OCTOBER 2016

Monday - October 31, 2016 - Today In History:

1864 - Nevada became the 36th state to join the U.S.
1940 - The British air victory in the Battle of Britain prevented Germany from invading Britain.
1941 - Mount Rushmore was declared complete after 14 years of work. At the time the 60-foot busts of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were finished.
1941 - The U.S. Navy destroyer Reuben James was torpedoed by a German submarine near Iceland. The U.S. had not yet entered World War II. More than 100 men were killed.
1952 - The U.S. detonated its first hydrogen bomb.
1956 - Rear Admiral G.J. Dufek became the first person to land an airplane at the South Pole and the first person to set foot on the South Pole.
1959 - Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine from Fort Worth, TX, announced that he would never return to the U.S. from Moscow, Russia.
1968 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.
1983 - The U.S. Defense Department acknowledged that during the U.S. led invasion of Grenada, that a U.S. Navy plane had mistakenly bombed a civilian hospital.
1992 - In Liberia, it was announced that five American nuns had been killed near Monrovia. Rebels loyal to Charles Taylor were blamed for the murders.
1994 - 68 people were killed when an American Eagle ATR-72, plunged into a northern Indiana farm.
1998 - Iraq announced that it was halting all dealings with U.N. arms inspectors. The inspectors were investigating the country's weapons of mass destruction stemming from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
1999 - EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the coast of Nantucket, MA, killing all 217 people aboard.
2001 - Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department reached a tentative agreement to settle the antitrust case against the software company.
2008 - Distribution Video Audio, Inc. shipped its final shipment of VHS tapes to stores. The company was the last major United States supplier of pre-recorded VHS tapes.

War Effort Against ISIS In Mosul Hampered By Iranian Involvement And Absence Of Clear U.S. Strategy
Western Journalism - Signs that increasing tensions in the Middle East and the absence of a clear U.S. strategy are hampering the war effort against Islamic State became clearly visible in Iraq this weekend. Al-Jazeerah reported Saturday that the U.S-led coalition against Islamic State had announced that ground operations in the area would be halted for two days. The official explanation for the unilateral measure was that the troops needed to be “regrouped.”.... There could, however, be a second reason the U.S.-led coalition is reconsidering its support for the Iraqi effort to drive Islamic State out of Mosul. On Saturday the Iran-backed Shiite militia al-Hashd al-Shaabi began an offensive that aims to cut off Islamic State’s supply line to Mosul and to liberate Tal-Afar, a predominantly Shiite town close to Turkey that is also home to a significant Turkmen minority. Turkey’s leaders have already threatened war against Iraq whenever the Iran-backed Shiite militias dare to enter Tal-Afar or Mosul.... The Obama administration has repeatedly asked the Iraqi government to leave the Shiite militias out of the operation to liberate Mosul, but to no avail. Furthermore, as Western Journalism reported Oct. 18, Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Al Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, is overseeing the military operation in Mosul against ISIS on behalf of the Iraqi government. Until now, the Obama administration has turned a blind eye on this dangerous development, perhaps in the hope that the Iraqi government would eventually listen to its repeated requests to leave the Shiite militia out of the Mosul operation. Now that it has become clear the administration has no leverage over the Iraqi government and war between Turkey and Iraq and Iran over the Shiite aspirations in northern Iraq is becoming more likely by the day, the Obama administration is apparently again reassessing its strategy in the war against ISIS.

Hezbollah Brigades hurries troops to Mosul fight
The Long War Journal - Hezbollah Brigades... an Iranian-backed Shiite militia in Iraq, is transporting forces, including troops and artillery, to participate in the operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State. Hezbollah Brigades is a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that is one of several Iranian-backed militias that operates in Iraq. The convoy, which was seen in a video released by Hezbollah Brigades propaganda wings, was shown to include dozens of vehicles. At least 11 rocket launchers, four howitzers (including two US-made M198 howitzers), one American-made M1 Abrams, and one US M88 Recovery Vehicle were spotted. Several other vehicles transporting troops to Mosul can also be seen.... The militia has long been known to operate American M1 Abrams tanks. Last January, the militia showcased several US-made vehicles in a large convoy somewhere in Iraq. Some pictures of M1’s being in the hands of Hezbollah Brigades existed prior to the video, but these photos and videos have become much more prevalent since. The tanks and artillery were likely given to HB by the Iraqi military, or taken from the Islamic State during operations.

State Dept. orders family of Istanbul consular staff to evacuate over terror threats
UPI - The State Department on Saturday ordered family members of employees at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul to evacuate, citing ongoing terrorist threats in the region. The consulate itself will remain open and the order does not extend to other diplomatic outposts or the U.S. Embassy in the capital Ankara. The State Department issued a travel warning for Americans abroad to avoid the southeastern portion of Turkey near the Syrian border on Monday, citing terrorist threats. "Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations in Turkey," the advisory stated. "In the past year, extremists have carried out attacks in France, Belgium, Germany, Mali, Bangladesh, Tunisia, and Turkey. Additional attacks in Turkey at major events, tourist sites, restaurants, commercial centers, places of worship, and transportation hubs, including aviation services, metros, buses, bridges, bus terminals and sea transport, could occur."

Russian, US jets had near miss over Syria: US officials
(AFP) - A Russian fighter flew dangerously close to a US warplane over eastern Syria, US defence officials said Friday, highlighting the risks of a serious mishap in the increasingly crowded airspace. The "near miss" occurred late on October 17, when a Russian jet that was escorting a larger spy plane manoeuvred near an American warplane, Air Force Lieutenant General Jeff Harrigian said. The Russian jet came to "inside of half a mile" of the US jet, he added. Another US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the American pilot was buffeted by the turbulence from the Russian jet's engines…. It appeared the Russian pilot had simply not seen the US jet -- either on radar or visually. It was dark and the planes were flying without lights…. The incident raises serious questions about the extent to which pilots can track the complex airspace they operate in.

Russia loses UN Human Rights Council place, Saudi Arabia re-elected
RT - For the first time since UNHRC's inception in 2006, Russia has lost an election to the UN Human Rights Council after being narrowly beaten by Croatia in a vote. Saudi Arabia was successfully re-elected, despite criticism from human rights organizations. The 47 places on the council are distributed on a regional basis, with staggered ballots seeing a third of the body re-elected each year. Russia had finished its three-year term and was running against Hungary and Croatia for the two available seats from Eastern Europe. With Hungary far ahead, Croatia received the votes of 114 of the 193 member countries, and Russia was selected on 112 ballots…. Saudi Arabia sailed through the Asian ballot with 152 votes, and will represent the region on the UNHRC alongside China, Japan and Iraq for the next three years. South Africa, Rwanda, Egypt and Tunisia were chosen from the African group, Cuba and Brazil from Latin America and the Caribbean, and the US and the UK will represent the Western bloc, which comprises Western Europe and North America. Over the next term, which will last between 2017 and 2019, the 14 chosen members will be tasked with formulating the UN’s official position on conflicts occurring around the world, as well as the domestic policies of member states.

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro threatens to jail his political opponents
Daily Mail - Nicolas Maduro was speaking after a strike called by the opposition to protest against his economic policies. Friday's walkout was only partially observed, with public transport in the capital Caracas running as usual and banks remaining open. Maduro earlier threatened to break the strike by sending the army to take over firms that took part in it. The action was called after authorities blocked a bid by the centre right-dominated MUD coalition to hold a referendum on removing Maduro from power. After that move, opposition lawmakers vowed to put Maduro on trial for 'violating democracy'. But President Maduro said: 'If they launch a supposed political trial, which is not in our constitution, the state prosecution service must bring legal action in the courts and put in jail anyone who violates the constitution, even if they are members of Congress.'.... But he also extended a carrot to the struggling workers who have served as his socialist party's traditional base with a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage. This would bring it to the equivalent of about £115 ($140) a month. But economic analysts called that a drop in the bucket for a country facing inflation of 475 percent this year, rising to 1,660 percent next year. And a wage hike may only add fuel to the inflationary fire.

New migrant camp sets up in Paris just a 10-minute walk from the Eurostar terminal
Daily Mail - Thousands of UK-bound migrants left homeless in Calais were flooding into new ‘Jungle’-style camps yesterday in the heart of Paris. Charities reported an influx of arrivals in the French capital. Most had refused to go to official centres set up by authorities following the demolition of the Calais Jungle. A large cluster of tents has sprung up around the Stalingrad Metro station, a ten-minute walk from the Eurostar hub at Gare du Nord. ‘It is already being called the Paris Jungle,’ said Mohammed Hussein, a 20-year-old Ethiopian sharing a tent with four friends. ‘All of us had trouble getting to England from Calais, but we’ll now be able to try again from here. Our dream is to get to England as quickly as possible.’ But France’s asylum chief Pascal Brice denied that the arrivals in Paris meant there had been a wholesale relocation from the Jungle to the capital. He explained: ‘There might be some movements at the margins towards Paris but what is crucial is that those 6,000 people have been protected.’ There are fears that other former camps on the French coast could also see the return of migrants. Migrants at the Jungle have said they would rather die than give up on their dreams of reaching Britain, despite being offered asylum in France.

VIDEO: SHOCK WIKILEAKS: Assange's "Final Blow to Hillary's Campaign" as FBI Reopens Case
The hackers supplying Wikileaks were Anonymous and Anon claims to have ALL OF HILLARY's 33k deleted emails and that they will release them by Nov 1. Hillary together with Obama, was planning WW3 with Russia to forego criminal charges! - ‘Assange Steps Forward To Deliver Final Blow To The Clinton Campaign’ after FBI Reopens Hillery's Case.

Breaking: Assange Lands Final Blow On Hillary After FBI Case Reopened
State of the Nation - BI Director James Comey made the announcement in a letter Friday afternoon that the bureau will be reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s illegal use of a private email server. “In a previous congressional testimony, I referred to the fact that the FBI had completed its investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s personal email server,” reads the letter. “Due to recent developments, I am writing to supplement my previous testimony.” Director Comey indicated that his team came across new information concerning the emails late Thursday evening. The director says he “agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps.” The emails did not randomly appear out of nowhere and into the FBI’s headquarters. It is being reported that the FBI received the emails from the hacking group Anonymous. About a month ago, the group released a statement on 4CHAN, indicating that they had a major surprise coming towards the end of October. Here is their chat discussing what we can expect from them:… Now, many things on this list have yet to occur, but these hackers have delivered on their promises so far. The hackers are arguing that we will receive the emails by November 1, which makes sense. The hacking group Anonymous leaked these emails to the FBI in order to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. The goal would be to then release more information to the FBI now that they have an open investigation. The group also indicates that they have ownership of Hillary’s 33,000 deleted emails and will be releasing those soon, as well. As the hacker states in the above chat, “we are purposely holding them back so that the Democratic Party does not have time to replace Hillary Clinton.” It is also being reported that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have been playing a major role in this, as well.
* Related: UPDATE: 650,000 EMAILS Found on Anthony Weiner’s Laptop That He Shared with Wife Huma Abedin
* Related: FBI Obtains Warrant To Search Huma Abedin's Emails

Clinton Foundation FBI Investigation Confirmed By Former Assistant FBI Director
Breitbart - Saturday on CNN while discussing the FBI reopening the investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private unsecured email server during her tenure as secretary of state, former Assistant Director of the FBI Thomas Fuentes said, “The FBI has an intensive investigation ongoing into the Clinton Foundation.” He added, “The FBI made the determination that the investigation would go forward as a comprehensive unified case and be coordinated, so that investigation is ongoing and Huma Abedin and her role and activities concerning secretary of state in the nature of the foundation and possible pay to play, that’s still being looked at and now.”

Attorney General Lynch 'Pleads Fifth' On Secret Iran 'Ransom' Payments
Zero Hedge - Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) initially presented Lynch in October with a series of questions about how the cash payment to Iran was approved and delivered. In an Oct. 24 response, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik responded on Lynch’s behalf, refusing to answer the questions and informing the lawmakers that they are barred from publicly disclosing any details about the cash payment, which was bound up in a ransom deal aimed at freeing several American hostages from Iran. The response from the attorney general’s office is “unacceptable” and provides evidence that Lynch has chosen to “essentially plead the fifth and refuse to respond to inquiries regarding [her] role in providing cash to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” Rubio and Pompeo wrote on Friday in a follow-up letter to Lynch, according to a copy obtained by the Free Beacon. The inquiry launched by the lawmakers is just one of several concurrent ongoing congressional probes aimed at unearthing a full accounting of the administration’s secret negotiations with Iran.... In the Oct. 24 letter to Rubio and Pompeo, Assistant Attorney General Kadzik warned the lawmakers against disclosing to the public any information about the cash payment. Details about the deal are unclassified, but are being kept under lock and key in a secure facility on Capitol Hill, the Free Beacon first disclosed. Lawmakers and staffers who have clearance to view the documents are forced to relinquish their cellular devices and are barred from taking any notes about what they see.

U.S. Marshals’ tackling of Ammon Bundy’s lawyer creates buzz in legal community
The Oregonian - When U.S. Marshals physically subdued attorney Marcus Mumford at the finale of the Oregon militants’ trial, the encounter created a buzz across the legal community with experts saying they’d never seen anything similar happen before. Marshals tackled and used a Taser on Mumford, Ammon Bundy’s defense lawyer, following the Oregon standoff leader’s acquittal in the federal conspiracy case Thursday. The agency said in a news release Friday that Mumford had become “upset and aggressive” in court after the jury verdict. The federal agency is conducting a review of the marshals’ actions, according to Thadd Baird, supervising deputy of the U.S. Marshals Service. But he declined to discuss any further specifics about the highly unusual use of force. “The overwhelming consensus in legal circles is that any kind of altercation between law enforcement and lawyers in a courtroom is virtually unheard of,” said Kateri Walsh, spokeswoman for the Oregon State Bar. “It just doesn’t happen.” Mumford had been arguing that his client should be released from custody immediately, but U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown said Bundy had a hold on him from a pending federal indictment in Nevada. Mumford yelled at the judge, and suddenly six to seven marshals closed in on him, surrounding the attorney at the defense table. The judge told them to move back, but soon after, the marshals grabbed Mumford. They yelled at Mumford to stop resisting while the judge ordered everyone out of the courtroom. The encounter was the culmination of a trial that included several contentious moments between Mumford and Brown. At one point last month, Brown threatened Mumford with contempt of court if he continued asking questions about the fatal police shooting of Robert "LaVoy" Finicum. The Marshals service provides security in U.S. District Court. Mumford was arrested Thursday by the Federal Protective Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security. He was cited on accusations of failing to comply with a federal lawful order and causing a disturbance and given a Jan. 6 court date.

Trump Warned Months Ago That Clinton's 'Bad Judgment' Gave Weiner Access To Secrets
Western Journalism - In July, as Trump expressed his outrage over Clinton’s email scandal, he had noted that a tremendous national security risk was posed by Clinton’s extensive sharing of classified material through an unsecure email server with top aide Huma Abedin, because of Abedin’s connection with former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner. “I mean her No. 1 person, Huma Abedin, is married to Anthony Weiner, who’s a sleazeball and a pervert. And I’m not saying that, I mean that’s recorded history, right? I don’t like Huma going home at night and telling Anthony Weiner all of these secrets, OK?” Trump said in July. A month later, when Weiner’s next outrage prompted Abedin to say she was leaving her husband and filing for divorce, Trump repeated his concerns in a statement. “Huma is making a very wise decision. I know Anthony Weiner well, and she will be far better off without him. I only worry for the country in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information. Who knows what he learned and who he told? It’s just another example of Hillary Clinton’s bad judgment. It is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this,” he said.

Audio emerges of Hillary Clinton proposing rigging Palestine election
Hang The Bankers - On September 5, 2006, Eli Chomsky was an editor and staff writer for the Jewish Press, and Hillary Clinton was running for a shoo-in re-election as a U.S. senator. Her trip making the rounds of editorial boards brought her to Brooklyn to meet the editorial board of the Jewish Press. The tape was never released and has only been heard by the small handful of Jewish Press staffers in the room. According to Chomsky, his old-school audiocassette is the only existent copy and no one has heard it since 2006, until today when he played it for the Observer. The tape is 45 minutes and contains much that is no longer relevant, such as analysis of the re-election battle that Sen. Joe Lieberman was then facing in Connecticut. But a seemingly throwaway remark about elections in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority has taken on new relevance amid persistent accusations in the presidential campaign by Clinton’s Republican opponent Donald Trump that the current election is “rigged.” Speaking to the Jewish Press about the January 25, 2006, election for the second Palestinian Legislative Council (the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority), Clinton weighed in about the result, which was a resounding victory for Hamas (74 seats) over the U.S.-preferred Fatah (45 seats). “I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake,” said Sen. Clinton. “And if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”

Trump Wipes Out Clinton’s 12 Point Lead
Infowars - Comment: As we have repeatedly emphasized, many polls are oversampling Democrats, so in reality Trump has overturned a lead significantly greater than 12 points. Donald Trump has wiped out Hillary Clinton’s comfortable lead, with the Democratic candidate dropping in the polls just 11 days before the election…. Daily Mail [reports] Clinton now leads by just two points with 47 per cent to Trump’s 45 according to the poll put together by ABC and The Washington Post. At the start of the week, she held a comfortable advantage over her opponent with 50 to his 38. By Monday she had slipped one point to 49 per cent while Trump rose two to 40. They inched closer again on Tuesday and again until Wednesday when they were only four points apart. Her lead halved again on Thursday, separating the pair by only two points.

How much more electricity do we need to go to 100% electric vehicles?
Energy Matters - ... the EU is drafting legislation to mandate the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in new homes while Germany and the Netherlands are considering legislation requiring that all cars and light vehicles sold after 2025 or 2030 must be 100% electric. None of this legislation has as yet been approved, but if it is how much extra electricity will be needed to power the millions of EVs involved, and how much will it cost? .... Because of the uncertainties in the data and assumptions used the numbers should be considered as ball-park estimates only.... European Union... Replacing the EU’s 250 million fossil-fuel-fired cars with EVs would require a 34% increase in electricity generation and a 43% increase in installed capacity. The overall cost of installing this extra capacity would be $1.3 trillion.... The UK: A 36% increase in generation and a 49% increase in installed capacity, costing $140 billion.... The USA: A 29% increase in generation and a 44% increase in installed capacity, costing $1.4 trillion.... China: An 11% increase in generation and a 16% increase in installed capacity, costing $735 billion. Note, however, that these numbers increase to 19%, 27%, and $1.2 trillion if we assume that the number of vehicles in China continues to grow at 4.4%/year through 2030.... The World: An 18% increase in generation and a 30% increase in installed capacity, costing $5.0 trillion. These numbers increase to 26%, 44%, and $7.3 trillion if we assume that the number of vehicles in the world continues to grow at 2.7%/year through 2030.... They are in fact following in the footsteps of California, which in 1990 passed legislation requiring that 2 percent of the vehicles sold in the state by 1998, 5 percent of the vehicles sold by 2001 and 10 percent of the vehicles sold by 2003 be zero-emission vehicles. The legislation had to be rescinded when the ZEVs [Zero Emissions Vehicles] failed to materialize.

Cornucopia Calls on Regulators to Stop Dairy Merger
Cornucopia News - The French dairy giant Groupe Danone (Dannon in the U.S.) has announced the proposed acquisition of WhiteWave Foods for approximately $10 billion. The deal would combine the world’s largest organic yogurt brand, Stonyfield, with Wallaby, a rapidly growing yogurt label, and Horizon, the nation’s largest brand of organic milk. Cornucopia has formally challenged the acquisition based on the serious erosion of competition it would create in the consumer marketplace and the negative economic impact it would have on U.S. organic dairy farmers. WhiteWave brands are the top sellers in their categories. Horizon organic milk controls nearly 25% of the organic milk market, while their Silk brand is a leader in plant-based beverages. Danone will be taking control of a bigger piece of the organic dairy market than has ever been controlled by a single company. With this acquisition Danone will easily be able to beat out competition by lowering prices beyond what farmstead and more moderately sized dairies can withstand.

Compound found in onions has anti-ovarian cancer effects
(NaturalNews) A chemical naturally occurring in onions may be able to suppress the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells, and perhaps even initiate cancer cell death, according to a study conducted by researchers from Kumamoto University in Japan, and published in the journal Scientific Reports. These particular anticancer effects come from a chemical called onionin A (ONA). The study focused on the effects of ONA on the most common form of ovarian cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This type of cancer has a five-year survival rate of only 40 percent. It is the 10th most common female cancer in the United States, and the fifth most lethal form of cancer in women. As many as 80 percent of EOC patients relapse after their first course of chemotherapy…. The benefits of onions start simply with their nutrient profile: These vegetables are highly nutrient dense, delivering high levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, with relatively few calories. A single cup of chopped onions contains 10 percent or more of the daily recommended amount of vitamin B6, vitamin C and manganese, and also contains calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. In addition to vitamin C, onions are high in other antioxidants, particularly quercetin. Antioxidants help protect the body from free radicals that cause chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

Thursday - October 27, 2016 - Today In History:

1787 - The first of the Federalist Papers were published in the New York Independent. The series of 85 essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, were published under the pen name "Publius."
1795 - The United States and Spain signed the Treaty of San Lorenzo. The treaty is also known as "Pinckney's Treaty."
1858 - Roland Macy opened Macy's Department Store in New York City. It was Macy's eighth business adventure, the other seven failed.
1904 - The New York subway system officially opened. It was the first rapid-transit subway system in America.
1927 - The first newsreel featuring sound was released in New York.
1938 - Du Pont announced "nylon" as the new name for its new synthetic yarn.
1962 - The Soviet Union adds to the Cuban Missile Crisis by calling for the dismantling of U.S. missile basis in Turkey. U.S. President Kennedy agreed to the new aspect of the agreement.
1994 - The U.S. Justice Department announced that the U.S. prison population had exceeded one million for the first time in American history.
2003 - Bank of America Corp. announced it had agreed to buy FleetBoston Financial Corp. The deal created the second largest banking company in the U.S
2005 - White House counsel Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court after three weeks of criticism from fellow conservatives.
2005 - Surgeons in France performed the world's first partial face transplant on a woman who was mauled by a dog.
2008 - Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was convicted of seven corruption charges for lying about free home renovations and other gifts from a wealthy oil contractor. (A judge later dismissed the case, saying prosecutors had withheld evidence.)

Six NATO nations eager to increase Black Sea presence - Stoltenberg
RT - US, Turkey and Poland are among the NATO member states which confirmed their readiness to dispatch naval units to the Black Sea in 2017, boosting the alliance’s presence in the region, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Stoltenberg noted “progress” in in strengthening NATO’s presence in the Black Sea Region in his statement after the meeting of the block’s defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. With a Romania-led multinational framework brigade on land and we’re working on measures in the air and at sea,” he said. According to the secretary General, several member-states “indicated their willingness to contribute to our presence in the Black Sea region on land, at sea and in the air, including Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and the US.” “Other allies are also looking into how they can contribute,” he added. The plans on enhancing Black Sea presence will be finalized during another meeting on NATO ministers in February.

Britain to send hundreds more troops close to Russia border in largest deployment since Cold War
The Telegraph - Britain will send hundreds more troops close to Russia's border, the Government has said, as the Prime Minister also called for "pressure" on Moscow over the Syria crisis. Around 800 soldiers along with tanks, armoured vehicles and drones will now head to Estonia in the spring in a Nato effort to reassure the Baltic states over Russia. The boosted mission, up from 650 announced earlier this year, will be Britain's largest long-term deployment to one of Russia's neighbours since the end of the Cold War. Defence sources said the six-month deployment to Tapa army base, around 100 miles from the border, was the start of a persistent UK presence in the country. The British troops will form one of four Nato battalions being deployed in response to a perceived threat from Russia to the alliance's eastern allies.

US-led coalition killed 300 Syrian civilians in 11 probed strikes – Amnesty
RT - Around 300 civilians were killed in eleven airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition in Syria, which Amnesty International investigated for its latest report. Amnesty says the US must come clean about the civilian toll of its fight against Islamic State. Amnesty suspects that US Central Command (CENTCOM), which directs coalition airstrikes in Syria, “may have… carried out unlawful attacks” in Syria, failing to take necessary measures to prevent civilian killings. We fear the US-led coalition is significantly underestimating the harm caused to civilians in its operations in Syria,” said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty International’s Beirut regional office. It’s high time the US authorities came clean about the full extent of the civilian damage caused by coalition attacks in Syria. Independent and impartial investigations must be carried out into any potential violations of international humanitarian law and the findings should be made public.” Amnesty investigated evidence, including eyewitness accounts, reports by human rights organizations and the media, photographs and video footage as well as satellite imagery, related to 11 suspected coalition attacks in Syria. The group estimates that the attacks have claimed as many as 300 civilian lives. So far none of these deaths has been acknowledged by CENTCOM.

UN failed to organize evacuation of civilians from rebel-held Aleppo – Russian envoy
RT - Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations has criticized UN’s failure to properly organize humanitarian evacuations of the wounded from terrorist-held areas of Aleppo. The UN envoy to Syria defended the team, pinning the blame on the warring parties. We regret to note that the United Nations has not properly worked out an operation to evacuate the sick and the wounded,” Vitaly Churkin noted at the UN Security Council session, according to RIA. The ambassador added that the UN work with various opposition groups in Aleppo and the local council was “left to take care of itself.” He stressed that the UN personnel did not “exert the necessary pressure” on “sponsors” of illegal armed groups to convince them to cooperate with the aid workers on the ground. Besides criticizing the UN team, the Russian envoy also accused entities that have influence over fighters in besieged neighborhoods of Aleppo of not applying enough pressure on the militants to make the most of the Russian-Syrian humanitarian pause.

Swedes And Germans Told To Integrate Into Their “New Country”
The New American - In addition to paying for the importation of well over a million Islamic migrants over the last year, Swedish and German taxpayers are financing advertising campaigns urging them to integrate into the new countries that the mass migration is creating. The changes are irreversible and the old way of life is not coming back, so get used to it and adapt, the natives were told. In Sweden, a tax-funded TV ad created by a government-backed “charity” called “Individuell Manniskohjalp” (Individual Relief), or IM, informs Swedes that their old country is never coming back. Translated to English, the slogan for the campaign is #TheNewNation. “There is no way back,” the ad begins. “Sweden will never be like it was. Europe is changing and Sweden is needed as a safe space for people who seek refuge. Now we must look forward and find a way to live side by side.” As African and Middle Eastern faces intermixed with Swedish faces cycle through on the screen, the ad informs viewers that Sweden is in for some dramatic changes. “It’s time to realize the new Swedes will claim their space, and will take up room with cultures, languages and customs,” the narrators say in Swedish, alternating between male and female voices. “It’s time we see this as a positive force. The new country is about shaping a new future.” The very definition of Swedish is changing, the ad continues, adding that the old Swedes need to adapt to the new country and the customs of the “new Swedes.” “To be Swedish must be more than skin color and place of birth, it must be you, me, and everyone together,” the narrator continues. “It’s not only new Swedes that need to integrate. Everyone needs to integrate, even established Swedes.” Then viewers get some more information on just what sort of “integration” is being demanded of them. “Integration is about finding mutual understanding,” the ad continues. “Let’s create a future that is based on equal parts reality and belief in the future. Let’s build a country where we put hate and fear aside.” Needless to say it’s extremely unlikely that many of the Islamic migrants flooding into Sweden, overwhelmingly male, will be finding “mutual understanding” with the old Sweden’s liberal values any time soon.

Video: What They’re NOT Telling You About Sweden
Paul Joseph Watson - Sweden has legalized the ISIS flag and is now offering returning jihadists welfare and housing. Will it become the first European country in the 21st century to be declared an Islamic Caliphate? I talk to ‘The Angry Foreigner’ – a Bosnian immigrant living in Sweden – about how mass Muslim immigration has changed the country.

Researcher Finds Link Between Bankers & Wikileaks Affiliates Murders
Government Slaves - Earlier this year, WikiLeaks released emails showing that the Democratic National Committee had maliciously conspired to undermine the presidential campaign of Clinton challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders, in order to elevate Hillary Clinton to the top of the ticket. Now it has emerged that two of the top lawyers representing Assange, John Jones in London and Michael Ratner in New York, died within less than a month of each other this year. And, Assange’s closest confidant in London and a Director of WikiLeaks, Gavin Macfadyen, died just yesterday. Wall Street On Parade has carefully investigated the similarly unprecedented banker deaths over the past two and one half years. What is noteworthy about the banker deaths is that at the time of the deaths, Wall Street banks and their global brethren were under the largest investigations for criminal rigging of markets to occur in the past century. Even during the Senate investigations of the early 1930s when crooked business journalists touting fraudulent Wall Street stocks and crooked Wall Street bank execs manipulating stock prices were regularly revealed through subpoenaed documents, there was no similar rash of deaths or series of alleged suicides. (See related articles below.) Now there is WikiLeaks leaking emails and documents that show that the same kind of cartel-like behavior that has corrupted Wall Street to its core has also infested the top of the Democratic Party. And, amazingly, three key members of the Assange/WikiLeaks support network have died within six months of each other this year. The statistical probability of this being a natural occurrence is slim.

Hillary Admits In Leaked Email That Clinton Donors Are Funding ISIS
The Anti-Media - In an email between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman, John Podesta, the former first lady and secretary of state cites “Western intelligence, US intelligence and sources in the region” to accuse Qatar and Saudi Arabia of “providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL [or ISIS] and other radical Sunni groups in the region.” Citing the need to “use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets,” the candidate told Podesta the current developments in the Middle East were “important to the U.S. for reasons that often differ from country to country.” In the same email, Clinton seemed to claim Turkey needed to be reassured of America’s willingness to “take serious actions,” an effort that “[could] be sustained to protect our national interests” in the region. In another piece of correspondence from 2012, the Director of Foreign Policy at the Clinton Foundation, Amitabh Desai, claimed the Ambassador from Qatar would “like to see [Bill Clinton] ‘for five minutes’ in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for [his] birthday in 2011,” adding that the small but rich nation occupying the Qatar Peninsula would “welcome [the Clinton Foundation’s] suggestions for investments in Haiti — particularly on education and health.” Desai added that while Qatar had already “allocated most of their $20 million … [they were] happy to consider projects we suggest.” Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based, state-funded news organization, recently ran a list of “revealing, juicy and quirky emails” leaked by WikiLeaks. In its list, the news organization went over the “pay-for-play” scheme involving the Clinton Foundation, going so far as to mention an email confirming the king of Morocco offered $12m “for the endowment” — as long as Clinton was willing to take part in a meeting…. In a post on Facebook, the WikiLeaks official page said, “Al Jazeera’s list of juiciest Wikileaks forgets to mention the revelation that Qatar funds both ISIS & Bill Clinton.”

WikiLeaks: New Evidence Podesta Schemed to Hide Russian-Tied Assets
LifeZette - An email released by WikiLeaks on Wednesday morning appears to prove Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta created a holding company in order to conceal his interests in an energy company with deep ties to the Putin regime. Two weeks ago, a leaked email also published by WikiLeaks first revealed that Podesta transferred his holdings in the Putin-linked company Joule Unlimited to a private holding company — Leonidio LLC — upon joining the Obama administration. “The disclosure that Clinton Chair John Podesta transferred his shares in Putin-backed Joule Unlimited to an anonymous holding company when he joined the Obama Administration is extremely concerning,” the Trump campaign said in an official statement at the time. “Because the holding company is completely anonymous, we do not know whether or not he still has deep financial ties to Vladimir Putin and his regime.”

“We Need To Clean This Up”: More Evidence Obama LIED About Clinton Emails
Steve Watson - White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday that it’s a “conspiracy” that Obama knew Hillary Clinton was using a private email address, and to suggest he covered for her when asked about it. Obama claimed that he learned of Clinton’s email server through news reports at the same time as everyone else. However, it has since been verified via information from the FBI and via the Wikileaks Podesta email releases that Obama and Hillary traded emails on the private server and that Hillary’s team felt the need to cover it up. An new email released Tuesday provides yet more evidence. When Hillary’s team found out Obama had said he learned about the server through the news reports, they panicked because they knew that the president had already known about the server for a long time prior to the press reports.

Wikileaks: Hillary Clinton Needed Someone to ‘Sober Her Up’ at 4:30 in the Afternoon
Heat Street - Hillary Clinton campaign aides had a frantic email exchange in August 2015 over who should call the candidate to “sober her up some” at around 4:30 in the afternoon. According to documents published by WikiLeaks, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta emailed communications aide Jennifer Palmieri with a question at around 2:00 p.m. “Should I call her and talk this through or better to leave with you?” Podesta wrote. “I’m worried she’ll get on with Cheryl [Mills] and we’ll end up in a bad place.” Palmieri wrote back more than two hours later with a response: “I think you should call her and sober her up some.”

‘Hillary’s Amnesty’ and ‘Trump’s Wall’ Causing Rush to Texas, Says Border Patrol Agent
Breitbart - llegal immigrants, mostly from Central America, are flooding across Texas’ southern border ahead of the 2016 General Election. Border Patrol agents are seeing numbers of illegal immigrants at or above the historic 2014 levels. “Cartel connected human smugglers are telling people they need to get across the border now,” U.S. Border Patrol Agent Chris Cabrera told Breitbart Texas in his capacity as president of National Border Patrol Council Local 3307. “When our agents ask the illegal immigrants who have surrendered at the border, they tell us they have been told they have to be here by a certain deadline to qualify for amnesty from Hillary Clinton, or they must come now because Donald Trump will build a wall and they won’t be able to cross.” Breitbart Texas reported one week ago that the numbers of family units and unaccompanied minors crossing the border from Mexico is up dramatically in FY 2016. The apprehension of Family Units increased by 95 percent over FY 2015 numbers to 77,674 according to a report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The number of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) crossing the border hit a near record total of 59,692. More disturbingly, the numbers were dramatically increasing in the three months leading up to the election.

Obamacare Architect Gruber Demands “Larger Mandate Penalty” (Video)
Paul Joseph Watson - Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber – the bureaucrat who once bragged that the “stupidity” of the American people was crucial for passing the health care law in the first place – told CNN that the “fix” for Obamacare was to impose a “larger mandate penalty”…. Gruber’s arrogance is incredible. Even after the Obama administration acknowledged that premiums are set to skyrocket next year, Gruber thinks that the answer is to financially punish Americans to an even greater degree. Gruber is essentially admitting that Obamacare is designed to make Americans destitute. “ObamaCare was never designed *not* to overwhelm you with the shifting of massive costs. ObamaCare was designed to crush you in costs,” points out the Conservative Treehouse blog…. A series of videos that emerged in 2014 featured Gruber admitting that Obamacare was deceptively crafted in order to fool “stupid” Americans into not realizing that it would mean massive price hikes and that the law’s “lack of transparency (was) a huge political advantage” in selling it.

Now in Effect: New Alaska Law Taking First Step Against Common Core
Tenth Amendment Center - Today, a new law allowing parents to opt their children out of standardized testing in Alaska goes into effect. The new statute gives parents a powerful tool to push back against Common Core. Rep. Wes Keller (R-Wasilla) introduced House Bill 156 (HB156) last year. The legislation broadly defines the rights of Alaska parents to direct the education of the children. An important provision in the law allows parents to opt their children out of standardized testing. (1) recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to object to and withdraw the child from a standards-based assessment or test required by the state; The legislation also allows parents to object to and opt their kids out an activity, class, or program. Shane VanderHart with Truth in American Education explains the significance of the opt-out right. This doesn’t change Alaska’s standards which are essentially Common Core, but this is a win for parents who were having issues opting their students out of assessments and certain classes, like sex ed. This is something all states should do if they haven’t already. While parents have a natural right to opt their children out of assessments it is so much easier when the government cooperates with parents rather than oppose them. The House passed HB156 in April by a 22-17 vote. The Senate approved an amended version of the measure 15-5. After some back and forth to reconcile the House and Senate versions, the bill received final passage on May 5. New York serves as a shining example of the effectiveness of an individual opt-out campaign against Common Core testing programs. Grassroots activists started a movement that spread across the entire state and sent a powerful message against Fed Ed. The New York Post reported that 20 percent of parents chose to opt their children out from the Common Core standardized testing last year. In the Lower Hudson Valley, the number reported this year was even higher, according to the USA Today.

College threatens police response for students wearing 'offensive' costumes
Fox News - Tufts University has sent out a letter that is sure to spook Greek life students ahead of Halloween weekend. Students involved in fraternities and sororities at the Massachusetts school are being told to not wear anything that could offend others during Halloween celebrations -- or risk getting investigated by campus police and being slapped with "serious disciplinary sanctions." The order came in a note written by the leaders of the four Greek life councils on campus… Tufts was far from the only university calling out costumes it deemed offensive. The University of Florida offered counseling for students "troubled" by incidents involving Halloween costumes. And the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Bias Incident Team last year claimed some students' "Three Blind Mice" costumes mocked the disabled.

More Reports of Votes Flipping From Trump to Clinton in Texas
Paul Joseph Watson - Voters in Arlington and Amarillo complained that when they highlighted the box to select Trump/Pence, it switched to Clinton/Kaine. Now numerous other Texans have gone public on social media to report similar problems. However, election officials in Texas are denying that there is a problem. “Typically, we’ve found it’s voter error with the equipment,” Frank Phillips, Tarrant County’s election administrator, told WFAA. “Sometimes they vote straight party and then click on other candidates … or do something with the wheel….There is not an issue with the equipment.” Are all these examples just voters making mistakes or inaccurately reporting what happened? Or could there be a real problem with electronic voting machines in Texas?

TRUMP on Track to Win More Black Votes Than Any GOP Candidate Since 1960
The Gateway Pundit - At the beginning of October 9% of African Americans supported Trump. The number doubled and has leveled off at 16% support for Donald Trump. Blacks today make up 22% of the Democratic vote. If Democrats lost 25% of the black vote they would lose Virginia, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina. If Trump skims 25% of black voters from the Democratic Party he would win the 2016 election in a landslide. The last Republican to win over 25 percent of the non-white vote was Richard Nixon in 1960. Nixon won 32% of non-white voters to Kennedy’s 68%.

Fukushima: The Untouchable Eco-Apocalypse No One Is Talking About
Activist Post - The effects on nature are already being seen, yet even among the environmentalist factions of media, there is strong denial of the damage already done and of what is to come as the crisis approaches its sixth year. Some 300 tons of radioactive water are dumped into the Pacific Ocean each day, and signs are showing that this catastrophe is gravely affecting sea-life and wildlife in and around the Pacific. The FDA maintains that there is no evidence of contamination by Fukushima-borne radionuclides in the American food supply, yet this opinion is contested by some independent researchers. A report by the Fairewinds Energy Education says that cancer is on the rise in areas around the failed power plant, and that millions will die in coming years as a result. Thus far, all plans to stop radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean and the Japanese Islands have failed, the most impressive of which is the construction of a $320 million underground wall of frozen dirt to block the seepage of groundwater into surrounding areas. 100 feet deep and over a mile long, the ‘land-side impermeable wall‘ is already failing as rainfall from recent typhoons has caused partial melting of sections of the ‘ice wall.’ A previous and ongoing cleanup effort requiring the onsite storage of contaminated water near the Fukushima Daiichi is merely a band-aid as radioactive water continues to accumulate by the day, with no long-term plan for proper disposal. he reality here is that this crisis is untouchable in its scope and unparalleled in its lethality, and TEPCO’s 40-year-plan to decommission the plant will be a failure. No one of significant import is talking about this crisis or working to elevate it as a national and international priority. The American political scene is focused instead on the selection of the next president being chosen between two candidates who clearly have zero interest in addressing this dire issue.

USDA Creates Dragnet to Collect Records of Private Food Club Members Around the U.S.
Health Impact News - A USDA investigation of Pennsylvania farmer Amos Miller’s meat production practices has taken an ominous turn in recent days, apparently morphing into a national dragnet to collect the food purchase records of thousands of food club members around the country. I have posted a number of reports on an investigation by the Food Safety and Inspection Office (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which issued subpoenas last spring for information from Amos Miller, supposedly based on a report issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in March tying milk from Miller’s farm to a death in Florida and a serious illness in California. When Miller refused to cooperate, citing his non-public operation, the USDA went to federal court, and obtained an order that Miller allow federal agents in to conduct “inspections” of his farm. Those “inspections” over the summer turned into demands for members’ food purchase records, which Miller declined to provide, citing contractual requirements that he keep member information private. Most recently, the USDA has sought to hold Miller in contempt of court, and a hearing is scheduled on the contempt request November 1, in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Allergens in Vaccines Are Causing Life-Threatening Food Allergies
Health Impact News - It would probably surprise few people to hear that food allergies are increasingly common in U.S. children and around the world. According to one public health website, food allergies in children aged 0-17 in the U.S. increased by 50% from 1997 to 2011….. The question that few are asking is why life-threatening food allergies have become so alarmingly pervasive. A 2015 open access case report by Vinu Arumugham in the Journal of Developing Drugs, entitled “Evidence that Food Proteins in Vaccines Cause the Development of Food Allergies and Its Implications for Vaccine Policy,” persuasively argues that allergens in vaccines—and specifically food proteins—may be the elephant in the room….. What food proteins are found in vaccines? The list includes ovalbumin, casein, gelatin, and soy. As Arumugham ascertained, however, synthetic vaccine ingredients such as polysorbate 80 and sorbitol also are sourced from food items, including coconut, palm, sunflower, wheat, and corn. Arumugham observes that it is likely impossible to fully eliminate residual allergen proteins deriving from these sources. Moreover, it takes very low-level exposure to food proteins to cause allergic sensitization. A more subtle and troubling point is that the aluminum adjuvants contained in many vaccines augment the food proteins’ immunogenicity (a substance’s ability to provoke an immune response). When numerous food proteins and adjuvants get injected in one sitting, as is the case when multiple shots are administered simultaneously, the probability of sensitization greatly increases. The Institute of Medicine admits that food proteins in vaccines “occasionally induce…sensitization…and subsequent hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis.” Despite this knowledge, the allergen content in vaccines is entirely unregulated. No safe level or limits have ever been established or enforced for the allergens contained in vaccines.

Naturally reduce allergy symptoms and asthma attacks
(NaturalHealth365) If you’ve ever wondered why foods like blueberries, kale and broccoli are considered super foods, there is a particular potent, health supporting compound common that’s common to all of them: quercetin – which can help you to feel better! Quercetin is found in numerous leafy, deeply colored vegetables and other healthy foods. It’s a powerful antioxidant that’s associated with fighting free radical damage, inflammation and the effects of aging. Quercetin benefits include immune system enhancement, better energy levels, improved heart health, and increased longevity. It also has cancer-fighting properties. Now studies are confirming that quercetin can help with allergy symptoms and asthma attacks. Italy’s University of Verona Department of Pathology and Diagnostics has found that quercetin is among a group of flavonoids that are anti-microbial, anti-viral, and anti-allergic. They naturally suppress the human inflammatory response to quell allergic reactions. In the realm of healthy flavonils, quercetin is one of the strongest for bolstering immunity and reducing inflammation.

How eating lentils can significantly reduce the risk of cancer
(NaturalHealth365) While lentils are often overlooked and underappreciated for their amazing health benefits, you may want to consider adding this legume into your diet as much as two times per week. This “elite” legume has been studied and proven to reduce the risk of breast cancer by an astounding 24%…. The scientists studied legume intake in 3,539 cancer cases and found that the higher intake of lentils decreased the risk of cancer of the mouth, esophagus, throat and larynx by about 37%. Other studies have found that colon cancer risk can also be decreased by a whopping 47% by adding this legume into your diet! The fiber content in lentils is also thought to aid in the prevention of colorectal cancer. … and a 6-year study found that men who ate three or more serving of lentils per week reduce their prostate cancer risk in half!… Selenium is a mineral and is quite abundant in lentils. This mineral has been known to reduce inflammation, decrease tumor growth, and has the ability to stimulate the production of killer T-cells – which improves immune function in response to infections…. If you want to reap all of the benefits of lentils, you will likely want to know the best ways to include them in your diet. Start by adding them in at least twice per week, as research has found that enjoying this legume two to three times per week comes with cancer protective health benefits.

Wednesday - October 26, 2016 - Today In History:

1774 - The First Continental Congress of the U.S. adjourned in Philadelphia.
1825 - The Erie Canal opened in upstate New York. The 363-mile canal connected Lake Erie and the Hudson River at a cost of $7,602,000.
1881 - The "Gunfight at the OK Corral" took place in Tombstone, AZ. The fight was between Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and Doc Holiday and the Ike Clanton Gang.
1905 - Norway gained independence from Sweden.
1942 - The U.S. ship Hornet was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz during World War II.
1944 - During World War II, the Battle of Leyte Gulf ended. The battle was won by American forces and brought the end of the Pacific phase of World War II into sight.
1949 - U.S. President Harry Truman raised the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents an hour.
1951 - Winston Churchill became the prime minister of Great Britain.
1962 - The Soviet Union made an offer to end the Cuban Missile Crisis by taking their missile bases out of Cuba if the U.S. agreed to not invade Cuba and would remove Jupiter missiles in Turkey.
1984 - "Baby Fae" was given the heart of baboon after being born with a severe heart defect. She lived for 21 days with the animal heart.
1990 - The U.S. State Department issued a warning that terrorists could be planning an attack on a passenger ship or aircraft.
1991 - Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry arrived at a federal correctional institution in Petersburg, VA, to begin serving a six-month sentence for cocaine possession.
1996 - Federal prosecutors cleared Richard Jewell as a suspect in the Olympic park bombing.
1998 - A French lab found a nerve agent on an Iraqi missile warhead.
2001 - It was announced that Fort Worth's Lockheed Martin won a defense contract for $200 billion over 40 years. The contract, for the "joint strike fighter," was the largest defense contract in history.
2002 - Russian authorities pumped a gas into a theater where separatist rebels held over 800 hostages. The gas killed 116 hostages and all 50 hostage-takers were killed by the gas or gunshot wounds.

