of defaced and mutilated currencies,” the Abuja-based Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said in a statement dated Sunday on its website. In addition to the central bankers, among those charged are also sixteen commercial bankers who conspired with Central Bank of Nigeria regional executives.

Is the End of Section 215 of the Patriot Act Much Ado about Nothing? 7 Ways the NSA can Keep Spying
AllGov - Section 215 was “only one of a number of largely overlapping surveillance authorities, and the loss of the current version of the law will leave the government with a range of tools that is still incredibly powerful,” reported the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Likewise, the American Civil Liberties Union says the loss of 215 won’t impact the “government’s ability to conduct targeted investigations of terrorist threats.” EFF provided many examples of how the government can still conduct authorized surveillance of individuals...

Four reasons why the Freedom Act is WORSE than the Patriot Act
Lew Rockwell Blog - By a vote of 67-32 the Senate today passed the USA FREEDOM Act, just days after the expiration of key elements of the USA PATRIOT Act. The FREEDOM Act is billed as a reform of the unconstitutional and recently-ruled illegal bulk collection of Americans’ telecommunications, but in fact it is a whole new level of attack on civil liberties. Here are just a couple of ways the FREEDOM Act is worse than the PATRIOT Act...

Congress turns away from post-9/11 law, retooling U.S. surveillance powers
Washington Post - Congress on Tuesday rejected some of the sweeping intelligence-gathering powers it granted national security officials after the 9/11 terror attacks, with the Senate voting to end the government’s bulk collection of private telephone records and reform other surveillance policies. The bill, known as the USA Freedom Act, passed on a 67-to-32 vote, against the will of Senate Republican leaders who wished to preserve existing spy programs.

Rand Paul Wants Classified Docs Exposing Saudi Connection to 9/11 Released
Sputnik News - Republican senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has joined a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives who are pushing for the publication of 28 pages from the official report on the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 which have remained classified for more than a decade. For years a growing group of congress members have called on the government to release the pages, which pertain to foreign government involvement in the 9/11 attacks, and which they claim point to Saudi Arabian government involvement in their financing. "We all are calling today for the release of these 28 pages," Paul said on Tuesday as he introduced the bill, titled "The Transparency for the Families of 9/11 Victims Act."

*Wanted* Dead or Alive: $100,000 for Full Text of Trans-Pacific Partnership
Common Dreams - The media outlet Wikileaks on Tuesday announced a campaign to raise a $100,000 cash reward for the complete text of the agreement in order to end the mystery surrounding the actual contents of the deal that involves the U.S. and eleven Pacific Rim nations.... Despite unprecedented efforts by negotiating governments to keep it under wraps, WikiLeaks has been able to obtain and publish three leaked chapters of this super-secret global deal over the last two years. However, there are believed to be 26 other chapters of the deal to which only appointed negotiators, trade officials, and chosen representatives from big corporations have been given access.... And with the U.S. House of Representatives returning to Washington, D.C. this week to pick up a bill that would give trade promotion authority, or Fast Track, to President Obama the call for someone to leak a complete version of the latest draft has new urgency.
* Related Video: Democracy Now!: Julian Assange on the TPP

Pentagon Also Received Anthrax Sample Sent Out by Military Lab
Sputnik News - The latest site confirmed to have received a shipment from the batch found to contain live spores was the Pentagon, although as of Tuesday, defense officials have stated that there is no indication that the particular samples they received contained live spores. US Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson Col. Steven Warren told Sputnik in a statement Tuesday that the DoD used the anthrax samples to develop a field-based test to "identify biological threats in the environment." However, NBC reports that the spores were shipped to Pentagon's police force, which planned to use them in testing and calibrating detection equipment for incoming mail.

FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities
AP - The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology — all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, The Associated Press has learned. The planes' surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge's approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. In a recent 30-day period, the agency flew above more than 30 cities in 11 states across the country... U.S. law enforcement officials confirmed for the first time the wide-scale use of the aircraft, which the AP traced to at least 13 fake companies, such as FVX Research, KQM Aviation, NBR Aviation and PXW Services. Even basic aspects of the program are withheld from the public in censored versions of official reports from the Justice Department's inspector general.