US ‘laying groundwork’ for Raqqa assault, no role for Russia – Carter
RT - The US-led coalition is moving into the practical phase of an attack on de-facto ISIS capital Raqqa in Syria, which is likely to begin before the battle for Mosul is won, according to the US Defense Secretary Ash Carter…. According to Carter, the two officials agreed that the 13-state military coalition that gathered in the French capital would proceed with a sense of “urgency and focus” and confirmed previous statements that there will be a likely “overlap” with the assault on Mosul, which began earlier this month. Earlier on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande warned that many of the ISIS fighters in Mosul could simply sneak out among refugees and relocate to Raqqa, unless the coalition cuts them off. There were up to 6,000 Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters in the Iraqi city before fighting began, while Raqqa, which Carter described as “the nexus of much of [IS] operational planning," will be defended by an estimated 3-4,000 recruits. Carter stated that the bulk of the assault contingent would be assembled from “capable and motivated local forces that we identify and then enable.”… With the battle over Mosul – a city of 1.5 million people before it was conquered by Islamic State in 2014 – expected to last weeks or months, the Pentagon is not committing itself to a tight deadline.

60 civilians killed, 200 injured as US-led coalition strikes Mosul residential areas – Russian MoD
RT - Over 60 civilians have been killed and at least 200 injured during three days of US-led coalition airstrikes on residential areas in Mosul, the Russian military reported…. According to the Russian military, among the civilian objects hit by US-led coalition airstrikes was a school for girls in southern Mosul, which was attacked last Friday. Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross reiterated its call not to target civilians and civilian infrastructure in Mosul. The aid organization earlier warned that the offensive may force hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee the city, overstretching Iraq’s already-challenged ability to shelter them. The general described the situation around the Iraqi city on the sidelines of a report about Russia’s action in Syria, where Moscow and Damascus continue a pause in the offensive in Aleppo, which is divided between the Syrian Army and various armed groups, including the terrorist organization Al-Nusra Front. Rudskoy said that Russia has not conducted sorties over and around Aleppo since last Tuesday and intends to continue holding off the warplanes. Fighting on the ground in the city resumed on Sunday, after a three-day unilateral ceasefire was derailed by insurgents, who prevented civilians from fleeing the battered city.

Russia Unveils First Images Of Nuclear Missile Capable Of Reaching US Soil
Zero Hedge - Russia reveals photos of a new highly advanced liquid fuelled heavy ICBM capable of evading anti-missile defences and hitting US territory with 10 tonne nuclear payload. The Makeyev Design Bureau – the designer of Russia’s heavy liquid fuelled Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (“ICBMs”) – ie. of missiles capable of reaching US territory from Russian territory, has published the first picture of Russia’s new heavy Sarmat ICBM which is due to enter service shortly, probably in 2018…. The Sarmat has been specifically designed to defeat the US’s Anti Ballistic Missile systems, which are being deployed in eastern Europe. Its range of countermeasures is classified and not known. However it is believed the Sarmat is capable of manoeuvres during its flight trajectory to confuse incoming missiles, that it is able to launch decoys – also to confuse incoming interceptor missiles – and that at least one of the warheads being designed for it is a hypersonic warhead, which rumours say was tested successfully in April, and which is believed to be impervious to interception by incoming missiles. A little mentioned fact about the military strategic balance between the US and Russia, is that Russia has been steadily upgrading its strategic deterrent with new advanced missiles, which are entirely different to those of the 1960s, which formed the basis of the Soviet strategic deterrent. … By contrast the US strategic deterrent still relies on missile systems such as the ground-based Minuteman III and the sea launched Trident II, which have their origins in the 1960s and early 1970s. With the Sarmat missile, which is supposed to enter service in 2018, the Russians will add another powerful modern advanced system to their strategic armoury.

US Military Deployment in Norway 'to Send Negative Signals Eastward'
Sputnik News - For the first time since WWII, Norway will allow foreign troops to be deployed on its soil. Some Norwegian politicians have expressed their concerns about the move dubbing it a dramatic shift in the country's policy, which will send "negative signals" to Moscow…. "We enjoy a very close relationship with the Norwegian Armed Forces and a limited rotational presence in Norway would certainly enhance this relationship and our ability to operate together," Maj. Gen. Niel E. Nelson, commander of US Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, said last week, as quoted by CNN. He underscored that a US military presence in Norway "will increase NATO's ability to rapidly aggregate and deploy forces in northern Europe." The media outlet claimed that the US military buildup in Norway has come as a response to Russia's "intervention" in Eastern Europe and "tensions about Russia's posture."

German Police Conduct 13 Anti-Terrorism Raids Across 5 States Citing "Imminent Terror Threat"
Zero Hedge - German police on Tuesday conducted numerous raids across five federal states and stormed an accommodation facility for refugees and 12 homes around the country that were believed to house people suspected of financing terrorism. Police searched residences in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony as well as in Bavaria, the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and in Hamburg, police in Thuringia said in a statement. Bild magazine cited “an imminent terror threat” as a trigger for the operation. The large-scale operation reportedly targeted “Islamist-linked terror suspects,” local broadcaster MDR reported. The police have been investigating a 28-year-old Russian citizen of Chechen origin since the second half of 2015 who was suspected of preparing "a serious act of violent subversion", the statement said. They believed he intended to fight for Islamic State in Syria. During the course of investigations, suspicion arose that that person as well as 10 other men and three women - all Russian citizens of Chechen origin - were financing terrorism. According to Reuters, the suspects were living in Thuringia, Hamburg and Dortmund, are asylum seekers with unclear residency status, and are aged between 21 and 31, police said. Police forces deployed sniffer dogs to detect potential explosives. At least one suspect is reported to have been placed under arrest in the central Thuringia city of Suhl, where “white powder” of unknown origin was found reported RT.

Germany: Syrian Refugee with 4 Wives and 23 Children Claims £320,000 a year in benefits
Express - A SYRIAN refugee with four wives and 23 children has sparked outrage after it was claimed he was receiving a staggering £320,000 a year in benefits. The migrant, known only as Ghazia A, fled Syria last year along with his family. He has since resettled in Germany with his four wives and 22 of his children. One of his daughters has since moved to Saudi Arabia where she has married. The family could be receiving more than £320,000 a year in benefits according to a financial manager on the Employers’ Association website. There is no official confirmation on this figure. Under Islamic tradition, the 49-year-old can have up to four wives – as long as he can support them financially. Germany does not legally recognise polygamy, meaning that Ghazia A was forced to choose a “main wife” so the rest of the family could claim benefits. The other three wives are categorised as “friends” of the Syrian migrant. But a local official in the town of Montabaur described the situation as an “exemption”…. Social media users vented their frustrations, with one claiming “the Syrian with 4 women and 23 children is now being sold to us as a new normality”.

Sweden Bans Christmas Street Lights; To Avoid Offending Muslim Migrants?
Paul Joseph Watson - Towns across Sweden have banned Christmas street lights in the name of “security,” but the real reason is almost certainly because the country has completely capitulated to Islam after importing countless Muslim migrants over the last two years. According to an SVT report, The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) will not allow municipalities to erect Christmas street lights on light poles that the authority manages, meaning that many towns will have no festival lights at all on major streets. According to Speisa, “The change is a victory for those who want to tone down the reminder of the country’s Christian traditions, but according to the Swedish Transport Administration, the decision for the drastic change is “security”. “Poles are not designed for the weight of Christmas lights, and we have to remove anything that should not be there,” said Eilin Isaksson, national coordinator at the Swedish Transport Administration. The argument that the lights are too heavy and pose a safety risk sounds like complete baloney. Swedes are being asked to believe that lights normally held up by tree branches are now too weighty to be supported by metal poles. Despite there being no safety issue with the street lights for decades, this new rule has been instituted right after record numbers of Muslim migrants flooded into the country – just a coincidence I’m sure. In reality, the Christmas lights ban is almost certainly an effort to avoid offending Muslim migrants who are causing chaos in cities like Malmo, where the firebombing of cars and businesses in or near Muslim ghetto ‘no-go areas’ is becoming a routine occurrence.

Facebook accused of ‘collective punishment’ in crackdown on Palestinian users
RT - Facebook has been accused of systematic unfairness as it blocks dozens of accounts of Palestinians of all walks of life in what is viewed as an Israeli crackdown on free speech. Testimony from rights groups and several recent reports detail the extent of this, believing it to be part of an Israeli strategy against all Palestinians. The latest is an analysis by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), which details a dramatic increase in account bans over 2015 – including the targeting of journalists, academics and civilians alike. Israel officially met a Facebook delegation this September for talks, where it pressured the social media giant into targeting comments or public stances that may appear to incite violence. The Israeli interior ministry called the negotiations “successful,” while a representative for Facebook stressed “online extremism can only be tackled with a strong partnership between policymakers, civil society, academia and companies, and this is true everywhere.”

Podesta Part 18: Wikileaks Releases Another 1,300 Emails; Total Is Now 31,500
Zero Hedge - With exactly 2 weeks left until the November 8 presidential election, Wikileaks continues its ongoing Podesta dump by unveiling another 1,299 emails in the latest Part 18 of its release, bringing the total emails released so far to exactly 31,534, with just under 40% of the total dump left to go.
* Related: Read The Podesta Emails Here

"Executive Orders For Sale": Leaked Email Shows Hillary Auctioning Off 'Laws' To The Highest Bidder
Zero Hedge - If someone’s wealthy enough, can they straight up buy an executive order? These days, the president uses Executive Orders to bypass Congress, even though there is no constitutional provision that explicitly permits the use of executive orders. It’s a system that’s been heavily abused in the past but now, apparently, it’s for sale. A new revelation buried in the Wikileaks trove of tens of thousands of Hillary campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails shows him discussing executive orders in relation to an “idea” a wealthy donor has. In a leaked email thread between Podesta and Mary Pat Bonner, a “donor adviser” who gets millions for her elite connections in bringing in donors and for being what The New York Times describes as a “master of making donors happy,” it’s all but admitted that Executive Orders are another pay-for-play item on the corrupt American political menu.

65 US ‘journalists’ had a private group dinner with Hillary Clinton’s team and John Podesta
Hang The Bankers - Several top journalists and TV news anchors RSVPed “yes” to attend a private, off-the-record gathering at the New York home of Joel Benenson, the chief campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton, two days before she announced her candidacy in 2015, according to emails Wikileaks has published from John Podesta’s purported accounts. The guest list for an earlier event at the home of John Podesta was limited to reporters who were expected to cover Clinton on the campaign trail.

Michigan Township Defies Feds: ‘Will Not Actively Participate in the Refugee Resettlement Program’
Breitbart - Waterford Township trustees in Oakland County, Michigan, passed a resolution on Monday telling the federal government not to resettle any refugees, including those from Syria, within the township’s boundaries, until the program “has been significantly reformed.” The vote was unanimous, seven to zero. The resolution stated: “[T]he Charter Township of Waterford will not actively participate in the Refugee Resettlement Program until the Program has been significantly reformed, and until it has been demonstrated that the Townships of Oakland County have the capacity to absorb refugees without diverting funds from needy residents or exposing their residents to unwarranted security risks.”… The resolution passed just hours before the Thomas More Law Center announced on Tuesday that it has been selected to represent Tennessee it its lawsuit against the federal government on Tenth Amendment grounds over the operation of the refugee resettlement program by the federal government in the Volunteer State. It also indicates further legal trouble ahead for the federal government in Oakland County, Michigan, where County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has said he intends to sue the federal government for resettling refugees in the county while failing to comply with the “consultation clause” of the Refugee Act of 1980 that requires the federal to government and the director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement to consult with state and local government officials prior to the placement of refugees within their jurisdictions.

More Bad News For Philadelphia: Obamacare Premiums Set To Soar More Than 50%
Zero Hedge - As CBS Philadelphia reports, when the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period begins next week customers will see some changes, including fewer choices and higher prices. In Pennsylvania, the number of insurers in the marketplace has gone from 13 to eight. But the worst fate is set to befall the city that famously booed Santa Claus, Philadelphia, where CBS reports that just two insurers are left and premiums are expected to rise 53%. Aviva Aron-Dine of Health and Human Services says the size of the hike reflects artificially low rates early on. Pennsylvania had among the lowest rates in the nation. “Issuers were pricing for a completely new market, one where they could no longer exclude those with the most serious health needs,” she said, “many set prices that turned out to be too low.” To be sure, the administration had to spin this dramatic surge in a way that does not upset the locals, and did just that when Aron-Dine said that "the plans are still affordable, since three-quarters of Pennsylvanians qualify for tax credits.”… To be sure, the administration had to spin this dramatic surge in a way that does not upset the locals, and did just that when Aron-Dine said that "the plans are still affordable, since three-quarters of Pennsylvanians qualify for tax credits." It remains to be seen if any of the locals will accept this rationalization for soaring prices when they start getting invoices demanding hundreds of dollars more each month.

True the Vote Offers Smartphone App to Report Voter Fraud
Breitbart - Texas-based election integrity organization True the Vote has released a smartphone app that allows users to report voter fraud and irregularities. VoteStand, available for both iPhone and Android users, is advertised to be the “first online election fraud reporting app” available to voters across the country “to quickly report suspected election illegalities as they happen,” according to True the Vote. The free app operates much like a social network where users can send updates about polling place issues, voter intimidation attempts and others to identify problem areas. VoteStand incidents can take the form of text or photo reports, geotagged to the user’s location.

Exclusive: Pictures and Video from 20K+ Trump Rally in Tampa
Breitbart - More than twenty thousand people filled the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater Monday night to rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. The rally was Trump’s second of the day as part of a five-city, three-day swing through the Sunshine State. Trump was introduced by former Florida State University head football coach Bobby Bowden.

California Guard vets told to repay millions in enlistment bonuses (Video)
CNN - Ten years after the Pentagon enticed soldiers to reenlist by offering hefty bonuses, officials are demanding thousands of those veterans pay the money back. Christopher Van Meter is one of the affected veterans in California. He earned a Purple Heart after he was hurled from an armored vehicle in Iraq. By 2007, he had already served 15 years in the Army and was about to retire -- until the military encouraged him to reenlist. "They entice you with another reenlistment bonus. Those bonuses were ... around $15,000," Van Meter told CNN's "New Day" on Monday. "We were in the Iraq and Afghanistan war at the time. And they wanted to keep soldiers in the military." But years later, officials realized Van Meter and thousands of other veterans were not actually eligible for the bonuses they were given. The Los Angeles Times reported that only soldiers with certain assignments -- for example, intelligence, civil affairs and some noncommissioned officer posts -- were supposed to get bonuses. But investigators uncovered rampant fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials trying to meet enlistment targets…. So far, auditors have confirmed 2,300 unauthorized bonus payments to about 2,000 soldiers, amounting to at least $22 million in unauthorized bonuses. This number includes 1,100 soldiers who received unauthorized payments and those from the 5,400 figure who could not show proof. If the remaining recipients do not produce proper documentation showing they were eligible, they could be liable to pay back those amounts to the Defense Department…. California senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer urged the Defense Department to use its authority to waive repayment. "They (soldiers) accepted these incentive payments in good faith and at the height of the Iraq War, when the Department was having difficulty retaining service members," they said in a statement. "Many of these individuals paid a heavy price for their service -- including severe injuries sustained after reenlisting. Now they are facing interest charges, wage garnishment, tax liens, and other penalties." It's unclear whether Congress will take any action on the issue when members return from election recess next month, the Military Times reported.

Top University Stole Millions From Taxpayers By Faking Global Warming Research
Daily Caller - A global warming research center at the London School of Economics got millions of dollars from UK taxpayers by taking credit for research it didn’t perform, an investigation by The Daily Mail revealed. The UK government gave $11 million dollars to the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP) in exchange for research that the organization reportedly never actually did. Many papers CCCEP claimed to have published to get government money weren’t about global warming, were written before the organization was even founded, or were written by researchers unaffiliated with CCCEP. The government never checked CCCEP’s supposed publication lists, saying they were “taken on trust,” according to the report…. CCCEP tried to falsely claim credit for research it never did while attempting to get another $5.4 million of government cash. That money would have covered its operations until 2018. Government and private grants have made CCCEP one of the most lavishly funded institutions of its kind in the world, as it has raised and spent about $37 million since 2008. Studies that receive financial support from the public sector don’t have to disclose it as an ethical conflict of interest, even when that support is in the millions of dollars. Recent studies in the U.S. — which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses to support the scientific case for its Clean Power Plan — saw the agency give $31.2 million, $9.5 million, and $3.65 million in public funds to lead authors, according to EPA public disclosures.

Google Quietly Drops Privacy Policy that Kept Users’ Names Out of Massive Web-Tracking Database
AllGov - When Google bought the advertising network DoubleClick in 2007, Google founder Sergey Brin said that privacy would be the company’s “number one priority when we contemplate new kinds of advertising products.” And, for nearly a decade, Google did in fact keep DoubleClick’s massive database of web-browsing records separate by default from the names and other personally identifiable information Google has collected from Gmail and its other login accounts. But this summer, Google quietly erased that last privacy line in the sand – literally crossing out the lines in its privacy policy that promised to keep the two pots of data separate by default. In its place, Google substituted new language that says browsing habits “may be” combined with what the company learns from the use Gmail and other tools. The change is enabled by default for new Google accounts. Existing users were prompted to opt-in to the change this summer. The practical result of the change is that the DoubleClick ads that follow people around on the web may now be customized to them based on your name and other information Google knows about you. It also means that Google could now, if it wished to, build a complete portrait of a user by name, based on everything they write in email, every website they visit and the searches they conduct…. To opt-out of Google’s identified tracking, visit the Activity controls on Google’s My Account page, and uncheck the box next to “Include Chrome browsing history and activity from websites and apps that use Google services." You can also delete past activity from your account.

Shocking Number of Top Retailers Sell Food Produced With Pesticides Toxic to Bees
EcoWatch - A new report and scorecard grades 20 of the largest food retailers in the U.S. on their policies and practices regarding pollinator protection, organic offerings and pesticide reduction. Of the top food retailers, 17 received an "F" for failing to have a publicly available policy to reduce or eliminate pesticide use to protect pollinators. Only Aldi, Costco and Whole Foods received passing grades in this category…. A coalition led by Friends of the Earth and more than 50 farmer, beekeeper, farm worker, environmental and public interest organizations sent a letter urging the food retailers to eliminate pollinator-toxic pesticides and increase the U.S. Department of Agriculture certified organic food and beverages to 15 percent of overall offerings by 2025, prioritizing domestic, regional and local producers. This effort follows a campaign by Friends of the Earth and allies that convinced more than 65 garden retailers, including Lowe's and Home Depot, to commit to eliminate bee-toxic neonicotinoid pesticides.

A Dirty Little Secret: Your “Organic” Strawberries Aren’t Really Organic
REALfarmacy - Although organic strawberries sell for 50% to 100% more than conventional berries, organic strawberries are fumigated with toxic chemicals, including methyl bromide, at the beginning stages of their life-cycle. Methyl bromide, is used to sterilize the soil before strawberries are planted. It’s not sprayed on the fruit. It’s a soil fumigant that kills just about everything it touches. Many hybridized seed varieties have been created that can only grow in sterile soil…. Methyl bromide commercial use was supposedly banned. But strawberry field fumigation and several other common agriculture applications are excepted from the ban. Methyl bromide is also associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in farm workers…. Jim Cochran, has been growing real organic strawberries at his 75 acre Swanton Berry farm in Davenport minus any pesticides for over 30 years. He was the first farmer to grow organic strawberries in California. But here’s the rub, he buys his starter plants from a nursery in northern California where toxic fumigants are used pre – fruit phase. Jim explains: “There’s a gray area in the rules.” Both Federal and state organic regulations give the nod allowing organic farmers to purchase non-organic starter material when they have no other options and still call their strawberries organic. According to the NY Times: California “doesn’t have a single organic berry nursery—hence the practice of relying on plants that grew on fumigant-using nurseries.”…. Sometimes you can find genuine, organic strawberries from a small local grower. Next time you’re at your local farmer’s market when organic strawberries are in season, ask the vendor if he grew his strawberries from organic heirloom seeds, or if he purchased the initial plant material from a conventional nursery.

19 Potent Herbs & Spices That Help Fight Cancer
1. Turmeric - The curcumin in turmeric is a very strong anti-inflammatory agent, besides having wide spectrum antimicrobial and antiparasitic properties. Its anti-cancer activity includes aiding the apoptosis of damaged cells, preventing their rapid division to form tumors, and inhibiting the development of capillaries that feed tumors. Low incidence of certain cancers is noted in communities traditionally using turmeric as a condiment. Phase I clinical trials have shown that curcumin can indeed prevent precancerous tissues from developing into cancer. It is effective against cancers of the digestive tract, breast, and lung. The bioavailability of curcumin is increased by cooking the turmeric powder for over 10-15 minutes. It easily binds to fats, and when heated in oil, lends its bright yellow color and pungent smell without bite to dishes. 2. Garlic - Garlic or Allium sativum and other Allium family vegetables such as onions, shallots, and leeks are rich in organosulfur compounds alliin, allicin, and allyl sulfides which are known to be cancer protective. They have been found to protect against stomach and colon cancers. Including more of these vegetables in the diet can reduce your risk of other cancers too. 3. Ginger - In laboratory studies conducted in King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, ginger extract has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation in breast cancer. This action was targeted exclusively against abnormal cells, while normal breast cells were left alone. In mice having prostate cancer, administration of raw ginger extract reduced the tumor size to half the original size. The phytochemicals in ginger promote apoptosis of cancer cells and have a preventive action against metastasis…. 4. Black Pepper - The anti-inflammatory property of black pepper has long been exploited in traditional herbal medicines, but the piperine extracted from the spice is now found to have excellent antioxidant and anti-cancer effect. Piperine has the ability to inhibit breast cancer stem cells, particularly those of the very aggressive, non-estrogen sensitive types that do not respond to current preventive drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene…. Not only that, piperine enhances the cancer-preventive action of curcumin and increases the bioavailability of the potent polyphenolic compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate in green tea. A daily dose of one-eighth of a teaspoon may be all you need to reap the benefits.

The Root Cause Of Cancer and Why it Has Been Kept a Secret!
REALfarmacy - Dr. Warburg [Nobel Prize winner] was one of the 20th centuries leading biologists, and he discovered that the root cause of cancer is too much acidity in the body, meaning that the pH in the body is below the normal level of 7.365, which constitutes an “acidic” state. Warburg investigated the metabolism of tumors and the respiration of cells and discovered that cancer cells maintain and thrive in a lower pH, as low as 6.0, due to lactic acid production and elevated CO2. He firmly believed that there was a direct relationship between pH and oxygen. Higher pH, which is Alkaline, means higher concentration of oxygen molecules, while lower pH, which is acidic, means lower concentrations of oxygen…the same oxygen that is needed to maintain healthy cells…. In his work The Metabolism of Tumours Warburg demonstrated that “all forms of cancer are characterized by two basic conditions: acidosis and hypoxia (lack of oxygen). Lack of oxygen and acidosis are two sides of the same coin: where you have one, you have the other.” “All normal cells have an absolute requirement for oxygen, but cancer cells can live without oxygen – a rule without exception. Deprive a cell 35% of its oxygen for 48 hours and it may become cancerous.”

Headache fighting turmeric smoothie
STEPin2 - The most popular medication for headaches is acetaminophen, which is the main ingredient in the drug Tylenol. Acetaminophen has recently been linked to a number of negative health effects, including brain problems, asthma, and even child behavioral problems when pregnant mothers take it. This headache fighting turmeric smoothie is packed with only healthy and natural ingredients, so you can skip the over the counter drugs. Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients. Coconut water: Coconut water is packed with electrolytes. Headaches are often caused by dehydration, and the liquid and electrolytes in coconut water help relieve dehydration. Kale: A lack of magnesium is a very common cause of headache. Kale is packed with magnesium, containing 31mg per cup. Pineapple: Pineapple is known for having a compound called bromelain, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties. Turmeric: Most headache relieving drugs work by reducing inflammation. Turmeric has natural anti-inflammatory properties and helps to reduce inflammation that causes headaches. Process the following ingredients in a blender: 1 cup of coconut water. 1-inch piece of fresh turmeric root. 1 cup of pineapple.1 cup of kale, chopped. Make sure ingredients are organic.

5 Shortcut Blunders That Can Lead to Disaster for Your Cat
Dr. Becker - The following are five diet-related mistakes many cat parents make that you'll definitely want to avoid in the care of your own beloved feline companion. 1. Feeding the wrong diet - Some foods are metabolically stressful, for example, all dry (kibble) formulas, any processed pet food, wet or dry, containing feed-grade (versus human grade) ingredients and foods containing grains, potatoes or other high starch ingredients. The nutrition that generates the least amount of metabolic stress for most cats, regardless of age, is their ancestral diet: whole, raw, unprocessed, organic, non-GMO and in its natural form…. If you can't feed fresh food (raw or gently cooked), the second best diet is a dehydrated or freeze dried balanced diet that has been reconstituted with an abundance of water or broth. Your cat's kidneys and liver can be further stressed as a result of chronic low-grade dehydration, so all foods served "dry" can pose a problem long term…. 2. Offering the ill-advised, all-day and all-kitty-can-eat buffet - Also known as free feeding or feeding ad libitum, this cat owner mistake by necessity goes hand-in-hand with a poor-quality diet, specifically kibble, because it's the only type of food you can safely leave at room temperature 24/7. Free feeding is the perfect way to create an overweight or obese kitty, which is absolutely not the goal if you want your cat to live a long and healthy life. In addition, a constantly available food source turns your feline hunter into a grazer, which goes against nature…. 3. Over-treating with treats - Treats, even the healthiest ones, shouldn't make up more than 15 percent of your kitty's daily food intake, and ideally less than 10 percent. It's important to remember that treats aren't a complete form of nutrition for your cat, and should never be fed in place of balanced, species-appropriate meals. Overfeeding treats on top of daily food intake will result in an obese cat, and overfeeding treats while underfeeding balanced meals will result in nutritional deficiencies…..

Tuesday - October 25, 2016 - Today In History:

1812 - During the War of 1812, the U.S. frigate United States captured the British vessel Macedonian.
1854 - The Charge of the Light Brigade took place during the Crimean War. The British were winning the Battle of Balaclava when Lord James Cardigan received an order to attack the Russians. He took his troops into a valley and suffered 40 percent caualties. Later it was revealed that the order was the result of confusion and was not given intentionally.
1929 - Alber B. Fall, of U.S. President Harding's cabinet, was found guilty of taking a bribe. He was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000.
1939 - "The Time of Your Life," by William Saroyan, opened in New York.
1951 - In Panmunjom, peace talks concerning the Korean War resumed after 63 days.
1958 - U.S. Marines withdrew from Beirut, Lebanon. They had been sent in on July 25, 1958, to protect the nation's pro-Western government.
1962 - American author John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.
1971 - The U.N. General Assembly voted to expel Taiwan and admit mainland China.
1983 - U.S. troops and soldiers from six Caribbean nations invaded Grenada to restore order and provide protection to U.S. citizens after a recent coup within Grenada's Communist (pro-Cuban) government.
1990 - It was announced by U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney that the Pentagon was planning to send 100,000 more troops to Saudi Arabia.
2002 - Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., 58, was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota.
2005 - U.S. military deaths in Iraq reached 2,000.

US Warns Worst Is Yet to Come in Battle for Mosul
AntiWar - With early fighting centering on mostly empty villages, however, it’s hard to imagine the offensive going anything but smoothly so far, and US officials are conceding that as they get closer to the city, ISIS is digging in, and the fighting is going to get alot uglier, and deadlier, when they actually reach the city. Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said the resistance so far was “pretty significant” and that there had been indirect fire and IEDs. That’s going to seem a lot less significant by comparison when the troops reach the city, with thousands of ISIS fighters positioned. ISIS spent the last few months building defenses around Mosul, from oil-filled moats and walls to tunnels and booby traps. The early offensive saw ISIS burning tires around the city to create smoke, limiting visibility for warplanes, and further complicating the offensive. The American public hasn’t exactly been prepared for the number of US combat casualties this could mean, with the first death already happening to an IED north of Mosul, and officials trying desperately to downplay the number of US troops engaged in “advisory” roles that are, for all intents and purposes, front line combat.

Gunmen take hundreds of cadets hostage at police training center in Pakistan
RT - Unidentified gunmen have stormed a police training center in the city of Quetta, Pakistan, taking hundreds of cadets hostage. At least 2 security officers have been killed in a military operation to retake the premises. Pakistani military commandos have managed to rescue over 200 hostages, according to local media reports. Two officers were killed and at least 50 others injured during the attack. At least 3 of the gunmen have also been killed, authorities confirmed. Police and security forces are at the scene and cordoned off the area, while heavy exchange of fire continues from both sides, Pakistani SAMAA television reports.... According to various estimates from 200 to 500 cadets could have been inside the facility at the time of the attack. Generally, cadets studying at the academy are between the ages of 18 and 26, Pakistan-based reporter Javed Rana told RT.... Citing a survivor who escaped the attack, Pakistani Dunya News reported that the attackers opened fire as they stormed the training facility from the rear. Some of the terrorists were wearing suicide vests, the TV channel reported, citing a source close to law enforcement. Pakistan's Interior Ministry has established a control room to monitor the situation, Dunya News said.

Asylum seekers burn EU offices in Greek migrant camp
RT- Asylum seekers, angry at the slow progress of their paperwork, attacked and burnt down offices at a camp in Lesbos, Greece. The attack happened while interviews with fellow migrants were taking place inside, officials say. The European Asylum Support Office’s (EASO) mobile registry at the Moria camp was besieged on Monday morning by mob of around 70 refugees hurling stones and petrol bombs. At least eight containers were seriously damaged, with at least three of those burnt down to the ground. Spokesman Jean-Pierre Schembri said the attackers threw petrol bombs at the EASO facilities while staff members were conducting interviews with fellow asylum-seekers inside. “They burned our offices this morning ... The process will not resume for the time being,” Schembri told Reuters. “We have to evaluate security issues and in our view we need more presence of Greece police to be in place.” EASO personnel were evacuated, while fire crews and riot police were called in to restore order to the camp.... The asylum seekers, mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, were frustrated at the delays in their asylum applications which has left them languishing in Greece for months on end. The migrant camps are squalid and overcrowded, while crime and sexual abuse are rampant. According to government data cited by AFP, five Greek islands are hosting around 13,000 refugees when their capacity is only 8,000. There are 5,322 asylum-seekers on Lesbos alone, police data show.

Iceland's Pirate Party prepares for power as polls suggest election triumph
The Independent - Its members are a collection of anarchists, hackers, libertarians and web geeks. It sets policy through online polls – and thinks the government should do the same. It wants to make Iceland “a Switzerland of bits,” free of digital snooping. It has offered Edward Snowden a new place to call home. And then there’s the name: in this land of Vikings, the Pirate Party may soon be king.... And to a string of electoral impossibilities that suddenly became reality – including Britain voting for Brexit and Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination – the world may soon add a Pirate Party-led government in Europe. Victory for the Pirates may not mean much in isolation. This exceptionally scenic, lava-strewn rock just beyond the Arctic Circle has a population less than half that of Washington, DC, with no army and an economy rooted in tourism and fishing. But a Pirate Party win would offer a vivid illustration of how far Europeans are willing to go in their rejection of the political mainstream, adding to a string of insurgent triumphs emanating from both the far left and far right.... Iceland has been afflicted by the same anti-establishment fervour that has swept the rest of the Western world in recent years. In many ways, the alienation from politics has been even more acute here. The 2008 global financial crisis brought the once highflying economy to ruin, saved only by a $4.6bn international bailout. Bankers went to jail, and a street protest movement was born.... Outsiders may regard the idea of a government run by Pirates as a joke. But “the voters think a joke is better than what we have now,” said Benedikt Jóhannesson, leader of another insurgent party that is even younger than the Pirates and has also earned substantial support.

Clinton ally funneled money to wife of FBI agent who oversaw emails
Washington Examiner - Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, an important ally of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, funneled nearly $700,000 in donations and support to the campaign of the spouse of an FBI official who then oversaw Clinton's email investigation. The Virginia governor's office was full of denials about the connection on Sunday.... McAuliffe's PAC donated $475,000 to Jill McCabe's campaign in 2015 and the Virginia Democratic Party, which is heavily influenced by the governor, donated an additional $207,788 worth of support to her unsuccessful bid for office. The FBI insists that Andrew McCabe "played no role" in his wife's campaign. Months later he was promoted from associate deputy director to deputy director which gave him an "oversight role in the investigation into Secretary Clinton's emails." The McCabes together did have one meeting with McAuliffe in March of last year, in which the governor and other state Democrats urged Jill McCabe to run for office. After that meeting, Andrew McCabe reportedly sought ethics advice from the FBI and followed it. He not only refrained from campaigning on his wife's behalf but recused himself from public corruption cases in Virginia, currently including an investigation into possible foreign influence peddling by McAuliffe himself.

Clinton State Department IT Official John Bentel Takes Fifth Amendment During Judicial Watch Deposition
Judicial Watch - Judicial Watch announced today that another witness in the Clinton email matter asserted his Fifth Amendment rights during a Judicial Watch deposition today. The deposition of John Bentel, the State Department’s former Director of Information Resource Management of the Executive Secretariat (“S/ES-IRM”), was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. S/ES-IRM is the office that handles information technology for the Office of the Secretary. Mr. Bentel answered over 90 questions with “On advice from my legal counsel, I decline to answer the question and I invoke my Fifth Amendment rights.” Mr. Bentel, on advice of Obama Justice Department and personal counsel, refused to answer any questions about whether Hillary Clinton was paying his legal fees, offered him employment, or other financial incentives.... Judicial Watch deposed seven former Clinton top aides and current State Department officials, including top Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin. Judicial Watch also deposed IT official Brian Pagliano, who asserted his Fifth Amendment right not to testify during the Judicial Watch deposition.... The depositions come in connection with a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that seeks records about the controversial employment status of Huma Abedin, deputy chief of staff to former Secretary Clinton. “The fact that yet another State Department official took the Fifth highlights the disturbing implication that criminal acts took place related to the Clinton email and our Freedom of Information Act requests,” stated Judicial Watch Tom Fitton.

Podesta Files Part 17: Wikileaks Releases Another 3,400 Emails, Bringing Total To Over 30,000
Zero Hedge - With just 2 weeks to go until the election, today Wikileaks continued its ongoing Podesta files release when it unveiled another 3,432 emails in the latest Part 17 of its release, bringing the total emails released so far to 30,235 total emails, over 60% of the total set for publication ahead of the elections. Yesterday's release provided data on oversampling of minorities in internal polls, a memo from George Soros exposing Obama's secret TPP negotiations, ongoing discussions of Bill Clinton's sex scandals, and much more.

Russian Hackers? Podesta’s Password Was Simply ‘p@ssw0rd’
Kit Daniels - Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta used his own name as his username and the word ‘p@ssw0rd’ as his password, which raises doubts he was targeted by a large-scale Russian hacking campaign as claimed. Additionally, Podesta also lost his cell phone in 2015, according to his own emails released by Wikileaks, and it’s unlikely he took proper security measures to secure the data. “I warn you, the Windows 8 system is VERY different from what we had back at the White House,” Podesta’s assistant Eryn Sepp told him in an email containing his password. “Might require a tutorial.” The emails reveal Podesta as lazy and inept when it comes to computers in general, meaning it didn’t require the resources of a foreign government like Russia to hack his emails, especially given how he handled government business over a free Gmail account. This raises doubts that the “Russian hackers” theory promoted by the mainstream media is credible, but that theory is being promoted not because it’s a proven fact but because it gives the federal government “justification” to take control of the presidential election – and ensure Hillary wins – out of “fear” of “Russian hackers.” But if Russian hackers didn’t target Podesta, then who did? Podesta was once the chief lobbyist for the Electronic Messaging Association (EMA), a pre-World Wide Web (WWW) industry association of the 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s, which represented the interests of such companies as Prodigy, Compuserve, Lotus, Netscape, and America On-Line,” reported Wayne Madsen. “Podesta, therefore, was an early follower of the exploits of hacker groups like the Chaos Computer Club, International Subversives, 3 Oz-Melbourne, and others.” “It was from this pre-WWW era that Podesta first gained a real interest in such subjects as Area 51, extraterrestrial artifacts and bodies stored at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and UFO close encounters.” His interest in UFOlogy was well-known; as Chief of Staff for Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Podesta pushed for “full disclosure” of government UFO files. Therefore, it’s plausible the hackers who penetrated Podesta’s emails were independent UFO hunters who wanted to know what Podesta knew about aliens as a government insider.

The Persecution of the Bundy Good Guys
LewRockwell - For the past six weeks Oregonians have been treated to a political trial of the “Malheur 7” (Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox, Jeff Banta, David Fry, Neal Wampler and Ken Medenbach,).... The trial has revealed an astounding brave new world of modern surveillance and surreptitious “law enforcement” techniques. Drones flew over and recorded much of what went on. FBI agents captured and monitored every phone number connected between every participant.... Outside the Refuge, FBI, Oregon State Police, and other law enforcement agencies swarmed over the countryside. Government snipers appeared on local rooftops. Barricades and barbed wire were erected to protect the school and courthouse from the alleged militia danger. Undercover FBI agents dressed as redneck militia members roamed through local stores and menaced the streets.... Money was spent at such an extravagant pace that one professional auditor told me that the dollar amounts should have themselves triggered a separate criminal investigation. The Feds have publicly claimed that the 41-day occupation caused at least “$6.9 million” in damages. At trial, prosecutors objected, however, to every request to examine such claims.... And there were undercover government informants. Everywhere.... It was revealed by an Oregon State trooper that one of Ammon Bundy’s “bodyguards”—a man who drove him to his arrest—was an undercover informant. Another informant (“Mama Bear”) was revealed when a defense lawyer subpoenaed her for the defense. The woman admitted that her entire trip to the Malheur Refuge was funded by the San Diego FBI office and that she was paid thousands of dollars to inform on the occupiers while helping out in the kitchen.... For days, Marcus Mumford (attorney for Ammon Bundy) demanded more information about the extent of undercover informants. Mumford pointed to the fact that the defendants were charged with conspiracy, and no one can be convicted of conspiring with undercover government agents.... Finally the Justice Department stipulated (without naming any names) that at least nine occupiers were undercover informants; a number greater than the number of defendants on trial. (Heavily redacted documents in the hands of the defense suggest the number of informants was actually at least 15.) Significantly, the prosecution’s most damning evidence collapsed at the end of the trial when it was revealed that the man who ran a militia shooting range at the Malheur Refuge was himself an undercover agent. Through the hard work of defense lawyers, “John Killman” was identified as a paid (“reimbursed,” he said) informant who traveled to the occupation at the behest of the government in a beat-up pickup truck to lead the occupiers in combat “safety” training.

State of the biggest, best union: Trump nightly webcast debuts tonight
Ars Technica - Donald Trump's Presidential campaign will deliver its first tease of a potential Trump TV network on Monday with the launch of Trump Tower Live, a web-only video series aired on Facebook Live that promises to deliver "nightly campaign coverage from Trump Tower." The show's first episode will be co-hosted by official Trump campaign advisers Boris Epshteyn and Cliff Sims as well as TheBlaze political commentator Tomi Lahren. According to a report from Wired, Trump Tower Live's premiere episode will include interviews with Trump campaign manager KellyAnne Conway and another campaign adviser, along with live footage of Trump's Monday night speech in Tampa, Florida.... The launch of a daily web show that will apparently revolve around hosts and guests officially connected to the Trump campaign follows the Republican candidate's repeated complaints about slanted and biased campaign coverage. Last week, Trump ramped up his accusations of bias by claiming "the election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary."As the aforementioned Wired report points out, Clinton's campaign has also been connected to web-streamed video content created by a political organization in her favor: Studio 2016, a show co-produced by the Democratic National Convention Committee and Clinton's own campaign. Neither the DNC nor Clinton's campaign has developed or aired any such party-controlled video content since that show aired during the DNC in July.

"Don’t Repeat That To Anybody" - Hillary Clinton And Donna Brazile Personally Implicated In Latest Project Veritas Video (Video)
Zero Hedge - Per Project Veritas: Part III of the undercover Project Veritas Action investigation dives further into the back room dealings of Democratic politics. It exposes prohibited communications between Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the DNC and the non-profit organization Americans United for Change. And, it’s all disguised as a duck. In this video, several Project Veritas Action undercover journalists catch Democracy Partners founder directly implicating Hillary Clinton in FEC violations. “In the end, it was the candidate, Hillary Clinton, the future president of the United States, who wanted ducks on the ground,” says Creamer in one of several exchanges. “So, by God, we would get ducks on the ground.” It is made clear that high-level DNC operative Creamer realized that this direct coordination between Democracy Partners and the campaign would be damning when he said: “Don’t repeat that to anybody.” .... "The duck has to be an Americans United for Change entity. This had to do only with some problem between Donna Brazile and ABC, which is owned by Disney, because they were worried about a trademark issue. That's why. It's really silly. We originally launched this duck because Hillary Clinton wants the duck. In any case, so she really wanted this duck figure out there doing this stuff, so that was fine. So, we put all these ducks out there and got a lot of coverage. And Trump taxes. And then ABC/Disney went crazy because they thought our original slogan was 'Donald ducks his taxes, releasing his tax returns." They said it was a trademark issue. It's not, but anyway, Donna Brazile had a connection with them and she didn't want to get sued. So we switched the ownership of the duck to Americans United for Change and now our signs say 'Trump ducks releasing his tax returns.' And we haven't had anymore trouble.".... As Project Veritas points out, this direct coordination between Clinton, Brazile and Americans United For Change is a violation of federal election laws.

Concern Grows Over Soros-Linked Voting Machines
LifeZette - The U.K.-based Smartmatic company posted a flow-chart on its website that it had provided voting machines for 16 states, including important battleground states like Florida and Arizona. Smartmatic Chairman Mark Malloch-Brown is a former U.N. official and sits on the board of Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Since the story first broke, the flow-chart has disappeared from Smartmatic’s website, raising further questions about the real status of the Soros-tied voting equipment and whether it is truly being deployed in U.S. elections. According to a spokesperson for the National Association of Secretaries of State, Smartmatic is not on a list of federally certified providers for election systems and that officials in several states’ have contested that their equipment came from Smartmatic. Why, then, had Smartmatic bragged about providing over 50,000 voting machines for U.S. elections?.... A 2006 classified U.S. diplomatic cable obtained and released by WikiLeaks reveals the extent to which Smartmatic may have played a hand in rigging the 2004 Venezuelan recall election under a section titled "A Shadow of Fraud." The memo stated that "Smartmatic Corporation is a riddle both in ownership and operation, complicated by the fact that its machines have overseen several landslide (and contested) victories by President Hugo Chavez and his supporters.".... Smartmatic had claimed it provided machines to Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin — it has since pulled that information off its website.

TRUMP Cleveland Rally Has 1.7 MILLION Views - Hillary Cleveland Rally has 3,825 Views
Gateway Pundit - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton held rallies in Cleveland this past weekend. Hillary Clinton had a few hundred people show up. Donald Trump filled a stadium. Now this… Donald Trump’s Cleveland speech on Facebook has 1.7 million views. Hillary Clinton did not post her rally on Facebook. But it was posted on YouTube. She has 3,825 views. And if you look at the number of likes versus dislikes it’s clear Trump supporters were a large part of her audience.

14% Of Polled Wells Fargo Customers Have Decided To Leave The Bank
Zero Hedge - Wells Fargo's illegal cross-selling and fraudulent account creation practices appear to have caught up with the bank, just days after CEO John Stumpf announced his surprise resignation. As Bloomberg reports, management consultancy cg42 released a poll showing 14% of Wells Fargo customers have decided to leave the bank, "potentially withdrawing billions of dollars and crimping revenue." The data confirms what a separate poll by SurveyMonkey Intelligence released last week revealed. According to the survey, since the scandal broke, Wells Fargo has been losing as much as 140,000 of its mobile customers every week. The report finds that while the bank reported a downturn in new customer applications and accounts opened since the scandal broke, Wells Fargo curiously hasn’t reported on its customer churn rates. That is, the rate at which Wells Fargo is losing customers as they close their accounts after the scandal.... The good news for Wells is that this exodus has yet to be reflected in the public figures released by the bank.... Still, Wells is not taking any chances and in an attempt to quell the scandal that has engulfed its consumer bank, the bank will start broadcasting nationwide television commercials Monday night, outlining steps it has taken to halt abuses. As Bloomberg adds, "the move escalates a public-relations campaign that has featured advertisements online and in newspapers, as the firm tries to convince customers it’s putting their interests first.

Pennsylvania Pipelines Bursts, Leaks 55,000 Gallons Of Gas Into One Of US’ Most Endangered Rivers
Natural Blaze - A pipeline owned by the same company behind Dakota Access leaked 55,000 gallons of gasoline into a major river, endangering the drinking water of six million people. pipeline managed by Sunoco logistics burst Thursday night after heavy rainfall in Pennsylvania. The spill dumped 55,000 gallons of gasoline into Wallis Run, a tributary of the Loyalsock Creek that drains into the Susquehanna River. The breach was detected at 3 am when the pressure of the pipeline dropped significantly, leading Sunoco to shut down the pipeline…. The Susquehanna had previously been declared the third most endangered river in the US by the NGO American Rivers. It has come under threat due to the development of the natural gas industry, particularly the practice of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.” Fracking has caused major problems in the US due to the so-called “Cheney’s loophole” that exempts natural gas companies from the vast majority of US environmental regulations…. Though the recent floods have been blamed for the spill, some are calling this into question due to Sunoco’s lengthy history of poor pipeline management. Indeed, pipelines managed by Sunoco Logistics spill more frequently than another, with more than 200 recorded leaks since 2010. This is also not the first spill of a Sunoco pipeline in Pennsylvania.