Bomb Threats Made Against 5 Planes on Tuesday, Part of Hoax Wave
Breitbart - Bomb threats were made against five different aircraft, from five different airlines, on flights either originating or landing in the United States on Tuesday. Officials say all five of the threats were “non-credible,” part of a surge in hoax bomb threats in progress since Memorial Day. NBC News says all the “threats of chemical explosives” were “phoned” in. UPI clarifies that at least one of the threats, against U.S. Airways Flight 648 from San Diego, California to Philadelphia International Airport, was received by telephone at the Transportation Security Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C.

2 Things That Are Happening Right Now That Have Never Happened Outside Of A Recession
Economic Collapse - If we are not heading into a recession, why does our economy continue to act as if that is precisely what is happening? As you will see below, we learned this week that factory orders have declined year over year for six months in a row. That is something that has never happened outside of a time of recession. We have also seen new orders for consumer goods fall dramatically. In fact, the only time we have seen a more dramatic decline in that number was during the last recession.

Health insurers seek big premium hikes for ObamaCare plans in 2016
Fox News - Dozens of health insurers selling plans under ObamaCare have requested hefty premium increases for 2016, according to preliminary information published Monday by the White House. The insurers have cited higher-than-expected care costs from customers they gained under the ObamaCare's coverage expansion and the rising cost of prescription drugs and other expenses as reasons for proposing the increases, many of which are in the double-digit percentages. Among the market leaders, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is seeking a roughly 26 percent premium increase, while plans in Illinois and Florida, among other states, are asking for hikes of 20 percent or more. In Pennsylvania, Highmark Health Insurance Co. is asking for a 30 percent increase.

Fed Mouthpiece Jon Hilsenrath Furious "Stingy" US Consumers Refuse To Buy The "Recovery" Propaganda
Zero Hedge - No commentary necessary on this piece originally posted on the Wall Street Journal by Jon Hilsenrath... Dear American Consumer, This is The Wall Street Journal. We’re writing to ask if something is bothering you. The sun shined in April and you didn’t spend much money. You have been saving more too. You socked away 5.6% of your income in April after taxes, even more than in March. This saving is not like you. What’s up?... The Federal Reserve is counting on you too. Fed officials want to start raising the cost of your borrowing because they worry they’ve been giving you a free ride for too long with zero interest rates. We listen to Fed officials all of the time here at The Wall Street Journal, and they just can’t figure you out.

Tuesday - June 2, 2015 - Today in History:

1774 - The Quartering Act, which required American colonists to allow British soldiers into their houses, was reenacted.
1835 - P.T. Barnum launched his first traveling show. The main attraction was Joice Heth who was supposedly the 161-year-old nurse of George Washington.
1851 - Maine became the first U.S. state to enact a law prohibiting alcohol.
1883 - The first baseball game under electric lights was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1886 - Grover Cleveland became the second U.S. president to get married while in office. He was the first to have a wedding in the White House.
1924 - All American Indians were granted U.S. citizenship by the U.S. Congress.
1953 - Elizabeth was crowned queen of England at Westminster Abbey.
1954 - U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that there were communists working in the CIA and atomic weapons plants.
1957 - Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was interviewed by CBS-TV.
1995 - Captain Scott F. O'Grady's U.S. Air Force F-16C was shot down by Bosnian Serbs. He was rescued six days later.
1998 - Royal Caribbean Cruises agreed to pay $9 million to settle charges of dumping waste at sea.
2003 - In Seville, Spain, a chest containing the supposed remains of Christopher Columbus were exhumed for DNA tests to determine whether the bones were really those of the explorer. The tests were aimed at determining if Columbus was currently buried in Spain's Seville Cathedral or in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
2003 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that companies could not be sued under a trademark law for using information in the public domain without giving credit to the originator. The case had originated with 20th Century Fox against suing Dastar Corp. over their use of World War II footage.

NATO in E. Europe: 6,000 in Lithuania war games, Polish HQ doubles troops
RT - Lithuania is conducting its biggest military exercises since joining NATO in 2004. Meanwhile, 200 extra troops are set to arrive at the alliance’s headquarters in Eastern Europe, located in Szczecin, Poland.... Lithuania is one of 13 countries participating in the exercise, which will involve about 6,000 troops performing manoeuvers in three Baltic states and Poland until June 19. During the two-stage exercise, land and air forces will carry out joint operations in the field, and then commanders will conduct a separate computer simulation of a regional conflict.

Russian BUK missile producer vows to prove EU sanctions over MH17 crash unfair
RT - Russia’s air-defense systems manufacturer Almaz-Antey is to reveal on Tuesday the findings of its own investigation, which it says refutes data that led to the company being placed on the Western sanction lists over the Ukrainian crisis.... The press conference, scheduled to take place on Tuesday in Moscow, is aimed at explaining the details of the appeal and backing it with evidence.
* Related: BUK missile manufacturer on MH17 shooting over Ukraine LIVE UPDATES

Greece to invest $2 bn in Turkish Stream, will sign memorandum asap - Energy Minister
RT - Greece plans to sign a document on political support for Gazprom’s Turkish Stream project at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June, its Energy Minister announced on Monday. The country plans to invest $2 billion in its construction.... Russian president Vladimir Putin has previously expressed his belief that, by joining the project, Greece could become one of the main power distribution centers in Europe. Athens could earn hundreds of millions of euros annually from gas transit fees, Putin said during Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ official visit to Moscow in April.

Europe Shocked When Russia Does To It What Europe Did To Russia
Zero Hedge - The EU issued a press release this morning which could perhaps be summed up in 2 words - "not fair." Following the denial-of-entry by Russia of several EU politicians, Russia has released a list of 89 names who will face travel bans - of exactly the same type as EU and US enforced upon numerous Russian elites. Europe is displeased that Russia would dare do unto them as they have done unto others... "we deem this measure as totally arbitrary and unjustified," they exclaimed, adding, "we don’t have any further information on the legal basis or the criteria or the process of these decisions."

US Navy Wants to Bomb Pagan Island, Obliterating Rare Wildlife
Sputnik News - A pristine patch of green in the middle of the Pacific, Pagan Island is home to number of endangered animals and largely untouched black sand beaches. The Pentagon wants to turn this ecological sanctuary into a bombed-out training ground, all because of an alleged Chinese threat in the South China Sea.... The Pentagon insists that it needs the island – far less populated than nearby Guam, where the US also leases land for military training – because of a potential “rebalance” in the Pacific. This refers to Washington’s growing concern about Beijing’s dominance in the region. Particularly in the South China Sea, where the Chinese government is busy building a series of artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago.

Rule By The Corporations
Paul Craig Roberts - The Transatlantic and Transpacific Trade and Investment Partnerships have nothing to do with free trade. “Free trade” is used as a disguise to hide the power these agreements give to corporations to use law suits to overturn sovereign laws of nations that regulate pollution, food safety, GMOs, and minimum wages. The first thing to understand is that these so-called “partnerships” are not laws written by Congress. The US Constitution gives Congress the authority to legislate, but these laws are being written without the participation of Congress. The laws are being written by corporations solely in the interest of their power and profit. The office of US Trade Representative was created in order to permit corporations to write law that serves only their interests. This fraud on the Constitution and the people is covered up by calling trade laws “treaties.”