Snooping requests approved by DC-area federal courts up 500% since 2011
RT - Newly released data obtained by the Washington Post from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) indicates that federal investigators are increasingly reliant on electronic surveillance requests of federal judges in the process of covertly monitoring domestic suspects' phone, email, and other communications, such as social media. In Northern Virginia, there have been 4,113 such requests since 2011, with only one being revealed to the public. There were 305 secret electronic surveillance requests in 2011, while requests are on pace to surpass 1,800 in 2016.... Brett Max Kaufman, staff attorney at the ACLU’s Center for Democracy, said additional transparency of basic information on federal court cases would reveal more about federal investigators' increasing reliance on electronic surveillance, as well as the courts that have approved such requests. Such a move "is an important first step for courts to recognize that they have been enabling a kind of vast, secret system of surveillance that we now know to be so pervasive," Kaufman told the Post. "It’s hard to understand whether this surveillance is necessary or whether there is overreach without basic information about how often these orders are sought or granted, or who is granting them. Even judges themselves do not know," Kaufman said. The data revealed by the courts did not include information about the crime being investigated, any associated crime, a charged defendant, or whether an investigation is ongoing or not, the Post reported.

Security firm claims implantable cardiac devices can be hacked
ExtremeTech - The device at issue here is an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD). This is essentially a more advanced version of a pacemaker.... An investment firm called Muddy Waters started warning about the safety of St. Jude’s ICD products recently, which has led to a legal battle. Muddy Waters is a short-selling operation, meaning it bets on a company’s stock price falling in order to make money. St. Jude says the allegation of security issues is simply meant to harm its stock price and is not based on a real danger. As part of the ongoing case, Muddy Waters contracted with cyber security firm Bishop Fox to perform an independent analysis of St. Jude’s implantable cardiac devices. It recently produced a 53-page report where it says Muddy Waters’ claims regarding the possibility of ICD cyber attacks are “by and large accurate.” St. Jude’s latest medical implants are different from past devices because they use a wireless protocol to communicate with a monitoring station called Merlin@home. It uses radio frequency signals to transmit and receive data from the implant, which saves patients from going to the doctor several times per year just to have the implant’s performance checked. However, Bishop Fox says it successfully hijacked this signal and was able to take control of the implant. At a distance of 10 feet, researchers claim they were able to instruct the ICD to cease operation, then produce a powerful T-wave shock. A patient subjected to this attack could have a heart attack.... Bishop Fox says it believes the same attack could be accomplished from as far as 100 feet away with more powerful equipment. The claims are currently being investigated by St. Jude and the FDA, but the federal agency said patients should continue using their ICDs as instructed by doctors. If this turns out to be a real threat, the fix is going to be costly. It’s harder to recall defective electronics when they live inside your chest.

Gluten could be in your medication and pills
(NaturalNews) In today's world, it's gotten a whole lot easier to avoid gluten in food, thanks to mandatory labeling requirements imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But these requirements only apply to food, which means that consumers who use pharmaceutical drugs aren't being told when their medications contain gluten in the form of unlabeled wheat derivatives…. A national survey conducted by the Beyond Celiac organization recently revealed that nearly 25 percent of Celiac patients experience gluten-related symptoms whenever they take their prescription medications, suggesting that a great many drugs contain unlabeled gluten ingredients. And while certain groups are working towards a change, the government has thus far refused to standardize a system whereby gluten-tracking is required for all pharmaceuticals…. Steve Plogsted, a clinical pharmacist at Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio, has built an extensive website entitled "GlutenFreeDrugs.com" that lists nearly 500 name-brand medications and their gluten status.

Have thyroid problems? Use garlic
Living Traditionally - Garlic does more than taste good, it’s very nutritious and contains several bioactive compounds. Garlic makes a very effective treatment for hyperthyroid conditions, due to the high levels of iodine…. Autoimmune thyroid conditions such as Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis involve pro-inflammatory cytokines. Garlic can help to inhibit these pro-inflammatory cytokines. Numerous studies demonstrate that garlic has a positive effect against pro-inflammatory cytokines. One study showed that the garlic derivative diallyl sulfide inhibited the production of cytokines by suppressing nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 production in activated macrophages. The recommended dosage for adults is no more than one clove two or three times a day and that children have one quarter to one half a clove, once or twice a day. Here are some more reasons to eat garlic: Garlic is full of antioxidants that fight cancer-causing free radicals. Garlic contains allicin, which is an antioxidant that removes infectious pathogens from the skin – preventing acne. Raw garlic can help control hypertension – again thanks to allicin. Garlic contains sulfur compounds that shorten the life span of the common cold. The anti-cancer properties of garlic can reduce the risk of lung cancer by nearly 50 percent for nonsmokers. Garlic thins the blood and reduces the risk of blood clots. Garlic’s anti-inflammatory properties ease the pain of osteoarthritis.

Black Garlic is Toxic to 14 Types of Cancers
Living Traditionally - Developed in Korea, black garlic has been gaining popularity among Western foodies for several years now, but it has recently caught the eye of the health-minded due to studies revealing its impressive nutritional properties. Black garlic is produced by “fermenting” whole bulbs of fresh garlic in a humidity-controlled environment in temperatures of about 140 to 170 degrees F for 30 days…. Once out of the heat, the bulbs are then left to oxidize in a clean room for 45 days. This lengthy process causes the garlic cloves to turn black and develop a soft, chewy texture with flavors reminiscent of “balsamic vinegar” and “soy sauce,” with a sweet “prune-like” taste…. In a 2009 mouse study, Japanese researchers found that black garlic was more effective than fresh garlic in reducing the size of tumors…. In another study, black garlic was found to have twice the antioxidant levels as fresh—the aging/fermenting process appears to double the antioxidants. Black garlic is packed with high concentrations of sulfurous compounds, especially one in particular: s-allylcycteine (SAC). Science has shown a number of health benefits from SAC, including inhibition of cholesterol synthesis…. Be mindful, however, that black garlic’s benefits may be more effective than fresh garlic for some conditions but not others, given its allicin content is low. For example, I suspect it may not be as effective if you have an infection, as allicin is thought to be the primary anti-infective agent in garlic, and fresh garlic is higher in allicin than black.
*** Related: How to make Black Garlic

Free Online Thyroid Connection Summit - October 24 - 31
Tens of millions worldwide have some form of thyroid dysfunction, and 60% don’t know they have it or how it occurred. Dr. Amy Myers has identified 5 environmental factors that are the root cause of all thyroid dysfunction: diet, leaky gut, toxins, infections and stress. Every one of these is a piece of the pie — for some, one piece may be bigger — but all play a role to some degree. Each day of The Thyroid Connection Summit will focus on a different root cause, with the first two days dedicated to understanding your thyroid and the worldwide thyroid epidemic.

Cool Way to Indulge Your Love of Animals and Support the Military
Dr. Becker - When members of the military are called upon for deployment, those with pets are often challenged to find a suitable home for their animals while they’re away. Some military personnel may be lucky enough to have a family member who can care for their pets, but not all do — and in some cases both members of a two-person household may be deployed at the same time. Boarding in such cases is cost prohibitive, not to mention would be extremely stressful for the animals since deployments last for months and may be extended. Some military members have no choice but to surrender their pets to animal shelters or rescue groups and are not able to be reunited when they return. Fortunately, a number of programs are now available that connect foster homes with military pets. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. Pets get to spend their owners’ deployment being cared for in a loving home, military personnel get peace of mind knowing their pets are safe and happy, and foster pet parents get a piece of unconditional love from a new furry family member while helping to give back to those who serve the U.S…. There are many military foster programs in the U.S. that are actively matching military pets with temporary foster homes. At PACT for Animals (People + Animals = Companions Together), for instance, they’ve received applicants for more than 200 animals in the last year and have found foster homes for one-third of those. PACT is unique in that they also offer foster homes for people who have been hospitalized and need emergency care for their pets…. Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet is another organization that offers not only foster programs for active military members but also provides pet assistance to wounded soldiers and veterans, homeless veterans, fallen soldiers and cases where military service members are reassigned out of the country and cannot take their pets with them…. If you’d like to get involved, searching for “military pets foster programs” followed by your state abbreviation is the best way to find an organization in your area.
 

Monday - October 24, 2016 - Today In History:

1795 - The country of Poland was divided up between Austria, Prussia, and Russia.
1861 - The first transcontinental telegraph message was sent when Justice Stephen J. Field of California transmitted a telegram to U.S. President Lincoln.
1901 - Daredevil Anna Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. She was 63 years old.
1929 - In the U.S., investors dumped more than 13 million shares on the stock market. The day is known as "Black Tuesday."
1939 - Nylon stockings were sold to the public for the first time in Wilmington, DE.
1945 - The United Nations (UN) was formally established less than a month after the end of World War II. The Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories.
1949 - The cornerstone for the U.N. Headquarters was laid in New York City.
1960 - All remaining American-owned property in Cuba was nationalized. The process of nationalizing all U.S. and foreign-owned property in Cuban had begun on August 6, 1960.
1962 - During the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. military forces went on the highest alert in the postwar era in preparation for a possible full-scale war with the Soviet Union. The U.S. blockade of Cuba officially began on this day.
2001 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that gave police the power to secretly search homes, tap all of a person's telephone conversation and track people's use of the Internet.
2005 - Civil rights activist Rosa Parks died at age 92.
2007 - Facebook Inc. sold a 1.6 percent stake to Microsoft Corp. for $240 million, spurning a competing offer from Google Inc.

Media Cited Terrorist Leader to Claim No Terrorists Are in Aleppo
The AntiMedia - On Wednesday, the Guardian released an article titled “U.S. and U.K. reject Russian offer of ‘pause’ in airstrikes on Syria.” Aside from the fact it’s riddled with the outlet’s usual pro-U.S.-U.K. and anti-Russian propaganda, the article sank to the lowest of possible lows in an attempt to present the Russian military as an aggressor in Aleppo in which there are allegedly no terrorist groups — only moderate fighting forces. How? By citing the leader of a terrorist group. Al-Farouk Abu Bakr, an Aleppo commander in the “powerful Islamist group” Ahrar al-Sham said, speaking from Aleppo: “‘When we took up arms at the start of the revolution to defend our abandoned people we promised God that we would not lay them down until the downfall of this criminal regime,’ he said, referring to President Bashar al-Assad’s government.” “There are no terrorists in Aleppo.” .... There are many issues with the Guardian’s publication of this statement. First, in the Guardian’s latest apparent attempt to see how gullible its readers are, the outlet neglects to explain the ideological leanings of Ahrar al-Sham.... Ahrar al-Sham is heavily affiliated with Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s official Syrian branch) and has conducted numerous operations together with the al-Qaeda affiliate. The group also used to work with ISIS until January 2014 and only parted ways after ISIS killed one of their members — not because the groups shared any noticeable differing ideologies.

Daesh Executes Hundreds of Men and Boys as Battle for Mosul Rages
Sputnik News - Daesh forces have executed 284 people in Mosul, including dozens of children, as they fight to keep their grip on the city. The men and boys are reported to have been rounded up over October 20 and 21 and brought in three waves to the city's former College of Agriculture, where they were shot and then dumped in mass graves. Iraqi News reports that the victims were residents of towns and villages in the city’s northwest outskirts, and that 61 of them were no more than 14 years old. As the Iraqi army and supporting forces continue the battle launched this week to retake Daesh's capital in Iraq, there is widespread fear that the militants inside the city will use captive residents as human shields or simply murder them rather than allow them to be liberated. There are also worries that Daesh will use chemical weapons indiscriminately as their hold on the city weakens, leaving residents without protection vulnerable. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein issued a statement October 21 calling for all militaries to make protecting citizens a priority.... “There is a grave danger that ISIL fighters will not only use such vulnerable people as human shields but may opt to kill them rather than see them liberated," Zeid said.

Calais migrants clash with police, get teargassed ahead of camp’s final dismantling
RT - Dozens of migrants near the French port of Calais clashed with police over the weekend. The slum-like camp known as the ‘Jungle,’ which houses thousands of migrants, is scheduled to be shut down and demolished next week. People from the Jungle threw stones at police on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, AFP reported. Law enforcement responded with tear gas. The clashes came before the scheduled demolition of the camp that will begin on Monday. French authorities expect to remove all of the migrants and refugees from the site in approximately a week’s time. Thousands of police officers are expected to arrive in Calais to assist in the demolition in what the authorities call a “humanitarian” operation. Those who refuse to leave will be arrested, the Mirror reported, citing a letter distributed to the camp residents. Up to 10,000 migrants, primarily from the Middle East and North Africa, are estimated to be living in the Calais camp near the English Channel. While most hope to cross the French-British border and get to the UK, they are set to be relocated to other reception centers across France and in other countries after being moved out of the Jungle, AP reported.... Claude Roche, from France’s center-right Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), told RT that migrants staying in Calais’ so-called “Jungle” camp who are to be relocated to refugee shelters across the country “refuse to be assimilated.” “They are not interested in France. They don’t speak a word of French,” Roche said, adding that if migrants want to find a place for themselves in the French society they must “become French,” which means to “adapt to the French customs and culture. “ Another factor that derails integration attempts is the common practice of the refugees to form closed communities which prevents them from becoming full-fledged members of French society, Roche said.

U.N. goes all-in for unlimited migration
WND - The United Nations has cooked up a “New Urban Agenda” coming soon to a city near you. It was unveiled this week in Quito, Ecuador, at the so-called Habitat III conference. And part of the plan, enthusiastically embraced by Hillary Clinton, calls for unlimited migration across open borders. Migrants displaced by war, failing economies or other hardships will be seen as having “rights” in nations other than their own. Cities are seen as the key battlegrounds and the U.N. conference in Quito had a lot to say about how your city will be expected to embrace migrants of all types, from all regions of the world…. [Hillary]Clinton earlier this year announced her $135 billion “breaking every barrier” program to transform America’s cities. In this plan, she makes 37 pledges promising everything from removal of blight to construction of affordable housing in areas that are currently out of the price range of refugees, immigrants, the chronically unemployed and under-employed. She intends to build on the “successes” of her husband and the Obama administration in using public-private partnerships to transform cities. Obama’s contribution in this area included his Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which forces grant-receiving cities to infuse their low-crime suburban areas, deemed “too white,” with subsidized housing marketed to low-income renters. This fits right in with the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda.

Venezuela Braces For Revolution After Maduro Blocks Recall Referendum
Zero Hedge - Venezuela likely inched one step closer to revolution on Friday when Maduro's leftist government took steps to block a recall referendum that could have resulted in his ouster.... The Maduro government has claimed that the recall was halted due to "irregularities in a first-round of signature gathering" though the public, 80% of whom polls suggest supported the recall efforts, aren't buying it. Meanwhile, Maduro loyalists are calling for opposition leaders to be imprisoned for attempts to commit election fraud.... Of course, the integrity of "elections" in Venezuela have long been questioned particularly after WikiLeaks posted the following cable linking Hugo Chavez to a mysterious company that came out of nowhere in 2000 and suddenly snatched up major contracts to supply voting machines around the world. The company, Smartmatic, included a Hugo Chavez campaign adviser on it's board. Curiously, according to Gateway Pundit, the company's board also included Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, a man who served on the board of George Soros’s Open Society Foundations and who was formerly the vice-chairman of Soros’s Investment Funds. "Ironically," shortly after winning a "multi-million" dollar contract to supply these voting machines in Venezuela, Chavez won a landslide victory in the 2004 elections that all but destroyed his political opposition.

Venezuela state oil firm default would cause problems for US refiners
RT - Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) is in danger of defaulting on its debts. This spells trouble for American refineries on the Gulf Coast, as Venezuela is the main supplier of foreign oil to the region. PDVSA has been struggling to persuade bondholders to swap $5.33 billion of bonds maturing in 2017 for longer-term securities due in 2020. Low oil prices will adversely affect the company's ability to generate cash flow from operations, which will impair the company's ability to make scheduled payments on its existing debt, including the existing notes," PDVSA said in a press release earlier this week. If the exchange offers are not successful, it could be difficult for the company to make scheduled payments on its existing debt, including the existing notes, which would result in the company evaluating all alternative options," it added. In 2015, Venezuela was the top supplier to the US Gulf Coast refineries. “If PDVSA defaults, there could be a disruption of oil supply to the US as creditors may try to seize payments made in the US. Bondholders will definitely try to stake a claim on those dollars,” Lucas Aristizabal, a senior director at Fitch Ratings told Bloomberg. According to the media’s information, top importers in the region are PDVSA subsidiary Citgo Petroleum, Phillips 66, Valero Energy and PBF Energy. At the same time, according to Aristizabal, China will not face the same problems as the US. Venezuela is repaying a $45 billion loan from China with crude and the oil changes ownership when it’s put on tankers, making it nearly impossible to be seized.

Gun-Controlled Australia Admits Criminals Still Armed, Launches New Amnesty
Breitbart - In September, Breitbart News reported that Melbourne, Australia, had a gun problem; that they had witnessed more than one shooting a week on average since January 2015. Moreover, 'The Age' reported... known criminals were caught with firearms 755 times [in 2015], compared to 143 times in 2011.... Now the government of Australia is admitting that hundreds of thousands of “illegal guns”–i.e., “illicit firearms”–are in the hands of criminals some 20 years after Australia’s gun ban was implemented. And Reuters reports an amnesty will be put in place in 2017 where those in possession of said weapons can turn them in with no questions asked. Justice Minister Michael Keenan summarized: The amnesty will provide an opportunity for those individuals who, for whatever reason are in possession of an unregistered firearm, to hand it in without fear of being prosecuted. While Australia has some of the strongest firearm controls in the world, illicit firearms remain the weapon of choice for criminals.

Australia to Search Out and Prosecute Anti-Vax Nurses and Midwives; Calls for Public to Turn Them In
Brandon Turbeville - According to a report by the Guardian, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has announced a fatwa of jihad against nurses and midwives who discourage vaccination or are critical of vaccines. After releasing “vaccination standards” the board’s statement reads: The board is taking this opportunity to make its expectations about providing advice on vaccinations clear to registered nurses, enrolled nurses and midwives. The board expects all registered nurses, enrolled nurses and midwives to use the best available evidence in making practice decisions. Of course, when the board says “best available evidence” it means vaccine fanaticism and unquestioning adherence to faith-based science. Under Australian law, promoting false, misleading or deceptive information will be prosecuted by the Australian health practitioner regulation agency. The NMBA is specifically targeting nurses and midwives who question the safety or effectiveness of vaccination via social media. The statement goes even further by urging members of the public to report nurses or midwives who are doing so – even on social media…. They are merely saying that if you express that belief even on social media, you will lose your job, have your license to practice taken away and possibly be sent to jail.

Benghazi Disappears from Hillary's State Dept. Calendar
LifeZette - Copies of Hillary Clinton’s schedule as secretary of state from Sept. 1 to Sept. 9 in 2012 were labeled with the wrong year in State Department records. Those just happen to be the days leading up to the terrorist attacks that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 of that year. But instead of 2012, the records label those days 2010. The conservative advocacy group Citizens United, which requested the full schedule for Clinton’s four years in office under the Freedom of Information Act, discovered the discrepancy after the State Department produced the records for 2012 this week. Left uncorrected, it is conceivable that an organization or a person may in the future file a FOIA request for Clinton’s public schedule in September 2012 and be told that the first nine days do not exist.... The latest release of schedules completes an order by a federal judge for the State Department to speed up its production of the documents. Citizens United and the Associated Press both requested the daily calendars. Initially, the State Department had said it would not be able to comply until after the election. The judge ordered the agency to move faster.

Wikileaks Releases Part 16 Of The Podesta Files: Total Is Now 26,803 Emails
Zero Hedge - With just over 2 weeks to go until the election, today Wikileaks continued its ongoing Podesta files dump when it unveiled another 708 emails in Part 16, bringing the total emails released to 26,803 total emails, or more than half of the 50,000 email set for release. While this latest release was expected, Wikileaks made a more surprising announcement overnight when it said on Twitter that it would "release a statement tomorrow about Assange. Our editor is safe and still in full command despite reduced communications with staff."

Army Major Says "Everything's in Place" to Round Up Antiwar Dissenters for Military Detention
Activist Post - Earlier in 2016, a U.S. military official said the U.S. “needs and wants Russia as an enemy,” which was followed by a litany of falsehoods about Russian threats from elected and appointed officials. A hacked email showed a NATO general plotting conflict with Russia, as American and NATO military forces amass along Russia’s borders.... In order to sustain public support for its war-making, the State must suppress dissent. If it cannot achieve this through media control and other subtle means, it is prepared to take more forceful measures. According to retired Army Major Todd Pierce, the U.S. government has everything in place to round up antiwar dissenters and put them in military detention. In an interview with Mondoweiss, Pierce – who served in the 349th Psychological Operations Company and the 205th Infantry Brigade as a senior NCO, then as Judge Advocate General until 2012 – said: Well let’s say we do ramp up a war with Russia and we do get a more active antiwar movement. Say a Donald Trump who’s already let everybody know what he thinks of the constitution, or Hillary Clinton.… And Obama has said he can kill American citizens. The military goes to them and says hey, these dissenters are going to cause us to lose a war, like the Vietnam war. Let’s put them in military detention, let’s impose censorship. Everything’s in place right now. Pierce is a self-professed former neoconservative until the Gulf War began opening his eyes to the folly of U.S. imperialism, and then he personally witnessed how government began using 9/11 to assume totalitarian control in the name of fighting the tactic of terrorism. He now works as a Guantanamo defense attorney. "We have total surveillance of the US population through the NSA. That’s what these huge data storage facilities are about, to store all the data that they’ve gathered. They’ve gone to the public and say, We’re not listening to your phone calls. But what they are doing is storing it. It’s all there, just like a huge data file. Like the Stasi– they would go look at their file on someone, and go use that against them. Well, we have all that data collected, including people’s attitudes. So if the day comes, which if people like Vermeule and Posner have said, we may have to impose censorship and have military detention."

Whistleblower: Intelligence Worker Likely Behind DNC Leaks, Not Russia
The AntiMedia - During an interview on Aaron Klein’s Sunday radio program, former high-ranking NSA intelligence official-turned-whistleblower, William Binney, discussed the alleged Russian involvement in our elections, suggesting the cyber attack against the DNC may not have originated from the Russian government. Instead, Binney says, a “disgruntled U.S. intelligence worker” is likely behind the breach.... Speaking as an analyst, Binney added that a testimony by the former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert S. Mueller from March 2011 shows the FBI has access to a series of databases that helps them “to track down known and suspected terrorists.” According to Binney, what Mueller meant is that the FBI has access to the NSA database and that it’s accessed without any oversight, meaning the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as the FBI, have open access to anything the NSA has access to. “So if the FBI really wanted [Clinton’s and the DNC emails] they can go into that database and get them right now,” Binney told Klein. Asked if he believed the NSA had copies of all Clinton’s emails, “including the deleted correspondence,” Binney said: “Yes. That would be my point. They have them all and the FBI can get them right there.”.... In August 2016, Judge Andrew Napolitano commented on the DNC hack. On “Judge Napolitano Chambers,” the Judge said that while the DNC, government officials, and the Clinton campaign all accuse the Russians of hacking into the DNC servers, “the Russians had nothing to do with it.”.... If Judge Napolitano and Binney are right and the NSA did hack the DNC, what was the motive? According to the Judge, “members of the intelligence community simply do not want [Clinton] to be president of the United States.”

Risk of 'Mass Exodus' of Doctors from Medicare
LifeZette - In what may be the most significant modification to Medicare since the program began in 1966, on Oct. 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). It dramatically changes how Medicare pays doctors for their services.... Before MACRA, Medicare used a fee-for-service payment system, reimbursing separately for each individual service provided, without regard to the quality of the care. The new system will reward doctors for providing high-quality, efficient care that leads to better patient outcomes, and penalize those who fail to do so. At least — that’s the idea.... This sounds good, but all the emphasis on better quality care comes with a trade-off. To assess the quality of care provided by doctors in the MIPS [Merit-Based Incentive Payment System] pathway, the physicians will have to report on a number of measures that many feel do nothing to help them improve the care they provide. Doctors already devote a considerable amount of time reporting on quality measures. A recent analysis found that a typical medical practice currently spends, on average, 785.2 hours a year per physician to track and report quality measures.... This is cause for real concern. If faced with increased reporting and administrative burdens, declining reimbursements and new payment arrangements that put their income at risk, many doctors — especially independent practitioners — may feel that they simply can't afford to participate in Medicare any more. One recent survey of physicians found nearly 40-percent expect a "mass exodus" from Medicare over MACRA. Given the predicted shortage of doctors over the next decade and an aging population, this would be disastrous.

Trump Lays Out His Plan For First 100 Days In Office: Here Are The Highlights
Zero Hedge - In a keynote speech in Gettysburg, Pa., about his plans for his first 100 days in office, Donald Trump laid out what he sees as the the core priorities of a Trump presidency.... In terms of actual political measures that Trump would propose and/or enact, he listed the following six: 1. ”A Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress." 2. ”A hiring freeze on all federal employees." 3. ”A requirement that for every new federal regulation, 2 existing regulations must be eliminated." 4. ”A 5-year ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government." 5. ”A lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government." 6. ”A complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections."
* Related Video: Donald Trump Delivers Remarks in Gettysburg, PA - Oct 22, 2016
* Related Article: Trump Unveils 100-Day 'Contract with the American Voter

Unrest and Martial Law? Leaked Military Drill Anticipates "No Rule of Law" After Election Results
Mac Slavo - According to an unnamed source – who has provided accurate intel in the past – an unannounced military drill is scheduled to take place during a period leading up to the election and throughout the month after. It appears that the system is gearing up to handle outbreaks of violence, chaotic rallies and poll stations, and the possibility that the people of the United States may become very dissatisfied with the outcome by using military force and martial law. The drill could, of course, go live at any time; Homeland Security and the military are prepared to contend with a period of unrest, and restore order to a divided and broken country – regardless of whether people like their new leader or not. As you know, DHS is already monitoring this election and prepared to take over its ‘critical infrastructure’. The scope of this drill would, of course, take things much further: Date: October 30th – 30 days after the election. Suspected Region: Northeast, specifically New York.... 1st Phase: NROL (No Rule of Law) – drill involving combat arms in metro areas (active and reserve). Source says active duty and reserve service members are being vaccinated as if they are being deployed in theatre.... 2nd Phase: LROL (Limited Rule of Law) – Military/FEMA consolidating resources, controlling water supply, handing out to public as needed.... 3rd Phase: AROL (Authoritarian Rule of Law) – Possible new acronym or term for “Martial Law”. Curfew, restricted movements, basically martial law scenario.... Source said exercise involves FEMA/DHS/Military.

Donald Trump Says He Would Block AT&T-Time Warner Merger as President
Hollywood Reporter - Donald Trump expressed that he would not approve the AT&T and Time Warner merger if elected president. “Deals like this destroy democracy,” said Trump during a rally in Gettysburg, Pa., on Saturday, where he discussed what he would do in the first 100 days of his presidency. Trump also said he would like to break up the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger. He opened up his speech, claiming the election is “rigged” against him and expressed that members of the media “lie and fabricate stories to make a candidate they don’t like look as bad and dangerous as possible.” The AT&T deal, which has been valued at $85 billion, has not been finalized and would be subject to regulatory approval. Comcast was denied in its effort to buy Time Warner Cable…. Elsewhere on Sunday, Tim Kaine also expressed that he agrees with Senator Al Franken's concerns that the AT&T-Time Warner merger can lead to "higher costs, fewer choices and even worse service for customers."

Illinois Judge Orders Phyllis Schlafly Website to Take Down All Pro-Trump Articles
The Gateway Pundit - Phyllis Schlafly was an early Donald Trump supporter. After the RNC Convention in July Phyllis released her last video celebrating Donald Trump’s nomination. Phyllis was a Missouri Republican delegate at the convention. PSEagles.com reported: “Phyllis Schlafly spent her whole life organizing Republicans and communicating conservative political views. She created the www.eagleforum.org web site in 1996 to help further those goals, in conjunction with many other efforts. It contains gigabytes of her works. Now a court order has thrown the site into doubt. A group of six disgruntled eagles have filed a lawsuit, and Illinois judge John B. Barberis has sided with them. Their main political argument is that they oppose Donald Trump, and their main legal argument is that Phyllis Schlafly’s death has left a power vacuum, so that they can take over one of her several Eagle organizations, called “Eagle Forum c4”. The worst part is that they wish to use Phyllis Schlafly’s name, image, reputation, and legacy to support causes opposite to what she stood for. She spent the last six months of her life trying to stop them from carrying out their vendetta. I hope to keep her works online and available, and I hope to separate them from the platform of her opponents. I do not know too much about Judge Barberis, except that he is the lowest rated judge in Illinois. He is busy doing fundraisers for his campaign in a election next month to be a judge on a higher court. His Oct. 20 order is very strange. It is an amendment to a Temporary Restraining Order that issued on April 29, 2016, and that expired 10 days later. It is against Eagle Forum c4 officers as defendants, but then suspends them from Eagle Forum c4, so that they have no ability to carry out the order. The lawsuit is against Eagle Forum c4 but orders me personally to assist in transferring “Eagle Forum [c4] Property”. This is in spite of the fact that I am not a party to the case, and the court papers say that I am “not associated or affiliated with Eagle Forum [c4] in any way.” The judge ordered that all pro-Trump articles posted on www.eagleforum.org since April 10, 2016 be removed. He also said the parties are enjoined from advocating any position with respect to the litigation. I have never heard of any political advocacy organization being ordered not to express opinions on a web site. Not in the USA, anyway. I thought that the First Amendment prohibited that sort of thing.

Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war
LA Times - Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and go to war. Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back. Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade. Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets. But soldiers say the military is reneging on 10-year-old agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on veterans whose only mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill the ranks.... Facing enlistment shortfalls and two major wars with no end in sight, the Pentagon began offering the most generous incentives in its history to retain soldiers in the mid-2000s. It also began paying the money up front, like the signing bonuses that some businesses pay in the civilian sector. “It was a real sea change in how business was done,” said Col. Michael S. Piazzoni, a California Guard official in Sacramento who oversaw the audits. “The system paid everybody up front, and then we spent the next five years figuring out if they were eligible.”

For The Cost of an iPhone, You Can Now Buy a Wind Turbine That Can Power an Entire House For Lifetime
World Truth.TV - Indian startup Avant Garde Innovations has developed a low-cost wind turbine that can generate 3-5 kW hours [kilowatt hours - kWh] of electricity daily.... Avant Garde Innovations...has come up with a low-cost wind turbine that can generate enough electricity to power an entire house for a lifetime. The size of a ceiling fan, this wind turbine can generate 5 kWh/kW per day — with just a one-time cost of US$750.... For the startup, opportunity is massive. India is the world’s sixth largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4 per cent of global energy consumption. Federal governments in India, and the central government for that matter, are unable to bear the huge infrastructural cost required to bring electricity to remote villages....The small wind turbine prototype that it has developed is highly scalable for power capacities of 300 kW or even higher.

Massive web outage blamed on 'Internet of Things'
Washington Times - Millions of common internet-connected devices like security cameras and digital video recorders were used to conduct the colossal cyberattack that made it difficult for Americans to access some of the world’s most popular websites Friday, researchers said. Websites including Twitter, Amazon, Spotify and Airbnb were hard to reach Friday as the result of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack waged against Dyn, a New Hampshire-based internet company that operates a widely used Domain Name System (DNS) — a phonebook of sorts that ensures Web users can reach certain sites by typing their respective domain names instead of hard-to-remember numerical IP addresses. By flooding Dyn’s systems with unprecedented amounts of illegitimate internet traffic, attackers successfully sidelined its DNS services three separate times on Friday and caused widespread outages across Europe and North America and prompting a response from the White House; at a briefing Friday afternoon, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials were both “monitoring the situation” and “investigating all potential causes.” Flashpoint, a U.S.-based security firm, said the infrastructure used to wage the debilitating DDoS attack Friday was composed at least partially by compromised cameras and other digital devices capable of connecting to the internet – an ever-growing category of interconnected products and appliances considered to make up a phenomenon colloquially referred to as the Internet of Things, or IoT.
* Related: Why Friday's Massive DDoS Attack Should be Terrifying

AT&T and Time Warner reveal merger to create ISP, TV, and media giant
Ars Technica - AT&T and Time Warner Inc. have made their rumored merger official, with AT&T to purchase the media company for $85.4 billion in cash and stock.... AT&T's announcement Saturday evening listed some of the many media properties the company will own if the merger is allowed by US regulators.... owning Time Warner would give AT&T incentive to raise the prices its rivals (such as Comcast, Charter, and Verizon) pay to distribute Time Warner programming on their cable TV systems, which could indirectly raise consumers' TV bills. AT&T could favor Time Warner video on its own networks by letting it stream without counting against the data caps applied to video services like Netflix. AT&T could also harm online video services that compete against DirecTV by charging higher prices for content or refusing to license videos.... “I'm skeptical of huge media mergers because they can lead to higher costs, fewer choices, and even worse service for consumers," Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said today. "In the coming days, I'm going to be pressing for further details about this reported deal and how it would affect the American consumer, who deserves access to the content they want and whose pocketbook continues to be squeezed by rising cable and Internet costs.” Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump today said his administration would block the AT&T/Time Warner merger "because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few."

Was "Google Home" designed to spy inside our homes?
MassPrivateI - Google Home (GH) is always listening to everything that goes on inside your home. It's like paying the NSA, sorry I meant Google, $129.00 to bug your home…. GH does more than listen to music, it can control your lights, thermostats, radios, TV's, refrigerators, smart plugs and more. GH has partnered with Nest, Phillips, IFTTT and Samsung who also make the 'family hub refrigerator'. Google Assistant's new surveillance feature called “My Day,” gives you morning updates, weather, commute times and a summary of your schedule (assuming you opt in). At least GH doesn't have SEVEN microphones like Amazon's Echo. "Amazon Echo runs on Amazon Web Services. In the default mode the device continuously listens to all speech, monitoring for the wake word to be spoken.' "High speech accuracy is achieved through sophisticated natural language processing (NLP) algorithms built into the Echo's text-to-speech (TTS) engine.”… Voice Search (Google Assistant) uses pattern recognition to transcribe spoken words to written text. For each voice query made to Voice Search, we store the language, the country, the utterance and our system’s guess of what was said. A Computerworld article warns everyone about the dangers of 'always on' devices. "There are plenty of privacy issues with this type of always listening technology," said Dan Olds, an analyst with OrionX, a technology analyst firm. "It's obvious that any device that is always listening could also be always storing and always analyzing anything that is within earshot of the receiver."

5 Life Saving Health Benefits of Turmeric
Natural Blaze - Here are five reasons why you should include turmeric in your diet: 1. Inhibits the Growth of Cancer Cells - A recent study found that pancreatic cancer (PC) cell growth was inhibited with the introduction of curcumin to cancer cells. In the study, there was observed suppressed cell growth, cell cycle arrest and induced cell apoptosis, meaning programmed PC cell death. This means that turmeric taken daily could prove to be an effective measure to prevent cancer or mitigate the growth of cancer. 2. Very Good Source of Vitamin B6 - Turmeric is a great source for vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), as well as Iron, Potassium and Manganese. B6 assists in the process of generating usable energy for the body out of food and helps to fight infection. Adding turmeric to your daily diet will ensure that you do not suffer a deficiency of vitamin B6, which can lead to anemia, dermatitis or a number of other maladies. 3. Potent Anti-diabetic Properties - An April 2015 study showed that turmeric powder exhibited potent anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. All three properties would be helpful in alleviating complications associated with diabetes, such as for anti-hyperglycemic therapy. It was also shown to impede molecular complications of type 2 diabetes milletus. Curcumin extract was found to be effective in preventing type 2 diabetes in prediabetic patients. 4. Treatment for Depression - A study published just this month suggests that curcumin may be helpful in treating depression. When given active drug treatments comprising variant doses of curcumin and combined curcumin/saffron, patients with major depressive disorder experienced an effective reduction in depressive and anxiolytic symptoms. 5. Improves Vascular Endothelial Function - A study comparing the benefits of exercise to those derived from turmeric found significant improvement to vascular endothelial function, suggesting that daily curcumin ingestion may help to prevent against cardiovascular disease.

9 contaminated foods from China to avoid
(NaturalHealth365) While many shipments from China to the U.S. are turned away due to unsafe additives, drug residues, mislabeling and general filth, some produce shipments from China are making their way into our country under the guise of being “organic.”…. 1. Fish - Around 80 percent of tilapia fish sold in the U.S. comes from China, and about half of U.S. cod. With the horrific water pollution issues in China, no one should be eating their fish. 2. Chicken - China is often beset with foodborne illnesses like avian flu. For this reason as well as environmental concerns, chicken imported from China should be avoided. 3. Apples and apple juice - The U.S. has recently moved to allow the import of Chinese apples. Non-organic apples are already on the list of the U.S. “dirty dozen,” but even so-called organic fruit from China likely poses a health risk. With half of U.S. apple juice coming from China as well, buyers should definitely beware. 4. Rice - Yes, rice is a staple in China and a lot of U.S. rice is imported from there. However, some Chinese rice has been found to be made of resin and potato, resulting in a plastic-like consistency. 5. Mushrooms - Around 34 percent of processed mushrooms are imported from China. It’s best to verify that any mushrooms you buy are American- or Canadian-grown. 6. Salt - Salt made for use in industrial settings has made its way on to dining room tables throughout the world. Looking for a safer option? Discover the true health benefits of sea salt – and avoid the processed salt sold on the market today. 7. Black Pepper - A Chinese vendor was caught trying to pass off flaked mud as black pepper. Again, know your source and protect your health. 8. Green Peas - Phony green peas have also been discovered in China. They are made of soy, sodium metabisulfite, green dye, and a small amount of real peas. Simply put, don’t buy any peas from China. . Garlic - Nearly one-third of garlic in U.S. food stores is from China, but some of it has been found to be laced with the pesticide methyl bromide….

Video: Study Found Nanoparticles of Metal in Human Brains: Geoengineering, How to Detox
Natural Blaze - A recent study found nanoparticles of metal in human brains, raising the eyebrows of geoengineering researchers such as the prolific Patrick Roddie of Stop Spraying Us. While the study doesn’t connect geoengineering to the particles, it is well understood that exposure to geoengineering poisons the body with heavy metals. This video examines the metal findings, and rain tests performed by Stop Spraying Us which found high levels of aluminum, barium and other metals in the rainwater of cities such as Sacramento, California. Sacramento is where we captured footage of some of the worst chemtrails you may have ever seen, in the same time period when Stop Spraying Us found 4700μg/L aluminum in the city’s rainwater. We also examine a few solutions to heavy metal exposure, including silica from diatomaceous earth to detox aluminum from the body, and selenium to detox mercury from the body.

35 Ways to Include Chia Seeds in Your Daily Diet
EcoWatch - Just 2 tablespoons (1 oz) contain 11 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein and 137 calories (1). They're a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and some minerals essential for bone health, including calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. 1. Chia Water - One of the simplest ways to include chia seeds in your diet is to add them to water. To make chia water, soak 1/4 cup (40 grams) of chia seeds in 4 cups (1 liter) of water for 20–30 minutes. To give your drink some flavor, you can add chopped fruit or squeeze in a lemon, lime or orange. 2. Juice-Soaked Chia - Add 1/4 cup (40 grams) of chia seeds to 4 cups of fruit juice (1 liter) for half an hour to make a fruit juice that's full of fiber and minerals. 3. Chia Pudding - You can make chia pudding similar to chia water. For a thicker pudding texture, add more chia seeds and let the mixture soak longer. You can make this pudding with juice or milk and then include flavorings such as vanilla and cocoa like in this recipe. 4. Chia in Smoothies - If you want to make your smoothie even more nutritious, then add some chia seeds….

The Ancient Edible Plant That Combats Dandruff, Heals Wounds, And Provides Energy, Too
Off the Grid News - The burdock plant has a long history of use in many countries, including in the United States. Burdock (Arctium lappa) has been valued for its ability to ease skin problems, scalp issues, and especially for targeting lung, liver and stomach problems. This plant is mentioned in written history as far back as the 1600s and is also discussed in the 1869 book Physio-Medical Dispensatory…. Burdock is a terrific one to learn about, as it can be used not only for medicine, but the roots are sometimes used as food. The truth, though, is that the entire plant can be eaten. Burdock roots are actually quite popular in Japan, where they are skinned and then cut into thin rounds and used in soups or stir fry. Young, tender leaves are eaten in the same way that lettuce is, and in salads or sandwiches.
 

Friday - October 21, 2016 - Today In History:

1797 - "Old Ironsides," the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, was launched in Boston's harbor.
1805 - The Battle of Trafalgar occurred off the coast of Spain. The British defeated the French and Spanish fleet.
1849 - The first tattooed man, James F. O’Connell, was put on exhibition at the Franklin Theatre in New York City, NY.
1879 - Thomas Edison invented the electric incandescent lamp. It would last 13 1/2 hours before it would burn out.
1917 - The first U.S. soldiers entered combat during World War I near Nancy, France.
1925 - The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it had fined 29,620 people for prohibition (of alcohol) violations.
1927 - In New York City, construction began on the George Washington Bridge.
1944 - During World War II, the German city of Aachen was captured by U.S. troops.
1945 - Women in France were allowed to vote for the first time.
1967 - Thousands of demonstrators marched in Washington, DC, in opposition to the Vietnam War.
1983 - The Pentagon reported that 2,000 Marines were headed to Grenada to protect and evacuate Americans living there.
1986 - The U.S. ordered 55 Soviet diplomats to leave. The action was in reaction to the Soviet Union expelling five American diplomats.
1991 - Jesse Turner, an American hostage in Lebanon, was released after nearly five years of being imprisoned.
1994 - North Korea and the U.S. signed an agreement requiring North Korea to halt its nuclear program and agree to inspections.
2003 - The U.S. Senate voted to ban what was known as partial birth abortions.
2003 - North Korea rejected U.S. President George W. Bush's offer of a written pledge not to attack in exchange for the communist nation agreeing to end its nuclear weapons program.

Syria warns it will ‘down Turkish planes next time,’ calls bombing of Kurds ‘flagrant aggression’
RT - Damascus has reacted harshly to the bombing of Kurdish militias in northern Syria on Thursday morning by Turkey’s air force, vowing to intervene next time Ankara sends its planes over its border. In a statement, the Syrian Defense Ministry accused Turkey of “flagrant aggression, which targeted innocent citizens,” saying that it considers it “a dangerous development that could escalate the situation.”
“Any attempt to once again breach Syrian airspace by Turkish war planes will be dealt with and they will be brought down by all means available,” warned Damascus, whose planes, which have flown in concert with a Russian expeditionary force, have been avoiding direct confrontation with unauthorized NATO jets. Turkish artillery guns have been firing at Kurdish militias, who are now fighting against Ankara-backed rebels over territory won back from Islamic State in northern Turkey on Wednesday. Turkey said that the airstrikes took out up to 200 Kurds, though the YPG, the Kurdish militia, initially put its losses at 15. Syria called the victims “150 innocent civilians” and said that “these irresponsible acts will have dire consequences that will threaten the region's stability and security.” The US, Turkey’s NATO ally, has meanwhile distanced itself from the airstrikes, with State Department spokesperson John Kirby tweeting on Thursday that “contrary to some reports, US was not involved in Turkey airstrikes last night.”

‘ISIS terrorists fleeing Mosul for Syria’s Raqqa’ – French President Hollande echoes Russian concern
RT - Islamic State militants are fleeing the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul and are traveling to the group’s Syrian stronghold, Raqqa, French President Francois Hollande said. Ahead of the Mosul operation, Russia warned of the relocation of jihadists to Syria. “We can’t afford mistakes in pursuit of terrorists, who are already fleeing Mosul for Raqqa,” Hollande is cited as saying by AFP. The French leader was speaking in Paris at a meeting of top officials from more than 20 members of the US-led coalition, aimed at working out a stabilization plan for Mosul. The battle for the strategic Iraqi city, which was held by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) since 2014, began on Sunday and has since intensified. The Iraqi military and US-led coalition said that the operation to retake Mosul may take weeks or even months. Late on Thursday, the Iraqi military said it had captured the town of Bartella, situated some 15 kilometers from Mosul. Lieutenant-General Talib Shaghati called the liberation of the town an “important” achievement for the operation, PressTV reported.

Aleppo humanitarian pause extended by 24 hours – Russian Defense Ministry
RT - Russia has decided to extend the humanitarian pause around Aleppo, Syria, for another 24 hours, the Russian defense minister has said. Militants killed 14 local officials and wounded three Russian officers on the first day of the pause. “On an order from the commander-in-chief of the Russian military, Vladimir Putin, we have decided to extend the humanitarian pause for one more day. The extension of the humanitarian pause in Aleppo was supported by the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic,” Sergey Shoigu said. Three Russian military officers were lightly wounded when militants opened fire targeting a humanitarian corridor leading from Aleppo, near the El-Masharka government checkpoint, the Russian Center for Reconciliation reports.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Announces “Separation” From United States, Alligns With China; Seeks Alliance With Putin
Zero Hedge - After the relentless barrage of verbal abuse and negative sentiment aimed at Barack Obama and the US, coupled with increasingly complimentary statements toward Beijing, it was only a matter of time before Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte put an end to the speculation if and when he would officially pivot the country’s long-held diplomatic alliance away from the US and toward China. He did so today when, during a visit to China’s capital, Duterte announced his “separation” from the United States, declaring he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks. Duterte is currently in Beijing, where he is visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate. “In this venue, your honours, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States,” Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people, to applause, at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. “Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost.” Duterte’s efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration in Manila, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30. As Reuters adds, his trade secretary, Ramon Lopez, said $13.5 billion in deals would be signed during the China trip. An even more dramatic admission came moments later when Duterte also voiced his desire to expand the newly hachced Asian axis to include Russia as well.

US deploys 3,500-strong armored brigade to S. Korea amid mounting tensions with North
RT - The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, one of the oldest tank units in the US Army, will move to South Korea for a nine-month “rotational deployment.” It comes just one day after the Pentagon threatened an “overwhelming response” to any attack on Seoul. The US Army said on Wednesday that it had begun the “rotational deployment” of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team (1st ABCT) of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kansas, to the Camp Casey north of Seoul. Brigade General Patrick D. Frank, deputy commander of the 1st Infantry Division, said in a statement the brigade’s 3,500 soldiers and officers “are well-trained and fully prepared for this important mission to South Korea” that would last for nine months. A typical Armored Brigade Combat Team in the US Army includes 90 M1 Abrams tanks, 90 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and 112 M113 armed personnel carriers. Other vehicles, such as ‘Humvees’, operate in a supporting role. The US military refrained from providing more details of the deployment, but it comes amidst the latest of “North Korea’s provocations.”… Among other measures, the two countries will stage a massive two-day military exercise, scheduled to start on October 22.