U.S. is Obligated by Treaty to Defend 67 Foreign Countries
AllGov - The United States is obligated by treaty or otherwise to come to the defense of 67 other countries if they’re attacked, according to The Myth of Entangling Alliances (pdf) by Michael Beckley. Those obligations include obvious ones such as to Israel, with which the U.S. has no formal treaty, but has made many pledges of support. But it also includes Cuba, which only last week came off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. As a member of the Organization of American States, Cuba is a potential beneficiary of U.S. military support if it’s attacked… The idea that the United States is the world’s older brother, ready to take care of any bullies that show up on a street corner, is relatively recent. For the first 165 years of its existence, the United States had one such treaty, signed with France during the Revolutionary War, according to Beckley.

Pentagon's anthrax scandal spreads to Washington, D.C., Canada
USA Today - The Pentagon has learned that additional samples of live anthrax were sent to three laboratories in Canada, two Defense officials confirmed Monday evening. That means that specimens of the deadly Bacillus anthracis have been sent to labs in 12 states, the District of Columbia and three countries. The samples came from the U.S. Army lab at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The number of laboratories known to have 'mistakenly' receiving samples of live anthrax has grown to at least 28 labs in 12 states and the District of Columbia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

Patriot Act Provisions Expire, But Government Surveillance Will Continue
Opposing Views - The expiration of Section 215, the Patriot Act provision used by the National Security Agency to justify its .. bulk phone records collection program, was the most significant outcome of the debate… The expiration also removes the government’s ability to use a roving wiretap without multiple warrants, as well as the ability track “lone wolf” terrorist suspects. The expiration of these provisions can be viewed in one of two ways: as a small but significant victory for civil liberties in America, or as a potentially catastrophic national security risk. The most likely scenario, however, is that the expiration of these provisions will be incredibly brief. The Senate is expected to pass the USA Freedom Act in a session on Tuesday, in which it will need only a simple majority of 51 votes rather than the 60-vote threshold it needed on Sunday.

Rand Paul: My Opponents ‘Secretly Want’ Terror Attack ‘So They Can Blame It On Me’ [VIDEO]
Daily Caller - While addressing the Senate Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul said that opponents of his efforts to end the NSA’s bulk data collection and force an expiration of the Patriot Act “secretly want” a terror attack on the U.S. so they can blame Paul for it. Paul said that would be like blaming the Boston police commissioner for the Boston bombings. RAND PAUL: People here in town think I’m making a huge mistake. Some of them, I think, secretly want there to be an attack on the United States so they can blame it on me. One of the people in the media the other day came up to me and said, “oh, when there’s a great attack aren’t you going to feel guilty that you caused this great attack?” It’s like the people who attack us are responsible for attacks on us.

Police state America's national railroad police
MassPrivateI - Privately run 'secret' railroad police have trained 85 SWAT teams in 13 states! Private railroad police officers licensed in every state, have been accused of physical assaults, racial profiling and harassment according to lawsuits, interviews and court records. The records and interviews show that there have been numerous complaints and dozens of lawsuits filed against railroad police officers in recent years.... Private rail lines CSXT, BNSF, KCS, UP, and others maintain their own private police. The Amtrak Police is the largest with more than 450 sworn officers who undergo training at FLETC. They are armed with Glock 22 .40-caliber pistols and no less than 100 5.56mm Bushmaster Patrolman’s carbines.

TSA failed 95% of tests attempting to smuggle mock explosives and banned weapons in airports
The Independent -The Department of Homeland Security sent its so-called Red Teams to pose as passengers and attempt to smuggle the fake explosives and weapons through airport security, and it almost always worked. Homeland Security conducted 70 of these tests and the TSA failed 67 times, according to ABC News. Officials did not say when the tests were conducted, only reporting that the investigation was recently concluded.

Government Wipes Recent Vaccine Injury Data from Website
Sharyl Attkisson - In March, the federal government removed the latest vaccine injury court statistics—more than a year’s worth of data—from one of its publicly reported charts. It was an abrupt departure from the normal practice of updating the figures monthly. Wiping the latest data means the “adjudication” chart on a government website no longer reflects the recent, sharp rise in court victories for plaintiffs who claimed their children were seriously injured or killed by one or more vaccines.

Houston declares end to veteran homelessness
Al Jazeera - Houston announced Monday that it had effectively ended veteran homelessness, seven months before the White House’s ambitious goal to house every veteran nationwide. The fourth-largest city in the U.S., Houston is the first of the nation’s 40 biggest cities to meet the target. Phoenix, Salt Lake City and New Orleans said they have already reached it.

Kyle Bass Was Right: Texas To Create Own Bullion Depository, Repatriate $1 Billion Of Gold
Zero Hedge - State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione asking the Legislature to create a Texas Bullion Depository, where Texas could store its gold. The goal is to create a secure facility that would allow the state to bring home more than $1 billion in gold bars that are owned by UTIMCO and are now housed at HSBC in New York.... “We are not talking Fort Knox,” Capriglione said. “But when I first announced this, I got so many emails and phone calls from people literally all over the world who said they want to store their gold … in a Texas depository.... House Bill 483 would let the Texas comptroller’s office establish the state’s first bullion depository at a location yet to be determined.

Ex-Im Bank is Welfare for the One Percent
Ron Paul - This month Congress will consider whether to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank). Ex-Im Bank is a New Deal-era federal program that uses taxpayer funds to subsidize the exports of American businesses. Foreign businesses, including state-owned corporations, also benefit from Ex-Im Bank. One country that has benefited from $1.5 billion of Ex-Im Bank loans is Russia. Venezuela, Pakistan, and China have also benefited from Ex-Im Bank loans. With Ex-Im Bank’s track record of supporting countries that supposedly represent a threat to the US, one might expect neoconservatives, hawkish liberals, and other supporters of foreign intervention to be leading the effort to kill Ex-Im Bank. Yet, in an act of hypocrisy remarkable even by DC standards, many hawkish politicians, journalists, and foreign policy experts oppose ending Ex-Im Bank.

Texas sunshine reveals flood devastation across state (Photos)
CBS News - Most of Texas was set to get its first period of extended sunshine in weeks, allowing surging rivers to recede as emergency-management officials turn their attention to cleanup efforts in such places as Houston, where damage estimates top $45 million. Parts of the state were finally beginning to recover Sunday from weeks of rain and flooding that have made Texas a place of extremes: severe drought conditions earlier in the year that have given way to unprecedented rainfall in some areas. At least 31 people have been killed in storms that began in Texas and Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend. Twenty-seven of the deaths have been in Texas, and at least 10 people were still missing over the weekend.

Disaster: California’s Sierra Snowpack Hits 0% of Normal
Breitbart - California’s record drought took a stunning turn for the worse last week: on Thursday, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains officially disappeared.... The Sierra Nevada snowpack is one of the most crucial sources of surface water for California cities and farms, and without it, the state is in serious trouble. The state relies on the melted snow in summer to get it through months without rain; now, with the start of summer still a few weeks away, California will be without its most traditionally dependable water source.

6/01/2015 — Rare NORTH POLE Earthquake — 5.2 magnitude strikes near new undersea volcano
Dutchsinse - A very rare, and most likely volcanic related earthquake has struck near the exact NORTH POLE of the planet. Of course they’re not going to show the North pole, since this would raise everyone’s suspicions about earthquake activity picking up, being that this earthquake was less than 270 miles from the exact geographic polar North of the planet, people might start to ask questions the USGS doesn’t want to answer right now. Questions might get asked like, “why are you not warning people that there is increased seismic unrest taking place, and that people should be preparing for larger coming movement?!”