Wikileaks Releases Part 13 Of Podesta Data Dump; Total Emails Released Is Now 23,423
Zero Hedge - The third and final debate may have come and gone, but the daily Wiki Podesta dump continues. In the now traditional daily routine moments ago Wikileaks released yet another 3,000 emails in Part 13 of its ongoing Podesta Email dump, which brings the total number of released emails to 23,423.
* Related: Detailed List [With Links] of Top Wikileaks Podesta Emails

WIKILEAKS: Hillary Took Algeria Off Terror Watch List After Donation to Clinton Foundation
The Gateway Pundit - A new Wikileaks document reveals Hillary took Algeria off the US terror watch list after they made a hefty donation to the Clinton Foundation’s Haiti relief project. How is that legal? The Clinton camp was discussing Joe Scarborough’s discussion on the Algerian donations to the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton advisors defended the move in the email saying it’s “legal gray area.”

Wikileaks Releases First Batch Of Emails Sent To And From President Obama's Secret Email Address
Zero Hedge - Just when it seemed we could not get any more email leak excitement, here comes Wikileaks with what it claims is the first batch of emails obtained from a secret address used by president Barack Obama (bobama@ameritech.com). The emails appear to all have been released previously, however Wikileaks has filtered the set of emails which have the "bobama" term in the email address….
* Related Video: Obama weighs in on Hillary Clinton's private emails

Wikileaks: Podesta’s Daughter Received His Shares in Putin-Linked Company
Breitbart - An email uncovered in the Wikileaks hacks reveals that Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s “75,000 common shares” — obtained from his membership on the executive board of an energy company, Joule Unlimited, which received millions from a Putin-connected Russian government fund — were transferred to his daughter, Megan Rouse…. Last week, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign’s Senior Communications Advisor Jason Miller demanded that Podesta either explain his connection to Joule or resign as Clinton’s campaign chairman. “The disclosure that Clinton Chair John Podesta transferred his shares in Putin-backed Joule Unlimited to an anonymous holding company when he joined the Obama Administration is extremely concerning,” Miller said in a statement. “Because the holding company is completely anonymous, we do not know whether or not he still has deep financial ties to Vladimir Putin and his regime,” Miller’s statement continued. “As such, Mr. Podesta needs to either reveal who is behind the holding company or he must resign from the Clinton campaign immediately.” Podesta has yet to comment publicly on his involvement with Joule Unlimited.

Lawmaker Behind Illegal Immigrant Marriage Ban Under Fire
Breitbart - State Rep. Valerie Hodges (R-LA) pushed the reform to keep illegal immigrants from using marriage in the state to receive legal status, a plan that was widely backed by Republicans and anti-illegal immigration Attorney General Jeff Landry. It is illegal for any Louisiana resident to get married in the state without the proof of lawful presence. Though the law will keep illegal immigrants from wrongfully using marriage as a way to become legal residents, it does not distinguish from refugees in the process. A refugee without documentation of birth but is a lawful resident cannot get married in the state at present. Hodges told the Associated Press that she never wanted the law to keep legal residents from getting married in the state, calling it “basically a technical oversight.” Now, a refugee is suing, saying the law is unconstitutional because it prevents legal immigrants from getting married. Hodges, though, says she is looking to pass an amendment to clarify future enforcement.

Virginia Bill Would Expand Health Freedom; Set Stage to Nullify Obamacare
Tenth Amendment Center - A bill prefiled in the Virginia Senate would help facilitate healthcare freedom and set the stage to nullify Obamacare in practice in the state. Sen. William Stanley Jr. (R-Moneta) prefiled Senate Bill 800 (SB800) on Oct. 7. The legislation specifies that direct primary care agreements (sometimes called medical retainer agreements) do not constitute insurance, thereby freeing doctors and patients from the onerous requirements and regulations under the state insurance code. The bill would also specify that a direct primary care practices are not subject to the jurisdiction of the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and not required to obtain a certificate of authority or license to market, sell,or offer to sell a direct primary care agreements. The bill will be officially introduced Jan. 11, 2017, and taken up by the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor. The Virginia legislature overwhelmingly passed a similar bill during the last legislative session, but the governor rejected the bill, sending it back with a recommendation that it not go into effect unless reenacted by the 2017 Session of the General Assembly. In other words, the bill would have had to go through the legislative process all over again this year before taking effect. The House rejected the amendment by a 34-66 vote. McAuliffe then vetoed the bill.

***Live Updates*** Trump, Clinton Share Stage at Annual Al Smith Charity Roast
A day after their contentious Las Vegas debate, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will share the stage for the final time this election cycle at the annual Al Smith Dinner in New York. The candidates will poke fun at themselves and each other at the white-tie fundraiser that benefits Catholic Charities.
* Related Video: C-SPAN: Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner

CNN’s Starr: Clinton’s Answer On Nuke Launch Time Used ‘Extremely Classified’ Info, Military ‘Not Especially Thrilled’
Breitbart - On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN Newsroom,” CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr reported that Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement about the time it takes to launch nuclear weapons is “extremely classified,” and while there is a lot of information available to public on what the process is for launching nuclear weapons, “if you know information to be classified, and you’re a government official, even if it’s in the open source, even if it’s on the Internet, you are not supposed to disclose it.” She further stated, “the bottom line is, the US military, not especially thrilled to be discussing in precise detail what it takes to launch nuclear weapons.” Starr said that whether Clinton’s comment violated any operational security was a “fairly complicated question.” She continued, “A military spokesman told us that they do not discuss operational timelines for launching nuclear weapons. This is some of the most classified information.

Billionaire Clinton "Hillblazer" Pushes New Tax That Funnels Middle Class Money To Wall Street
Zero Hedge - David Sirota just penned a very important and interesting article zeroing in on how Wall Street is maneuvering to propose and implement a new retirement tax on Americans under a Hillary Clinton Administration. Leading the charge is billionaire financial oligarch Tony James, who is COO of private equity giant Blackstone. Mr. James is a generous contributor to Hillary Clinton’s Presidential run, and is listed as a “Hillblazer” by her campaign for having raised at least $100,000 toward her candidacy. While many Americans already know that much, most of you will be totally unaware of his aggressive plan to force a 3% payroll tax on the public which will be immediately funneled to Wall Street management firms, including “alternative managers” such as hedge funds and private equity. It seems like a very bizarre time to initiate such a proposal considering many public pension funds are actively ditching alternative managers after realizing they’ve been paying extraordinarily high fees for pitiful performance. In other words, they’ve been ripped off…. International Business Times reports: The proposal would require workers and employers to put a percentage of payroll into individual retirement accounts “to be invested well in pooled plans run by professional investment managers,” as James put it. In other words, individual voluntary 401(k)s would be replaced by a single national system, and much of the mandated savings would flow to Wall Street, where companies like Blackstone could earn big fees off the assets. And because of a gap in federal anti-corruption rules, there would be little to prevent the biggest investment contracts from being awarded to the biggest presidential campaign donors.

Tax Foundation Analyzes Tax Plans: Trump Tops Clinton For GDP & Wage Growth
Zero Hedge - The Tax Foundation has an interesting analysis of Trump’s tax plan compared to Hillary’s. Hillary is negative on GDP, capital investment, wage growth, and jobs. Trump is positive on all four under two different models…. Donald Trump’s tax plan would significantly cut taxes, while mostly steering clear of the more difficult task of broadening the tax base. His plan would cut the individual income tax for most taxpayers by cutting marginal rates and expanding the standard deduction. He would cut corporate income taxes by reducing the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent and allowing businesses to choose between a deduction for net interest expense and the full expensing of capital investments. His plan would also introduce a number of new childcare expense-related credits and deductions while eliminating both the personal exemption and head of household filing…. Hillary Clinton’s plan would raise taxes overall in order to fund new programs. Her plan would significantly raise taxes on high-income taxpayers by enacting a 30 percent minimum tax called the “Buffett Rule,” a cap on itemized deductions, and a 4 percent “surtax” on incomes above $5 million. Her plan would also significantly increase the estate tax, especially on very large estates. Her plan would cut taxes for middle-income taxpayers and small businesses. She would expand tax credits for middle- and low-income taxpayers, expand expensing for small businesses, and simplify their taxes.

Small business is up in arms over Hillary's plan to raise the estate tax
CNBC News - Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has proposed increasing the estate tax to a top rate of 65 percent, arguing, in effect, that the rich have been getting away with murder and enraging small-business owners and farmers who worry a higher estate tax could put them out of business. Clinton wants to cut the exemption for the "death tax" from $5 million today to $3.5 million, with a 45 percent tax on amounts between that and $10 million. She'd set a 50 percent rate on assets over $10 million, 55 percent over $50 million and 65 percent on amounts exceeding $500 million for an individual, $1 billion for married couples. As with the progressive income tax, each rate applies until the next threshold is reached, when the next rate kicks in…. Meanwhile, Donald Trump wants to get rid of the estate tax entirely, saying that would spur economic growth. But he would apply capital gains tax upon the owner's death, with exemptions for small businesses and family farms on the first $10 million in assets…. Though there is little evidence many businesses have gone under from estate taxes, it's a hot-button issue for those who see the tax jeopardizing family assets like farms built over a lifetime — or several lifetimes. Groups opposed to estate taxes note that many small businesses, even if they survive, must give up an arm and a leg selling assets to pay the tax. Many, they complain, shoulder heavy expenses for strategies like buying large life insurance policies to soften the blow. There are approximately 2.5 million small businesses and 90,000 farms worth more than $5 million in the United States, according to National Federation of Independent Business, potentially exposing many to the tax.

Apple Stock Sinks After Reports Of iPhone 7 Bursting Into Flames
Zero Hedge - As BGR reports, an iPhone 7 owner appears to be the latest victim, claiming that he left his iPhone 7 in his car and came back to find the vehicle filled with smoke with the interior badly burned. While the cause of the fire hasn’t yet been confirmed by officials, photos from the scene show that the fire indeed destroyed the interior of the car…. Australian surfing instructor Mat Jones says that he left his week-old iPhone 7 under a pair of pants in his car while he went out to give a lesson. When he came back from surfing, he says the windows of his car were completely black. When he opened his door, he immediately a wave of heat as smoke escaped from the car. Jones says he bought the new iPhone 7 just one week ago, and he claims that he has not dropped it or used any third-party chargers to recharge the device. While this is obviously no indication of any sort of widespread problem, similar incidents often occur after a phone suffers some type of trauma.

The 9 Most Productive Vegetables You Can Grow Indoors During Winter (Video)
Off the Grid News - 1. Tomatoes do well indoors with plenty of light and warmth, but they need a good-sized container – preferably at least five gallons, even if you grow dwarf or patio varieties. Once the tomatoes bloom, you’ll probably have to help with pollination by giving the plants a gentle shake to release the pollen. Choose indeterminate tomatoes, which will grow and product fruit indefinitely. 2. Eggplant and peppers belong to the same plant family as tomatoes, and their growing conditions are similar. Look for dwarf varieties that take up less valuable growing space. Carrots generally need deep soil to accommodate the long roots, but you can plant dwarf or round types successfully in pots. Sprinkle the seeds over the surface of moist potting soil, and then clip the tiny seedlings to ½ inch apart soon after they germinate. Once the carrots reach 3 inches, thin them again to a distance of about an inch. 4. Radishes are easy to grow just about anywhere, and growing them indoors is no exception. Like carrots, round or dwarf varieties fit best in containers. 5. Potatoes don’t require a lot of space, but they need large, deep pots because you’ll need to add straw or compost to build up layers over the plants as they grow. You can even grow potatoes in a garbage bag with the top rolled down; then roll up the top as they grow. 6. Mushrooms are a fun indoor crop. It’s easy to get started with kits, but you can also purchase mushroom spawn and do it yourself. The growing medium depends on the type of mushroom, but you may need to stock up on straw or sawdust. (Or rotten manure if your mushrooms are in a garage)….

The Shrimp America Imports are Injected with Toxic Chemicals that Cause Cancer, Damage Organs
Natural Blaze - Vietnam currently needs around 130 billion breeding shrimp every year, but since local brood stock can meet only 40% of that demand, Vietnamese producers are injecting carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), gelatin, and glucose to make the available shrimp weigh more. The biggest suppliers of shrimp products in Vietnam import more than 50% of their raw material for processing from other countries, such as China. Imagine the double whammy: about 100 million pounds of shrimp – or about 8% of all the shrimp Americans consume – comes from Vietnam, which gets their majority of its shrimp from China, who have an ineffective food regulation system. After nearly $150 million worth of shrimp were imported to the USA from China between January and October 2015, the Food and Drug Administration issued an import alert on Dec. 11, 2015, about the “presence of new animals’ drugs and/or unsafe food additives” from seafood imported in China, including shrimp. CMC — a water-soluble anionic linear polymer used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics — can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps, eye pain, irritation, redness or lingering vision changes. Nonetheless, the scandal of injecting shrimp with CMC as well as an industrial gel — a cheaper non-edible carcinogenic version of CMC that harms the liver and blood — has persisted; and no one seems to pay attention to its disastrous side effects…. Gel-injected shrimp is not the only cause of concern for the American consumers. Farmers in Vietnam freeze the shrimp in contaminated water before it is exported to the United States. Microbiologist Mansour Samadpour claims that the water they use actually supports the development of diseases and bacteria. “Those conditions — ice made from dirty water, animals near the farms, pigs — are unacceptable.”

7 Foods That Increase Bone Cartilage & Regenerate it
Natural News Blogs - Cartilage acts like a pad or cushion, protecting your bones at the joints during movement. Cartilage is a type of connective tissue that serves as a communicating medium between musculo-skeletal elements such as bones, ligaments and the muscles. Cartilage is regenerated according to what food you eat. Some recent studies have shown how eating foods rich in the amino acid lysine can be of great help, because this amino acid participates in the renewal of the collagen, which is the main part of your cartilage…. 1. Pomegranate extract repair cartilage damaged by osteoarthritis, it lowered levels of an inflammatory chemical linked with overproduction of a certain enzyme. This enzyme is essential for cartilage replacement but when too much is produced, cartilage wears down. Joints likely absorb the juice when you drink it. 2. Almonds - These nuts are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and manganese. Omega 3 reduces inflammation. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects the body from damage. Manganese helps glucosamine work quicker and more effectively as it repairs joints. 3. Turmeric and Ginger - One of the best ways to increase bone cartilage is to include more ginger and turmeric into your diet. Both ginger and turmeric are revered for their amazing anti-inflammatory properties. Not only can these two super roots help to protect your remaining cartilage from suffering further damage, but they can also help to provide relief from pain. 4. Garlic protects your joints and cartilage. You could also eat onions, leeks, or chives—these foods have organo-sulfur compounds in them, which, unsurprisingly, are an organic source of sulfur. Sulfur is not something normally thought of when considering diet, but for preventing joint pain, it is rather important. 5. Coconut oil is rich in essential oils that reduce inflammation, reduce pain, hydrate tissues, and protect against viruses, bacteria, and fungi that deal damage to our bodies. It can be used both internally and topically…..

Bromide in Your Bread Depletes Iodine Leading to Numerous Diseases, Including Cancer
Living Traditionally - Bromides are a common endocrine disruptor. Because bromide is also a halide, it competes for the same receptors that are used in the thyroid gland (among other places) to capture iodine. This will inhibit thyroid hormone production resulting in a low thyroid state. Iodine is essential for your body, and is detected in every organ and tissue. There is increasing evidence that low iodine is related to numerous diseases, including cancer. Various clinicians and researchers have found iodine effective with everything from goiter to constipation. Bromide can be found in several forms. Methyl Bromide is a pesticide used mainly on strawberries, found predominantly in the California areas. Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is added to citrus drinks to help suspend the flavoring in the liquid.

The 9 Best All-Natural Shaving Products
Men's Journal - Now that you’ve rid your kitchen of chemically-laden junk, it only makes sense that your medicine cabinet follow suit. The new line-up of organic shaving products has evolved past questionable heath food store stock to include a diverse assortment of top notch pucks, gels, and creams. We compiled a list of our favorite all-natural alternatives. Bye-bye, Barbasol.

Homemade Shaving Cream Recipe
To use, apply a thin layer to skin and shave. Makes about 4-6 ounces whipped. Ingredients: 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1/3 cup shea butter, 2 tablespoons olive, jojoba or sweet almond oil, 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap.

Healthy Ways to Successfully Remove Mold Naturally
Natural News Blogs - The symptoms of mold allergies can range from mild to serious. Mild symptoms would incorporate rashes, stuffiness, or itching. More serious symptoms would incorporate fever, or tightness in the chest. In the event that a man has asthma or chronic lung disease, they might be at a considerably greater risk. In extraordinary cases, mold may even make an infection in the lungs. Below are some of the three major ways that can effectively and successfully eliminate molds and mildew. Use of plants: Plants absorb carbon dioxide and discharge clean oxygen. A few plants likewise purify the air. “House plants can purify and rejuvenate air inside our houses and workplaces, safeguarding every one of us from any reactions connected with prevalent toxins, for example, formaldehyde, ammonia, furthermore benzene,” as indicated by a study finished by NASA to choose which plants are best for air purification. Use of crystal salt lamp. Crystal Salt Lamp likewise works as an air purifier. Whenever lit, the lamp emits negative ions that fight against emphatically charged particles that cause you to feel stuffy and sluggish. The lit salt crystal dispels any confusion air naturally of allergens like smoke, pet dander, pollens, and other air pollutants. It dilutes odors with the goal that you can breathe less demanding. Individuals with asthma regularly think that its accommodating in reducing their symptoms. You can keep the lamp lit for whatever length of time that you get a kick out of the chance to keep up this purifying effect. Utilization of Consistent Candles. Consistent paraffin candles are petroleum inferred and can omit chemicals like benzene, toluene and soot into the air. These sorts of candles accomplish more harm than good for indoor air quality and ought to be avoided. Immaculate Beeswax Candles, burn with almost no smoke or scent and purify the air by discharging negative ions into the air.

Paralyzed Dog Gets Acupuncture, And Now She Can Run
The Dodo - A 4-year-old dog named Luca was lucky to get a loving family when she was just a puppy — but no one knew there was something going on inside her that would render her hind legs paralyzed. Luca was diagnosed with Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD), a serious condition that causes nerve compression, which results in pain and even paralysis. Luca had emergency neurosurgery to treat her disease, but even after the successful procedure, she had to learn how to use her legs all over again. So her family decided to do something a little different — they took Luca to an acupuncturist…. After just one visit, Luca's family began to notice a difference. "Luca seemed to be stronger, and more mobile even after one treatment, with further improvement after the second one," Lou said. Some skeptics say that acupuncture for animals has a placebo affect for the concerned humans who love their pets — it makes people feel like they're doing something to heal their animals, so they see improvement because they want to. But others, including experts in veterinary medicine, see acupuncture as a viable option, if paired with regular medical care…. "Luca showed immediate and lasting improvement after each visit," Lou said.
* Related Video: PBS Spotlight on Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM)

Video: His Dog Waits Patiently While He Goes To Play In The Puddle
Sometimes it's the smallest things that put the biggest smiles on our faces. This clip certainly abides by that philosophy. This little boy was out on a walk with his larger-than-himself dog (though, they're clearly not alone...someone had to hold the camera!) when he decided that an approaching puddle seemed pretty appealing. After gently laying down the leash, he takes a few romps through the water, while his patient pup awaits his return. If there was ever a time to book it, this was it. It's clear that this dog loves his little owner far too much for that!

Video: An American Story (1992)
World War II has ended and many soldiers return to their houses and families. But three of them find themselves with big problems when they arrive at their home village.

Thursday - October 20, 2016 - Today In History:

1740 - Maria Theresa became the ruler of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia with the death of her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.
1774 - The new Continental Congress, the governing body of America’s colonies, passed an order proclaiming that all citizens of the colonies "discountenance and discourage all horse racing and all kinds of gaming, cock fighting, exhibitions of shows, plays and other expensive diversions and entertainment."
1803 - The U.S. Senate approved the Louisiana Purchase.
1818 - The U.S. and Great Britain established the boundary between the U.S. and Canada to be the 49th parallel.
1827 - The Battle of Navarino took place during the Greek War for Independence.
1903 - A joint commission ruled in favor of the U.S. concerning a dispute over the boundary between Canada and the District of Alaska.
1935 - Mao Zedong arrived in Hanoi after his Long March that took just over a year. He then set up the Chinese Communist Headquarters.
1942 - Pierre Laval told the French labor that they must serve in Germany.
1944 - Allied forces invaded the Philippines.
1944 - During World War II, the Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Dubrovnik were liberated.
1979 - The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston was dedicated.
1984 - The U.S. State Department reduced the number of Americans assigned to the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
1993 - Attorney General Janet Reno warned the TV industry to limit the violence in their programs.
1994 - The website WhiteHouse.gov was launched.
1995 - Britain, France and the U.S. announced a treaty that banned atomic blasts in the South Pacific.
2009 - European astronomers discover 32 exoplanets.

Major Russian naval deployment to intensify Aleppo assault: NATO diplomat
Reuters - Russian warships off the coast of Norway are carrying fighter bombers that are likely to reinforce a final assault on the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo in two weeks, a senior NATO diplomat said on Wednesday, citing Western intelligence. The fleet passed by the Norwegian city of Bergen on Wednesday, the diplomat said, while Russian media has said it will move through the English Channel, past Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea to the Syrian coast. "They are deploying all of the Northern fleet and much of the Baltic fleet in the largest surface deployment since the end of the Cold War," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "This is not a friendly port call. In two weeks, we will see a crescendo of air attacks on Aleppo as part of Russia's strategy to declare victory there," the diplomat said. Photos of the vessels have been released by the Norwegian military, taken on Monday. A Norwegian newspaper quoted the head of the Norwegian military intelligence service saying the ships involved "will probably play a role in the deciding battle for Aleppo". Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with an air campaign against the Western rebels in the devastated eastern part of Aleppo, has said the deployment will target Islamic State militants in Syria. But the NATO diplomat said the additional military firepower was designed to drive out or destroy the 8,000 rebels in Aleppo, the only large city still in opposition hands, and allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to start a withdrawal…. The fleet off Norway includes Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is carrying jet fighters, and the Soviet-era nuclear-powered battle cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, or Peter the Great. Other Russian vessels in the group include the anti-submarine warships of the Severomorsk and Vice-Admiral Kulakov and support ships, Russian media has reported.

First-ever Russia-Egypt paratrooper drills in Africa underway (VIDEO)
RT - Russian and Egyptian paratroopers have for the first time taken part in joint military drills in the African desert. Some 200 servicemen participated in the exercises, aimed at boosting anti-terrorism effectiveness. An array of military equipment is being used on both sides, including Russia’s IL-76mg and Egypt’s Casa and C-130, as well as a range of parachute systems, deployed at altitudes of 2,000 (609 meters), 6,000 and 7,000ft, somewhere over Alexandria, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense…. Observers from over 30 countries are keeping watch. These are the first war drills between the two countries ever to be carried out on the African continent, and involve desert and the type of terrain that Russians don’t often find themselves in. However, the two countries already took part in joint naval drills in the Mediterranean in June 2015, off the Alexandria coast. The drills come as part of an agreement between Russia and Egypt and are designed to bolster joint response to terrorism. According to members of the Russian command contacted by RT Arabic, Egypt has requested that the emphasis be on special operations and hostage rescue, particularly in an urban setting…. The drills have been christened ‘Friendship Defenders-2016’, and will run October 15-26.

Iran Seeking ‘Many Billions of Dollars’ in Ransom to Free U.S. Hostages
Washington Free Beacon - Iran is seeking “many billions of dollars” in payments from the United States in exchange for the release of several U.S. hostages still being detained in Iran, according to reports by Iran’s state-controlled press that are reigniting debate over the Obama administration’s decision earlier this year to pay Iran $1.7 billion in cash. Senior Iranian officials, including the country’s president, have been floating the possibility of further payments from the United States for months. Since the White House agreed to pay Tehran $1.7 billion in cash earlier this year as part of a deal bound up in the release of American hostages, Iran has captured several more U.S. citizens. Future payments to Iran could reach as much as $2 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter, who said that Iran is detaining U.S. citizens in Iran’s notorious Evin prison where inmates are routinely tortured and abused.

Russian MPs pass bill to suspend plutonium reprocessing deal with US
RT - The State Duma has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill that suspends a Russian-American deal on reprocessing weapons-grade plutonium extracted from decommissioned warheads. The bill, submitted on October 3 by the president’s office, was backed by 445 MPs, with one abstention. The reprocessing deal was ratified in 2000 and involved Russia and the US disposing of excessive plutonium by fabricating nuclear plant fuel from it and transmuting it in a reactor. The US later decided that the process was too costly and that it would rather mix its plutonium with special dilutants and store it indefinitely. Moscow sees that as a gross breach of the deal, saying the US could potentially restore the fissile material. The bill, which was drawn up by the Kremlin, says the deal may come back into force if the US takes a number of steps to rectify its past anti-Russian actions, including the expansion of NATO and imposition of economic sanctions against Russia. Moscow, however, has little hope of the US doing that, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told MPs prior to the vote…. Amongst other demands, Moscow wants Washington to curb its military presence on the territory of NATO members which have joined the alliance since September 1, 2000, to the number at which they were at the moment of signing the agreement.

Saudi-Led Airstrike on Yemeni Funeral ‘Deliberate Error’ – UK Minister for Middle East
Sputnik News - The airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on a funeral ceremony in Yemen’s capital Sanaa that killed over 100 people was a “deliberate error”, UK Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood said on Wednesday. On October 8, an airstrike hit the funeral ceremony in Sanaa. The attack claimed at least 140 lives leaving over 500 injured…. On October 15, the Saudi-led coalition admitted in the official statement the fact that one of its aircraft was behind a deadly bombing, adding that the attack was carried out based on false information. "I went to Riyadh last week to tell them that they need to come out with a report immediately, they did that, it was released on the weekend and they put their hand up and said this was a gross breach of standard operating procedures,” the minister added.

Police truck runs over demonstrators protesting US troops in Philippines (VIDEO)
RT - A rally protesting the presence of American troops in the Philippines has turned violent outside the US embassy in Manila, with police using tear gas against demonstrators. Several people were run over by a police van. AP footage shows the van repeatedly ramming into protesters as it drove back and forth among the crowd. It occurred after demonstrators surrounded the vehicle and began hitting it with wooden batons seized from police. At least three student activists were taken to hospital after being run over, protest leader Renato Reyes told AP. Police arrested 23 protesters who broke into a line of riot police and hurled red paint at officers and a US government employee. Responding to the violent dispersal of protesters, Reyes said "there was absolutely no justification for it." "Even as the president vowed an independent foreign policy, Philippine police forces still act as running dogs of the US," he added.

Jihadi rehab: Swedish city plans free driver’s license, housing & tax perks for returning fighters
RT - A Swedish city is considering giving jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq free housing, a driver’s license, and tax benefits to ease their reintegration, but social media users have slammed the proposal, saying it ignores the terrorists’ victims. The support for extremists was proposed by Anna Sjöstrand, a municipal coordinator against violent extremism in the city of Lund in southern Sweden…. Sjöstrand’s proposal was based on a report written by author and criminologist Christoffer Carlsson, who says that it is difficult for people to abandon extremism and reintegrate into society without support…. The proposal has been eviscerated on social media, however, with users saying that Sweden is forgetting about the terrorists’ victims. “Lund wants to help terrorists with housing, driver’s license and job, but forgets the victims,” one user wrote on Twitter, while another added: “Rapists, child murderers, terrorists. Everyone should be treated equally.” Some users were calling for Sjöstrand’s resignation.

The Simpsons uncanny ability to 'predict' future American events
MINA - One of the most prominent of their “predictions” relates to the current state of US politics. Donald Trump’s presidential bid was first depicted on the cartoon series – playing out in a 2000 episode some 16 years before the billionaire was actually chosen as the Republican Party’s nominee. And that’s far from being the only case of an episode of The Simpsons reflecting future events. Here, we list six other past episodes in which The Simpsons bizarrely predicted, depicted, or referred to major contemporary events that were yet to unfold.

General Cartwright is paying the price for Hillary Clinton’s sins
Washington Post - The Obama administration Justice Department has investigated three senior officials for mishandling classified information over the past two years but only one faces a felony conviction, possible jail time and a humiliation that will ruin his career: former Joint Chiefs of Staff vice chairman General James E. Cartwright. The FBI’s handling of the case stands in stark contrast to its treatment of Hillary Clinton and retired General David Petraeus — and it reeks of political considerations. Monday marked a stunning fall from grace for Cartwright, the man once known as “Obama’s favorite general,” who pleaded guilty to the felony charge of lying to the FBI during its investigation into the leaking of classified information about covert operations against Iran to two journalists. His lawyer Greg Craig said in a statement that Cartwright spoke with David Sanger of the New York Times and Dan Klaidman of Newsweek as a confirming source for stories they had already reported, in an effort to prevent the publication of harmful national security secrets. Under his plea deal, Cartwright could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Last year, Petraeus cut a deal with the Justice Department after admitting he had lied to the FBI and passed hundreds of highly classified documents to his biographer and mistress Paula Broadwell. He pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor of mishandling classified information and was sentenced to two years probation and a $100,000 fine.

Wikileaks Releases Another 1,803 Podesta Emails In Part 12 Of Data Dump; Total Is Now 18,953
Zero Hedge - The daily dump continues. In the now traditional daily routine, one which forces the Clinton campaign to resort to ever more stark sexual scandals involving Trump to provide a media distraction, moments ago Wikileaks released yet another 1,803 emails in Part 12 of its ongoing Podesta Email dump, which brings the total number of released emails to 18,953….As there is a total of 50,000 emails, Wikileaks will keep the media busy over the next three weeks until the elections with another 30,000 emails still expected to be released.
* Related: Detailed List of Top Wikileaks Podesta Emails (Update 7)

New Clinton emails appear to contradict her sworn testimony
Washington Examiner - Emails recovered from Hillary Clinton's server by the FBI and made public Wednesday cast doubt on the former secretary of state's own testimony about her email use. Responding to a set of questions under oath last week, Clinton said through her lawyer that she did not recall discussing her server with Bryan Pagliano, the IT aide whose immunity deal was the first to emerge publicly from the year-long FBI probe. "Secretary Clinton states that she does not recall having communications with Bryan Pagliano concerning or relating to the management, preservation, deletion, or destruction of any emails in her clintonemail.com email account," Clinton testified through her lawyer, David Kendall, after raising objections to the question. But emails provided to conservative-leaning Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act show Clinton included Pagliano in discussions about her Blackberry, iPad and server when her network experienced problems in 2012. The two email chains, included among 15 pages of documents published by Judicial Watch on Wednesday, show Pagliano wrote directly to Clinton and copied Justin Cooper, a former Clinton Foundation aide who also provided assistance for the email system, in March 2012…. The new records were among the roughly 15,000 emails FBI agents turned over to the State Department at the conclusion of their investigation.

Illegals Seeking Asylum Up 900%, Get Cash, Welfare, School Loans
Washington Examiner - The number of illegals seeking asylum to gain easy access to the United States has jumped 900 percent in less than 10 years, greatly expanding the Immigration population receiving Social Security benefits, school loans, green cards, welfare and other taxpayer funded services, according to figures from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While about 8,000 mostly Latin Americans in 2009 sought asylum, the number is expected to reach 80,000 or more this year, according to a projection from the Center for Immigration Studies. The report said 80 percent come from just three countries that have already flooded the border with youths and young families, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Most claim a fear of torture, abuse, or retaliation, fulfilling the U.S. requirement that they must voice some credible fear of returning home. The surge was sparked by a freeing up by President Obama of the restrictions to those requesting asylum. Now they are let into the United States while they pursue their asylum request.

Video: Third Presidential Debate (C-SPAN)

***Live Updates*** Trump vs. Clinton, Round 3
Breitbart - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton square off in their third and final presidential debate tonight at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
*Related: Third Presidential Debate Fact-Check

Trump: Clinton Should Return Money From Countries That Abuse Women
The Daily Caller - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called out the Clinton Foundation for accepting money from countries such as Saudi Arabia that abuse women and gays and minority groups in the debate Wednesday, asking why she doesn’t “give back the money.” “It is a criminal enterprise,” Trump said, referring to the Clinton Foundation. “Saudi Arabia giving $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries, you check about women and women’s race — these are people that push gays off buildings. They kill women and treat women horribly, and yet you take their money.”… “The Clinton Foundation is a disgrace,” he added. “And you know it, and they know it, and everybody knows it.” Clinton replied by stating the Clinton Foundation donates 90 percent of money to charity, saying she’s “very proud” and that it has the “highest rating from the watchdogs.” She then pivoted to a comparison between the Clinton Foundation and the Trump Foundation, which she said wasted money taken from other people.

‘ADDRESS THAT’ — Chris Wallace GRILLS Hillary On Clinton Foundation Corruption (Video)
The Daily Caller - During Wednesday night’s presidential debate, Chris Wallace held Hillary Clinton’s feet to the fire over allegations that the Clinton Foundation engaged in “pay-for-play” behavior when she served as secretary of state. “There have been a lot of developments over the last ten days since the last debate,” Wallace posed. “I’d like to ask you about them. These are questions that the American people have, Secretary Clinton, during your 2009 Senate confirmation hearing, you promised to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest with your dealing with the Clinton Foundation while you were Secretary of State.” “Emails show that donors got special access to you,” he continued. “Can you really say you kept your pledge to that Senate committee, and what happened and what went on between you and the Clinton Foundation? Why isn’t it what Mr. Trump calls pay to play?” “Well, everything I did as secretary of state was in furtherance of our country’s interests and our values,” Clinton responded. “The State Department said that.” Clinton then listed what she described as all the “good” the Foundation does across the world before Wallace interrupted her. “Secretary, respectfully, this is an open discussion,” Wallace noted. “A specific question went to pay for play. Do you want to address that?” She did not.

DRUDGE POLL: Who Won The Final Presidential Debate?

'Russian Hacker' Arrested In Prague Last Week, Announcement "Tactically Delayed" Until Day Of US Debate
Zero Hedge - Two days before the Obama administration formally accused the Russian government of hacking Democrats, NYTimes reports that a man identified as a "Russian hacker suspected of pursuing targets in the United States" was arrested in the Czech Republic. While the arrest was made on Oct 5th, officials stated that "we postponed the announcement for tactical reasons," which makes one wonder whether this is the debate-day-distraction Hillary needs? The United States director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., said in a statement on Oct. 7 that high-level Russian officials were trying to interfere with American elections…. But, as The New York Times reports, a "russian hacker" was arrested two days before this... and the announcement delayed until today... Debate Day!?

WIKILEAKS: Podesta Says It’s OK for Illegals to Vote With Driver’s License….
The Gateway Pundit - In the latest Wikileaks Podesta documents John Podesta actually says it is OK for illegals to vote if they have a driver’s license. John Podesta: “I think Teddy’s idea scratches the itch, is pretty safe and uncomplicated. On the picture ID, the one thing I have thought of in that space is that if you show up on Election Day with a drivers license with a picture, attest that you are a citizen, you have a right to vote in Federal elections” These people are criminals. Almost half of California’s driver’s licenses went to illegal aliens last year. 12 states and the District of Columbia allow driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

US Air Force Base Poisons Colorado Creek With Cancer-Causing Chemicals
Sputnik News - A US Air Force base in Colorado has admitted to accidentally releasing 150,000 gallons of water containing toxic chemicals into the sewer system of nearby Colorado Springs. Peterson Air Force base said on October 18 that the water contained perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), chemicals used on bases to put out fires and which have been linked to several kinds of cancer, low birth weight in babies and other health issues. The Air Force statement has not clarified how high the levels were. Officials from nearby communities and the Colorado Department of Public Health have assured residents that the contaminated water has not reached drinking water sources, only sewers. The wastewater first passed through a treatment plant, but the plant is not designed to remove PFCs. The wastewater then flowed into Fountain Creek. Fountain Creek flows south toward Pueblo and into the Arkansas River, the Denver Post detailed.... BS news reports that the process of releasing wastewater is not a simple one. "There is at least two valves that have to be turned on, and the electrical control for this is above ground," base environmental chief Fred Brooks explained in their report. "That's separate from that, so it's at least a three-step process.".... Last year, PFCs were discovered in public water sources in the vicinity of Colorado Springs near Fountain Creek and Windmill Gulch.... In the past few years, groundwater around bases in California, Texas, Michigan and Pennsylvania has been found to be contaminated with carcinogens, including PFCs.

Update: Natural Hormones on the Chopping Block Yet Again
Alliance for Natural Health - Good news—in a group of documents dated November 3, 2016, the FDA has responded to our concerns, indicating that compounded hormone creams WILL NOT BE on the agency’s chopping block at the next advisory committee meeting. We are glad to hear that the FDA is only considering the elimination of patches; creams, gels, foams, and ointments are not at risk, or at least not yet at risk. As welcome as this news is, we must still closely monitor the FDA’s ongoing review of compounding ingredients and delivery systems and fight for consumer access to important natural medicines including natural, bio-identical hormones delivered to the body in the appropriate way.

The 16 Fake, Sneaky Names Food Companies Use For MSG
Off the Grid News - Monosodium glutamate first hit the American food market in the 1960s as a seasoning and “meat tenderizing” powder called “Accent.” Kikunae Ikeda, a Japanese scientist who identified the natural flavor enhancing substance found in seaweed, learned how to mass produce MSG back in 1908. MSG is the “sodium salt of the common amino acid glutamic acid,” according to the definition by the FDA, which acknowledges it can cause “headaches, numbness, flushing, tingling, palpitations, and drowsiness.”… Although MSG still has the GRAS rating, it does require manufacturers to list MSG as an ingredient on their products. Manufacturers have gotten around this requirement, however, by calling MSG something else. Here are some of the names they use to disguise MSG: 1. glutamic acid 2.monopotassium glutamate or simply “glutamate” 3. yeast extract or yeast nutrient 4. hydrolyzed proteins (hydrolyzed vegetable protein, animal protein or plant protein) 5. soy protein isolate and soy protein concentrate 6. whey protein (whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate) 7. autolyzed plant protein 8. hydrolyzed oat flour 9. textured protein 10. caseinate (sodium caseinate and calcium caseinate) 11. natural flavorings or simply “flavoring” 12. ultra-pasteurized 13. enzyme modified 14. carrageenan 15. maltodextrin or malt extract 16. protein fortified Some manufacturers even hide MSG under the catch-all “bouillon” term.

7 Healthy Reasons to Eat Black Sesame Seeds
Natural News Blogs - The black sesame seed may be small, but it is a powerful food. The nutrients found in sesame seeds may contribute to cardiovascular health, reduce inflammation, support respiratory health, protect against colon cancer and osteoporosis as well as other conditions…. 1. Relieves Arthritis - The high copper content in black sesame seeds helps in reducing pain and swelling associated with arthritis. In addition, this mineral keeps your bones and joints flexible and healthy. 2. Improves Eye Health - As per traditional Chinese medicine, eyes are closely related to liver healthy. When liver is affected the eyes become tired and dry and vision may become blurred. Black sesame seeds are a natural tonic for liver, which in turn is believed to nourish and support eyes’ function. 3. Prevent Cancer - Black sesame is the one that have the highest phytosterol content among all seeds, which is inevitable in the fight against severe disease such as: leukemia, multiple myeloma, colon cancer, lung cancer, beast cancer, etc. 4. Prevents Anaemia - One cup of black sesame seeds contains about 20 mg of iron, which is about 115% of your daily recommended intake of iron, the mineral that is essential for transporting oxygen around your body. 5. Prevent Osteoporosis - Eating black sesame seeds regularly, provides you with good intake of zinc and calcium, both minerals that are needed by the body for good bone health….

The Most Popular Shaving Cream Contains 10 Chemicals that Cause Cancer and Destroy Your Liver
Living Traditionally - Everyday we expose ourselves to dangerous, toxic chemicals. Some are known to contain cancer causing agents, contribute to hormone imbalance, headaches, allergies, depression, chronic fatigue, learning disabilities, hyperactivity and irritability. Shaving creams are loaded with toxic ingredients…. 1. Phthalates: Phthalates can disrupt the functioning of hormones, which can harm important balances throughout the entire body, including those impacting the immune system and brain. Traces of phthalate metabolites found in human urine are associated with obesity and insulin resistance in men because they inhibit testosterone function. About 80% of people are exposed to this type of toxin. 2. ISOPENTANE: This chemical helps some ingredients to dissolve into others. It can also cause dry skin, contact dermatitis, dizziness, headaches, and nose and throat irritation. 3. Parfum (fragrance): Would you rather smell good or live longer? Parfum is a potpourri of toxicity, with many of the 3,000 chemicals used to make fragrance untested — neither in isolation nor in combination. Some that have been submitted to lab tests, however, have been associated with neurotoxicity and cancer. So either perform the extensive research to determine what those cancer-causing chemicals are, or just cut the stuff. 4. Methylparaben is used as a preservative, mimics estrogen (see Sodium Lauryl Sulphate above) and has been linked to tumor growth. 5. Triethanolamine: This ingredient, along with DEA (diethanolamine) and MEA (monoethanolamine) are responsible for the foaming attributes of shave creams and gels. Research has linked them with hormone disruption, and they can form cancer-causing nitrates and nitrosamines. They are easily absorbed by your skin.Triethanolamine is a skin and respiratory toxicant. What’s more, animal studies have also shown Triethanolamine can cause bladder and liver cancer, as well as cell mutation in testicles….
 

Wednesday - October 19, 2016 - Today In History:

1765 - In the U.S., The Stamp Act Congress met and drew up a declaration of rights and liberties.
1781 - British General Charles Lord Cornwallis surrendered to U.S. General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. It was to be the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.
1814 - In Baltimore, MD, the first documented performance of "The Defence of Fort McHenry" with music took place at the Holliday Street Theatre. The work was later published under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner."
1914 - In the U.S., government owned vehicles were first used to pick up mail in Washington, DC.
1915 - The U.S. recognized General Venustiano Carranza as the president of Mexico. The U.S. imposed embargo to all parts of Mexico except where Carranza was in control.
1943 - The Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers began in Russia during World War II. Delegates from the U.S.S.R., Great Britain, the U.S., and China met to discuss war aims and cooperation between the nations.
1944 - The U.S. Navy announced that black women would be allowed into Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES).
1951 - U.S. President Truman signed an act officially ending the state of war with Germany.
1960 - The United States imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba covering all commodities except medical supplies and certain food products.
1983 - The U.S. Senate approved a bill establishing a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
1984 - Four U.S. employees of the CIA were killed in El Salvador when their plane crashed.
1989 - The U.S. Senate rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that barred the desecration of the American flag.
2008 - Retired Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican who was President George W. Bush's first secretary of state, broke with the party and endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president.

US admits fighting ISIS in Mosul risks civilian lives
RT - The US says its anti-ISIS operation in Mosul and elsewhere in Iraq has been a success, despite the “inevitable” suffering it brings to civilians. However, Washington has a contradictory perception of the anti-terrorist efforts by the Syrian and Russian forces in Aleppo. “What we have seen [in Aleppo] is the regime carry out continued fighting against moderate Syrian opposition forces and really not target in meaningful way Daesh or [Al-] Nusra,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, using an acronym for Islamic State’s original name in Arabic. As the battle for Mosul raged for a second day, Toner was asked about differences between the US-led fight and similar anti-terrorist efforts in Aleppo. “First of all, we are working in a supportive capacity, it's the Iraqi government, Iraqi forces that are carrying out operation in Mosul and that is to go after and destroy Daesh, drive it out of Mosul,” he said. “It has been very successful in doing so throughout other cities and regions in the country.” n Washington, officials admit that the fight for Mosul will go hand-in-hand with the “inevitable” displacement of civilians, but believe putting lives in danger is worth the candle. “We are aware civilian lives are at risks in Mosul,” Toner has said. “It's been well documented with, for example, in respect to Tikrit and Ramadi and other places that have been liberated, that ISIL shows no hesitation to use civilians as human shields, to booby-trap houses, to place mines and they are willing to do it with no regard for the safety of civilians.” On Monday, the British Red Cross said that more than 1 million people are expected to flee their homes and leave Mosul…. In the meantime, in rebel-held Aleppo in neighboring Syria, scores of civilians have been blocked off from government-controlled areas, with no access to humanitarian aid.

US and UK reject Russian offer of Syria airstrikes 'pause'
The Guardian - The US and the UK have rejected a Russian and Syrian offer of a temporary “pause” on airstrikes in Aleppo as the basis for reopening talks, saying there has to be a credible and durable ceasefire that should initially last as long as 48 hours. Moscow had announced a temporary halt in the military push ahead of a planned eight-hour humanitarian pause on Thursday, designed to give rebel militants and the injured a chance to leave the city. The US State Department said the Russian offer was too little, too late, and the UN humanitarian spokesman said that relief workers needed longer than eight hours to help extricate the injured. Moscow announced on Tuesday that Russian and Syrian warplanes had halted their bombardment of the rebel-held districts of the city. Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said “The early halting of airstrikes is necessary to declare a ‘humanitarian pause’. It will … guarantee a safe exit of civilians through six corridors and prepare for the evacuation of the ill and the wounded from the eastern part of Aleppo.” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the halt in the airstrikes was a goodwill gesture to pave the way for Thursday’s pause. “The Russian military is offering yet another chance, and we hope that our partners will allow us all to take advantage of that,” Peskov said.

Media Silent as Anti-Corporate Trade Deal Protests Take Europe by Storm
Activist Post - Over the weekend, thousands of protesters across multiple countries condemned impending trade deals promoted by governments and their corporate partners. Though the protests received little coverage from mainstream media, they stretched from Paris to Warsaw. The demonstrations came amid the Commission on International Trade of the European Parliament’s plans to finalize the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) this week. The policy has been likened to so-called “free trade” deals pushed by President Barack Obama and other Western governments. CETA, which has been in the works for seven years, would eliminate tariffs between Canada and European nations, which proponents argue would foster increased trade and create jobs. Nevertheless, the deal has been criticized for granting too much power to multinational corporations, the Guardian reports. Though the European Commission recently drafted a statement claiming “environmental and health standards will not be diluted,” not all policymakers are convinced. Passage of CETA hit a roadblock after the parliament of the Wallonia region of Belgium rejected it. Wallonia’s minister-president, Paul Magnette, vowed to block the entire country from ratifying the deal. This has proponents of CETA concerned about the agreement’s future, as all 28 member states of the European Union must unanimously agree on it before it can be further negotiated and ratified.

Pentagon will now pay for transgender soldiers to have gender reassignment surgery - but retirees and family of service members are not covered
Daily Mail - The move follows the Pentagon's decision in June to lift its ban on transgender troops serving in the military. Now any soldier whose ability to serve is 'adversely affected by a medical condition or medical treatment related to their gender identity,' they will be eligible for reassignment surgery or hormone therapy, according to the Defense Department. Children of soldiers and retirees will also be able to take advantage of the new transgender health benefits such as hormone therapy. However, only active service members will be eligible for gender-reassignment surgery which can cost anywhere between $7,000 and $50,000 per operation, as experts say the move could cost up to $8.4 million a year, Circa Politics reports. The announcement has been met with criticism from both sides, with The National Center for Transgender Equality complaining the benefits don't go far enough and that the key operation should be extended to family and retired service members. Meanwhile the conservative Center for Military Readiness argues that it covers expensive treatments devoid of any military purpose. 'I think this is a gross misuse of military medical dollars,' Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty added. He also complains that military personnel are also getting transgender education which he claims takes up valuable time.

Wikileaks Releases Another 1,894 Podesta Emails In Part 11 Of Data Dump; Total Is Now 17,150
Zero Hedge - The daily dump continues. In the now traditional daily routine, one which forces the Clinton campaign to resort to ever more stark sexual scandals involving Trump to provide a media distraction, moments ago Wikileaks released yet another 1,894 emails in Part 11 of its ongoing Podesta Email dump, which brings the total number of released emails to 17,150. As a reminder among yesterday's most recent revelations we got further insights into the campaign staff exchanges on handling media queries about Clinton “flip-flopping” on gay marriage, galvanizing Latino support and locking down Clinton’s healthcare policy. Just as notable has been the ongoing revelation of just how "captured" the so-called independent press has been in its "off the record" discussions with John Podesta which got the head Politico correspondent, Glenn Thrush, to admit he is a "hack" for allowing Podesta to dictate the content of his article. With another 33,000 or so emails left until election day, we expect the emergence of another Trump "sexual assault" accuser to emerge momentarily. Here are some initial observations from the latest leak…

Ecuador says it cut WikiLeaks founder's internet over US election interference
The Guardian - Ecuador has confirmed that it cut off internet access to Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing site WikiLeaks, stating it believed he was using it to interfere in the US presidential election. The move followed a raft of leaked emails published by WikiLeaks, including some from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released just before the party’s convention in July, and more recently a cache of emails from the account of Hillary Clinton campaign adviser John Podesta. On Tuesday, officials released a statement saying that the government of Ecuador “respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states” and had cut off the internet access available to Assange because “in recent weeks, WikiLeaks has published a wealth of documents, impacting on the US election campaign”. On Tuesday, officials released a statement saying that the government of Ecuador “respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states” and had cut off the internet access available to Assange because “in recent weeks, WikiLeaks has published a wealth of documents, impacting on the US election campaign”. Assange’s internet access was cut off on Monday morning. It was not immediately clear who was responsible, though a tweet from the site’s official account claimed it had been “intentionally severed” by a “state party”.

Shock Report: Clinton Operative Turns On Hillary: The “Fixer” Is Set To Release 24 Years Worth Of Documents, Notes and Journals
Mac Slavo - Though often criticized for being a tabloid, during the 2008 Presidential election the National Enquirer broke the story about then-candidate John Edwards and his mistress. The investigation tanked Edwards’ Presidential dreams. Today, they may have just done the same to Hillary Clinton…. According to The National Enquirer, the man hired by Bill and Hillary Clinton to clean up their messes – “The Fixer” – has turned on them and is set to release a treasure trove of evidence. From documents, notes and journals covering some 24 years, the revelations could be explosive. According to the The Enquirer, the shadowy figure has been confirmed as a Clinton operative and is set to tell all in coming days and weeks.

Record 64.7 million non-English speakers in U.S.
WND - The report by the Center for Immigration Studies, which breaks down new Census data, shows a record number of new immigrants in the country whose primary language is not English, and the fastest growing language is Arabic. In 2015 a record 64.7 million U.S. residents spoke a foreign language at home – up 5.2 million since 2010 and up 1.5 million in just the last year. The largest percentage increase from 2010 to 2015 was for speakers of Arabic, Hindi (an India language) and Urdu (Pakistan’s national language). More than one in five U.S. residents now speaks a foreign language at home, according to the CIS report…. President Obama has been issuing more than 130,000 green-cards per year to persons from Muslim-majority countries using various legal programs such as refugee resettlement, the visa lottery, employment-based programs and other channels. School systems from St. Cloud, Minnesota, Wichita, Kansas, and Twin Falls, Idaho, to Amarillo, Texas, and Fargo, North Dakota, have been overwhelmed by Third World refugees over the past 10 years, forcing them to hire expensive linguistics experts and translators. The language barrier also presents new challenges to 9-1-1 emergency centers, hospitals, jails and other public institutions. More than 15 languages are spoken in the Amarillo school system, and when you include the different dialects, the number balloons to 75, according to Mayor Paul Harpole’s testimony before the state legislature. More than 40 languages are spoken in the Fargo school system, according to a report cited by the city council.

Elections Expert: “We Now Have 4 Million Ineligible and Dead Voters on American Voter Rolls” (Video)
Gateway Pundit - Elections expert J. Christian Adams told FOX and Friends on Tuesday morning there are 4 million dead people on US voter rolls [according to the Pew Charitable Trust]. Adams, who was the Voting Section Attorney at the US Department of Justice, filed six suits in the past year against Philadelphia and Broward County, Florida where the voter rolls are corrupted. Adams said he had one case in Texas where the person died in 1944. Far left groups continually sue to keep the voter rolls the way they are. The Obama administration has no desire to clean up these voter rolls.

Rigging the Election – Video 2: Mass Voter Fraud
Project Veritas Action - [Profanity] James O’Keefe’s new explosive series on the DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign, Democratic party operatives tell us how to successfully commit voter fraud on a massive scale. Scott Foval, who has since been fired, admits that the Democrats have been rigging elections for fifty years.
Related: Rigging the Election - Video I: Clinton Campaign and DNC Incite Violence at Trump Rallies

Saudis, China Dump Treasuries; Foreign Central Banks Liquidate A Record $346 Billion In US Paper
Zero Hedge - One month ago, when we last looked at the Fed's update of Treasuries held in custody, we noted something troubling: the number dropped sharply, declining by over $27.5 billion in one week, the biggest weekly drop since January 2015, pushing the total amount of custodial paper to $2.83 trillion, the lowest since 2012. One month later, […] foreign central banks continued their relentless liquidation of US paper held in the Fed's custody account, which tumbled by another $22.3 billion in the past week, pushing the total amount of custodial paper to $2.805 trillion, another fresh post-2012 low…. Among the biggest sellers - on a market-price basis - not surprisingly was China, which in July "sold" $34 billion in US paper (the actual underlying number while different, as this particular series is adjusted for Mark to Market variations, will be similar), the biggest monthly dump going back to 2012, and bringing its total to $1.185 trillion, the lowest total since 2012.

Ford To Idle Four Factories Due To Slowing Car Demand, Rising Inventories
Zero Hedge - Over the weekend we recapped some of the less than impressive moments in the recent US car industry history, which suddenly appears to be bombarded with a barrage of bad news: starting with Ford's disastrous August sales when the company admitted "sales have reached a plateau", continuing to the surge in delinquent subprime auto borrowers hitting nearly a 7 year high as the marginal creditworthy car buyers disappears, then noting the record $4,000 in industry-wide new car incentives in September as preventing a plunge in last month's auto sales, and recalling last week's downgrade of the US auto sector by Goldman which said that the US "cycle has peaked". As a result of slowing demand and declining US auto sales coupled with growing inventory, Ford Motor is halting one of two plants that builds its top-selling F-150 pickup as it idles four factories this month amid slowing U.S. auto sales. As Bloomberg reports, starting this week, Ford is shutting its Louisville, Kentucky, factory building the Escape and Lincoln MKC sport utility vehicles, as well as two plants in Mexico that make the Fusion sedan and Fiesta subcompact, according to an e-mailed statement. Next week, the second-largest U.S. automaker will close the F-150 factory near Kansas City for seven days. And starting Oct. 31, the Louisville plant will be idled for another week. The plant closings follow last week’s shutdown of Ford’s Mustang factory in Michigan after sales of the sports car plunged 32% in September.

40 Cops With Riot Gear, Armored Vehicle and LRAD Swarm 5 Praying Native Americans at DAPL (Video)
BlackListed News - Over the past several weeks, the police state has come out in full force as Native Americans fight to protect their water sources from the threat of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Mainstream media remained largely silent as federal, state and local authorities worked on behalf of Energy Transfer Partners to squash dissent. […] on October 15 when five Native American Water Protectors left a protest near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to pray on the shoulder of a public road […] 40 cops from at least eight departments in three different states – complete with riot gear, automatic rifles, an armored vehicle and even an LRAD acoustic weapon – swarmed the five praying, unarmed Native Americans.… Over 100 Water Protectors, journalists, and legal observers have been arrested in recent weeks on charges ranging from inciting a riot to trespass. Journalist Amy Goodman from NPR has been charged with inciting a riot for her coverage private security dogs attacking water protectors. Emmy winning documentary film producer Deia Schlosberg was arrested on 3 felony charges and is facing 45 years in prison.”

Report: One in two American adults is in a face recognition database
Privacy SOS - A breathtaking new report from the Center for Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law School finds that one in two American adults is in a face recognition database. The numbers are so huge in large part because states are increasingly allowing the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to use drivers license databases as “perpetual lineups,” the report says. Face recognition technology is spreading like wildfire throughout the United States, without the necessary public debate, legal restrictions, and policy guidance to ensure it can be used without violating the civil rights and civil liberties of millions of people not suspected of serious crimes. There is no state or federal law requiring government agencies to limit face recognition searches, or to perform audits to ensure system accuracy or check for abuse. Nonetheless, sheriffs departments, state and local law enforcement agencies, and the FBI are all in the face recognition game to varying degrees nationwide. Some of the large trend-setting police departments, like the NYPD and LAPD, reportedly have facial recognition programs, but refused to provide records in response to Georgetown’s requests. to investigate the extent to which this disparate impact is occurring nationwide.

Goji Berries: The Cancer-Fighting Chinese Superfood You Can Grow At Home
Off the Grid News - Growing goji berries is fairly simple. You will need to purchase a bare root plant or seeds from sources like online nurseries. To speed up your harvest, get a bare root goji beery plant so that you can get its fruits sooner rather than later. Use a mix of soil with a tinge of sand. Choose a pot that will fit your plant; the crown of the plant should be just at the top of the hole when placed in soil. Pat down the soil around the plant, and then water. Apply some mulch around the plant to keep in the moisture. To care for the plant, simply keep it moist by watering and applying more soil, as needed. Not only are goji berries a simple plant to care for, but they also spread like weeds, once established…. Pruning is essential after the plant is one-year-old. Trim off all of the lower branches, up to 15 inches from the soil. Also, fertilizer is not needed because the nitrogen will kill the goji berry plant. Goji berries have been used in China for centuries for energy and long life. China, in fact, produces most of the world’s commercially sold goji berries. Other health benefits include: Fighting cancer — They have huge levels of carotenoids, which battle cancer. Eye care – Goji berries can help stop macular degeneration thanks to high levels of antioxidants. Healthy skin – The beta-carotene in the berries boosts skin health. Regulating blood sugar. These berries can control the amount of sugar released into the blood, making them very beneficial for persons with diabetes.

Natural Hormones on the Chopping Block Yet Again
Alliance for Natural Health - The FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee (PCAC) has announced its next meeting, where it will make recommendations on whether creams can be used in compounding, and whether any of five specific substances will be allowed. The likelihood of their recommendation not being followed is remote. Both transdermal and topical delivery systems have been nominated to the Demonstrably Difficult to Compound list, and are thus in extreme jeopardy. A decision against them will have dire consequences. Unfortunately, very few people understand this. It is unlikely that even the members of the committee understand it. But Big Pharma and their allies at the FDA understand the situation fully—and are pulling the strings. Natural hormone experts like Jonathan V. Wright, MD, have warned for years that many hormones should not be taken by mouth, either because the liver will “tag” them for elimination from the body before they can do their job or will abnormally alter them (in men, oral DHEA often is metabolized into unusually large levels of the hormone estrone); or because it is not healthy to take them this way—for example, in women, oral estrogens raise risk of blood clots and stroke. The FDA listens only to big drug companies, which do not want the trouble of selling hormones in cream form—so the agency will refuse to offer them except as tablets. If compounded topical versions are no longer available, it means that many natural hormones will only be available in the ineffectual (or risky!) tablet form. This would remove your ability to choose not only compounded bioidentical hormones, but also pain medications, and more. Many, many other medicines are delivered through topical creams or transdermal patches…. As vitally important as the creams are, some of the other substances on the chopping block are important too. The five substances being reviewed are diindolylmethane (DIM), trichloroacetic acid, kojic acid, glycolic acid, and vasoactive intestinal peptide. DIM is especially important. It is a naturally occurring compound found in Brassica vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cabbage, mustard greens, and kale, and has anti-cancer and immune-modulating properties.

The plastic plague: Hormone-disrupting chemicals in everyday things like water bottles
Daily Mail - Plastic bottles contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that can cause cancer, diabetes, ADHD and autism, scientists confirmed in a report on Tuesday. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with the body's hormonal system, affecting development and leaving the body open to a staggering range of diseases. But they are found in thousands of everyday products, ranging from plastic and metal food containers, to detergents, flame retardants, toys and cosmetics. These chemicals are responsible for scores of illnesses - costing the US an eye-watering $340 billion in health-related costs each year, the bombshell report by NYU Langone revealed. The most common EDC-related illness is neurological - including attention-ADHD, autism and loss of IQ. The invisible but dangerous chemicals also boosted obesity, diabetes, some cancers, male infertility and a painful condition known as endometriosis, the abnormal growth of tissue outside the uterus.

3 Corporations that Manufacture BPA
Brandon Turbeville - Unsurprisingly, the number one chemical producer in the United States – Dow Chemical – is one manufacturer. In addition, and also unsurprisingly, Bayer AG via its subsidiary, Bayer Polymers, is also a major producer. With the recent merger between Bayer and Monsanto, however, Dow may be unseated as the top chemical maker, as Bayer/Monsanto seek to coat the world in pesticides, herbicides, and toxic plastic chemicals. Hexion Specialty Chemicals is also a producer of BPA with its product being found in Deer Park Water bottles…. Despite a growing consumer-based movement to eliminate BPA from food packaging and other consumer products, as well as the growing science demonstrating the toxicity of BPA even at lower levels than previously thought, the FDA that has approved the substance as safe for use in corporate America, is largely refusing to budge.

10 Reasons Wheat Is Toxic Whether You are Gluten Sensitive or Not
Natural Blaze - More and more studies are showing why wheat products – at least in America – are terribly unhealthy whether you have a sensitivity to gluten or not. There are more components of wheat than gluten. Let’s think beyond gluten, which is made up of two proteins: gliadin and glutenin. Gliadin is the one that gives a lot of people trouble and can exacerbate ADHD, autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Americans get a lot more gliadin from the same amount of wheat than they did in 1960…. Allow me to summarize about 10 issues plaguing modern American wheat. Organic wheat and so-called “whole-grain” wheat are not excused from this list! 1. Our bread, noodles and other flour products are stripped of their parts and nutrients, bleached (yum! yum!) and then fortified with synthetic vitamins that are harsh on the liver. Don’t forget the dough conditioners and other additives. . The ancient, tall “amber waves of grain” are almost a thing of the past. Trading our diverse crop practices for convenient monoculture spells disaster. 3. Desiccating (drying) wheat before harvest with toxic Roundup or glyphosate causing us to literally eat a pesticide that causes breast cancer in parts per trillion. Glyphosate has been heavily detected in beer and other wheat products as well as other crops that are desiccated with glyphosate such as oats. 4. Desiccating (drying) wheat before harvest with toxic Roundup or glyphosate causing us to literally eat a pesticide that causes breast cancer in parts per trillion. Glyphosate has been heavily detected in beer and other wheat products as well as other crops that are desiccated with glyphosate such as oats….
 

Tuesday - October 18, 2016 - Today In History:

1767 - The Mason-Dixon line was agreed upon. It was the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
1867 - The U.S. took formal possession of Alaska from Russia. The land was purchased of a total of $7 million dollars (2 cents per acre).
1898 - The American flag was raised in Puerto Rico only one year after the Caribbean nation won its independence from Spain.
1929 - The Judicial Committee of England’s Privy Council ruled that women were to be considered as persons in Canada.
1944 - Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Soviets during World War II.
1958 - The first computer-arranged marriage took place on Art Linkletter's show.
1969 - The U.S. government banned artificial sweeteners due to evidence that they caused cancer.
1970 - Quebec's minister of labor was found strangled to death after eight days of being held captive by the Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ).
1983 - General Motors agreed to hire more women and minorities for five years as part of a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
1989 - The space shuttle Atlantis was launched on a mission that included the deployment of the Galileo space probe.
1990 - Iraq made an offer to the world that it would sell oil for $21 a barrel. The price level was the same as it had been before the invasion of Kuwait.
1997 - A monument honoring U.S. servicewomen, past and present, was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery.
2013 - Saudi Arabia became the first nation to reject a seat on the United Nations Security Council. Jordan took the seat on December 6.

Islamic State launches defensive suicide bombings around Mosul
The Long War Journal -The Islamic State claims to have launched at least 12 suicide bombings during the first day of the battle for Mosul, Iraq. The group’s Amaq News Agency posted the claims in English and Arabic on its social media sites, including Telegram.... However, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) says that all 12 suicide bombers were neutralized, eight by the Iraqi Army and four by the Peshmerga.... The Associated Press described the situation to Mosul’s east, which is one of the key approaches for the battle. The “main roads and fields were littered with homemade bombs” and “suicide car bomb attacks had slowed the troops’ progress” according to the AP, which cited Lt. Col. Mohammad Darwish of the peshmerga. The fog of war makes it impossible to verify the efficacy of the Islamic State’s suicide attacks. The Islamic State has used suicide bombers in both its offensives and as a defensive tactic when losing ground. For example, Amaq claims that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s men launched 29 suicide attacks in Libya during the first nine months of 2016.... The Islamic State employed similar tactics in Anbar province, where it has suffered significant setbacks.... As The Long War Journal has previously reported, Amaq’s claims regarding the number of suicide attacks should not be accepted at face value. The figures have not been independently verified. It is possible that some attacks are counted even if they failed, and this may be the case in Mosul during the first days of heavy fighting. The Islamic State has also used children or adolescents in its bombings, meaning that some of the attackers are not truly willing “martyrs.”

Petraeus on Battle for Mosul: 'The Question Is, What Happens Afterward'
CNS News - The fight for Mosul will be "orders of magnitude larger than any fight that the Iraqis, with our assistance and the coalition support, have taken on," Petraeus told ABC's "This Week." "There will be dug-in troops, there will be tunnels, there will be suicide bombers, improvised explosive devices. "But at the end of the day, the Iraqi forces, with our assistance, are going to prevail. There's no question. The Islamic State fighters in Mosul are dead men walking, and I think they increasingly know it. They're even trying to desert and they're being executed. "So there's no question about the outcome of the fight. The challenge here is actually after the fight. It's governance." Petraeus said the new government must represent and respond to "the most complex human terrain in all of Iraq." "There are a lot of grievances,' he said. "There are Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Turkmen. There are Kurds from three different political parties. You've got Yazidis, Christians, Shabak. A lot of grievances, scores that may be settled. "And in that kind of complexity, governance is going to have to emerge or else you'll start preparing fields for the planting of the seeds of Islamic State 3.0."

The Story Changes: The Pentagon Is No Longer Sure Yemen Fired Missiles At A US Ship
Zero Hedge - According to Reuters earlier today the Pentagon declined to say whether the USS Mason destroyer was targeted by multiple inbound missiles fired from Yemen on Saturday, as initially thought, saying a review was underway to determine what happened. "We are still assessing the situation. There are still some aspects to this that we are trying to clarify for ourselves given the threat -- the potential threat -- to our people," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a news briefing."So this is still a situation that we're assessing closely." And yet, the US had no problem with "clarifying" the source of the threat on Thursday when it fired American cruise missiles at Yemeni targets. At this point we refer readers to what we said on Thursday, when we once again put on the cynical hat, and voiced what those who have not been brainwashed by US media thought, to wit: In retrospect one now wonders if the "cruise missiles" that fell close to the US ships were merely the latest false flag providing the US cover to launch another foreign intervention.To be sure, the Houthis, who are battling the internationally-recognized government of Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, denied any involvement in Sunday's attempt to strike the USS Mason.

US-Russia Standoff Leaves NASA Without Manned Launch Capabilities
Sputnik News - NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations William Gerstenmaier said that NASA will not extend an agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos for the delivery of astronauts to the International Space Station on board its Soyuz spacecraft after 2018.... Commenting on this, Mikhail Kokorich, head of the private Russian space company Dauria Aerospace, told RT that NASA's decision will not affect Russia's space sector.... He added that cooperation in space exploration added to a full-fledged partnership between Russia and the United States and that NASA's decision not to use Russian spaceships indicates a rapid cooling of bilateral relations.... Right now, the United States is developing its own manned spacecraft. One such program, being implemented by the American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company Space X, is related to the Dragon spacecraft and the two-stage rocket Falcon 9. The other program is being fulfilled by the company Orbital ATK, which is developing the Antares rocket. In addition, NASA is dealing with the creation of its own spaceship, and one of such spacecraft, CST-100 the Starliner, developed with the assistance of Boeing.

FBI releases 100 new pages on Clinton emails
The Hill - The FBI on Monday released 100 new pages of material from its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email system, opening the possibility that classified information may have been mishandled. The new notes and interview summaries are likely to shed new light on the bureau’s yearlong investigation into Clinton and her allies and spark additional outrage from congressional Republicans. Despite claiming that the former secretary of State and her aides had been “extremely careless,” FBI Director James Comey has insisted that his investigators did not find evidence to support a criminal charge against the Democratic presidential nominee. The Justice Department ultimately decided not to press charges over the matter. However, Republicans have refused to accept the department’s conclusion and have accused officials, including Comey, of creating a double standard for Clinton. Responding to the congressional pressure, the FBI has previously released some of the notes from its investigation, including a summary of Clinton’s interview with federal officials. The new release on Monday contains summaries of interviews conducted by the FBI - known by the form number of 302 - of several contractors and government officials involved with the State Department in some fashion. Many of the names have been redacted. One story that appears sure to outrage critics of the Obama administration is evidence that high-ranking State Department staffer Patrick Kennedy pressured the FBI not to classify an email in Clinton’s archive. The email contained information about arrests following the 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, and Kennedy offered a “quid pro quo” to keep it unclassified, one FBI official claimed. The State Department has disputed the characterization, noting that portions of the email were ultimately classified.

Clinton’s FBI Files Literally Mention “The Shadow Government” at the State Dept.
Activist Post - Bill Clinton once reportedly told senior White House reporter Sarah McClendon, “Sarah, there’s a government inside the government, and I don’t control it.” Average citizens who talk about things like that, however, are typically referred to as “Conspiracy Theorists” as if its a pejorative term. Then again, how much of a conspiracy is it when the FBI’s own documents confirm the existence of something referred to as “The Shadow Government”? Check out page 56 [link in article] from the FBI’s files on the Clinton investigation which is making the rounds on Reddit: A powerful group of high-ranking state officials referred to as “The Shadow Government.” Really? So Skull and Bones John Kerry is sitting over there in a group literally nicknamed “The Shadow Government” which decides what information will be released to the public and what will be censored in regard to fellow high-ranking elitist Hillary Clinton? It’s almost a laughable cliché… except there it is in black and white. And still there are people in this country who claim there’s no such thing as a cover up and it’s all a conspiracy.

Wikileaks Releases Another 3,183 Podesta Emails In Part 10 Of Data Dump; Total Is Now 15,256
Zero Hedge - We wondered if Wikileaks would take a break after the FBI released 100 pages of 302s [FBI summaries of interviews] earlier today, to avoid thinning the focus on its own releases. The answer, it turns out, was no. In a now familiar daily routine, one which forces the Clinton campaign to bring up ever starker sexual scandals involving Trump to provide a media distraction, moments ago Wikileaks released yet another roughly 3,183 emails in Part 10 of its ongoing Podesta Email dump, which brings the total number of released emails to 15,256. As a reminder some of the recent email drops have produced revelations about Hillary Clinton and her campaign, including strategies to court black voters and billionaire donors, full transcripts of Clinton’s speeches to Goldman Sachs in which she avoided criticizing Wall Street and discussions about how to “frame” information for “news hyenas.” With another 35,000 or so emails left until election day, we expect the emergence of another Trump "sexual assault" accuser to emerge momentarily.

The Most Revealing Emails from the #PodestaFiles, Separated By Category (Parts 1 - 10)
Vaskal.- John Podesta is Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign Chairman. Podesta previously served as Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton and Counselor to President Barack Obama. On October 7th, 2016, WikiLeaks published thousands of emails belonging to Podesta's private email archives. More emails were released in the days that followed. Below is a compilation [links] of some of the most revealing and damaging emails discovered.

Wikileaks Activates "Contingency Plans" After Unknown "State Party" Cuts Julian Assange's Internet Connection
Zero Hedge - In what may be the first official retaliation against Julian Assange and Wikileaks since the organization started disseminating the hacked Podesta emails, this morning WikiLeaks announced it has "activated contingency" plans after Assange's internet link was intentionally cut off by a state party, WikiLeaks has said in a tweet.... Previously on Sunday, there was concern about Assange's well-being when Wikileaks tweeted out what some suggested were the "dead man keys" that are allegedly the encryption codes for highly damaging secret documents to be uneviled in the case of Assange's death. These may have been the "contingency plans" referred to in the subsequent Wiki tweet. Even former outspoken Trump advisor Roger Stone got involved tweeting that "John Kerry has threatened the Ecuadorian President with "grave consequences for Equador" if Assange is not silenced" adding that "Reports the Brits storm the Ecuadorian Embassy tonite while Kerry demands the UK revoke their diplomatic status so Assange can be seized." So far this appears to be just wild speculation. The latest news in the Assange saga comes as WikiLeaks continues to release on a daily basis hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta, which could ruin Clinton’s chances of becoming the next US president. Clinton’s campaign has suggested that WikiLeaks is working together with the Russian government to help defeat them in favor of Trump. So far there had been no intervention by outside entities to attempt to silence Julian Assange, so the latest intervention "by a state party", if confirmed would be a notable escalation in the status quo, and suggests that Wikileaks may have even more damaging revelations to come.

Hillary's Server Hacked After All? FBI Docs Reveal A Confidential File Was Found On A Romanian Server
Zero Hedge - The latest document release by the FBI, which contains a further 100 pages of "302s" or summaries from interviews conducted with various parties close to Hillary's private server, reveals a troubling fact: according to an interview conducted on June 6, 2016 with an unnamed employee working for a US defense contractor specializing in the areas of "missile, space and intelligence", classified documents linked to Hillary Clinton's private server were discovered in Romania during a broader search for confirmation whether Clinton's private server had been breached from the outside.... What the probe found was disturbing, and contradicts the findings presented by FBI director James Comey.... Specifically, the 302 notes that during the witness' review of the data, he found "one sensitive Excel file listing the names of known or suspected jihadists in Libya", and that a "portion of the file was in Russian." The report notes that "the file did not come from Blumenthal's server, but contained a reference to an IP address range that included the IP address of Clinton's server." In other words, not only could Hillary's home server have been hacked, but a file listing the names of jihadists in Libya may have found its way to an unsecured server in Romania. And this is where something strange happened: "Upon viewing this file", the unnamed witness "became concerned he had found a classified document and stopped the project." Considering that the FBI had expressly concluded that there was no evidence that Hillary's home server had been hacked by outside forces, and that this particular confidential document was found on a Romanian server but did not originate from Blumenthal's server, the other distinct possibility is that it came from Hillary's server. Which is why we wonder why the FBI quickly squashed the project at this moment, before following up with Hillary or her staff to determine if her server was the source of the confidential file found half a way around the world.

CNN Claims It's Illegal To Download Wikileaks Emails
The Daily Caller - CNN’s Chris Cuomo told viewers it is illegal for them to possess emails leaked by the website WikiLeaks, and as a result they could not read them and had to rely entirely on the media to learn about their content. Cuomo’s comments were made early Wednesday morning, but they attracted no attention until a clip was uploaded to YouTube Sunday morning. In the clip, Cuomo opens a segment on leaked emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s inbox by warning viewers they have to get all their information about the emails from the media, and nowhere else. If they try to check out the emails themselves, Cuomo warns, they’re breaking the law. “Also interesting is, remember, it’s illegal to possess these stolen documents,” Cuomo says. “It’s different for the media, so everything you’re learning about this, you’re learning from us.” Cuomo’s claim is faulty on a few counts. While the government might potentially prosecute somebody purely for the act of downloading stolen documents, legal experts are divided on whether such a prosecution would be constitutional. Even if downloading the emails were illegal, that is totally irrelevant in this case, because nobody has to download the WikiLeaks emails in order to read them. They’re all freely available to read on a website anybody can access. Whatever the legal status of downloading the emails, there is absolutely no restriction on simply reading them, despite what Cuomo implies.

Police Officers' Lawsuit Against Freddie Gray Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Could Strip Her of Immunity
Breitbart - Warren Alperstein, a legal analyst, told the local [Baltimore] CBS affiliate that if the lawsuits filed by the officers are allowed to continue, Mosby could lose her immunity and her compulsion to testify in the case could cause major rifts in the state’s attorney office. “You can bet that the officers and the attorneys are champing at the bit to get Mrs. Mosby under oath,” Alperstein told CBS. Alperstein noted that the highly political decisions Mosby made by her failed attempts to prosecute the officers for the death of Freddie Gray could force her to testify and eliminate her immunity. “In a civil case like this, you as a defendant don’t have that right. You must testify or be held in contempt of court,” said Alperstein. “It is unprecedented. It is unheard of.” The lawsuits were filed starting in April just before every officer Mosby tried to prosecute for the suspect’s death was thrown out of court. In their complaints, the officers charged that Mosby knew many of the statements she was making during her announcements to indict the officers were false and were made for political, not legal, reasons. The lawsuits allege false arrest, false imprisonment, defamation or false light, and other assertions. For her part, in a recent speech delivered at Johns Hopkins University, Mosby implied that the current legal actions being taken against her by the officers may have to do with her race.

IRS ordered to clear tea party backlog within month, years after targeting revealed
Washington Times - A federal judge has ordered the IRS to finally clean up the tea party targeting mess, giving the tax agency less than a month to decide on a handful of applications that are still pending more than three years after officials first admitted they were targeting the conservative groups and subjecting them to intrusive scrutiny. The IRS also must file a brief detailing the steps it has taken to prevent further targeting and to make sure the tea party groups don’t face any more fallout from the stigma of having been singled out in the first place, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said in an order issued late Friday. Judge Walton ordered final decisions on two applications that have been pending for years and said four other groups that had withdrawn their applications amid the unconstitutional targeting can resubmit and the IRS must decide on those, too, by Nov. 11. The Albuquerque Tea Party, which filed its application in December 2009, has been waiting nearly seven years. Unite in Action, a Michigan-based group, applied in 2010.... The order doesn’t mean the groups have to be approved. The IRS can go through its regular process to decide whether the organizations meet the criteria for nonprofits — and in particular whether they limit their political activities in accordance with the rules.

DNC Lawyers Argue Neutrality Is Merely a ‘Political Promise’
Observer - Democratic National Committee (DNC) lawyers responded on October 14 in support of their motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit against the DNC and former chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, maintaining that a fair and balanced Democratic primary is just a “political promise.”.... similar to policy proposals made in campaign platforms that aren’t fulfilled when in office.... In their initial motion to dismiss the lawsuit, DNC lawyers argued Bernie Sanders supporters were aware the DNC and Wasserman Schultz were biased against their candidate. Now their argument is a neutral DNC and DNC chair are just political promises, leaving voters susceptible to the deception that the DNC would treat Clinton and Sanders equally. The lawyers argue liability only applies to consumer-merchant relationships.... These DNC lawyers are the same counsel Hillary Clinton used throughout her presidential campaign.... The [initial] arguments made by the DNC’s lawyers were proven invalid after the WikiLeaks dump of emails resulted in the resignation of Wasserman Schultz and three other top staff members, who were exposed to be working against the Sanders campaign in favor of Clinton. Despite Wasserman Schultz's disgrace, Clinton immediately hired her and establishment Democrats supported her reelection bid to Congress.

O'Keefe Reveals 'Bird-Dogging' to Incite Violence at Trump Events
Breitbart - Democrats have used trained provocateurs to instigate violence at Republican events nationwide throughout the 2016 election cycle, including at several Donald Trump rallies, using a tactic called “bird-dogging,” according to a new video investigation released Monday by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas. The goal of “bird-dogging”: to create a sense of “anarchy” around Donald Trump that would undermine his political support. Often, the tactic uses the most vulnerable people — including the elderly and disabled — to maximize shock value. O’Keefe’s extensive video investigation reveals that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are involved in “bird-dogging” and other provocative tactics through a web of consultants led by Robert Creamer, a veteran Chicago activist and convicted felon who is thought to have planned Democrats’ political strategy during the push for Obamacare in 2009 and 2010.... Creamer affirms on one video that Clinton is aware of “all” of his work, and that Democracy Partners has a daily telephone call with the Clinton campaign to coordinate efforts.... [one of Creamer’s consultants, Scott ] Foval also tells Project Veritas’s undercover journalist that Republicans are less adept at such tactics because they obey rules: “They have fewer guys willing to step out on the line for what they believe in. … There is a level of adherence to rules on the other side that only when you’re at the very highest level, do you get over.” In another video, Foval admits that his organization is responsible for an incident in Asheville, North Carolina in September, where an elderly woman was allegedly assaulted outside a Trump rally. In that incident, the 69-year-old woman, wearing an oxygen tank, heckled a visually impaired 73-year-old Trump supporter, then pursued him. She claimed he then punched her in the jaw, though she had no visible injury; his attorney claims she touched him on the shoulder first, and then fell to the ground as he turned around. The national media covered her claims widely, while largely ignoring his. Foval explains that the woman had been “trained” as a part of his operation.

Deutsche Bank to pay $38 million in U.S. silver price-fixing case
Reuters - Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to pay $38 million to settle U.S. litigation over allegations it illegally conspired with other banks to fix silver prices at the expense of investors, according to court papers filed on Monday. The settlement, disclosed in papers filed in Manhattan federal court, came in one of many recent lawsuits in which investors have accused banks of conspiring to rig rates and prices in financial and commodities markets. The settlement had been expected since April, though terms had yet to be disclosed. In court papers, lawyers for the investors say the deal will likely be an "ice breaker" that will serve as a catalyst for other banks to settle. Vincent Briganti, a lawyer for the investors, said the deal provides "substantial monetary compensation plus cooperation from Deutsche Bank in the continued prosecution of this important case against the non-settling defendants." The settlement is subject to court approval. A spokeswoman for the German bank declined to comment.

MIT nuclear fusion record marks latest step towards unlimited clean energy
The Guardian - A nuclear fusion world record has been set in the US, marking another step on the long road towards the unlocking of limitless clean energy. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created the highest plasma pressure ever recorded, using its Alcator C-Mod tokamak reactor. High pressures and extreme temperatures are vital in forcing atoms together to release huge amounts of energy. Nuclear fusion powers the sun and has long been touted as the ultimate solution to powering the world while halting climate change. But, as fusion sceptics often say, the reality has stubbornly remained a decade or two away for many years. Now MIT scientists have increased the record plasma pressure to more than two atmospheres, a 16% increase on the previous record set in 2005, at a temperature of 35 million C and lasting for two seconds. The breakthrough was presented at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s fusion summit in Japan on Monday. Successful fusion means getting more energy out than is put in and this requires the combination of pressure, temperature and time to pass a critical value at which point the reaction becomes self-sustaining. This remains elusive but the MIT record shows that using very high magnetic fields to contain the plasma may be the most promising route to practical nuclear fusion reactors.

EcoWatch - Florida Faces Worst Orange Harvest Crisis Since Records Began in 1913
Production of the official fruit of Florida continues to plummet as the first forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the 2016-2017 growing season indicates a 14 percent drop in the state's orange crop. On Wednesday, the USDA predicted farmers will have enough oranges to fill 70 million boxes for the season. Last season, Florida produced 81.5 million boxes, a 52-year low. This latest forecast shows that the region is in the midst of the worst orange harvest crisis since records began in 1913, according to The Guardian. After the announcement, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam said that the forecast is disheartening and further proof of the difficult times facing Florida's citrus industry which has been dealing with citrus greening, an incurable bacterial disease that can kill a tree within two years…. The state has set aside $8 million in the budget to help fight against greening, in addition to $14.7 million for a citrus health response program within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, reports The Tampa Bay Times. Farmers themselves have put $100 million into fighting the disease that is spread through hurricanes and storms that hit the state.

Salmon scam: Is your wild salmon really wild?
(NaturalHealth365) In a report released by the conservation group Oceana, researchers collected 82 samples of “wild-caught” salmon from restaurants and grocery stores from locations across the country. And DNA analysis showed that a shocking 43 percent were actually mislabeled – a disgraceful statistic. 69 percent of the mislabeling involved farmed Atlantic salmon being sold as wild-caught; the remainder involved inferior Pacific salmon, such as pink and chum, being sold as sockeye and king salmon. Fish prepared and served in restaurant dishes were the most likely to be mislabeled. Oceana reports that small vendors and restaurants were found to be less trustworthy in their labeling than large grocery stores – which are required to label their offerings with species and country of origin, as well as farmed or wild status. The report showed that 67 percent of the salmon served at restaurants was mislabeled – as opposed to only 20 percent at grocery stores…. Even more infuriating is the fact that the Oceana report merely re-emphasizes what has been over a decade of deception in salmon labeling. In 2004, the New York Times, tipped off by Vital Choice Wild Seafood, reported on mislabeling at the now-defunct Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan. Of 8 salmon fillets advertised as “wild-caught Alaskan salmon,” 6 were actually farmed Atlantic salmon – with full knowledge by the vendors, who stated that the practice was “good for business,” as farmed salmon is cheaper to buy.

10 Surprising Off-Grid Reasons You Should Stockpile Diatomaceous Earth
Off the Grid News - Diatomaceous earth is the fossilized remains of diatoms, which are found in oceans and other water bodies. The diatoms live for only about three days and their hard shell, made of silica, remains. The diatoms are ground up into a fine powder. Don’t ever consume the pool variety or the insecticide version, as these are higher in crystalline content, which can harm the kidneys and shut them down. Food grade, 100 percent fossil shell flour is the right type to get. Take a look at all of these uses – and then buy a bag of it.… 1. Heal old injuries…. Add DE to juice, water, smoothies, yogurt or soup a few times a day in a dosage of 1 heaping tablespoon and you will see a big difference in these old injuries within a week or two. 2. Heal broken bones. Silica is a mineral that replaces calcium if you don’t have enough… 1 heaping tablespoon twice daily. And while it’s working, it strengthens connective tissue in the bones. You end up with stronger bones. For children, use 1 teaspoon twice daily. 3. Chase away flying insects. Outdoor work is miserable when the mosquitoes and flies show up…. Sprinkle it on the grass or sand on your property so it looks like snow, and do it before you go to bed. The dew will take it into the ground, and all the mosquito and fly population will dwindle to almost nothing in days. 4. Add it to your foods for preservation.… Studies show this works well by placing some on the bottom of the bucket, and then halfway through the bucket and then on top of the food in the bucket…. The DE won’t harm the cooking process at all. 5. Fix stitches and scars. After cleaning the wound, sprinkle DE on it, and then cover it up. The DE will not only kill infections that can cause bad scarring but also stimulate healing without stitches. Silica is what the body needs for strong connective tissue. 6. Heal gum issues. These days receding gums are a huge problem, even in people in their 20s. DE resolves these problems. That’s because the silica in DE is one of the most important nutrients for the gums – and it’s not in the soils That means you don’t get it in your foods. Here’s what to do: Wet your toothbrush. Then scoop up about three-fourths an inch of the DE powder on top of your toothbrush. Lift your upper lip and place the DE right against the gums and teeth in this area. Repeat with the rest of the sections in your mouth….

As Flint Water Crisis Unfolded, Pharma Company Raised Price of Lead Poisoning Drug 2,700 Percent
Activist Post - Valeant Pharmaceuticals raised the price of a drug used to treat lead poisoning by 2,700 percent after acquiring the drug in 2013. By 2015 – as the issue of lead poisoning became prominent news – the price for a package of vials rose from $950 to $26,927. This intravenous treatment, called Calcium EDTA, has been available for decades at a stable price, and is the most effective for severe and life-threatening cases of lead poisoning. The dramatic price increase has drawn the ire of poison control specialists and hospitals since it began, but their concerns don’t make the MSM news headlines…. The problem is, the drug does not have a long shelf life and is not needed in large quantities, since severe lead poisoning is relatively uncommon. This is precisely the excuse Valeant gives for its egregious price hikes, with a company spokesman telling STAT, “The list price increases over the past several years have enabled us to provide to the market consistent availability of a product with high carrying costs and very limited purchase volume of 200 to 300 units per year.” The greed of Valeant Pharmaceuticals – which does little more than buy up other pharma companies and raise drug prices – was celebrated by Wall St. for two years until an accounting scandal and congressional hearings began tarnishing its image. In October 2015, we reported that Valeant raised prices on a number of critical brand-name drugs by an average of 66 percent — five times as much as its closest industry peers. These included Cuprimine, a decades-old drug that treats an inherited disorder called Wilson disease, and a diabetes drug called Glumetza. Valeant relies on insurance companies and government programs to shield most patients from the skyrocketing costs, but this leads to higher premiums and co-payments, as well as an extra burden on taxpayers.

Standard prostate cancer treatment doubles dementia risk
What Doctors Don't Tell You - Prostate cancer treatment ADT (androgen deprivation therapy) doubles the chances of dementia, a new study has discovered. It’s the standard treatment for prostate cancers that have spread—and doctors perhaps need to start looking for a safer alternative, say researchers. ADT lowers testosterone levels, but this also seems to have an impact on the patient’s chances of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease years later. n the new study, researchers from Stanford University tracked the progress of 1,829 prostate cancer patients for five years after they had been given ADT. In that time, 7.9 per cent developed dementia compared with 3.5 per cent of other prostate cancer patients who weren’t given ADT…. The risk was greatest among men who were aged 70 and older and who had been taking ADT for at least a year.

Combining Garlic and Lemon Significantly Reduces Blood Pressure and Total Cholesterol
Natural Blaze - Data published in the PubMed-listed International Journal of Preventive Medicine indicated that 20 grams per day of garlic and one tablespoon of lemon juice produced significantly greater reductions in total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and fibrinogen compared to garlic alone, lemon juice alone, or control. With their unique combination of flavonoids and sulfur-containing nutrients, allium vegetables–such as garlic–belong in your diet on a regular basis. There’s research evidence for including at least one serving of an allium vegetable–such as garlic–in your meal plan every day. Raw honey garlic lemon shots are known as an effective method to supercharge your immune system.

MSG In Dog Food Can Cause Brain Damage
Dogs Naturally - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies it as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) but still, quite a lot of people do experience unpleasant symptoms like headaches, flushing, sweating, nausea, heart palpitations, chest pain and facial numbness or tingling after eating food with MSG in it…. MSG lurks in many pet foods as well. And your dog can’t tell you he has a headache after eating it…. MSG is used as a flavor enhancer … but it’s actually quite tasteless itself. It works by tricking the brain into thinking food tastes good. It’s a type of neurotransmitter known as an excitotoxin, meaning it over-stimulates the brain, causing an overproduction of dopamine. This creates a brief sensation of wellbeing. But it damages the brain and alters its ability to respond to the signal from the hormone leptin that tells us we’re full … which is why, when you eat foods containing MSG, you just want to keep eating, making the food seem almost addictive. Of course, when it comes to dogs, most of them are greedy and just want to keep eating anyway … but if your dog’s eating kibble, MSG in his food might be increasing his seemingly endless hunger!… Studies by Dr John Olney at Washington University using neonatal mice and varying injected doses of MSG found that the injections caused obesity, neuroendocrine disturbances, behavioral disturbances, as well as fetal brain damage in mice whose mothers who ate it when pregnant. Other studies in animals have shown that MSG is toxic to various organs such as the liver, brain, thymus, and kidneys…. The FDA allows more than 40 ingredients that contain it. But because it isn’t added directly to the food, it doesn’t have to be listed on the label. One of the pet food industry’s favorite forms of MSG is hydrolyzed protein, also used to enhance flavor. If you see “natural flavoring” or “digest” on the label, it’s probably hydrolyzed protein. Apart from natural flavor, it can also appear under other names, including: Any type of protein isolate (e.g. soy protein isolate). Any type of textured protein (such as textured vegetable protein). Autolyzed yeast. Hydrolyzed yeast. Yeast extracts or yeast nutrient or yeast food. Soy extracts….

Video: Amazing Cat Uses Sign Language to Ask for Food
Cat knows how to sign 'eat' and get attention.