VIDEO: Revealed: Clintons Bagged $3.4 Million for 18 Speeches Funded by Keystone Pipeline Banks
Breitbart - Environmentalists’ head-scratching over Hillary Clinton’s refusal to take a hard stand against the Keystone XL pipeline may soon cease, as a Monday Huffington Post report confirms findings in Clinton Cash revealing that the Clintons have bagged millions of dollars in speaking fees from some of the Keystone XL pipeline’s largest investors. And according to Clinton Cash, during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Sec. of State, Bill Clinton delivered 10 speeches from Nov. 2008 to mid-2011 totaling $1.8 million paid for by one of the largest investors in the Keystone Pipeline, TD Bank, which held a $1.6 billion investment in the Keystone XL pipeline. “TD Bank was also on the hook for $993 million it had loaned to TransCanada,” reports Clinton Cash. For months, environmental groups have struggled to understand Hillary Clinton’s refusal to condemn the Keystone XL pipeline.

Monday - June 1, 2015 - Today in History:

1774 - The British government ordered the Port of Boston closed.
1789 - The first U.S. congressional act on administering oaths became law.
1792 - Kentucky became the 15th state of the U.S.
1796 - Tennessee became the 16th state of the U.S.
1861 - The first skirmish of the U.S. Civil War took place at the Fairfax Court House, Virginia.
1877 - U.S. troops were authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico.
1916 - The National Defense Act increased the strength of the U.S. National Guard by 450,000 men.
1921 - A race riot erupted in Tulsa, OK. 85 people were killed.
1942 - The U.S. began sending Lend-Lease materials to the Soviet Union.
1944 - The French resistance was warned by a coded message from the British that the D-Day invasion was imminent.
1961 - Radio listeners in New York, California, and Illinois were introduced to FM multiplex stereo broadcasting. A year later the FCC made this a standard.
1963 - Governor George Wallace vowed to defy an injunction that ordered the integration of the University of Alabama.
1978 - The U.S. reported the finding of wiretaps in the American embassy in Moscow.
1980 - Cable News Network (CNN) made its debut as the first all-news station.
1998 - In the U.S., the FDA approved a urine-only test for the AIDS virus.
2008 - The Phoenix Mars Lander became the first NASA spacecraft to scoop Martian soil.
2009 - General Motors filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The filing made GM the largest U.S. industrial company to enter bankruptcy protection.

US-Trained Special Forces Chief Joins ISIS, Vows To Bring Jihad To Russia & America
Zero Hedge - Meet Gulmurod Khalimov, the US-trained and funded former commander of Tajikistan's special forces, who, as Reuters reports, has now gone to Syria to fight with ISIS. He has a message: "Listen, you American pigs, I’ve been three times to America, and I saw how you train fighters to kill Muslims...God willing, I will come with this weapon to your cities, your homes, and we will kill you." The big question is - was he 'recorded' as a moderate when America considered funding and training his elite special forces unit?

HRW: New evidence Saudi-led coalition uses cluster bombs in Yemen
RT - Human Rights Watch has published new evidence alleging the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in Yemen has been using internationally-outlawed cluster bombs. The organization says innocent civilians have been targeted in the raids. The New York-based organization visited the Saada province in the north of Yemen this month in order to compile its report. Human Rights Watch says it managed to document the use of three types of cluster munitions in the country…This is not the first time Human Rights Watch has alleged the Saudi-led coalition’s use of cluster bombs during the conflict. The organization also alleges the US has been supplying the munitions used to bomb Houthi positions in Yemen.

Russia Wards Off "Provocative And Aggresive" US Warship In Black Sea
Zero Hedge - While we are used to hearing of the 100s of "close encounters" between NATO and Russian planes, but, as reported by state news agency RIA - citing an anonymous source in Russia's armed forces, Russian military aircraft were scrambled to head off a U.S. warship that was acting "aggressively" in the Black Sea. This appears to be the first reported ship-to-plane 'encounter' and, just as US and China tensions are escalating in the South China Sea, it appears US and Russian military 'discussions' are shifting from words and proxy-fighting.

China Will Establish No-Fly Zone Over Islands If "Threatened"
Zero Hedge - "Whether we will establish an ADIZ in the South China Sea will depend on whether our maritime security will be threatened," Adm. Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army said at a security event in Singapore on Sunday. China also claims its man-made islands in the Spratlys are primarily for providing "international public services." Its regional neighbors aren't so sure.