Monday - October 17, 2016 - Today In History:

1739 - Thomas Coram was granted a Royal Charter from George II so a "hospital for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children" in London, England.
1777 - American troops defeated British forces in Saratoga, NY. It was the turning point in the American Revolutionary War.
1931 - Al Capone was convicted on income tax evasion and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was released in 1939.
1933 - "News-Week" appeared for the first time at newsstands. The name was later changed to "Newsweek."
1973 - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) began an oil-embargo against several countries including the U.S. and Great Britain. The incident stemmed from Western support of Israel when Egypt and Syria attacked the nation on October 6, 1973. The embargo lasted until March of 1974.
1978 - U.S. President Carter signed a bill that restored full U.S. citizenship rights to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
1979 - Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1987 - U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan underwent a modified radical mastectomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.
1994 - The Angolan government and rebels agreed to a peace treaty that ended their 19 years of civil war.
2001 - Pakistan placed its armed forces on high alert because of troop movements by India in the disputed territory of Kashmir. India said that the movements were part of a normal troop rotation.
2003 - In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration approved a drug, known as memantine, to help people with Alzheimer's symptoms.
2007 - President George W. Bush, raising Beijing's ire, presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal and urged Chinese leaders to welcome the monk to Beijing.

Claim: America “Plotting Secret Attack on Syria” With 9,000 ISIS Fighters From Mosul
Mac Slavo - A new claim from Russia suggests that the United States and Saudi Arabia, along with other partners, are planning to use ISIS once again to destabilize Assad in Syria. If the account is to be believed, U.S. and British troops will use the pretext of ‘retaking Mosul’ in Iraq – which is currently held by ISIS – to give ISIS troops escape into Syria under cover of being attacked. The implication is that they would bomb targets that are already emptied of jihadists, who will actually be helping to achieve their objectives in neighboring Syria. via The UK Sun: "Thousnds of ISIS fighters are to be given safe passage out of Iraq to fight in Syria, Russian military leaders claim. The jihadi army – and their families – will allegedly be let back in to Syria to battle president Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies.… Nearly a thousand US and British troops have been sent to retake Mosul – the largest city under ISIS control. But under the supposed agreement – allegedly brokered by Saudi Arabia – the US-led coalition will only bomb targets agreed with the militants in advance… “In preparation for the operation in Mosul, US intelligence agencies and Saudi Arabia agreed that before the assault all militants will be offered a safe route to leave the city with their families.… “More than 9,000 ISIS fighters will be transferred to the eastern regions of Syria to follow a major offensive operation, which involves the capture of Deir ez-Zur and Palmyra.”.... If this proves to be accurate, it will represent a new front in the Syrian war, and the likelihood of direct confrontation between the United States and Russia – as these ISIS troops would be taking on Russian troops as well.

The siege of Mosul begins
The Long War Journal - Iraqi forces, backed by Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite militias as well as US airpower, are have launched their long-awaited offensive to retake Mosul, the last major city in Iraq under the Islamic State’s control. Iranian-backed Shiite militias are expected to play a key role in liberating Mosul from the Islamic State, which has occupied the city since June 2014.... The anti-Islamic State coalition has been preparing the battlefield to retake Mosul for well over six months.... If the Islamic State digs in and defends Mosul, the fight is expected to be bloody. More than 6,000 Islamic State fighters are thought to be in the city. It has deployed thousands of mines and has dug an elaborate network of tunnels and trenches across Mosul in preparation for a protracted urban fight. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped in the city as the Islamic State has prevented them from leaving. However, during recent battles in major Iraqi cities such as Ramadi and Fallujah, the Islamic State withdrew the bulk of its troops and left a smaller rearguard force to bleed the Iraqi military and militias. The forces in the fragmented anti-Islamic State alliance, a mix of Iraqi special forces and regular troops, the Kurdish Peshmerga, and Sunni and Shiite militias who number a total of 60,000, are each positioning themselves to reap the benefits of a post-Islamic State Mosul.

Putin Sends Aircraft Carrier Group to Mediterranean as Syrian Powderkeg Poised to Erupt
The Free Thought Project - Yesterday, Russia’s flagship, and only aircraft carrier — the Admiral Kuznetsov — left the port of Severomorsk en route to the eastern Mediterranean – off the Syrian coast, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The carrier will bolster the Russian anti-terror campaign in Syria and serve as a hedge against U.S. aggression, and is to be escorted by the battle cruiser Peter the Great, the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer, the anti-submarine vessel Severomorsk, and four other naval vessels from Russia’s Northern fleet. The move is not altogether unexpected, as just weeks ago Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the aircraft carrier would be sent to the eastern Mediterranean to boost the country’s naval forces in the region amid heightened tensions with the United States. This is the first deployment of the Soviet-era Kuznetsov since undergoing a complete refurbishment, and is a sign of the increasing tensions between the US and Russia in Syria.

US destroyer ‘appears’ to have fallen under new attack off Yemen
RT - Just two days after the US launched retaliatory strikes in Yemen and vowed to continue with the “self-defense” measures it deems necessary, the USS Mason has allegedly fallen under attack for the third time in a week, according to the Pentagon. “Earlier today, a US Strike Group transiting international waters in the Red Sea detected possible inbound missile threats and deployed appropriate defensive countermeasures,” Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Gary Ross said in a statement to Navy’s USNI [US Naval Institute] News.... The US intelligence is still assessing the situation. No American personnel suffered any injuries. Saturday’s strike against USS Mason is the third that the ship suffered in a week. According to the Pentagon the ship was previously targeted last Sunday and again on Wednesday. In response to the second reported attack, President Obama authorized retaliatory strikes against the radar installations that the US believes were used by the Houthi rebels to attack its ship in the international waters of the Red Sea.... The US President also threatened to take active countermeasures if strikes against US vessels in the region continue.... Earlier this week, the Pentagon admitted that the US was unaware of who actually “pulled the trigger,” only asserting that missiles came from the rebel-controlled area. The US side also implicated Iran, pointing towards its support of the rebels.

Cartel Gunmen Ambush Border Police with Armored Trucks
Breitbart - The ambush against the [Mexican] state police officers comes after citizen journalists in the border region known as the Ribereña or riverine have reported on gun battles involving large convoys of gunmen. According to residents, the gun battles among cartel factions started early morning in the area immediately south of Roma, Texas and quickly spread to other rural communities. The Ribereña is immediately south of Starr County, Texas and is considered a major drug trafficking route due to the lack of border security in the area.... A convoy of armored cartel trucks attacked police forces, setting off a fierce gun battle where one of the officers died. At the end of the clash, two cartel vehicles were left behind. One of the vehicles was a standard SUV, while the other truck was armored.... A second clash took place shortly after as Mexican military personnel rushed to assist the state police officers. Along the way, the soldiers fought with some cartel gunmen; resulting in another skirmish.... The attacks against police forces appear to have spiked in recent days with cartel forces focusing on state agents, particularly in the Ribereña area. The move appears to be a backlash at the increase in operations targeting cartel activity. Recently deployed convoys of Mexican marines have been completing successful raids against gunmen.

FINALLY Venezuela is Ending Price Controls
Economic Policy Journal - President Nicolás Maduro’s government has begun dismantling price controls, a major policy shift that aims to ease widespread unrest by letting shops sell food at market prices, reports The Wall Street Journal. What began as a limited experiment in March in western Zulia state, which borders Colombia, has since been rolled out to six other border states, according to ruling-party governors and interviews with supermarket owners and shoppers across the country. One of the governors says plans are afoot to extend the program to the capital, Caracas, where food riots recently broke out just outside the presidential palace.
“Before there was nothing; now there’s everything,” said Jesús Barrios, 36, as he shopped in Maracaibo, the state capital of Zulia, according to WSJ. “At least I can come in and buy, even if at high cost,” said Ana Atencio, a nurse who came in after her shift to get some sugar for her baby’s milk. “Before, I wouldn’t even dream of it because of the line and people fighting.” In cities where the controls have been lifted, including Maracaibo and Puerto Ordaz, the long lines of shoppers that snaked outside every store have shortened. Looting of markets and food trucks—a daily occurrence just a few months ago—were down one-third nationwide in August from a May high, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, a nonprofit group---another free market miracle.

CIA Prepping for Possible Cyber Strike Against Russia
NBC News - The Obama administration is contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the American presidential election, U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. Current and former officials with direct knowledge of the situation say the CIA has been asked to deliver options to the White House for a wide-ranging "clandestine" cyber operation designed to harass and "embarrass" the Kremlin leadership. The sources did not elaborate on the exact measures the CIA was considering, but said the agency had already begun opening cyber doors, selecting targets and making other preparations for an operation. Former intelligence officers told NBC News that the agency had gathered reams of documents that could expose unsavory tactics by Russian President Vladimir Putin…. Former CIA deputy director Michael Morell expressed skepticism that the U.S. would go so far as to attack Russian networks. "Physical attacks on networks is not something the U.S. wants to do because we don't want to set a precedent for other countries to do it as well, including against us," he said. "My own view is that our response shouldn't be covert -- it should overt, for everybody to see."

Russia Slams "Unprecedented, Insolent" US Cyber Threats, Vows Retaliation
Zero Hedge - In a striking report released on Friday night by NBC, the Obama administration was reportedly "contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert action" (it remains unclear how the action is covert if Biden announced it to the world via an interview with Chuck Todd), a "wide-ranging clandestine cyber operation designed to harass and "embarrass" the Kremlin leadership", in retaliation for alleged interference in the American presidential election, and has asked the CIA to draft plans for a "wide-ranging "clandestine" cyber operation designed to harass and "embarrass" the Kremlin leadership.".... The response came this [Saturday] morning Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "US aggressiveness is growing, and threats to carry out cyberattacks against Russia are unprecedented" adding that Russia will take “precautionary measures.” “The fact is, US unpredictability and aggression keep growing, and such threats against Moscow and our country’s leadership are unprecedented, because the threat is being announced at the level of the US Vice President,” Peskov told RIA Novosti cited by AFP. “Of course, given such an aggressive, unpredictable line, we have to take measures to protect our interests, somehow hedge the risks,” he said, adding that “such unpredictability is dangerous for the whole world.”.... Accusations against Russia have become louder in recent days with WikiLeaks releasing thousands of “Podesta emails,” exposing Hillary Clinton’s connections to Wall Street and controversial views on Syria, among other things. Numerous left-leaning mainstream media outlets have been quick to accuse the Kremlin of teaming up with WikiLeaks, allegedly providing it with massive amounts of inside scoops to post. The evidence-free allegations have been denied both by Moscow and by WikiLeaks. Responding to accusations last week, the Russian presidential press secretary mentioned that “tens of thousands of hackers” try to break into the sites of Russian officials on a daily basis, but this never prompted Moscow to point a finger at Washington.
* Related: Hillary Clinton’s advisers are ramping up attacks on WikiLeaks and the Russian government over a damaging email hack

Wikileaks Releases Another 1,054 Podesta Emails In Part 9 Of Data Dump; Total Is Now 12,073
Zero Hedge - In a now familiar daily routine, one which forces the Clinton campaign to bring up ever starker sexual scandals involving Trump to provide a media distraction, moments ago Wikileaks released yet another roughly 1,054 emails in Part 9 of its ongoing Podesta Email dump, which brings the total number of released emails to 12,073. As a reminder among yesterday's releases were the three much anticiapted transcripts from Hillary Clinton's speeches delivered to Goldman Sachs, first profiled here, and which as the WSJ explained "Reveal Hillary Clinton’s Sympathy for Wall Street" With another 38,000 or so emails left until election day, we expect the emergence of another Trump "sexual assault" accuser to emerge momentarily, just as we predicted yesterday and were proven right not once but twice. After all the public must be distracted from what truly matters.
* Related: Detailed List of Links to The Top Wikileaks Podesta

Pentagon Video Warns of “Unavoidable” Dystopian Future for World’s Biggest Cities (Video)
The Intercept - According to a startling Pentagon video obtained by The Intercept, the future of global cities will be an amalgam of the settings of “Escape from New York” and “Robocop” — with dashes of the “Warriors” and “Divergent” thrown in. It will be a world of Robert Kaplan-esque urban hellscapes — brutal and anarchic supercities filled with gangs of youth-gone-wild, a restive underclass, criminal syndicates, and bands of malicious hackers. At least that’s the scenario outlined in “Megacities: Urban Future, the Emerging Complexity,” a five-minute video that has been used at the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations University. All that stands between the coming chaos and the good people of Lagos and Dhaka (or maybe even New York City) is the U.S. Army, according to the video, which The Intercept obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. The video was used as part of an “Advanced Special Operations Combating Terrorism” course offered at JSOU earlier this year, for a lesson on “The Emerging Terrorism Threat.” JSOU is operated by U.S. Special Operations Command, the umbrella organization for America’s most elite troops. JSOU describes itself as geared toward preparing special operations forces “to shape the future strategic environment by providing specialized joint professional military education, developing SOF specific undergraduate and graduate level academic programs and by fostering special operations research.”… A 2014 Army report, titled “Megacities and the United States Army,” warned that “the Army is currently unprepared. Although the Army has a long history of urban fighting, it has never dealt with an environment so complex and beyond the scope of its resources.” A separate Army study published this year bemoans the fact that the “U.S. Army is incapable of operating within the megacity.”

Judge dismisses Sandy Hook families' lawsuit against gun maker
Fox News - A judge on Friday dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit by Newtown families against the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre, citing an embattled federal law that shields gun manufacturers from most lawsuits over criminal use of their products.... The families were seeking to hold Remington accountable for selling what their lawyers called a semi-automatic rifle that is too dangerous for the public because it was designed as a military killing machine. Their lawyer vowed an immediate appeal of Friday's ruling. The judge agreed with attorneys for Madison, North Carolina-based Remington that the lawsuit should be dismissed under the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which was passed by Congress in 2005 and shields gun makers from liability when their firearms are used in crimes.... Lawyers for Remington said Congress passed the act after determining such lawsuits were an abuse of the legal system.
* Related: After Lawsuit Dismissed, Clinton Reminds Gun-Makers She Has Them In Her Cross Hairs

More Than 1 Million to Lose Obamacare Plans as Insurers Quit
Bloomberg - At least 1.4 million people in 32 states will lose the Obamacare plan they have now, according to state officials contacted by Bloomberg. That’s largely caused by Aetna Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and some state or regional insurers quitting the law’s markets for individual coverage.... While it’s not clear what all the consequences of the departing insurers will be, interviews with regulators and insurance customers suggest that plans will be fewer and more expensive, and may not include the same doctors and hospitals.... The U.S. agency that oversees Obamacare has said that some disruption is normal, and that choosing a new plan can help people get the best deal.... For the people losing plans, there are fewer and fewer choices. One estimate by the Kaiser Family Foundation predicts that for at least 19 percent of the people in Obamacare’s individual market next year there will be only one insurer to choose from. In North Carolina, for example, a BlueCross BlueShield insurer will be the only option in 95 of the state’s 100 counties after Aetna and UnitedHealth said this year that they would leave. That will leave 284,000 people looking for a new plan, according to the state.... In Tennessee, UnitedHealth and the state’s BlueCross BlueShield plan are pulling back, and about 117,000 people will lose the plans they have now.

Officials Conspired to Conceal Refugee Resettlement in Vermont
LifeZette - The conservative watchdog Judicial Watch obtained 128 pages under Vermont’s open records law. The documents include an email from Amila Merdzanovic, executive director of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, asking Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras not to hold a public meeting on the resettlement plan. “I want to share with you the concern my HQ has about holding a public forum,” she wrote on April 14. “If we open it up to anybody and everybody, all sorts of people will come out of woodwork. Anti-immigrant, anti-anything. They suggest that the forum be invite-only but make it as wide as possible. Work with faith leaders, United Way, etc. … Perhaps, we could go back to the Congregational Church and continue the conversation there.” So shrouded in secrecy was the resettlement plan that most of the town’s aldermen did not realize what was taking place behind closed doors, according to Judicial Watch. William Notte, president of the Board of Aldermen, knew about the plan but did not share it with his colleagues until a day or two before Louras announced it at an April 26 news conference.... A document included in the Judicial Watch file lays out housing, jobs, medical care, and places for worship that the Rutland would need to provide for the refugees. The city has no mosque and no other Syrian refugees. Handwritten notes on that document indicate that the issue was “not what can ‘we’ do for ‘them,’ but what the diversity, cultural richness [can] do for this community.”.... The mayor’s decision to aggressively — and secretly — pursue the refugee resettlement plans drew the ire of some aldermen, who accused him of acting unilaterally. The Board of Aldermen this month called for an investigation into how the mayor handled the issue.

When Librarians Are Silenced
New York Review Daily - In cooperation with the Truman Presidential Library and the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Kansas City Public Library had invited Dennis Ross—a former advisor on the Middle East to Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama, and to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and currently a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy—to speak about Truman and Israel at its Plaza Branch.... During the question-and-answer session after Ross’s address, a local writer and activist named Jeremy Rothe-Kushel asked about US support for what he called Israel’s “state-sponsored terrorism.” Ross answered, and when Rothe-Kushel followed up with a more aggressive question, Hawkins and one of the other guards approached him and immediately tried to eject him from the building—despite the fact that Rothe-Kushel posed no danger to the speaker or audience members.... Steve Woolfolk, the library’s director of programming, who had been watching from off stage, interceded on Rothe-Kushel’s behalf and defended his right to remain in a public building and ask questions at a public forum; in a cell phone video, Rothe-Kushel can be heard saying, “Ask me to leave [and] I will leave.” The guards led Woolfolk and Rothe-Kushel through the green room toward the lobby. As Woolfolk rounded a pillar, several of the guards grabbed Woolfolk from behind. Woolfolk was kicked in the leg (resulting in a torn knee ligament), slammed against the pillar, and thrown into a chair. When he bounced out of the chair onto the floor, the guards forced him back into the chair, and handcuffed him. Both men were arrested by a uniformed police officer who had been summoned by Hawkins. Rothe-Kushel was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, and Woolfolk with interfering with an arrest.... Since May, the cases against both men have been pending.

Video: Donald Trump Uncensored: This Is America's "Moment Of Reckoning"
Zero Hedge - Sometimes, you just have to listen... "There is nothing that the political establishment will not do; no lie they will not tell, to hold their prestige and power at your expense... and that's what's been happening. The Washington establishment - and the financial and media corporations that fund it - exists for one thing only... to protect and enrich itself." […] For those who control the levers of power in Washington and for the global special interests - they partner with these people that don't have your good in mind - our campaign represents a true existential threat... like they haven't seen before. This is not simply another four-year election; this is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not we, the people, reclaim control over our government."
* Related: Full: Donald Trump Speech 10/13/16: West Palm Beach, Florida

Republican HQ in Orange County firebombed
The Charlotte Observer - The weekend firebombing of a North Carolina Republican headquarters drew national attention Sunday, with one state GOP official calling it an act of “political terrorism.” Hillsborough police say the incident at the Orange County GOP headquarters occurred when a bottle of flammable liquid was thrown through the front window of the office that housed the local GOP headquarters. The words, “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else” and a swastika were spray painted on the side of an adjacent building. Officials said the bomb ignited inside the office. No damage estimates were available.... Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the state GOP, called the bombing “political terrorism.” “The office itself is a total loss,” he said. “The only thing important to us is that nobody was killed, and they very well could have been.” Later, Woodhouse said, “Whether you are Republican, Democrat or Independent, all Americans should be outraged by this hate-filled and violent attack against our democracy... Everyone in this country should be free to express their political viewpoints without fear for their own safety.” The incident comes barely three weeks before an election marked by heightened tensions and passion on both sides. On Sunday the Bangor Daily News reported that about 20 cars were vandalized with spray paint outside a Saturday rally for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

JUDGE JEANINE Speaks With Witnesses Who TOTALLY DEBUNK Trump Groper Accusers (VIDEO)
The Gateway Pundit - Anthony Gilberthorpe, who was on the flight where Jessica Leeds claimed sexual harassment by Donald Trump. Anthony totally debunked Jessica’s bizarre accusations. Anthony said he would speak out against these lies whether it be Trump, Obama or Clinton. “I will prove that I was on that flight with that woman and I was witness not to any sexual misdemeanor on the part of Trump. That man did not touch that woman… She said, “I can’t believe my luck that I’ve met one of the richest men in the world.” And John Barry, cousin of Summer Zervos, refuted her Friday accusations with Gloria Allred. John told Judge Jeanine that she was unhappy that Trump would not visit her restaurant. John added that his cousin likes to sue people.

Exxon Has Lost Over $1 Billion From Russian Sanctions
OilPrice.com - Exxon, the world’s biggest oil and gas company by value, entered Russia in the 1990s and has enjoyed a long and fruitful presence there. This presence was set to expand further with Exxon’s plans to take part in the exploration and exploitation of the country’s Arctic shelf. Unfortunately for Exxon, the U.S. and the EU hit Russia with sanctions over the annexation of Crimea and its support for Eastern Ukrainian rebels. The sanctions forced Exxon to shelve its Arctic plans, and it started to lose money from revenues generated by its ongoing Russian projects, such as the flagship project Sakhalin-1 and a number of joint ventures with Russia’s Rosneft. It also lost future revenues. The Arctic venture alone was valued at $500 billion in total investments. What made the project particularly appealing for Exxon was that Rosneft’s CEO, Igor Sechin, had promised to exempt the company from export duties and property tax. It was all going so well before the White House ordered Exxon to basically drop everything and go home, banning the export of any technical know-how and equipment in the area of drilling for oil and gas, including shale technology. As of early 2015, seven months after the sanctions were launched, Exxon had suffered losses amounting to about $1 billion from its Russian operations. That may not look like a whole lot of money for a company that reported second-quarter profits of $1.7 billion this year.

New Obama Executive Order Hints At Devastating Space Event: "Could Disable Large Portions Of The Electrical Power Grid... Cause Cascading Failures"
Mac Slavo - Space weather events such as solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances have long been believed to pose a significant threat to our technologically advanced society with the ability to not only affect global positioning satellites, but on-earth electronics that include the entire domestic (and global) power grid. In the latest Executive Order signed by Barack Obama, the President calls for coordination between various government agencies including the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland security should a major “space weather event” come to pass.... Though often dismissed as nothing more than fear mongering, the threat of space weather events is not only possible, it is quite probable, as evidenced by a massive solar flare which narrowly missed earth in 2012.... Recent projections from a secret Homeland Security report suggest that as many as 100 million Americans could be left without power should a powerful enough solar storm strike earth. Another report paints an even more terrifying picture, indicating that without access to power via our grid, America would literally come to a standstill. Critical supplies including medicine, gas, and food would be undeliverable and within one year as many as 90% of Americans would be dead if the grid were not restored.... And it is this very descent into breakdown that will require an unprecedented government response and Obama’s Doomsday Executive Order has given them the pretext to do so.

Video: Illness, Respiratory Symptoms After CDC Protesters Hit by Chemtrails, Including “Vaxxed” Producer
Natural Blaze - A protest at the CDC building in Atlanta, Georgia, with the “Vaxxed” documentary producer and crew in attendance was decimated by chemtrails this weekend. Some reported respiratory symptoms, illness, and tiredness, something that is frequently reported after heavy exposure to spraying, which we documented earlier this year at Era of Wisdom in “The Geoengineering Escalation of 2016.” This Era of Wisdom video explains…

15 Reasons Why You Should Grow Bamboo The Perfect Prepper Plant
Natural Blaze - Bamboo is a grass that most people assume can only grow in warmer climates (like zone 5 or above) but some of the 1,500 plus varieties are perfectly happy to grow in cooler and even cold regions surviving down to -20. Many bamboo varieties contain cyanide and therefore none of the uses listed below includes food as I don’t know enough about which varieties are safe to eat. 1. Dry bamboo burns well and is considered a sustainable fuel source. 2. Leaving a few stems on the plant encourages them to grow larger which makes them far more useful for use as containers. 3. Containers: cut above one joint and below another gives you a bamboo tube that is sealed at one end and open at the other. It will hold water or anything else you decide to put in it. 4. Bamboo actually fills up with water when it rains and that water is drinkable, and in large stems there can be enough for you to pot up for later. 5. It’s strength and flexibility makes it idea for crafting fishing rods. 6. It sharpens well and fishing spears are easily fashioned from a slim stem. 7. Dry bamboo is relatively easy to sharpen and it takes a point very easily. A bamboo knife is sharp and ideal for self-defence should the need arise. 8. Bamboo floats and can be fashioned into fishing lures. 9. Still on floating, a couple of stems on the surface of a pond or lake, anchored with a stone on a rope to stop them floating away will keep the water from freezing, maintaining your water/fishing hole. 10. Lashing larger stems of bamboo together can make fencing, defensive barriers and even rafts….

Big Pharma cannot profit from healthy people
Kamloops This Week - The Canadian government is proposing to change the natural health products (NPH) regulations to regulate many NHP using the same rules as drugs, NHP are different in nature from drugs and must be treated differently. Our pre-market approval system respects traditional values from many different cultures and allows Canadians freedom of choice and access to these important products. Changing the NHP regulations is trying to fix a system that is not broken. This proposed legislation reeks of crony capitalism big time and health-food stores estimate they will lose half of their products. Here’s a rhetorical question: Who will profit from their loss? My health depends on the vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements available to me. Removing them from health-food stores would be an atrocious crime.
* Related Video: New Global Restrictions on Natural Health Products
* Related Article: Health Canada to change standards for natural health products

Coke and Pepsi Spent Millions Buying Off Public Health Groups While Lobbying Against Health Initiatives
AllGov - Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have given millions of dollars to nearly 100 prominent health groups in recent years, while simultaneously spending millions to defeat public health legislation that would reduce Americans’ soda intake, according to public health researchers. The findings, published Monday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, document the beverage industry’s deep financial ties to the health community over the past five years, as part of a strategy to silence health critics and gain unlikely allies against soda regulations.... The report found a number of instances in which influential health groups accepted beverage industry donations and then backed away from supporting soda taxes or remained noticeably silent about the initiatives. In one instance cited in the study, the nonprofit group Save the Children, which had actively supported soda tax campaigns in several states, did an about face and withdrew its support in 2010. The group had accepted a $5 million grant from Pepsi and was seeking a major grant from Coke to help pay for its health and education programs for children.... The New York Times last year reported that Coke had paid for scientific research that downplayed the link between sugary drinks and obesity. The beverage giant then released a database showing that since 2010 it had spent more than $120 million on academic research and partnerships with health organizations involved in curbing obesity.

DEA Decides NOT to Ban Kratom … For Now
Natural Society - On October 12, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said in a notice to be published in the Federal Register that it has formally withdrawn plans to ban kratom, an herb used by many as a natural medicine. The category is reserved for drugs which have no known medicinal value. The August announcement drew the ire of kratom users, advocates, and stakeholders, many of whom expressed their outrage via the Internet. Citing this backlash, the DEA says it will open an official comment period, set to end on December 1. The DEA is also asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a formal scientific and medical evaluation of kratom, which it will use to make an updated scheduling recommendation…. Researchers believe their work on kratom could eventually lead to the development of painkillers that rival opiates, but without being addictive. And unlike opioid medications, kratom isn’t known to cause the same side effects as opioids, including respiratory depression. While ingesting kratom does lead to feelings of euphoria, David Kroll, a pharmacologist and medical writer, explained that it’s not the same high as the one derived from taking opioids. Researchers argue that making the herb a Schedule I drug would cripple their ability to study it further. When December 1 rolls around, a number of things could happen. Firstly, the DEA could opt to put kratom in a schedule of the Controlled Substances Act permanently. This would allow more time for lawmakers and the public to voice their opinions on the herb’s future. Secondly, the administration could decide to temporarily schedule kratom, which would not require any additional comment. Thirdly, it might leave kratom unregulated.

9 Reasons Your Fabric Softener Could Be Causing Your Health Problems
Marina Zacharias - Sometimes it's hard to believe that health problems can arise from the simplest products used in everyday living. There is a movement going on right now to participate in a class action lawsuit against manufacturers of fabric softeners… Turns out that the chemicals used can cause serious trouble with your central nervous system! Exposure can be through inhalation from the exhaust of dryers or skin contract from the treated fabrics. Symptoms include (but are not limited to): disorientation, dizziness, headaches, memory loss, neck and spine pain, etc. [Here is a] brief glance at the ingredients used along with some basic research from their "Material Safety Data Sheets”… ALPHA-TERPINEOL - "highly irritating to mucous membrances" ... "aspiration into lungs can produce pneumonitis or even fatal edema" ... "can also cause loss of muscular coordination" --- "Prevent repeated or prolonged skin contact." BENZYL ACETATE -- "Cardinogenic (linked to pancreatic cancer). "from vapors: irritating to eyes and respirator passages, exciting cough" ... "can be absorbed through the skin causing systemic effects" ... "do not flush to sewer." BENZYL ALCOHOL -- "irritating to the upper respiratory tract" ... "headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drop in blood pressure, depression, and death in severe cases due to respiratory failure." CAMPHOR -- On EPA's Hazardous Waste List. "readily absorbed through the body tissues" ... "irritation of eyes, skin, nose and throat" ... "dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles and convulsions" ... "avoid inhalation of vapors." CHLOROFORM - (You've got to be kidding!!) ETHYL ACETATE -- Narcotic. "may cause headache and narcosis" ... "may cause anemia with leukocytosis and damage to liver and kidneys" ... "wash thoroughly after handling." LIMONENE -- Carcinogenic. "prevent its' contact with skin or eyes because it is an irritant and sensitizer" ... "always wash thoroughly after using this material and before eating or drinking" ... "do not inhale limonene vapor.”….
* Related: Class Action Lawsuit Against Fragrance Chemical Companies

8 Home Remedies for Minor Dog Emergencies
Dr. Becker - Many pet parents look in their cabinets first to treat minor health issues in their animal companion. There are a number of household items many people have on hand that can serve a dual purpose as health remedies… 1. Problem: Constipation, Diarrhea and Other Minor Digestive Issues. Solution: Canned pumpkin. It's a good idea to keep a can of 100 percent pumpkin in your kitchen cabinet for occasional mild tummy upsets…. 2. Problem: Minor Skin Abrasions, Cuts, Infections or Hot Spots. Solution: Povidone iodine. Povidone iodine (Betadine) is a gentle disinfectant that can take care of staph, yeast and almost any common bacteria. It doesn't sting or irritate the skin, and it's safe if your pet licks it…. 3. Problem: Itchy, Irritated Paws. Solution: Footbaths. Did you know about 50 percent of your dog's foot licking and chewing can be alleviated by mechanically removing allergens and other irritants collected on a dog's paws? "Mechanically removing" simply means rinsing them off…. 4. Problem: Fleas. Solution: Apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar (ACV) doesn't kill fleas, but it can help to keep them off your dog. One of the simplest approaches is to make a solution of equal parts ACV and water. I recommend using raw, organic ACV…. 5. Problem: Upset Tummy. Solution: Ginger. Mix either fresh ground ginger or the dry herb into a tasty meatball or other yummy treat. Use 1/8th teaspoon for dogs under 10 pounds; ¼ teaspoon for medium-sized dogs; ½ teaspoon for large dogs and ¾ to 1 teaspoon for giant breeds….
 

Friday - October 14, 2016 - Today In History:

1879 - Thomas Edison signed an agreement with Jose D. Husbands for the sale of Edison telephones in Chile.
1887 - Thomas Edison and George E. Gouraud reached an agreement for the international marketing rights for the phonograph.
1912 - Theodore Roosevelt was shot while campaigning in Milwaukee, WI. Roosevelt's wound in the chest was not serious and he continued with his planned speech. William Schrenk was captured at the scene of the shooting.
1933 - Nazi Germany announced that it was withdrawing from the League of Nations.
1936 - The first Social Security Board office opened in Austin, TX. From this point, the Board's local office took over the assigning of Social Security Numbers.
1944 - German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution after being accused of conspiring against Hitler and the execution that would follow.
1947 - Over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California, pilot Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 rocket plane and became the first person to break the sound barrier.
1960 - U.S. presidential candidate John F. Kennedy first suggested the idea of a Peace Corps.
1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis began. It was on this day that U.S. intelligence personnel analyzing data discovered Soviet medium-range missile sites in Cuba. On October 22 U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that he had ordered the naval "quarantine" of Cuba.
1964 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent resistance to racial prejudice in America.
1968 - The first live telecast to come from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
1972 - In Iraq, oil was struck for the first time just north of Kirkuk.
1986 - Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev charged that the U.S. wanted to "bleed the Soviet Union economically" with the arms race in space.
1987 - Jessica McClure, 18 months old, fell down an abandoned well in Midland, TX. The rescue took 58 hours.
2006 - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test.

Major Offensive: More Than 60,000 Iraqi Troops Preparing to Retake Mosul
Sputnik News - Iraqi media reports that at least 65,000 Iraqi soldiers in six divisions are preparing for the battle to retake the city of Mosul from the Daesh forces that have made it their headquarters in Iraq for the past two years. Some 10,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are also expected to join the battles that will bleed north and east of the city of over a million, Iraqi News reported, plus around 24,000 provincial police and members of the country's National Mobilization Forces – militia groups – as support. The battle will be directed from Camp Swift, an American base near the Qayyarah airfield outside the city, CBS reported. There are estimated to be 6,000 US troops in the country, conducting air strikes alongside the Iraqi Air Force, and providing training, logistical, and maintenance support during the upcoming battle. The fight to retake the city from the estimated 3,000-5,000 ISIS fighters still holding it is expected to start in weeks or days. In the runup to the battle, it is reported that the city is being ringed with bombs, with bridges booby-trapped and suicide bombers prepared to deploy. Multiple sources say Kurdish forces expect Daesh to use chemical weapons.

Iran deploys warships off Yemen after US, Houthis trade fire
Fox News - Iran deployed two warships off Yemen threatening to further escalate tensions after the U.S. fired Tomahawk cruise missiles destroying three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News on Thursday. Iran sent the ships to the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's most vital shipping routes, "to protect trade vessels from piracy," Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Still, analysts warn the move could ratchet up the danger to U.S. forces in the region. U.S. intelligence has linked Iran to the funding of Yemen's Shiite rebels, who have also waged a series of attacks against Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally.... Fox News is told one of the Iranian ships carries the same type of anti-ship missiles the Houthis were suspected of firing this week, and the other ship carries a helicopter. White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said the U.S. would not speculate on the Iranians' intentions. A U.S. official told Fox News a Chinese warship and Russian intelligence ship were in the same region Thursday.

U.S. military strikes Yemen after missile attacks on U.S. Navy ship
Yahoo News - The U.S. military launched cruise missiles on Thursday against three coastal radar sites in areas of Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi forces, after failed missile attacks this week on a U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S. officials said.... The U.S. missile strikes, authorized by President Barack Obama, represent Washington's first direct military action against suspected Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen's conflict and raised questions about the potential for further escalation.... "These limited self-defense strikes were conducted to protect our personnel, our ships and our freedom of navigation," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said. In a news conference later, Cook said the strikes were not connected to the broader civil war in Yemen, which has unleashed famine and killed more than 10,000 people since March 2015 in the Arab world's poorest country.... The Houthi movement, which has denied being responsible for the missile attacks on the Mason, warned that it too would defend itself. "The direct American attack targeting Yemeni soil this morning is not acceptable," Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, a spokesman for Yemeni forces fighting alongside the Houthis, was quoted as saying by the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency.

The President of the Philippines Just Snubbed US While Embracing China
The AntiMedia - As Reuters reports: “China confirmed on Wednesday that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will visit China next week, as the Southeast Asian leader’s relationship with traditional ally the United States frays. “Under Duterte, Manila’s relations with Washington have come under strain and the recently elected president has opted to put aside years of hostility with China, especially over the disputed South China Sea, to form a new partnership.”.... The [Chinese] Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Duterte would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as Premier Li Keqiang, on a visit set to begin on October 18.... Joining him will be 250 Philippine business executives, all “eager to talk with Chinese business leaders and government officials about deals in a range of sectors, from rail, and construction to tourism, agribusiness, power and manufacturing,” according to Reuters.... The whole situation - the U.S. possibly losing an ally to a nation it’s currently on the brink of naval warfare with - is complicated further when considering events taking place just north of the Philippines, off the eastern coast of China. There, longtime U.S. ally Japan is squaring off against China over territorial rights to the East China Sea. Japan, which has already implemented plans to construct a missile defense system to protect what it purports to be its national interests, has also begun sending out coast guard patrols to hunt Chinese fishing vessels it says are operating illegally. At the same time, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea recently conducted their first ever joint naval drills in a show of cooperation amid concerns over the much-hyped North Korean nuclear threat.

High dose IV vitamin C cures patient of Zika virus in three days
(NaturalHealth365) For years, natural health experts have been extolling the ability of high doses of vitamin C to fight disease safely, effectively and naturally. Now, a case study from Puerto Rico – in which a woman infected with the Zika virus recovered practically overnight after being treated with vitamin C – provides strong new evidence for the claim…. According to conventional ‘wisdom,’ there is no cure for the Zika virus – which usually resolves itself within two weeks. To alleviate symptoms, doctors often prescribe acetaminophen (which threatens the liver) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which offers plenty of negative side effects…. When vitamin C is given orally, much of it is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, with the excess being eliminated by the kidneys. The advantage of giving vitamin C intravenously is that it can then reach proper levels of plasma concentration.

‘Wet Works’: Podesta Email Makes Assassination Reference Days Before Scalia Death
Adan Salazar - Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta used a term known to reference assassination in an email sent to a lobbyist days before Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s mysterious death. The email, an exchange between Podesta and D.C. lobbyist Steve Elmendorf, appeared in a trove of documents dumped by the organization WikiLeaks Wednesday. “Didn’t think wet works meant pool parties at the Vineyard,” Podesta says in the February 9 email under the subject line “Thanks”. “I’m all in,” gay lobbyist and Hillary delegate Steve Elmendorf replies. “Sounds like it will be a bad nite, we all need to buckle up and double down.” Justice Scalia was later found dead in a hotel room in Texas on the night of February 12 – three days after the email exchange took place. The mysterious death was seen as suspicious by many, including a former US Army intelligence officer who deemed the pillow found over Scalia’s head to be a warning. Emails sent throughout the Clinton campaign on the day Scalia’s death was announced show the team debated on whether or not to address the issue, and what should be said if anything. Former U.S. Senate staffer Brent Budowsky also emailed Podesta on the 13th, the day Scalia’s body was found, suggesting a replacement for the late judge. The term “wet work” typically refers to murder or assassination. Alternatively, the email could also reference being “murdered” at the polls. The message’s date, February 9, coincides with the night of the New Hampshire primary, where Hillary lost to Bernie Sanders 60.4% to 38%. Without additional context, it’s almost impossible to tell what use of the term “wet works” in the email refers to.
* Related: Wikileaks exposes the Assassination of Scalia and it could bring down the Clintons and the Democratic Party

Wikileaks Releases Another 2,000 Podesta Emails In Part 6 Of Data Dump
Zero Hedge - Just hours after wikileaks released the 5th part of the Podesta emails dump which in turn came shortly after part 4 which together amounted to some 1,866 new email, Wikileaks has unveiled the latest, 6th part in what now is a daily event, which released another 2,000 emails, bringing the total number of emails released to over 9,000 and assuring that at least one part of the media will be busy digging through hundreds of emails more, while much of the remaining part of the media will be doing all it can to ignore the latest release and instead focusing on the latest sexual allegations against Donald Trump.... Some initial observations: The Soros Hamptons invite, "Clintons won't forget what their friends have done for them", More concerns about Hillary's emotional detachment, Hillary preparing the script for Benghazi, The discussion of "wet works", days before Scalia's death.

Hackers hit Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, wiping out his iPhone, iPad
McClatchy DC - Not only has the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks been publishing emails pirated from Podesta’s account earlier this year, but hackers penetrated his Twitter account and apparently wiped all the data from his iPhone and iPad.... What allowed the hackers to target Podesta was a single email from the thousands WikiLeaks has published in the past week.... Wednesday evening, as Clinton landed in Las Vegas for a campaign event, a hacker got into Podesta’s Twitter account and tweeted in his name: “I’ve switched teams. Vote Trump 2016. Hi pol.”.... Technologists quickly speculated that Podesta used the same password for his Apple account and his Twitter account, which security experts say is a no-no.... By Thursday morning, [Chief Executive of Capital Alpha Security, Matt] Tait was harvesting screen shots from Anonymous activists showing that they had remotely erased all content from his iPhone and iPad.... Podesta, 67, is no innocent when it comes to security matters. A Georgetown University-educated lawyer, he served as the chief of staff to President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and as counselor to President Barack Obama in 2014 and 2015.... But Podesta’s travails Thursday did not come at the hands of sophisticated Russian state hackers. Rather, Podesta himself was apparently lax on basic computer security measures.... [Chris Soghoian, a senior policy analyst on technology for the American Civil Liberties Union tweeted] The woeful personal cybersecurity of senior policy makers in DC isn't a joke. It is a major national security problem.

32-Member SWAT Team Raids Home Because Man Had Registered Gun
Off the Grid News - A SWAT team with 32 officers, an armored vehicle and a sniper raided a man’s home because he had a license to carry a gun and a registered weapon — and because a former roommate had a little bit of marijuana. During the search – which was criticized by a judge this month — deputies smashed Michael Delgado’s door and windows, and tossed flash-bang grenades into his house. Worst of all, Delgado was not the target of the raid or even suspected of a crime. Deputies from the Hennepin County Emergency Services Unit (ESU) were actually searching for Walter Power. Power; who was wanted for selling marijuana, was believed to be staying at Delgado’s house in Golden Valley, Minnesota, in November 2015. The ESU was called in because Delgado had a gun registered to his name and a license to carry it, and they feared he would use it, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. The military-style tactics police used in the raid violated the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, Hennepin County District Judge Tanya Bransford ruled. The Fourth Amendment bans unreasonable searches and seizures…. Even though the raid was declared unconstitutional and the charges against Power were dropped, Delgado was still in court in October 2016, fighting to get his legal gun back, The Star-Tribune reported. Delgado was also seeking reimbursement for broken windows and doors “They could have said, ‘We’d like to search your house,’” Delgado said of the ESU. “They could have just asked.”

WikiLeaks Fallout: Donna Brazile to America, Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes
Wall Street On Parade - After the prior Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned in disgrace in July after Guccifer 2.0 and WikiLeaks released emails... Interim Chair of the DNC, Donna Brazile, is under the gun for putting her finger on the scale for Hillary Clinton.... The recent WikiLeaks release of emails shows that on that date at 4:39 p.m., Brazile sent an email to Jennifer Palmieri, Communications Director for the Hillary Clinton campaign, titled: “From time to time I get the questions in advance.” The title clearly conveys that Brazile was referring to questions that would be asked the very next day at the March 13, 2016 CNN Democratic Town Hall at Ohio State University in Columbus.... The Town Hall was a pivotal event, coming just two days before Democratic primaries in five states: Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Brazile’s email indicated that she was worried that Clinton might be tripped up by a question on the death penalty. Brazile wrote: “Here’s one that worries me about HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton]. “DEATH PENALTY “19 states and the District of Columbia have banned the death penalty....” The next evening at the Town Hall, Clinton did indeed receive a question on the death penalty. Despite the unambiguous violations inherent in the title, text and outcome of Brazile’s email, she is flatly denying that she leaked a question to Clinton.... Another leaked email shows that on January 4, 2016, Brazile had tipped the Clinton campaign to a Twitter event being planned by the Bernie Sanders’ campaign. Brazile forwarded the details she had received from Sarah Ford, Deputy National Press Secretary for Sanders to Clinton adviser Adrienne Elrod. The response from Elrod to Brazile for the good intel was: “Thank you for the heads up on this Donna.”

Unsecured Podesta-Hillary Exchange Exposes Intelligence Source On The Ground in Libya
Townhall - An email released in last week's Wikileaks dump sent by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and received by John Podesta, then counselor to President Barack Obama from 2014-2015, discusses and exposes intelligence sources on the ground in Libya and Iraq. Podesta is now the Chairman of Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. The email exchange, which appears to contain highly classified information according to military sources, was sent to Podesta's Gmail from Clinton's personal servers on August 19, 2014, more than a year after Clinton left the State Department in February 2013.... In the exchange, Podesta was also using an unsecured address on Gmail to communicate with Clinton, which is a violation of federal law if the information was indeed classified. Not to mention, exposure of intelligence sources on the ground puts lives at risk. Further, this email proves that not only did White House officials know about Clinton's private email server, but that Podesta communicated with Clinton about a range of highly sensitive, national security topics.

More women accuse Donald Trump of unwanted touching
Washington Times - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday pushed back against new allegations from several women that he touched them inappropriately years ago, calling one story a “total fabrication” and saying another “did not happen.” The New York Times reported Wednesday on two women, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks, who accused Mr. Trump of unwanted touching and/or kissing.... Other stories from women, including a People Magazine reporter, also surfaced Wednesday.... Another woman, Mindy McGillivray, told the Palm Beach Post she was groped by Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago 13 years ago, and that she yelled “you liar!” at the TV screen while watching Sunday’s debate.
* Related: Trump Calls Sexual-Assault Claims Conspiracy to Defeat Him (Video)

Trump "Sexual Assault" Story Immediately Debunked With 3 Simple Photos
Subject: Politics - Hillary’s campaign and their lapdogs in the media are getting desperate following Trump’s epic beat down of Hillary in Monday’s debate. Last night, the despicable New York Times published a baseless hit piece where a woman claims Trump sexually assaulted her decades ago on a commercial airline. Soon after this garbage was published, thousands of people on the internet noticed one major problem with these accusations against Trump. Jessica Leeds says Trump assaulted her during a FIRST-CLASS flight to New York about three decades ago. Leeds, now 74, claims Trump lifted the ARM REST and began to touch her inappropriately about 45 minutes into the flight. “He was like an octopus,” she said. “His hands were everywhere.” But there's one major problem with that story … First Class seats do not have arm rests that lift up and they never have!...Also, don’t you find it odd that this story is just now surfacing? Ms. Leeds had 30 years to report this, but just recently decided to make these accusations against Donald Trump just 3 weeks before election day!