Russian Pivot: Greece Will "Probably" Join BRICS Bank, Official Says
Zero Hedge - Greece still has one card left to play in fractious negotiations with creditors: the so-called 'Russian pivot'. Over the course of difficult talks between Syriza and the troika Moscow has, at various times, sought to take advantage of the hostilities between Athens and Brussels by making a series of overtures including the possibility of Greece joining the BRICS bank. Now, at least one Greek official says the country will likely accept the invite.

UK: Thousands of teenage girls enduring debilitating illnesses after routine school cancer vaccination
The Independent - In the HPV category alone, ADRs [Adverse Drug Reaction] numbered 8,228, of which 2,587 were classified as “serious” – defined by several criteria, including whether it resulted in hospitalization or was deemed life threatening… The NHS says the programme has proved to be “very effective”. However, other countries are taking action following reports of increasing numbers of girls suffering side effects. A Danish TV documentary broadcast earlier this year highlighted the large number of girls who appear to have been affected following their HPV vaccination… Last year, Japan withdrew its recommendation for the HPV vaccine because of reported side effects.

Unethical' UN health plan to reduce deaths discriminates against old people, claim medical experts
The Independent - A United Nations plan to reduce deaths from a range of diseases is “highly unethical” because it discriminates against people aged 70 and over, according to leading medical experts. In a letter published in The Lancet on Friday, they warn that proposals to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases such as cancer, stroke and dementia threaten to undermine “cherished, fundamental principles of universality and health as a right for all” because they only include deaths of people aged 69 or less. “Put simply, it tells policy makers, particularly in poorer countries that older people do not matter,” the letter says.

Goodbye Section 215: Patriot Act key surveillance provisions expire
RT - Controversial provisions of the Patriot Act authorizing government surveillance programs have expired after the Senate failed to vote for an extension. The Senate will reconvene to consider the USA Freedom Act on Monday afternoon. Lawmakers have debated the possibility of extending the authority of Section 215, that authorizes bulk data collection, and other provisions in the extraordinary Sunday afternoon session. The debate started at 4:00 pm local time, eight hours before the expiration deadline.
* Related: Video: Rand Paul Speaks Out Against the PATRIOT Act

Texas Legislature Passes Campus Carry Bill
Breitbart - The Texas Legislature has passed SB 11, the Campus Carry Bill, and sent the bill on to Governor Greg Abbott for signature. The Senate passed the Conference Committee report on Saturday by a vote of 20-11. The bill cleared the final hurdle with passage in the Texas House by a vote of 98-47.... Breitbart Texas’ Cassi Pollock reported the Senate’s passage of what many are calling a watered down version of the bill. She reported the bill “gives public universities more authority for where and how concealed handguns are permitted on campus. In addition, private universities would be allowed to opt out of campus carry altogether.”

Texas Legislature Passes Historic Bill Decriminalizing Truancy
Breitbart - The Failure to Attend School, or “truancy” would no longer be a criminal offense under a historic bill that passed both chambers of the Texas Legislature on Saturday, May 30. Currently, Texas remains only one of two states to continue prosecuting minors for truancy. It is currently a Class C misdemeanor for which schoolchildren are prosecuted, punished and fined for cutting classes and missing school. Their futures are often jeopardized by criminal records over unlawful absenteeism.... Under this bill, they would look at the underlying issues behind truancy — like homelessness, chronic illness or unidentified special education needs.

Massive Dirty Bomb Exercise Set For June: “We Are Clearly Seeing An Undeniable Buildup To A So Far Unknown Event”
Alex Thomas - A massive simulated dirty bomb attack exercise is set to take place at the end of June in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Operation Northern Exposure will include over 1,000 Michigan National Guard soldiers and will be the first time in history that local authorities have worked with the National Guard. According to WoodTV, the drill will use a city landfill as the site for the simulated dirty bomb attack and a middle school for the “decontamination center.”