Trump Accuser Said He Abusively 'Nudged' Her at a Concert That Never Happened
The Gateway Pundit - Melinda Rose “Mindy” McGillivray, told the Palm Beach Post after the second presidential debate that someone bumped her backstage at a Ray Charles concert held at Mar-A-Lago on January 24, 2003: ... “All of a sudden I felt a grab, a little nudge. I think it’s Ken’s camera bag, that was my first instinct. I turn around and there’s Donald. He sort of looked away quickly. I quickly turned back, facing Ray Charles, and I’m stunned.’’.... Critical details of McGillivray’s story don’t add up. McGillivray claims that when she was nudged in 2003, Trump and his wife Melania were engaged. But a quick Google search proves this is false: Trump proposed to Melania in April 2004. Why didn’t the Palm Beach Post or McGillivray check this obvious detail? Perhaps because they never bothered to verify a Ray Charles concert at Mar-A-Lago even happened on January 24, 2003. A Getty Images search shows Trump and Melania posing with Ray Charles at Mar-A-Lago … in a photo by Davidoff Photos Studio, created on January 1, 2003, more than three weeks before McGillivray claimed she was “grabbed” at a Ray Charles concert. A Ray Charles concert chronology shows that on January 23, a Ray Charles concert in Seattle was canceled, but nothing was scheduled for January 24.

HIDDEN CAM: Russ Feingold Says Hillary Might Issue Executive Order on Guns (Video)
Project Veritas - In this video released by Project Veritas Action, James O’Keefe exposes Hillary Clinton’s plan to ban all guns through an executive order. In the video, James O’Keefe attends a private top donor campaign fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidate Russ Feingold. He attended the fundraiser the same day that a Project Veritas journalist was burned in the Feingold campaign.

Report: Hacker Claims ‘Racist Hillary’ Tape Set to be Released
Paul Joseph Watson - The individual, who claims to be linked to the John Podesta email hack, also claims that the thousands of emails deleted from Hillary Clinton’s private server will be leaked before November 1st. All 33k deleted Emails are going to be released by November 1st. probably in 4 – 5 sets. these emails are going to be the complete undoing of the Democratic Party. We are purposely holding them back so they cannot have time to replace Hillary,” claims the alleged hacker, who asserts that he is not working for Russia. He goes on to promise that no less than six embarrassing videos will be released, including one, “that documents Hillary slandering and being racist against a Female African American. The amount of hatred seen on her face for their community will be worse than 100 TrumpTapes.” The individual also comments on the Podesta emails, noting that “we are saving the best for last”. “I can confirm rotten Hillary’s 33,000 emails have been obtained. Word is it will be a “November surprise.” Wow, something new every day!” claimed author Mike Cernovich in response to the post.

US Farmers Dump 43 Million Gallons Down the Drain So Far in 2016
Sputnik News - This year’s mass-dumping of dairy is the largest amount of milk waste in 16 years, according to a report released by the US Department of Agriculture on Wednesday. The report also stated that the overstock is likely related to a spike in the price of milk and other dairy products during a shortage in 2014. To compensate for high demand at the time, farmers bought more cows and began running production overtime, eventually exceeding demand and resulting in a price drop. The price of milk has dropped 22 percent since spring, the New York Post reported, and 33 percent since 2014. The dramatic decline in value made it unprofitable to continue to transport dairy to markets, or to export it to places like China, normally a major importer and, as a consequence of free market economics, the mass milk spilling began. "Everyone has dumped milk, from Minnesota to New England," the head of the Michigan Milk Producers Association told Newser. To dispose of the extra milk, farmers are dumping it in sewers, fields, manure lagoons, or having it “disappear” from trucks. To combat the problem, the USDA offered on Tuesday to commit $20 million to purchase cheeses, marking their second intervention in the dairy market in the last three months.

Worst flooding is yet to come in parts of North Carolina, governor warns
Yahoo News - The worst flooding could be yet to come in several parts of North Carolina as rivers continue swelling to record levels in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Gov. Pat McCrory warned on Wednesday that floodwaters had not yet peaked in parts of Pender and Lenoir counties, where officials said they expect cresting rivers to cause devastating flooding. The flooding comes after Hurricane Matthew drenched the Southeast with nearly 14 trillion gallons of rainfall, with the heaviest amounts falling on already saturated ground in North and South Carolina.... Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate in eastern parts of the state. Officials warned that rising floodwaters could wash out roads and close bridges, leaving residents stranded in their waterlogged communities.... "I continue to urge citizens in low-lying areas to please stay away from flooded water as rivers continue to reach record levels," McCrory said .... Deaths from Hurricane Matthew now stand at 19 in North Carolina, and one person is still reported as missing, the governor said.

Feds Raid Farmer’s Market, Intimidate Vendors, Destroy Food
Off the Grid News - Agents from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are being accused of raiding and shutting down a farmer’s market in Gillette, Wyoming. Three federal agents last month made vendor John Thompson dump the chili he was selling at the Lakeway Farmer’s Market, according to The Gillette News Record. Part of the incident was recorded in a video posted on YouTube. The video also contains a conversation between vendor Frank Wallis and a Gillette police officer. The officer was called after the agents came to the farmer’s market and got into a dispute with the vendors. Wallis called the visit by federal agents a “raid.” The video shows an FSIS agent asking Thompson to sign a form stating he authorized voluntary destruction of his chicken chili. Thompson makes and sells bottles of Big John’s Chili. State Representative Tyler Lindholm (R-Sundance) said the raid never should have occurred. A state law called the Wyoming Food Freedom Act allows processed food to be sold at farmer’s markets provided they don’t contain any meat other than poultry, according to County 17, a local website. Thompson said he bought the chicken at a grocery store and it already had been subject to federal inspection. Thus, under state law, he said, his chili was legal. “[The police] were very professional and acted like a public servant should act,” Wallis County 17, a local website. “They were there to keep the peace, but there was no threats going on from our side. It was the USDA agents that were threatening us with arrest.”

Bacteria in dentist's water sends 30 kids to hospital
CNN - An outbreak that sent 30 children to Southern California hospitals and could have long-term effects on their health, is raising awareness about the risk of bacterial infection from water at the dentist's office. All of the children had a pulpotomy, essentially a "child root canal" and were infected by water used during the procedure, said Dr. Matthew Zahn of the Orange County Health Care Agency. The cases have been traced to the Children's Dental Group in Anaheim, with patients ages 3 to 9 years old all visiting the clinic between March and July. Swelling, redness and pain around the infected tooth can occur, with the bacteria often spreading to the gum and jawbone. In those cases, Zahn said, stopping the infection often means removing part of the jaw itself, making it "a long-term issue for these children." Investigators believe the bacteria grow in low-level stagnant water that isn't flushed. In a dental setting, that water is used during treatment, and when a tooth is capped, it can trap the bacteria inside…. The state of California mandates that water lines be "purged with air or flushed with water for at least two minutes" each day, according to documents provided by the Dental Board.

Neem Plant Suppresses Cancer and Reduces Tumours By 70 Percent
Mae Chan - Neem oil has been valued for centuries for its huge range of medicinal uses. Now Singapore academics have stated that active compounds in the neem plant reduce the size of prostate tumours by up to 70 percent and suppress its spread or metastasis by half…. Nimbolide, a bioactive terpenoid compound derived from Azadirachta indica, more commonly known as the neem plant have a direct effect on cancer cells. Leaf pastes and extracts from the neem plant are used in skin care products, hair treatment, toothpastes, insect repellants, mouth wash, and many other medicinal uses. Many herbalists recommend chewing the leaves, taking capsules of dried leaf, or drinking the bitter tea. The leaves cleanse the blood, help the gastrointestinal system, support the liver, and strengthen the immune system, to name just some of the most popular benefits…. Neem is a natural anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, anti-viral and anti-microbial. It contains extraordinarily high levels of antioxidants and carotenoids (similar to carotene) which provide high antioxidant compounds that help defend the body against free radicals…. "In this research, we have demonstrated that nimbolide can inhibit tumour cell viability - a cellular process that directly affects the ability of a cell to proliferate, grow, divide, or repair damaged cell components - and induce programmed cell death in prostate cancer cells," said Associate Professor Sethi. Cell invasion and migration are key steps during tumour metastasis. The NUS-led study revealed that nimbolide can significantly suppress cell invasion and migration of prostate cancer cells, suggesting its ability to reduce tumour metastasis, without exhibiting any significant adverse effects.

Magnesium : Sleep Aid, Muscle Relaxant, Brain Booster and More
Natural News Blogs - Magnesium plays an important role in the performance of your brain. It also improves mood control and increases the ability to focus, because it works on the entire brain as an overall facilitating mechanism for brain function. Magnesium suppresses cortisol levels and allow a person to return to a “relaxed” state sooner again after a period of fight or flight response. Because it is an essential electrolyte and mineral, it also improves the electrical activity in the brain, improving memory and retention. It also has the capacity to keep the synapses open and firing more easily, with minimal interference. This means you can think quicker on your feet, focus better and even improve your overall intelligence and cognitive abilities by increasing your body’s stores of magnesium. You should notice shortly after supplementing with magnesium via transdermal absorption that your sleeping patterns and quality of sleep greatly improve. Some may notice this benefit right away while others may take a few days to experience the full effect…. Magnesium plays a key role in the metabolism of food. It helps synthesize food into energy more effectively, minimizing fat storage. This means less caloric waste and more effective use of calories or energy. Those who have trouble losing weight even after diet modification and increasing activity may be magnesium deficient. It also helps to regulate your blood glucose levels and prevent the onset of insulin resistance. It also efficiently burns off carbohydrate calories. Not only does this accomplish healthy weight maintenance, but it can also be a contribution to diabetes prevention. Magnesium also metabolizes the stress hormone cortisol. Those with higher levels of cortisol can be more prone to put weight on and tend to have a higher BMI than those with controlled levels of the hormone.

Video: Esteemed Doctor Says Mysterious New Blood Bacteria Seems Like Nanobot Bioweapon
Natural Blaze - Era of Wisdom editors note: this is a far out topic, but it is coming from an esteemed doctor with a long resume: Dr. Nick Delgado. Take it with a grain of salt or don’t, but if you will, ask yourself is this really outside the realm of probability?

Oregon hospital ER quarantined after people start hallucinating
KOMO - A hospital in Coos Bay quarantined its emergency room after a 78-year-old patient, her caregiver, two sheriff's deputies and a hospital employee all began having hallucinations. The bizarre incident began around 3 a.m. Wednesday when the elderly woman's caregiver, a 52-year-old woman, called authorities to say people were vandalizing her car. A deputy responded to the home, on East Bay Road in North Bend, but found nothing. The caregiver called back at 5:30 a.m. and was then taken to Bay Area Hospital after deputies suspected the woman might be having a medical issues causing hallucinations. Medical personnel checked her, she appeared fine and returned home. Then the two deputies who worked with the caregiver began having hallucinations and had to be hospitalized. After that, the 78-year-old woman and a hospital employee started showing similar symptoms and had to be hospitalized as well. The Coos County Haz Mat Team responded to Bay Area Hospital and the residence on East Bay Road. The team cleared the emergency room and began decontaminating vehicles and equipment. Everyone involved was quarantined while an investigation was conducted to determine the cause of the hallucinations - but nothing was found in the emergency room or the home on East Bay Road. Blood samples revealed nothing unusual.... Although authorities have not yet pinpointed what caused the episodes, they believe it was something spread by direct contact. The sheriff's department says one possibility is a medicated patch.

Cat café opens near Orlando
Orlando Sentinel - The idea is simple … Drink a cup of coffee while playing with some cats. If you fall in love with one, you can adopt it…. Due to health code standards, the building is separated into two areas. The first looks like a traditional coffee house and is run by Axum Coffee…. A vestibule connects the café with the cat play area. Cleverly constructed wall décor doubles as cat hideouts and nap spots…. Toys of all shapes and sizes entertain both the intended audience and their human admirers. On any given day 12-15 cats and kittens from the South Lake Animal League will call the café home…. New cats from the shelter will be brought in as the café cats are adopted…. The cat café concept has been popular in Japan for a number of years and recently made its way overseas. The Orlando Cat Café is the first in Central Florida to bring the concept to life.
 

Thursday - October 13, 2016 - Today In History:

1775 - The U.S. Continental Congress ordered the construction of a naval fleet.
1792 - The cornerstone of the Executive Mansion was laid in Washington, DC. The building became known as the White House in 1818.
1812 - American forces were defeated at the Battle of Queenstown Heights. The British victory effectively ended an further U.S. invasion of Canada.
1843 - B'nai B'rith, the Jewish organization, was founded by Henry Jones and eleven others in New York City, NY.
1854 - The state of Texas ratified a state constitution.
1943 - During World War II, Italy signed an armistice with the Allies and declared war on Germany.
1944 - American troops entered Aachen, Germany, during World War II.
1944 - During World War II, British and Greek advance units landed at Piraeus.
1957 - Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra introduced the Ford Edsel on an hour long special.
1989 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush called for an overthrow of the Panamanian ruler Manuel Antonio Noriega.
1992 - A commercial flight record was set by an Air France supersonic jetliner for circling the Earth in 33 hours and one minute.
1999 - The U.S. Senate rejected the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
2010 - Near Copiapó, Chile, 33 miners were trapped underground in San José Mine. The miners were rescued after 69 days underground.

Russia Deploys S-300 to Syria to 'Prevent Hotheads From Making Rash Decisions'
Sputnik News - Russia has deployed the S-300V4 "Antey-2500" and the S-400 Triumf to the Syrian port city of Tartus and the Hmeymim airbase respectively to show the bare minimum that Moscow requires to "prevent military hotheads from the other side from making rash decisions," retired colonel Mikhail Khodarenok wrote for Gazeta.ru. The military expert pointed out that both advanced air defense systems have been installed in Syria in the most basic configuration possible. In other words, the capabilities of the S-300V4 and the S-400 deployed to Syria are largely limited, meaning that the systems have been ostensibly stationed in the war-torn Arab country to send a message. "A single S-400 air defense missile battalion and a single S-300V4 squadron are incapable of tackling all challenges with regard to efficient fight against modern air assault weapons," he said. The Russian Ministry of Defense, Khodarenok said, expects that a limited deployment will "sober the West up" and Moscow will not have to send additional defense complexes to Syria.

Syrian terror suspect Jaber al Bakr found dead in his cell in Germany after being arrested over bomb plot
The Independent - The Syrian terror suspect who was arrested over an alleged bomb plot in Germany has been found dead in his cell. Jabhar al Bakr was arrested in Leipzig in the south of the country on Monday after police foiled a plot to bomb Berlin airport. The 22-year-old asylum seeker was caught after being detained by three fellow Syrian refugees who overpowered him and tied him to a sofa before calling the police – ending a two-day manhunt. German media reported that al Bakr had been on hunger strike and was subject to round-the-clock surveillance.

France approves creation of National Guard to combat terrorism threat
RT - France has approved legislation to create a National Guard as the government struggles to battle the terrorist threat. The guard is expected to include up to 85,000 service personnel by 2018. The law was approved by the Council of Ministers, a powerful executive body composed of senior officials, on Wednesday. “The National Guard, these volunteers, both men and women, have decided, in parallel to their civilian lives, to join the military service for the protection of the French people,” said a statement on the government website. Those who apply for the National Guard will be able to choose between army activities, serving in the gendarmerie (the police force that is part of the French Army), or working in the French police. The volunteers can engage in military operations abroad, surveillance patrols and public security missions, and can combat crime or work in the spheres of health and cyber issues.The operational reserve of the National Guard now contains some 63,000 people (from 17 to 35 years-old). The numbers are expected to reach 72,000 in 2017 and 85,000 in 2018, according to French media.

Dutch may allow assisted suicide for those who feel life is over
Reuters - The Netherlands was the first country to legalize euthanasia, in 2002, but only for patients who were considered to be suffering unbearable pain with no hope of a cure. In a letter to parliament, the health and justice ministers said details remain to be worked out but that people who "have a well-considered opinion that their life is complete, must, under strict and careful criteria, be allowed to finish that life in a manner dignified for them." The proposal is likely to provoke critics who say Dutch euthanasia practice has already expanded beyond the borders originally envisioned for it, with "unbearable suffering" not only applying to people with terminal diseases, but also to some with mental illnesses and dementia.... The euthanasia policy has widespread backing in Dutch society, and cases have risen by double digits every year for more than a decade as more patients request it and more doctors are willing to carry it out. Euthanasia accounted for 5,516 deaths in the Netherlands in 2015, or 3.9 percent of all deaths nationwide. Health Minister Edith Schippers wrote in the letter that "because the wish for a self-chosen end of life primarily occurs in the elderly, the new system will be limited to" them. She did not define a threshold age.... The proposal comes as a surprise, as a commission enlisted to study the idea of allowing a "completed life" extension to current policy concluded there was no need for it.

Here’s Why Haitians Are Urging You Not To Donate To The Red Cross
AntiMedia - Thanks to a 2015 report exposing ARC [American Red Cross] for its poor management of Haiti-bound donations, Haitians like Facebook user French Francois have been urging the public to steer clear from the 135-year-old foundation. Instead, she wants individuals willing to help to reach out to Haitian organizations instead. Unfortunately, her concerns are grounded in legitimate problems. In 2015, ProPublica and NPR found that despite ARC’s claims that “for each dollar donated, 91 cents went to Haiti,” a large portion of the funds intended for those suffering after a devastating 2010 earthquake ended up squandered by the organization. The International Federation of the Red Cross took a 26 percent cut for overhead while the “American Red Cross’ management and other costs consumed an additional 24 percent of the money.”.... The Clinton Foundation suffered a string of bad media reports due to the family’s response to the earthquake that ravaged the Caribbean nation in 2010. The problem - despite many mainstream media reports claiming otherwise - did not have much to do with how much was built in the tiny island thanks to the Clintons’ involvement. Instead, many of the investigative reports exploring their role in the controversy revolved around the political dynasty’s use of their influence within government; some of the foundation’s top donors were granted exclusive contracts to “rebuild” Haiti. In one example, companies who received contracts thanks to their influence with the Clintons provided substandard classroom trailers that harbored “a host of problems, from mold to sweltering heat to shoddy construction,” the Nation reported in 2011.

Judge Rules Architects of CIA Torture Program Must Testify in Court
The AntiMedia - Despite the Central Intelligence Agency’s best efforts, at least two former high-level officials must sit for depositions as part of a lawsuit against the two men who were responsible for designing and implementing torture techniques for the CIA. On Tuesday, October 3, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Justin Quackenbush ruled CIA officials would be required to answer questions under oath as requested by defendants James Mitchell and John Bruce Jessen. Both men are former U.S. military psychologists who are seen as the “architects” of the CIA’s torture program. According to the recent Senate report on CIA torture “neither psychologist had experience as an interrogator, nor did either have specialized knowledge of al-Qa’ida, a background in terrorism, or any relevant regional, cultural, or linguistic expertise.” The two men served in the U.S. military’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape program (SERE), teaching U.S. troops how to resist and survive torture in the event of capture by foreign nations. SERE was supposed to help troops understand torture techniques while Jessen and Mitchell supervised their mental state.... Mitchell and Jessen requested that former high-ranking CIA officials be forced to answer questions about the program and also that the government turn over documents related to the torture program. Judge Quackenbush agreed and ordered the government to produce some of the requested documents. The trial is set to begin on June 26, 2017, but the ACLU says the depositions will likely happen in the next few months as part of the discovery process.

FBI heads to Hartford plane crash; survivor says Feras Freitekh intentionally downed aircraft
Washington Times - The FBI is investigating a Hartford, Connecticut, plane crash after one of the survivors said a Jordanian man purposefully downed the aircraft. Flight student Feras Freitekh, 28, died Tuesday when the twin-engine plane he was flying crashed just outside the headquarters of Pratt & Whitney. His instructor survived the crash and told investigators it was no accident the Piper PA-34 Seneca exploded near the military and commercial jet engine maker’s complex. The National Transportation Safety Board released a statement Tuesday confirming the FBI’s involvement and indicators that “the crash is the result of an intentional act,” CBS News reported. Mr. Freitekh arrived in the U.S. in 2012 on an M1 visa for flight school and was issued a pilot’s license in May 2015, the network reported. The man was issued a license for single-engine planes.

Wikileaks Releases Another 673 Podesta Emails In Part 5 Of Data Dump
Zero Hedge - Just hours after wikileaks released the 4th part of the Podesta emails dump, Wikileaks has unveiled the 5th part, in which is released another 673 emails, assuring that at least one part of the media will be busy digging through hundreds of emails more, while much of the remaining part of the media will be doing all it can to ignore the latest release.

Wikileaks: 'Has That Gotten Any Press?' Clinton Asked After Fast and Furious Killing of ICE Agent
Breitbart - “Has that gotten any press?” was then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s one-line response to an email notifying her that the gun used to kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jamie Zapata in February 2011 was tied to the Fast and Furious scandal. Other guns were also connected to the murder of U.S Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010. An email message that is part of the leaked WikiLeaks emails was sent from Jacob Sullivan to Secretary Clinton on March 1, 2011, just two weeks after Agent Zapata was murdered in Mexico. Sullivan, who then served as Director of Policy Planning at Clinton’s State Department, had forwarded a message from Clinton Advisor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan. The subject line of the unclassified message was “American guns killing American agents.”

60% of the US Govt's Billion Dollar PR Budget Goes to the Pentagon to Sell You War
Free Thought Project - In the latest report on Public Relations Spending from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the United States’ government PR apparatus has been revealed to spend over $1 billion annually - $626 million of which the Department of Defense allots to employ a massive propaganda army constituting roughly 40 percent of the more than 5,000-strong federal public relations workforce. In comparison, Health and Human Services - with the second highest spending of all federal agencies during the 10-year period the GAO studied - spent an average of $116 million to promote, for example, Obamacare, flu shots, and the like.... In fact, the DoD spent more on unknown propaganda and PR efforts in the ten years of the study than all other government agencies - combined.... While precisely how the Pentagon spends its massive PR budget could not be determined, the report explains, “Although there is no single, commonly-accepted definition of what constitutes advertising or public relations.” So the GAO describes Department of Defense advertising as “the placement of messages intended to inform or persuade an audience through various types of media, such as television, radio, digital media, direct mail, and others.”

“Do Not Resist”: The Police Militarization Documentary Everyone Should See
The Intercept - Based on substantial on-the-ground reporting, “Do Not Resist” is both unsettling to watch and necessary to see.... [Craig] Atkinson began the project three years ago in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. The images of armored cars and commando cops in the streets resonated for him on a personal level. Atkinson’s father spent 29 years as a police officer outside Detroit — 13 of them on a SWAT team, where he held the rank of commander.... The hope was to be on-hand for an incident in which a SWAT team’s use of heavy weapons would be unquestionably warranted.... Instead, the filmmaker repeatedly found himself watching police with military-grade weaponry executing dubious search warrants. The frequency of the raids was particularly shocking, with one of the officers in the film claiming his team does 200 such operations a year. By comparison, Atkinson notes, his father performed a total of 29 search warrant raids over his entire 13 years in SWAT — according to some estimates, SWAT teams now carry out between 50,000 to 80,000 raids across the country annually.... Beyond the day-to-day breaking down of doors, “Do Not Resist” explores the growing role of private surveillance companies in local policing, and law enforcement’s thirst for technology that can predict crimes before they happen.... The intent of “Do Not Resist,” Atkinson said, is to provide a glimpse inside the realities of American policing, challenge the policing-for-profit model that has caused departments in economically depressed communities to treat their citizens as walking ATM machines, call out a warrior culture that divides law enforcement from the public they’re sworn to serve, and flag the dangers of war-zone technologies being applied domestically.

Wealthy San Francisco tech investors bankroll bid to ban homeless camps
The Guardian - Sequoia Capital chairman Michael Moritz, tech angel investor Ron Conway, and hedge-fund investor William Oberndorf have donated $49,999 apiece to a divisive ballot measure intended to clear San Francisco’s streets of homeless encampments, according to campaign filings. Zachary Bogue, a tech investor best known as husband to the Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, also pitched in $2,500. Those sums may be chump change to the likes of Moritz (net worth $3.1bn), but they account for the majority of the approximately $270,000 campaign chest. Proposition Q purports to address the most visible symptom of the city’s ongoing homelessness crisis, tent cities that crowd the sidewalks in certain neighborhoods. To the city’s housed residents, the encampments serve as a visceral reminder of the city’s gaping inequality – or as a nuisance that they wish would go away.... “I strongly believe that it is not compassionate to allow human beings to live on our city streets,” wrote the measure’s author, supervisor Mark Farrell, in an op-ed. “Let’s help get the homeless into housing, not tents.” Opponents of the measure point out that the proposed law does not include any funding for additional housing or shelters, and the city’s existing shelters have long waiting lists for beds. “With Proposition Q, we’re just taking away someone’s tent and making them sleep on the cold concrete,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. “They’re not going to disappear.”

Coloradans to Vote on Ballot Initiative Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide
CNS News - Although the Colorado state legislature has rejected physician-assisted suicide two years in a row, Coloradans will be voting on a ballot initiative next month that will determine whether Colorado becomes the sixth state in the U.S. to legalize it.... The measure would allow legal residents over 18 to request “aid-in-dying medication” if they are “diagnosed with a terminal illness that is likely to cause death in six months…[and are] mentally capable of making an informed decision” to kill themselves. The patient must make two verbal requests for the lethal drugs, with a 15-day waiting period in between, and a third written request must be witnessed by at least one individual who is “not related by blood, marriage, adoption or civil union, and cannot stand to gain financially from the person’s death.”.... “End of life decisions are best left to dying people consulting their families, their faith, and their doctors – not the government,” said Jessica Grennan, manager of the Yes on Colorado End-of-Life Options campaign.... But Jeff Hunt, director of Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute, which issued a policy brief on the subject entitled Suicide By Doctor, argues that physician-assisted suicide is not just a personal matter. In fact, the most vocal opposition to Prop 106 is coming from handicapped Coloradans who are already engaged in a “constant battle” with insurance companies to get the medical treatment they need, he pointed out.

HSBC: RED ALERT — get ready for a 'severe fall' in the stock market
Business Insider - HSBC's technical-analysis team has thrown up the ultimate warning signal. In a note to clients released Wednesday, Murray Gunn, the head of technical analysis for HSBC, said he had become on "RED ALERT" for an imminent sell-off in stocks given the price action over the past few weeks.... In late September, Gunn said the stock market's moves looked eerily similar to those just before the 1987 stock market crash. Citi's Tom Fitzpatrick also highlighted the market's similarities to the 1987 crash just a few days ago. On September 30, Gunn said stocks were under an "orange alert," as they looked to him as if they had topped out. And now, given the 200-point decline for the Dow on Tuesday, Gunn thinks the drop is here.... Gunn said the selling would truly set in if the Dow Jones Industrial Average were to fall below 17,992 or if the S&P 500 were to dip under 2,116. The Dow closed at 18,128 on Tuesday, while the S&P settled at 2,136.... "But should those levels break and the markets close below (which now seems more likely), it would be a clear sign that the bears have taken over and are starting to feast. The possibility of a severe fall in the stock market is now very high."

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf To Retire Effective Immediately
Zero Hedge - The most anticlimactic and predictable outcome to the biggest banking scandal to rock Wall Street in recent years, Wells Fargo's fraudulent creation of 2 million (or more) fake customer accounts, has just concluded in the only possible way: with CEO and Chairman John Stumpf retiring. The stock has jumped on the news, up 2% in the after hours. There are two outstanding questions here: i) the size of his retirement package, and ii) whether by exiting stage left, he leaves criminal and civil liability behind, or whether this time, the DOJ and/or SEC will actually prosecute the disgraced form chief executive.

Bolt cutters expose vulnerability of North America's oil pipeline grid
Reuters - All it took was a pair of bolt cutters and the elbow grease of a few climate activists to carry out an audacious act of sabotage on North America's massive oil and gas pipeline system. For an industry increasingly reliant on gadgets such as digital sensors, infrared cameras and drones to monitor security and check for leaks, the sabotage illustrated how vulnerable pipelines are to low-tech attacks. On Tuesday, climate activists broke through fences and cut locks and chains simultaneously in several states and simply turned the pipelines off. All they had to do was twist shut giant valves on five cross-border pipelines that together can send 2.8 million barrels a day of crude to the United States from Canada - equal to about 15 percent of daily U.S. consumption. The activists did no damage to the pipelines, which operating companies shut down as a precaution for checks before restarting. The United States is the world's largest energy market, and the infrastructure to drill, refine, store and deliver that energy to consumers is connected by millions of miles of pipeline that are impossible to protect entirely from attack.

Switzerland Medical Board Condemns Mammography Screenings: Here’s Why You Should Probably Never Get One
Collective Evolution - In 2013, the Swiss Medical Board, an independent health technology assessment initiative, was requested to prepare a review of mammography screening. The team of medical professionals included a medical ethicist, a clinical epidemiologist, a pharmacologist, an oncologic surgeon, a nurse scientist, a lawyer, and a health economist. Two of those members, Nikola Biller-Andorno, M.D. Ph. D. and Peter Juni, M.D, opened up about the project in the New England Journal of Medicine. They said: “As we embarked on the project, we were aware of the controversies that have surrounded mammography screening for the past 10-15 years. When we received the available evidence and contemplated its implications in detail, however, we became increasingly concerned.”…. these two doctors were shocked to discover that there is minimal evidence that actually indicates that the benefits of mammography screening outweigh the harms. “The relative risk reduction of approximately 20 percent in breast-cancer mortality associated with mammography that is currently described by most expert panels came at the price of a considerable diagnostic cascade, with repeat mammography, subsequent biopsies, and over-diagnosis of breast cancers — cancers that would never have become clinically apparent.” The Canadian National Breast Screening Study, which was conducted over the course of 25 years, concluded that 106 of 484 screen-detected cancers were over-diagnosed. The doctors explained: “This means that 106 of the 44,925 healthy women in the screening group were diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer unnecessarily, which resulted in needless surgical interventions, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or some combination of these therapies.”

Tick bites that trigger severe meat allergy on rise around the world
The Guardian - The link between tick bites and meat allergies was first described in 2007, and has since been confirmed around the world. Sufferers of “tick-induced mammalian meat allergy” will experience a delayed reaction of between two and 10 hours after eating red meat. Almost invariably, they are found to have been bitten by a tick – sometimes as much as six months before. Although most cases of tick bites of humans are uneventful, some immune systems are sensitive to proteins in the parasite’s saliva and become intolerant of red meat and, in some cases, derivatives such as dairy and gelatine. Poultry and seafood can be tolerated, but many sufferers choose to avoid meat entirely. Cases of the emergent allergy have been reported in Europe, Asia, Central America and Africa, but it is most prevalent – and on the rise – in parts of Australia and the United States where ticks are endemic and host populations are booming. The Lone Star tick is widespread throughout the US, but meat allergies have been reported in the south-eastern states, home to growing herds of white-tailed deer. But tick bite-induced anaphylaxis – the most acute allergic reaction, which can result in death – is rare in countries other than Australia. Around Sydney’s northern beaches, where ticks are common, it is reportedly as prevalent as peanut allergies.

16 Condiments That Are Secret Health Bombs (And What to Eat Instead)
Mayo - “With processed refined soybean oil as the main ingredient in most mayo’s, there’s nothing healthy about mayonnaise,” says registered dietitian Asvini Mashru, RD, of Wellness Nutrition Concepts in Malvern, Pennsylvania. “Tartar sauce has the same issues as mayo. If you can find a mayo made with 100 percent olive oil instead of soybean oil, this would actually be a healthy choice.” Or make your own mayonnaise for a healthier option. Ketchup - According to Monica Auslander, a registered dietitian and founder of Essence Nutrition, one teaspoon is the equivalent of eating a sugar packet. “It’s deceiving because it has no fat, so people think they can enjoy freely. Unfortunately, we now know that sugar is for more insidious than fat.” Her recipe for healthier ketchup includes: a jar of organic, unsweetened tomato paste and add a teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, and 1/4 cup water. Honey mustard - Mashru says to stick with plain mustard with no added sugar. A healthier and tasty option for sammies is pesto and humus. Just make sure the humus is made with olive oil and not soybean or canola oil….
 

Wednesday - October 12, 2016 - Today In History:

1792 - The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated in Baltimore, MD.
1810 - Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest.
1892 - In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Columbus landing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in public schools.
1920 - Construction of the Holland Tunnel began. It opened on November 13, 1927. The tunnel links Jersey City, NJ and New York City, NY.
1933 - The U.S. Department of Justice acquired Alcatraz Island from the U.S. Army.
1942 - During World War II, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the U.S. would no longer be considered enemy aliens.
1961 - The first video memoirs by a U.S. president were made. Walter Cronkite interviewed Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1972 - During the Vietnam War, a racial brawl broke out aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. Nearly 50 sailors were injured.
1988 - Federal prosecutors announced that the Sundstrand Corp. would pay $115 million dollars to settle with the Pentagon for overbilling airplane parts over a five-year period.
1989 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a statutory federal ban on the destruction of the American flag.
1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Online Copyright Bill.
2007 - Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming.
2011 - A Nigerian al-Qaida operative pleaded guilty to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear minutes before the plane landed in Detroit on Christmas Day

Russian jets resume heavy bombing of eastern Aleppo: rebels, monitor
Reuters - Air strikes mostly hit the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood, Zakaria Malhifji of the Aleppo-based Fastaqim rebel group told Reuters…. The Observatory said the death toll from bombing in Bustan al-Qasr, Fardous and other neighborhoods rose to at least 25, with scores of wounded. At least 50 civilians were killed by strikes on the rebel-held part of the city and nearby villages controlled by insurgents, residents and rescue workers said. In Bustan al Qasr, residents said, the strikes hit a medical center and a children's playground. The Syrian army, backed by Iranian-backed militias, also said it had consolidated its control of the al Jandoul traffic circle at a major road intersection on the northern outskirts of Aleppo. Moscow and Damascus reduced air raids in the northern city last week. The Syrian army said that was partly to allow civilians to leave opposition-held eastern neighborhoods. The Syrian government said rebels holed up in Aleppo can leave with their families if they lay down their arms. Insurgents denounced that offer as a deception. President Bashar al-Assad seeks the complete recapture of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the 5 1/2-year war, which has been divided between government and opposition control for years.

White House says it will retaliate against Russia for DNC hack
McClatchy DC - The Obama administration plans a “proportional” response to punish Russia for hacking into the Democratic National Committee and other cyberattacks aimed at disrupting Nov. 8 elections, a White House spokesman said Monday.... The Obama administration on Friday asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government ordered the hacking into various U.S. political groups, including the DNC. The cyberattacks have brought bipartisan calls for retaliation, including a demand by a Texas Republican congressman, Will Hurd, a former CIA officer, that the Russian ambassador to the United States be kicked out.... In its accusation last Friday, the government said the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus was “confident” that Russia was behind the attacks but said hackers were unlikely to interfere further with the upcoming election. Republican nominee Donald Trump refused in Sunday’s presidential debate to recognize that Russia was behind the hack, saying Hillary Clinton used the accusation as a smear.

Beijing and Moscow to cooperate on minimizing US missile defense
Deutsche Welle - Moscow and Beijing have routinely expressed concerns that the Pentagon has been using the term "defense" as a ruse. "The missile defense system considerably shifts the balance of offensive weapons, allowing the planning of a more efficient pre-emptive strike," said Lt. General Viktro Poznikhir. "Russian military experts believe that the US hopes to gain the capability to strike any region of the world, including Russia and China, with nuclear-tipped missiles with impunity," he added.... The general also mentioned that the two countries had already begun discussions on how to counter the US program. However he did not offer further details but accused the countries that host US missile bases of making their citizens "hostages of the US unpredictable action.".... In comments carried by Russia Today, Major General Cai Jun echoed Poznikhir's statements, saying that Washington's actions were promoting instability across eastern Europe and Asia. "The US did not provide legally-binding guarantees that the missile defense system they are deploying in Europe would not be aimed against Russia. But at the same time it poses a real and direct threat to Russian security,” he said. "China and Russia have similar positions about strategic antiballistic missile systems and oppose attempts by any nation or group of nations to create such systems unilaterally at the expense of strategic international security,” Cai Jun added. Both men dismissed claims by the US that the missile shield was largely meant to protect itself and its allies from the threat of attacks by Iran or North Korea.

Syrian refugees capture bomb plot suspect, hand him over to German police
RT - A 22-year-old suspected of plotting a bomb attack, who was the subject of a two-day manhunt in Chemnitz, an eastern German town, was overpowered and tied up by three fellow countrymen, who turned him in to the police after discovering his identity. The bomb plot suspect identified as Jaber Albakr had been at large since Saturday, when German police officers tried to capture him in the eastern town of Chemnitz. Some reports say the 22-year-old managed to escape his apartment right under the noses of the police raiding it.... Saxony’s criminal police chief, Joerg Michaelis, said later on Monday that Albakr was recognized by three other Syrians whom he had asked for an overnight stay. Michaelis confirmed earlier media reports, saying that the Syrians had tied Albakr up and held him in their apartment in the city of Leipzig. One of them brought a photo of Albakr to a local police station, leading to the suspect’s arrest, according to Reuters. “The suspect was handed over to us bound,” the police chief said. Initially, police said on their official Facebook page that one or more Syrians helped detain the suspect, but gave no details “because we do not want to provoke any dangers for those persons who gave us the tip.”

Venezuela's prisoners starve to death in jails amid economic collapse
Daily Mail Online - Video smuggled out of a jail at San Juan de los Morros, in the central Guarico region of Venezuela, show emaciated inmates struggling to survive. With the country in the grip of a crippling economic crisis, starving prisoners can be seen standing in line and begging for help from the outside world.... The prison footage was reportedly filmed by inmate Franklin Paul Hernandez Quezad. One prisoner was said to be so weak he had to be lifted into a chair to be filmed.... Another is said to have died from starvation and disease. One of the men says to the camera: 'Look at me, look at the state we are in, we need medicine in order to survive.' Another inmate in what appears to be a wheelchair also asks for medicine: 'We are all human beings and we need a second chance.' And the third echoes the sentiment saying: 'Please, don't leave us to die in here, help us brothers. We do not want to die.'.... There are claims in local media that Venezuelan police had apparently blocked deliveries of food, medicine and water to the prison.

The Total Amount Of Debt In The World Just Hit A Record $152,000,000,000,000 (152 Trillion)
Economic Collapse - According to the IMF, the total amount of debt around the globe has now hit a staggering 152 trillion dollars. That is an amount of money that is almost unimaginable, and the IMF says that it is equivalent to 225 percent of global GDP.... Experts all over the world agree that when this debt bubble finally bursts, it is going to create an economic crisis on a scale that humanity has never seen before.... The following excerpt comes from a story in a major British news source: "The International Monetary Fund has urged governments to take action to tackle a record $152tn debt mountain before it triggers a fresh global financial and economic crisis. Warning that debt levels were not just high but rising, the IMF said it was vital to intervene early in order to mitigate the risks of a repeat of the damaging events that began with the collapse of the US sub-prime housing bubble almost a decade ago. It said that new research in its half-yearly fiscal monitor covering 113 countries had shown that debt was currently 225% of global GDP, with the private sector responsible for two-thirds of the total".... It is truly hard to grasp how much money “a trillion dollars” represents. For instance, if you were alive when Jesus Christ was born, and you had spent a million dollars every single day since that time, you still would not have spent a trillion dollars by now.

Lawyer Representing 9/11 Families Against Saudis Wanted to 'Defang the Issue' for Clinton Camp
Breitbart - “Those of us who have been concerned about that politicization have had some thoughts about how to defang the issue and would be happy to knock those around with you or Cheryl if and whenever you like,” attorney Jack Quinn wrote in a March 27, 2015 email to Podesta and Mills. The emails have been made public along with thousands of pieces of correspondence from John Podesta’s email account by the organization Wikileaks. Wikileaks claims to have tens of thousands of such emails, but is releasing them in smaller batches as part of a searchable database. Quinn initially wrote to Mills and Podesta on March 26, 2015 introducing himself as “co-counsel to a large number of plaintiffs in the ‘9/11 cases'” in New York. Given the ties between Saudi Arabia and the Clinton Foundation, he wrote, made some on his legal team consider that “you may find it helpful to receive a briefing on the status of our discovery efforts, our responses to KSA’s motion to dismiss and our best assessment of prospects for the litigation and its final resolution.” The Clinton Foundation has received up to $50 million from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, the United States increased the number of non immigrant visas to Saudi nationals by 93 percent.

Leaked Email Reveals Possible Evidence State Dept Never Intended to Charge Clinton
The Free Thought Project - One of Hillary Clinton’s top aides, attorney Heather Samuelson - one of the lawyers who scanned the notorious emails to ostensibly separate the personal from those considered work-related - appears, a newly disclosed email shows, to have been acting in concert with the State Department during that investigation, showing further evidence of possible collusion.... Dated March 17, 2015, originating from Samuelson, with the subject marked “JW FOIA | WJC Speeches,” referencing the Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch and William (Bill) Jefferson Clinton, a newly revealed email shows near certain evidence the aide was in close contact with people inside the Department of State (DOS) - during the investigation of the private email server.... As Zero Hedge notes, this candid communique contains “details so nuanced it may only have come as a result of direct communication between the State Department” and Samuelson - “which in turn she promptly conveyed to her team, regarding the FOIA request, in what appears to be a material breach of confidentiality.” Samuelson, in other words, was conveying information from inside the State Department directly to Clinton’s staff — while the FBI and others investigated the possible transmission of classified information over the unsecure server.

Charleston, West Virginia the Latest Small City Secretly Targeted to Receive Refugees
Breitbart - Ann Corcoran of Refugee Resettlement Watch writes: "West Virginia has only gotten a very small number of refugees ever since this program was established in 1980, but all that could change if Episcopal Migration Ministries joins Catholic Charities and begins to place Syrian and other refugees from the Middle East and Africa in the state capital. And, frankly, you would never know that it was happening, that the federal legislators had met with a local Interfaith group and gave the go-ahead by attending meetings, being informed and then not saying anything to the general public about the quiet planning process underway. If it weren’t for the dogged research of one citizen activist—Brenda Arthur—no one but a tiny select group of insiders would have a clue about what was coming.".... The State Department has secretively tried to expand resettlement to at least 47 small communities. In some of these communities, like Rutland, Vermont, local officials are complicit in this secrecy. In others, such as Flint, Michigan, they appear to be unaware. During FY 2016, 25 refugees were resettled in West Virginia, according to the Department of State’s interactive website, about one every two weeks. Eight of these refugees were from Burma, eight from Eritrea, five from Syria, and four from Iraq. All five Syrian refugees were resettled in Charleston. In the first six days of October, the first month of FY 2017, five refugees, all from Iraq, have been resettled in West Virginia, more than one each day. If this pace of refugee resettlement continues throughout the remaining 359 days of the fiscal year, over 400 refugees would be resettled in West Virginia in FY 2017, sixteen times the number of refugees resettled in FY 2016.

Mexican officials helping Haitian illegal immigrants reach U.S.
Washington Times - More than 6,000 Haitians arrived at the border in San Diego over the past year — a staggering eighteenfold increase over fiscal year 2015. Some 2,600 more were waiting in northern Mexico as of last week, and 3,500 others were not far behind, waiting in Panama to make the trip north, according to the documents, obtained by Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican.... Their trek begins in Brazil and traces a 7,100-mile route up the west coast of South America and Central America, crossing 11 countries and taking as long as four months. Some countries are more welcoming than others, according to the document, which was reviewed by The Washington Times. Nicaragua is listed as being particularly vigilant about deporting the Haitian migrants if they are caught, so smugglers there charge $1,000.... Smugglers charge $200 through Ecuador and $300 each through Guatemala and Colombia, the document says. Mexico, though, is more accommodating to the migrants. It stops them at its southern border in Tapachula, processes them and — though they don’t have legal entry papers — “they receive a 20-day transit document” giving them enough time to get a bus across Mexico, arriving eventually in Tijuana, just south of San Diego. Once in the United States, many of the Haitians claim asylum and fight deportation in cases that can drag on for years, guaranteeing the migrants a foothold in the country.... Other Haitians who are apprehended are put on a slow deportation track, giving them a chance to hide in the shadows along with other illegal immigrants. Southern Florida is a particularly attractive destination for Haitians, the document said.

Pastor Facing $100 a Day Fines for Helping Homeless Women and Children on His Own Church's Property
The Free Thought Project - Proving once again that the state has no interest in helping people, the state of Delaware is attacking a pastor who would dare attempt to help the homeless. Pastor Aaron Appling of Victory Church West in Dover is being threatened with a $100 per day fine by county officials for allowing a 21-year-old homeless woman to live in an RV in the back of the church property.... According to NBC Philadelphia, Kent County officials sent Appling a letter stating his church isn’t zoned to let homeless people stay on the property. The letter warns that if the church doesn’t act quickly, they could be fined $100 a day.... Alexis Simms, a 21-year-old homeless mom who is battling lupus, has nowhere to go - and, the state is attempting to take the only thing she has positive in her life right now - pastor Appling’s kindness. “We want to stand up for her,” Appling said. “Because there is nobody else to stand up for her.”.... According to NBC Philadelphia, while county officials said the church can apply for re-zoning to make the land a campground, Appling says it would be too expensive. He’s hoping the church and the county can reach a compromise before the fines begin. Helping a homeless mother is not the only ‘crime’ the church has been accused of either. Last month, Appling announced a plan to build multiple tiny homes on his property to provide shelter for those in need. And, again, their good deed was quickly swatted down by the bureaucratic hand of government. The good news is, the church is showing no signs of backing down. Instead of paying the fees, they are seeking to change the law entirely to put an end to such a tyrannical practice. “We have to choose at some point in time as believers who we’re going to stand for and help,” Appling said. “We’re not against them we’re just choosing we need to help this person more than we need to be pleasing to you.”