VIDEO: New Sandy Hook Questions Arise from FOIA Hearing
David Knight - School security consultant, Wolfgang Halbig, joins us for a live interview to discuss his investigation into Sandy Hook. After being stonewalled for 19 months, he was finally granted a FOIA hearing a month ago. We talk to him about what he learned from the first FOIA hearing and what answers he hopes to get in the hearing scheduled for next week.

Obama Announces Draconian, Unconstitutional Gun Regs by Executive Fiat
Kit Daniels - “It’s clear President Obama is beginning his final assault on our Second Amendment rights by forcing his anti-gun agenda on honest law-abiding citizens through executive force,” Luke O’Dell, the vice president of political affairs at the National Association for Gun Rights, told The Hill. In particular, the Justice Dept.’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) wants to revive a 1998 proposal that would ban those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning a gun.... The ATF also wants to revoke gun rights from those the government declares “mentally unfit,” which is easy to do because the official diagnostic system for mental disorders in the U.S., the DSM-5, is so broad that almost every form of human behavior can be “diagnosed” as some type of mental illness.

New Bill Aims To Rewrite Second Amendment: Would Require Gun Owners To Have Liability Insurance
Mac Slavo - New York House Representative Carolyn Maloney has introduced a new bill that would force gun owners to have liability insurance or face fines of up to $10,000. According to Maloney the stipulations in The Firearms Risk Protection Act would curb gun violence, much like car insurance has lowered vehicle fatalities because gun owners would be more careful.

John Kerry Goes Biking In France, Hits Curb, Breaks Leg; Will Fly Back To US In "Specially Outfitted Aircraft"
Zero Hedge - America's Secretary of State went biking in the French Alps when he hit a curb, and broke his femur. Not to worry: he is expected to make a full recovery and was in good spirits, according to John Kirby. And just to make sure of that, US taxpayers will be invoiced a little over a million so that a specially equipped airplane picks up the SecState "to ensure he remains comfortable and stable throughout the flight."

Is The Stock Market Overvalued?
Economic Collapse - By just about any measure that you could possibly name, stocks are at historically high prices right now. From a technical standpoint, the stock market is more overvalued today than it was just prior to the last financial crisis. The only two moments in U.S. history that even compare to our current state of affairs are the run up to the stock market crash of 1929 and the peak of the hysteria just before the dotcom bubble burst. It is so obvious that stocks are in a bubble that even Janet Yellen has talked about it, but of course she will never admit that the Federal Reserve has played a key role in creating this bubble. They say that hindsight is 20/20, but what is happening right in front of our eyes in 2015 is so obvious that everyone should be able to see it.

Kiss It Goodbye: Social Security Benefits Will Be Cut In 2017
GovSlaves - No matter who wins the White House in 2016, there’s no getting around it: Social Security benefits will be cut starting in 2017. A 1983 pact between President Reagan and the Democrat-led Congress to stave off an imminent Social Security financing crisis included a hike in the official retirement age from 65 to 67 somewhere in the far-off future.... Yet despite the coming rise in the retirement age, Social Security’s cash deficit is set to explode to $361 billion in 2025 from $74 billion in 2014, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.
* Related: Bush: Retirement Age Should Be Phased In To 68 Or 70

6/01/2015 — Large 5.8 magnitude earthquake strikes West Coast United States / Oregon
Dutchsinse - A noteworthy magnitude 5.8 earthquake has struck off the shores of Oregon along the West coast of the United States. This earthquake was forecast to occur this week, forecast issued 2 days ago. This area was warned for larger earthquake activity to strike off the shores of Oregon in the Pacific Northwest on May 29th. Now a 5.8M hits off the shores of Oregon in the Pacific Northwest on June 1,2015. Within the past 24 hours, we saw two West coast earthquakes which led up to this movement near the coast or Oregon.... This 5.8M earthquake is proof that the warning signs for a coming large earthquake show up 1-2 days before the noteworthy movement on the West coast occurs.

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