Charitable giving reached record high in 2015: report
Washington Times - Americans are a passionately charitable people, donating a record $373 billion in 2015, with most of that coming from individual donors, according to a new report. Some $265 billion, or 71 percent of the 2015 charitable donations, was given by individuals, Giving USA, the Giving Institute and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy said.... Other donor groups in 2015 included foundations, which gave $58 billion; bequests, which gave almost $32 billion; and corporations, which gave $18 billion.... while large donations can get headlines, the small gifts add up to massive sums. “Philanthropy is quite democratic and always has been — more people give than vote in the U.S. — and $20, $10 and $1 gifts do make a cumulative difference,” said Dr. Patrick M. Rooney, associate dean for academic affairs and research at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The religious sector remains the largest recipient (32 percent) of charitable gifts. This is followed by the educational sector (15 percent); human services (12 percent); health (8 percent); arts, culture and humanities (5 percent); international affairs (4 percent); and environmental and animals (3 percent).... Charities also enjoy a good reputation as stewards of gifts. A recent bipartisan survey of 1,300 voters by Independent Sector asked, “Which do you think would be a better way to improve your community and your country? Pay an additional $1,000 in taxes to the federal government or given an additional $1,000 to charity?” Seventy-four percent chose “Give to charity,” while 9 percent said “Give to government,” and 17 percent said they didn’t know, “both,” “neither,” or refused to answer, according to Independent Sector’s “United For Charity” report.

Clinton camp appeared to have contacts with DOJ on email case
The Hill - An official within Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign appeared to have discussions with sources inside the Department of Justice (DOJ) about ongoing open records lawsuits regarding the former secretary of State’s emails, according to an email released on Tuesday. In an email from May 2015, Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said that “DOJ folks” had “inform[ed]” him about an upcoming status conference in one of the lawsuits regarding Clinton’s private email setup. The information about an upcoming court event would have been public knowledge and open for all to attend. And it’s unclear whether the people Fallon spoke to at the Justice Department were officials who regularly communicate with the public. However, the fact that Fallon — a former spokesman with the Justice Department — remained in contact with anyone from the department is likely to renew allegations that the Obama administration maintained an especially cozy relationship with Clinton’s presidential campaign.... The email from Fallon was contained in a collection of more than 1,000 messages allegedly stolen from campaign chairman John Podesta and posted to WikiLeaks on Tuesday.

U.S. Intelligence meddles in U.S. Presidential election: backs Hillary Clinton, tries to stop Donald Trump
The Duran - The single most important event of the US Presidential election took place last week and to my knowledge it has gone completely unreported.... It was the public confirmation that an intelligence agency is directly interfering in an ongoing US Presidential election. The intelligence agency in question is not however that of Russia as is being reported. It is that of the United States itself. To understand why this is so, consider the statement US intelligence published last week on the subject of alleged Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee and of other US agencies involved in the election.... The statement is an implicit admission that US intelligence has no evidence to back its allegations of Russian hacking. It is merely “confident” – not “sure” – that it is the Russians who are behind the hacking, and it is clear from the statement that it arrived at this conclusion purely through inference: because the hacks supposedly were “consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts”. US intelligence assumes the Russians were behind the hack not because it knows this to be so but in part because of what it believes Russian motives to be. The statement backs its claim with a textual trick. It says “the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia”. It then immediately follows these words with the words “for example”. These lead to the expectation that an actual example of such Russian “tactics and techniques” is about to follow. Instead what is provided are the fact free words “to influence public opinion there”.... The words are designed to create a subliminal impression to a casual reader that the Russians have been caught doing this sort of thing before, without however providing a single actual example when this was the case.

YouTube Hides and SLAPS WARNING on New Trump Ad About Hillary's Health
The Gateway Pundit - YouTube has ‘unlisted’ and added a warning to the new Donald Trump ad entitled “Dangerous” posted Tuesday morning by the Team Trump account that focuses on national security and warns that Hillary Clinton does not have the stamina and judgment to keep America safe. YouTube also placed the ad behind the “Restricted Mode” firewall that blocks “inappropriate content’.... The ad features photos and footage of Clinton coughing and in physical distress being aided walking up stairs and collapsing as her Secret Service agents drag her to a waiting vehicle.... YouTube describes ‘Restricted Mode’as hiding ‘inappropriate content’: “Restricted Mode hides videos that may contain inappropriate content flagged by users and other signals. No filter is 100% accurate, but it should help you avoid most inappropriate content.”

Clinton Campaign Confiscates Cell Phones From Donors
Jamie White & Kit Daniels - The Hillary Clinton campaign controls how the press covers her fundraisers and even asked donors to turn in their cell phones so “unapproved” images wouldn’t get leaked to the press, according to Wikileaks emails obtained from Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta. Clinton confidant Huma Abedin exchanged these emails with aide Kristina Schake in April 2015. Schake outlines specific conditions that would allow the donors and press at Clinton events to bring cellphones and cameras for the purposes of manipulating public perception of Hillary’s favorability. She wrote: “Here is a draft policy for input: less than 100 people – NO cellphones, NO press. Over 100 people, YES cell phones, and ONE print pooler will be escorted in for her remarks only and then escorted out. NO TV cameras. Over 500 people in a public space – YES cell phones, OPEN press (all press access including TV cameras).” So a Clinton event with less than 500 people gets virtually no coverage because it would showcase Democrats’ lack of enthusiasm for their candidate. The email continues with Schake telling Abedin that Clinton spokesman Jesse Ferguson has suggested the following for fundraiser guests if under 100 people: “Since the event is not open to cameras from the media b/c of space, we will be asking you to check your cell phone so images aren’t released from the event that were unavailable to the media. We take our relationship with the press seriously and don’t want them to be at a disadvantage.”In other words, they tell guests not to sneak out photos of the event because it may fall outside of the lockstep positive coverage by the lapdog media and could contradict their spin. The “no cell phone” rule may also prevent camera flashes from triggering Hillary into having a seizure.

Exclusive documents show a Wells Fargo employee informed the bank of fake customer accounts in 2006
VICE News - A Wells Fargo bank manager tried to warn the head of the company’s regional banking unit of an improperly created customer account in January 2006, five years earlier than the bank has said its board first learned of abuses at its branches.... Dennis Hambek, a former branch manager in West Yakima, Washington, sent a certified letter in January 2006 to Carrie Tolstedt, then Wells Fargo’s head of regional banking, outlining unethical “gaming” activity at area branches. In 2007, Tolstedt was made the company’s head of community banking, the division where many of the unethical practices occurred. Hambek says a customer named Bill Moore came to his branch in July 2005 after he learned that a different Wells Fargo branch had opened checking, savings, and debit-card accounts in his name without his authorization. Hambek asked Moore to write out details of his complaint. Then, Hambek says, he reported the ethics violation to the bank’s investigations department and called a hotline employees were encouraged to use to report misconduct. He says no action was taken. Six months later, Hambek sent the certified letter explaining what he had seen to Tolstedt....[Wells Fargo CEO John] Stumpf testified at a House Financial Services Committee hearing Sept. 29 that the company board got “reports at a committee level, at a high level, about ethics lines requests or information” as early as 2011.

Obama Econ Advisor Blames Back Pain And Video Games For Bad Labor Market
Zero Hedge -Princeton professor and former Obama White House economist Alan Krueger would like for you to know that low labor force participation rates likely have nothing to do with Obama's awful "jobs recovery", stagnant real wages or soaring entitlements that provide massive disincentives to work. Rather, his "thorough research" indicates that men are more likely dropping out of the labor force due to excessive back pain and/or because video gaming technology has become so amazing that young adults are just choosing to stay home instead. According to The Washington Examiner, Krueger's "research" indicated that 47% of men, between the ages of 25 and 54, reported taking pain medication during the previous day. Of those men, 40% said their pain prevented them from working.... But back pain apparently isn't the only thing keeping young men out of the work force.... For younger working-age men, aged 21-30, video games also may be part of the problem, Krueger finds. While falling labor force participation for that group mostly reflects school attendance, idleness is also up. And that might be because, he finds, playing video games is more attractive than older forms of idleness, such as watching television. He discovers that young men out of the labor force spent 6.7 hours a week on average playing video games in the years 2012-2015, up from 3.6 hours a week in 2004-2007.

Leaked emails show Hillary Clinton blaming Russians for funding 'phony' anti-fracking groups
Washington Times - Supporters of hydraulic fracturing have long accused Russia of funding anti-fracking environmental groups, and it turns out Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton agrees. Mrs. Clinton complained about “phony environmental groups” pushing an anti-fracking agenda in a speech to a private audience, according to excerpts leaked Saturday by WikiLeaks after purportedly hacking into the account of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta.... She allegedly made the comments at a June 18, 2014, speech sponsored by tinePublic, a Canadian promotional group.... At the same time, the leaked speeches came as another blow to Mrs. Clinton’s tenuous relationship with environmentalists.... “Apparently, @HillaryClinton will help clean up world w/ renewable energy—right after she helps poison it w/ fracking,” Mediaite columnist and The Young Turks political reporter Jordan Chariton said in a Sunday tweet. In an April 2013 speech to Deutsche Bank, Mrs. Clinton credited the federal government with helping develop fracking, adding that, “I’ve promoted fracking in other places around the world.”

Murkowski Blocks Effort to Protect US Power Grid
Newsmax - In a surprising election-year gambit, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has gutted legislation with strong bipartisan support that would protect the U.S. power grid from solar flares and Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapons, to benefit a “clean” energy bill backed by Senate Democrats. The original bill, known as the GRID Act, authorized the federal government to take emergency measures to protect some 300 giant power transformers around the country. It passed the House of Representatives by a unanimous voice vote in August, an unusual show of bipartisan support in this Congress. But when it went to the Senate, the bill was gutted of the measures to protect the power grid from EMP attack by Murkowski and committee chairman Jeff Bingamon, D-N.M., while other portions of the bill were added to her own energy bill, S. 1462, the American Clean Energy Act of 2009.

US Offshore Wind Plant Costs $17,600 Per Home Powered
The Daily Signal - America’s first offshore wind power plant will cost about $17,600 dollars to build per home it will power. Three miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, the wind farm is supposed to generate enough energy to power 17,000 homes, but will cost $300 million to build five turbines. This cost is just to build the turbines, not to operate them. The extremely high cost of offshore wind doesn’t worry environmentalists and progressives however, because, as Salon.com says about the project, “it’s the precedent that counts.” Despite the extremely high cost, federal officials want to power a whooping 23 million homes with offshore wind by the year 2050.... Offshore wind is so pricey that early investors in it, like Germany, plans to stop building new turbines to lower the costs of electricity and prop up its ailing power grid. However, the average American’s electric bill has gone up 10 percent since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, due to regulations imposed by government officials and taxpayer support for green energy.... As essential goods like electricity becomes more expensive, the cost of producing goods and services that use electricity increases, effectively raising the price of almost everything. The higher prices are ultimately paid for by consumers, not industries.

Social media sites cut off tech company that provides data intel to law enforcement
Washington Times - A technology company that analyzes social media data and sells the information to law enforcement for surveillance purposes will no longer have special access to user data on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The social media companies have all cut off Geofeedia’s special access after the American Civil Liberties Union found that analyses of information posted to the platforms were being marketed to agencies as a way to monitor activists and protesters....The Baltimore County Police Department, for instance, used the Geofeedia’s analysis of social media when riots erupted in Baltimore in 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray, according to one “case study” document obtained by the ACLU.... According to the ACLU’s findings, Instagram provided Geofeedia access to a stream of public user posts that included location data associated with the posts. Facebook allowed Geofeedia to a data feed that ranked public posts that mentioned certain trending topics, such as hashtags, events or specific places. Twitter, through a subsidiary, provided Geofeedia with searchable access to its database of public tweets.... Nicole Ozer, the technology and civil liberties policy director for the ACLU of Northern California, called the scope of the surveillance “alarming.” “This is really sophisticated surveillance without any safeguards for civil liberties and civil rights,” she said, noting that none of the police departments using social media surveillance technology had adopted a policy on use. What’s more, none of the departments using the technology held any sort of public debate before putting the surveillance programs to use.

Samsung Ends Galaxy Note 7 Production, Pulls Model From Market
Zero Hedge - The South Korean company said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it has made a final decision to stop production of the large-screen smartphone whose exploding batteries had become a recurring global problem, and which was supposed to compete with Apple's iPhones and other high-end smartphones during the U.S. holiday shopping season, for the sake of consumer.... The announcement came after consumers reported problems with supposedly safe phones in the U.S. and China, and wireless carriers such as AT&T Inc. and Australia’s Telstra Corp. halted sales. In one case, a Southwest Airlines Co. flight from Louisville, Kentucky, was evacuated because a replacement Note 7 began dispersing smoke and burned carpet flooring.... Samsung has been struggling to regain consumer trust after a first round of recalls. The company stopped selling the device after finding that even the supposedly safer replacements it was providing for recalled Note 7 phones were catching fire.

EpiPen goes from $300 to $30 to $3 with Opensource and 3D Printing
Activist Post - While the US government held a hearing regarding Mylan’s EpiPen pricing in which a package containing two of the devices costs a whooping $600 ($300 per device), little appears to have been done except provide the public with the belief that “something” will eventually be done by what is a clear case of price gouging. What perhaps was more effective than the expensive and ultimately superficial Congressional hearing, was a DIY biohacking group’s demonstration of turning an ordinary store-bought autoinjector into a functioning EpiPen, called an “EpiPencil.” The autoinjector-based EpiPencil costs about $30-$40. […] the EpiPencil cannot be stored for months like the EpiPen can, but it is an important starting point for other biohackers seeking to lower the price of healthcare through innovation and opensource decentralization. With 3D printing, our own innovation lab has found it possible to cut costs even further. We are developing an opensource design of the autoinjector used for the EpiPencil. Costs for the PLA plastic used in printing out prototypes reveals an expected price of around $3 for the finished product.

E-cigarettes are exploding, but nobody’s reporting the cases
What Doctors Don't Tell You - One hospital in North Carolina says it has treated 10 patents in the past six months who have suffered severe burns and fractures—including one patient who lost his sight—after an e-cigarette they were smoking exploded. And these are not isolated cases, but nobody seems to be reporting them. “We know that this is a big problem at burn centres across the United States,” says Clare Meernik, from the University of North Carolina. Part of the problem is that surveillance systems don’t categorise the problem, and so doctors or patients don’t have anywhere to register the incident. The US’s National Fire Protection Association listed just 15 e-cigarette explosions and fires in 2015, and yet the American Burn Association was aware of at least several hundred cases that year. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started to regulate e-cigarettes earlier this year, but hadn’t developed safety standards. Most of the explosions seemed to have been started by some battery malfunction, so this especially needed attention by the FDA, she said.

Study: Cut Risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 34% with This Kind of Diet
Natural Society - For the study, researchers gathered information from over 200,000 Americans. Participants filled out a series of questionnaires about their medical history, current health, diet, and lifestyle. The information was collected over 2 decades. The researchers found that a healthy version of the plant-based diet – which included fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains – lowered the risk of diabetes by 34%. Participants who ate a less-healthy plant-based diet had a 16% lower risk of the disease. The less-healthy version consisted of a lot of fruits and veggies, but also a limited amount of foods such as potatoes, refined grains, and sugary drinks. However, no benefit was seen in people who ate plant-based foods but also consumed a lot of refined carbohydrates and starchy vegetables.

6 Fruits That Prevent & Control Diabetes
David Wolfe - Living with diabetes requires several lifestyle changes. Unfortunately, those changes are often negative – eat less of this, do less of that. It can get frustrating…. These fruits will help you not only manage your blood-sugar level but reduce the severity of diabetes symptoms as well…. Fruit #1 – Apples, according to VeryWell.com, are a great source of soluble fiber. In addition to helping you feel full, this fiber slows the absorption of sugar into your blood. The soluble fiber in apples also works against the inflammation insulin resistance causes. This helps people with diabetes recover from infections faster. Fruit #2 – Black plums possess several anti-diabetic properties. They reduce symptoms such as frequent peeing and thirst. Black plus also help your body convert starch into energy, which regulates your blood-sugar levels. Eat no more than 2 average-sized plums in one sitting to balance these positive effects with the high level of natural sugar in the fruit. Fruit #3 – Guava has a higher concentration of lycopene than any other plant. Lycopene is a dietary fiber that has been proven to reduce diabetes symptoms as well as one’s risk for the disease. According to an I-Shou University study, eating a peeled guava can reduce the amount of sugar in your blood. The ‘peeled’ part is important, as eating guava skin will actually raise your blood-sugar level. Fruit #4 – In one study, grapefruit juice lowered blood-sugar levels just as effectively as metformin, a diabetes drug. Additionally, according to Diabetes In Control, grapefruit contains a number of nutrients that control blood-sugar levels and reduce one’s risk of obesity – a major concern for diabetics. Fruit #5 – Avocados contain lots of fiber which, remember, is good for regulating your blood-sugar levels. The potassium in avocados can also greatly reduce diabetic neuropathy symptoms. MedicalNewsToday.com recommends that diabetics eat avocado in 1-ounce servings. That size serving contains a mere 50 calories, 3 grams of carbs and less than 1 gram of sugar….

Dogs Love These Chews, but They Fracture Teeth Like Crazy
Dr. Becker - …an increasing number of veterinarians are discouraging dog guardians from offering very hard chews, including antlers, due to the potential for broken teeth. In the U.K., veterinarians have seen a steady increase in fractured carnassial teeth. And while broken teeth are common in dogs, fractures in back teeth are not…. Anything your dog chews on that is harder than his teeth can cause a fracture, largely due to the force with which dogs are able to bite down. This typically occurs when a dog moves the chew or bone toward the back of his mouth on one side and chomps down on it…. When your dog breaks a tooth, the pulp — which is the sensitive nerve inside — can be exposed. Not only is an exposed nerve extremely painful, it can also lead to a deep infection and root abscess. Most pets with tooth fractures don’t show obvious signs of pain, but sadly, many suffer silently for weeks, months or even years before the situation progresses to the point where they can’t eat comfortably and lose their appetite. The longer a broken tooth goes untreated, the worse it gets. […] antlers are often a problem, as are Nylabones. Anything you can't put a dent in with your fingernail has the potential to fracture the crown of your dog’s tooth…. Raw knucklebones are much softer than rock hard antlers and are gentler on the teeth. I also monitor their chewing very closely, because they can whittle a large bone down to the size of a ping-pong ball in about an hour. Once a bone is that small, it's too small to be safe.
 

Tuesday - October 11, 2016 - Today In History:

1776 - During the American Revolution the first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought. The forces under Gen. Benedict Arnold suffered heavy losses.
1811 - The Juliana, the 1st steam-powered ferryboat, was put into operation by the inventor John Stevens. Traveled from New York City, NY, to Hoboken, NJ.
1869 - Thomas Edison filed for a patent on his 1st invention. The electric machine was used for counting votes for the U.S. Congress, however the Congress did not buy it.
1890 - The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, DC.
1929 - J.C. Penney opened a store in Milford, DE, making it a nationwide company with stores in all 48 states.
1939 - U.S. President Roosevelt was presented with a letter from Albert Einstein that urged him to develop the U.S. atomic program rapidly.
1942 - The Battle of Cape Esperance, during World War II, began in the Solomons.
1968 - Apollo 7 was launched by the U.S. The first manned Apollo mission was the first in which live television broadcasts were received from orbit. Wally Schirra, Don Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham were the astronauts aboard.
1983 - The last hand-cranked telephones in the U.S. went out of service. Last customers of Bryant Pond, ME, were switched to direct-dial service.
1984 - American Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first female astronaut to space walk. She was aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
1994 - U.S. troops in Haiti took control of the National Palace.
1994 - Iraqi troops began moving away from the Kuwaiti border.
2002 - The Senate joined the House in approving the use of America's military might against Iraq.
2002 - Former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his 1970s Middle East diplomacy.

Fifteen Years Into the Afghan War, Do Americans Know the Truth?
Antiwar.com - Last week marked the fifteenth anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan, the longest war in US history. There weren’t any victory parades or photo-ops with Afghanistan’s post-liberation leaders. That is because the war is ongoing. In fact, 15 years after launching a war against Afghanistan’s Taliban government in retaliation for an attack by Saudi-backed al-Qaeda, the US-backed forces are steadily losing territory back to the Taliban. Do Americans know that we are still wasting billions on “reconstruction” and other projects in Afghanistan that are, at best, boondoggles?

Health conditions worsen as aid trickles into remote Haiti
Associated Press - There's no water, no antibiotics," Dr. Herby Jean told The Associated Press. "Everything is depleted ... We hear helicopters flying overhead, but we're not getting anything." There was also no power and frustration grew on Tuesday as food, medicine and fresh water kept arriving at the main city in Haiti's southwest peninsula but was slow to reach increasingly desperate communities like Dame Marie.

US missile defense in Europe directly threatens Russia – Chinese military
RT.com - US antimissile shield in Europe directly threats Russia, a senior-ranking Chinese general said as cited by RIA Novosti. He added that US actions across the globe disrupt the balance of regional power and provoke regional instability. “The US did not provide legally-binding guarantees that the missile defense system they are deploying in Europe would not be aimed against Russia. But at the same time it poses a real and direct threat to the Russian security,” the general reportedly said in a speech at the Xiangshan international security forum in Beijing. The assessment is similar to that of the Russian military, which insists that the American antimissile shield in Europe compromises Russia’s security and needs to be countered with better ballistic missiles and capabilities to destroy antimissile sites, should the need arise.

South African finance minister issued with summons, rand plunges
Reuters.com - South African prosecutors issued Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan with a formal summons on Tuesday to appear in court on Nov. 2 in relation to the granting of early retirement to a colleague, sending the rand reeling. The currency fell as much as 3.4 percent when prosecutor Shaun Abrahams also told a news conference that Gordhan was being investigated for his role in setting up a surveillance unit at the tax department a decade ago. Abrahams said Gordhan, in his previous role as head of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), would be charged with approving early-retirement for former tax agency deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay and then re-appointing him as a consultant.

Suicide bomber dies in attack on Swedish troops in Mali
The Local - “On Monday night a Swedish patrol on a mission in Timbuktu city was exposed to a suicide bomber. No Swedish soldiers were injured in the incident,” read a statement by the Armed Forces. It added that the troops were being looked after by the Swedish unit in Mali. “The most important thing for us just now is that we don't have any injured Swedish personnel,” spokesperson Tony Remes told the TT news agency. “Some form of crisis team is looking after them.” The Armed Forces said there were no other nationalities involved.

Police in California, Texas fail to report 660 officer-involved deaths
RT.com - Hundreds of police departments in two states were found to have broken laws mandating police reports for in-custody deaths. Registries required by California and Texas were missing a total of 660 deaths from 2005 to 2015. They are the only two states that require law enforcement to report all in-custody deaths, but it seems enforcing the law is trickier than anyone imagined. Research from Texas State University in San Marco found that the two states did not report hundreds of deaths that involved officers during a 10-year period.

Ex-CIA Mike Morell "I want to scare Assad"
YouTube.com - Mike Morell, former deputy director of the CIA, discusses the need to put pressure on Syria and Russia. The full conversation aired  on PBS on August 8th, 2016.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW IS NOT USURPED BY TREATY LAW: UN ARMS TREATY INCLUDED
The Government Rag - "There is nothing new or unique about what we say here. This Court has regularly and uniformly recognized the supremacy of the Constitution over a treaty. Please write your Senators -- reminding them, the US Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land and no treaty can Usurp that power. Take time now to write your Senators on line and remind them -- Sign No Treaties regarding guns/weapons on behalf of Americans; We the People have our own gun law -- The Second Amendment. Read More...

Hundreds stranded in North Carolina floods after Hurricane Matthew
Reuters.com - Hundreds of people were rescued by boat and helicopter as floodwaters inundated North Carolina towns on Monday in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, and officials warned that life-threatening flooding from swollen rivers would continue for days. Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday. The hurricane killed around 1,000 people in Haiti and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday some Haitian towns and villages had just about been "wiped off the map."

Hillary In Leaked Email: Saudi Arabia And Qatar Are Funding ISIS
InfoWars - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton sent an email to her campaign chairman John Podesta in 2014, who was then-counselor to President Barack Obama, that said Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both giving financial and logistical support to the Islamic State and other extremist Sunni groups, according to a recent Wikileaks release. Clinton sent the email on August 17, 2014 to Podesta. It was an eight-point plan to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Clinton’s email said that the United States should support Kurdish forces on the ground with U.S. military advisers and avoid the use of a conventional ground operation.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson just sold out to Big Pharma...says children should be forcibly injected with mercury at gunpoint... claims government 'science' overrides medical freedom
NaturalNews.com - Wow, the 2016 Presidential race is getting more bizarre by the day, it seems, and the latest example of people wandering off into la la land is found in libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson. He just announced that whatever chemicals and viral strains the corrupt, scientifically incompetent federal government decides should be injected into your children must be obediently accepted by parents or they should face arrest, imprisonment or gunpoint enforcement. So Gary Johnson believes that people should be forced against their will to be injected with toxic substances linked to comas, seizures, autism, cancer, neurological disorders, paralyzation and even death.

Iceland Jail Top Bankers For 46 Years, Europe ‘Outraged’
InvestmentWatch.com - Iceland has found nine top bankers guilty and sentenced them to decades in jail for crimes related to the 2008 economic crash. On Thursday Iceland’s Supreme Court returned a guilty verdict for all nine defendants in the Kaupthing market manipulation case, after a long running court trial which began in April last year. Kaupthing was a big international bank headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland. It expanded internationally for years, but collapsed in 2008 under huge debts, crippling the small nation’s economy.

Deutsche Bank bankruptcy would collapse world financial system – Jim Rogers
The main reason the US government wants $14 billion in penalties from the German bank is that it is deep in debt. They’ve got a gigantic deficit – they are desperate for money. They’ll try to get it anywhere they can, Jim Rogers, financial commentator and investor, told RT. Germany's Deutsche Bank reportedly failed to reach an agreement with the US on settling a massive fine. The bank is facing a $14 billion fine penalty from the US Justice Department for mis-selling mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Turn off & stop using devices, Samsung tells all Galaxy Note 7 users over explosion concerns
RT.com - Samsung has temporarily suspended production of its troubled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone due to continued problems with overheating and fires. The company has urged owners of both the originals and replacements to power them down and stop using the devices. “Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available,” the company said in a statement on its website.

Note 7 fiasco could burn a $17 billion hole in Samsung accounts
Samsung Electronics' (005930.KS) worst-ever recall could cost the company as much as $17 billion after it halted sales of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 for a second time, spelling an almost certain end for the ill-fated premium model. Samsung announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire and on Tuesday the crisis deepened: The company told mobile carriers to stop sales or exchange of the $882 device and asked users to shut off their phones while it investigated new reports of fires in replacement Note 7s.

Never get the flu shot! Use these safer and more effective alternatives instead
NaturalNews.com - It is no longer a secret that the same officials who push these toxic vaccines on the public are all deeply invested in the pharmaceutical companies that make these shots. The only people who are served by having annual flu shots are these money-hungry criminals. Learn what to do instead.

Monday - October 10, 2016 - Today In History:

1845 - The United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, MD.
1887 - Thomas Edison organized the Edison Phonograph Company.
1911 - China's Manchu dynasty was overthrown by revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen.
1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike that ended the construction of the Panama Canal.
1938 - Nazi Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.
1957 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, the finance minister of Ghana, after the official had been refused service in a Dover, DE, restaurant.
1978 - The U.S. bill authorizing the Susan B. Anthony dollar was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
1984 - The U.S. Congress passed the 2nd Boland Amendment which outlawed solicitation of 3rd-party countries to support the Contras. The amendment barred the use of funds available to CIA, defense, or intelligence agencies for "supporting, directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any nation, group, organization or individual."
1991 - The United States cut all foreign aid to Haiti in reaction to a military coup that forced President Jean-Claude Aristide into exile.
1994 - Iraq announced it was withdrawing its forces from the Kuwaiti border. No signs of a pullback were observed.
2001 - U.S. President George W. Bush presented a list of 22 most wanted terrorists.
2003 - Rush Limbaugh annouced that he was addicted to painkillers and that he was going to check into a rehab center.
2008 - Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the right to marry.
2010 - In China, Canton Tower opened to the public.

Missiles fired from rebel-held Yemen land near US destroyer
Associated Press - Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen landed near an American destroyer passing by in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy said on Monday, the second such launch targeting ships in the crucial international waterway in recent days. The missile launches Sunday came as a ballistic missile fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies.
* Related: US Navy destroyer comes under missile attack off Yemen coast – Pentagon

Thousands in Yemen protest Saudi-led coalition airstrike that killed over 140 people
Chicago Tribune - Yemenis shout during an anti-Saudi rally protesting Saudi-led airstrikes on a funeral hall, outside the UN offices in Sana'a, Yemen, on Oct. 9, 2016.

Chemnitz: German police hunt Syrian man over suspected bomb plot
CNN - Police in Germany are hunting a 22-year-old Syrian man in connection with a suspected planned bomb attack, Saxony Police told CNN on Saturday.
* UPDATE: German police detain Syrian refugee suspected of planning bomb attack
CNN - A manhunt in Germany has ended with police in Leipzig detaining a Syrian refugee suspected of planning a bomb attack. Police on Saturday said they had found a highly explosive mix of substances more dangerous than TNT in a raid on an apartment in the city of Chemnitz, southwest of Dresden. They said the mix could cause significant damage in small amounts.

Ethiopia Declares State Of Emergency Amid Continuing Protests
NPR - Ethiopia's government has declared a state of emergency following months of anti-government protests by the Oromo people, who say they are marginalized.

Obama just declared Florida a 'major disaster' after Hurricane Matthew
Business Insider - President Barack Obama is declaring a major disaster in Florida, meaning that the state can become eligible for additional federal aid. But Florida Gov. Rick Scott said the declaration was limited to help with debris removal and emergency protective measures. That means the state will not receive aid for individual assistance or for funding to help with government buildings and roads.

Long Island train derailment: 33 injured, services suspended
CNN - The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the derailment of a Long Island commuter train Saturday night that left 33 people injured, authorities said.

Do Not Resist Official Trailer 1
YouTube - Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, DO NOT RESIST - the directorial debut of DETROPIA cinematographer Craig Atkinson - offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America and a glimpse into the future.

Read the Full Transcript of the Second Presidential Debate Between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
The Fortune.com - Here’s everything Trump and Clinton said to each other at the debate.

Hillary, Trump Refuse To Shake Hands At Start Of Debate
ZeroHedge.com - If the pre-debate intro was dramatic, the actual debate was right out of Rocky IV, when in an unprecedented moment, Hillary and Trump both refused to shake hands, leading to a social media frenzy as "no handshake" promptly became what may have been the most tweeted phrase on twitter.

TRUMP PUNKED THE PRESS: Told Reporters They Were Going to Pre-Debate Presser, Walked in on Clinton Rape Victims!
TheGatewayPundit - The reporters thought they were going to a pre-debate photo op with Donald Trump. They walked in on Trump sitting with Clinton rape victims Paula Jones, Kathy Shelton, Juanita Broaddrick & Kathleen Willey.

Assange Waits For Hour Before Debate, Releases Hillary Confessing To It ALL
ConservativeDailyPost - We here at Conservative Daily Post don’t believe any amount of money could put someone above the law, so we like to dig around and find evidence that might place the Clintons and their cronies away for another thousand lifetimes. It has long been supposed that Hillary used her office as Secretary of State to manipulate the global economy in order to garner more funds and get more donors, and then even more power over and over again. Supposed, documented, proven, but there has always been one thing missing; a confession. We may have found it. Read more...

Donald Trump Acknowledges Not Paying Federal Incomes Taxes for Years
MSN.com - Donald J. Trump explicitly acknowledged for the first time during Sunday’s debate that he used a $916 million loss that he reported on his 1995 income tax returns to avoid paying personal federal income taxes for years. Mr. Trump’s response — “Of course I do. Of course I do” — was the fullest he has provided since The New York Times reported that he had he declared the loss, and that the tax deduction could have been large enough to allow him to avoid federal income taxes for up to 18 years.

Mylan to pay $465 million EpiPen settlement
Theday.com - Washington - EpiPen-maker Mylan reached a $465 million settlement with the Justice Department to "resolve questions that have been raised" about whether the Medicaid program overpaid for the lifesaving allergy injection, the company said in a release .

Samsung says it's 'working diligently' as fifth replacement Note 7 burns
The Verge - Another replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has caught fire, this one in Houston, Texas. Daniel Franks was at lunch with his daughter and wife when their replacement caught fire while sitting on the table, he told The Verge in an interview.

Tea For Two
The News International - This week You! takes a look at some healthy teas that you should include in your daily diet... Tea is addictive. A hot cup of tea takes away all your worries and gives you instant energy.

GMO Arctic Apples Are Coming To Your Supermarket
Born Again Health Tips - The apples stirred up major controversy in February 2015 when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) deemed both the Arctic Golden Delicious and Arctic Granny varieties safe for human consumption. It was the first time the federal agency approved an aesthetically-improved genetically engineered food.

Here's why you should ask where your seafood comes from
The article here pretty much says it all. So, how about you? Are you concerned about where your seafood comes from? You should be after reading this.
 

Friday - October 7, 2016 - Today In History:

1765 - Nine American colonies sent a total of 28 delegates to New York City for the Stamp Act Congress. The delegates adopted the "Declaration of Rights and Grievances."
1777 - During the American Revolution the second Battle of Saratoga began.
1868 - Cornell University was inaugurated in Ithaca, NY.
1913 - For the first time, Henry Ford's entire Highland Park automobile factory was run on a continuously moving assembly line when the chassis was added to the process.
1950 - The U.S. led U.N. forces crossed the 38th parallel and entered North Korea. China in November proved their threat to enter the war by sending several hundred thousand troops over the border into North Korea.
1956 - A U.S. House subcommittee began investigations of allegedly rigged TV quiz shows.
1963 - President Kennedy signed a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union.
1981 - The Egyptian parliament, after the assassination of Anwar Sadat, named Vice President Hosni Mubarak the next president of Egypt.
1985 - The United States announced that it would no longer automatically comply with World Court decisions.
1993 - President Clinton sent more troops, heavy armor, and naval firepower to Somalia.
1994 - President Clinton dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf when Iraqi troops were spotted moving toward Kuwait. The U.S. Army was also put on alert.
1998 - The U.S. government filed an antitrust suit that alleged Visa and MasterCard inhibit competition by preventing banks from offering other cards.
1999 - American Home Products Corp. agreed to pay up to $4.83 billion to settle claims that the fen-phen diet drug - dangerous problems with heart valves.
2000 - Vojislav Kostunica took the oath of office as Yugoslavia's first popularly elected president.
2001 - The U.S. and Great Britain began airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to that state's support of terrorism and Osama bin Laden. The act was the first military action taken in response to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor in the recall election of Governor Gray Davis.

Joint Russia-Belarus Airborne Troops Drills Kick Off Friday
Sputnik News - The airborne troops of Russia and Belarus are starting joint tactical drills on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press statement. "Divisions of Russian Airborne Troops have arrived on the territory of the Republic of Belarus to take part in a joint bilateral tactical exercise. Joint Belarusian-Russian drills will be held in three stages at one of the military sites near Brest in the period from October 7 until October 20," the statement says. Over 700 servicemen and about 60 units of military equipment will be involved in the drills. The servicemen will exchange experience in the methods of preparing air assault units in the course of special operations.

Aiding terrorist group: German court convicts men who sent Ahrar Al-Sham $145,000 in supplies
RT - In the first decision of its kind, a German court convicted four supporters of hardline Islamist group Ahrar Al-Sham, who supplied munitions and equipment worth thousands of dollars to Syria, of aiding terrorism. It may serve a precedent for further trials. Fighting the Syrian Army does not make “rebels” less accountable for “violence against civilians, the siege of cities and taking citizens hostage,” the presiding judge of the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart, Hartmut Schnelle, said in support of his decision to back terrorism charges, as cited by Stuttgarter Zeitung. Describing the radical group as “a foreign terrorist organization” that seeks to portray itself as a member of the so-called moderate opposition in Syria, the court cited the group’s public acknowledgments of mounting suicide attacks and preparing assaults on Alawite villages.

Russia Threatens To Shoot Down US Jets
Kurt Nimmo - In a stark warning to the United States, a spokesman for the Russian defense ministry, Major-General Igor Konashekov, said Russia may shoot down US planes attempting to launch airstrikes in Syria. “I would recommend our colleagues in Washington to thoroughly consider the possible consequences of the realization of such plans,” Konashenkov said. Konshenkov noted Russia has deployed advanced S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missiles to its bases in Syria. He said the range of the missiles “can be a surprise for any unidentified flying objects.” The defense minister said advance technology employed by the United State would be no match for the Russian missiles. “The illusions of dilettantes about the existence of ‘stealth’ aircraft may encounter a disappointing reality,” he warned. Military experts say the S-400 SAM, known as the “Triumf” in Russia, is the most capable and lethal long-range air defense missile system on the planet. It has a maximum speed around Mach 12, or close to 20,000 miles per hour, making a “no escape” zone for US aircraft likely, according to the Defense Media Network. The remarks follow the suspension of talks between the United States and Russia. On Monday the US accused the Russians of colluding with the Syrians in the effort to retake the jihadi occupied city of Aleppo.

Deutsche Bank to Cut an Additional 1,000 Jobs in Germany
NY Times - Deutsche Bank said on Thursday that it would eliminate 1,000 full-time positions in Germany as part of job cuts the embattled lender first announced last year…. The latest cuts are part of an aggressive plan announced by John Cryan, Deutsche’s chief executive, last year to overhaul the lender and eliminate as many as 35,000 jobs through internal cuts and the sale of businesses. As part of those plans, the bank will eliminate about 9,000 full-time jobs and about 6,000 external contractor positions.

Iceland finds all guilty in banker market-abuse case
Iceland Monitor - Iceland’s Supreme Court has return a guilty verdict for all nine defendants in the Kaupþing market manipulation case, the court trial for which began in April 2015. Back in June last year, the Reykjavik District Court found seven of the nine defendants guilty, acquitting two. By fully financing share purchases with no other surety than the shares themselves, the bankers were accused of giving a false and misleading impression of demand for Kaupþingi shares by means of deception and pretence. The Supreme Court has now overturned the acquittals, finding Björk Þórarinsdóttir (credit representative at Kaupþing) and Magnús Guðmundsson (former CEO of Kaupthing Luxembourg) also guilty alongside the other seven. No punishment has been handed out to Þórarinsdóttir and Guðmundsson, however. In addition, Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, former Director of the bank, who had initially received no further penalty, having previously been sentenced in the ‘Al-Thani affair’, has now been given a sixth-month extension to his prison sentence.

Worst disaster in Haiti since 2010 earthquake: Storm leaves 260 dead as it approaches US (Photos)
RT - The death toll in Haiti from Hurricane Matthew has gone up to 261 with authorities saying it’s the largest humanitarian event witnessed since the earthquake six years ago. Authorities in Haiti have reported 261 deaths, many of them caused by falling trees or other debris, Reuters reports, citing local officials. The Caribbean nation has been the hardest hit by the hurricane, suffering the most casualties and severe structural damage. The storm has destroyed more than 3,200 homes, displaced 15,000 people and decimated plantations and livestock. “Haiti is facing the largest humanitarian event witnessed since the earthquake six years ago,” said Mourad Wahba, the UN special representative for Haiti, as quoted in USA Today. “Much of the population is displaced and communication systems are down. At least 10,000 people are in shelter. We’ve received reports of destroyed houses and overflowing hospitals with shortages of buckets and fresh water.” The full extent of the damage is still unclear, but UN has received reports that up to 98% of the town of Jérémie has been destroyed. Efforts by rescue agencies and aid workers to reach the worst-affected areas such as Grand’Anse and Les Cayes have been hampered by flooded roads and the collapse of the Ladigue bridge, a key transport link, which has left parts of southern Haiti cut off.

U.S. Navy Upgrades “SSBN Nuclear Sub Electronic Security” With World War On the Horizon
Mac Slavo - With little fanfare in the U.S. media, President Obama and his team of war hawks have cut off diplomatic relations with Russia, and are instead maneuvering aggressively towards a war footing. The clash of objectives in Syria – namely, the fundamental differences in their position on Assad remaining in power as well as the underlying causes that led to the tension, fueled the rise of ISIS and pitted world powers against each other – are increasingly drawing the world into a perilous position. President Putin, as well as his ministers, have made clear that if the U.S. strikes Syrian forces or attempts to directly take out Assad, it will also be prodding for world war – and that could mean the gravest threat to Western civilization since the Cold War. Because apparently American leaders just can’t resist intervening in Middle Eastern affairs. Russia is on high alert, and its newspapers recently echoed the warnings of its leadership: “Just imagine that the US does what it has wanted to do for a long time and strike against Assad, not by mistake but on purpose and openly. “Should Russia defend its ally or consider striking against the Americans but this would definitely lead to a Third World War.

44 Afghan Troops GO MISSING While Visiting US
Kit Daniels - At least 44 Afghan troops have taken advantage of a US military training program to illegally immigrate to the US since at least Jan. 2015, the Pentagon admitted. The US routinely brings Afghan troops to the US for training, despite the fact the Afghan Army has been infiltrated with Islamic militants who have carried out attacks on Westerners. “The Defense Department is assessing ways to strengthen eligibility criteria for training in ways that will reduce the likelihood of an individual Afghan willingly absconding from training in the US and going AWOL [absent without leave],” said Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump. Eight of the troops have disappeared in the past month alone. The Pentagon claimed the Afghans are “carefully vetted” before they’re brought to the US, but last year FBI Director James Comey admitted the U.S. can’t realistically vet everyone for terror ties.

DOJ Let Clinton Aides’ Lawyer Limit FBI’s Investigation
Daily Caller - Department of Justice (DOJ) officials let the attorney for two of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s closest aides shape the FBI’s investigation into her private email server, including allowing the assistants to destroy official records and laptops. Four leaders of key House and Senate oversight committees pointed to two June 10, 2016, letters Beth Wilkinson drafted in conjunction with DOJ officials saying the FBI could only review Clinton email archives dated between June 1, 2014, and Feb. 1, 2015, and maintained by the Colorado firm Platte River Networks. The letters also “memorialized” the FBI’s agreement allowing the Clinton aides to destroy their records and laptops. The Wilkinson letters raise serious questions about why DOJ would consent to such substantial limitations on the scope of its investigation, and how Director (James) Comey’s statements on the scope of the investigation comport with the reality of what the FBI was permitted to investigate,” the four told Attorney General Loretta Lynch in a letter made public Wednesday. “This is simply astonishing given the likelihood that evidence on the laptops would be of interest to congressional investigators.” The four included Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Chuck Grassley; House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz; House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte; and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes.

Breaking: Clinton Insider’s Emails Published by DCLeaks
Mikael Thalen - Emails allegedly belonging to Clinton insider Capricia Marshall were published online Thursday by the website DCLeaks. The former Chief of Protocol of the United States, Capricia Marshall used to be one of the Hillary Clinton’s insiders at the State Department,” the website says. “The daughter of immigrants, she worked on the Bill Clinton presidential campaign.” “In 2000, as the Clinton Administration wound down, Marshall worked on Hillary Clinton’s New York Senate campaign, although in its aftermath her name figured in charges of campaign finance violations brought before the Federal Election Commission. Capricia Marshall is increasingly at Clinton’s side these days. It is not by accident that Mrs. Marshall is on ‘Washington Power List.'” The emails, ranging from February 2015 to June 2016, include communications with employees at the Clinton Foundation as well as members of the Clinton presidential campaign. As noted by Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross, one such email from March of 2015 appears to show a new email address used by Clinton – hdr29@hrcoffice.com…. This article will be updated as new information comes in.

Bill Clinton Pushing for Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief After Fleecing Haitians
Breitbart - In the wake of the devastating destruction to Haiti caused by Hurricane Matthew, President Bill Clinton took to Twitter and urged his six million-plus followers to go to the embattled Clinton Foundation to assist in relief efforts. “Praying for everyone impacted by . Here’s how you can help in Haiti,” Clinton said his tweet, which linked to a Medium article, entitled, “Members of the Clinton Foundation Community Respond to Hurricane Matthew; Ways to Support.” The last time tragedy struct the tiny Caribbean country, Bill and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — according to scores of enraged Haitians — used their billion dollar charity and leveraged their global connections to enrich themselves and their monied cronies. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010 — while 316,000 lifeless bodies lay buried under rubble, and while 300,000 Haitians suffered from injuries, with another 1.3 million displaced — the Clintons saw an opportunity to cash in. Hillary Clinton’s brother, Tony Rodham, landed a lucrative and historically rare Haitian “gold exploitation permit,” while Clinton Foundation donors, including Digicel mobile phone company founder Denis O’Brien, were winning multi-million dollar contracts that would siphon massive profits from the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. While then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s State Department was funneling billions in relief funds to rebuild Haiti, the Clinton Foundation was leveraging its influence to guide high-dollar contracts to longtime Clinton cronies who would go on to reap millions off the catastrophe that had claimed so many lives on the devastated island.

Obama’s army of public relations staffers costs U.S. taxpayers $500M per year
Washington Times - President Obama has swelled the ranks of government PR, adding hundreds of new public relations specialists to the federal payroll during his time in office, costing taxpayers a half-billion dollars a year, the government’s chief watchdog said Wednesday. That doesn’t include the more than $100 million the administration spends annually for help from private sector spinmeisters, nor does it account for the $800 million spent on contracts for advertising in 2015, according to the Government Accountability Office. “Spending $1.5 billion on government PR activities is a huge waste of money. That sort of spending should be drastically scaled back,” said Chris Edwards, a federal budget scholar at the Cato Institute. The administration added some 667 PR staffers between 2008, the last full year under his predecessor, and 2011, when public relations staffing across federal agencies peaked at 5,238 people. That’s a jump of 15 percent during those years. The number has since slipped, but there were still nearly 5,100 PR staffers in the administration in 2014, the final year for which the GAO had figures. The median salary for PR employees was $90,000 in 2014 — up from $77,000 in 2006, the auditors said.

Obama Administration Is Quietly Delaying Thousands of Deportation Cases
NY Times - The Obama administration is delaying deportation proceedings for recent immigrants in cities across the United States, allowing more than 56,000 of those who fled Central America since 2014 to remain in the country legally for several more years. The shift, described in interviews with immigration lawyers, federal officials, and current and former judges, has been occurring without public attention for months. It amounts to an unannounced departure from the administration’s widely publicized pronouncements that cases tied to the so-called surge of 2014 would be rushed through the immigration courts in an effort to deter more Central Americans from entering the United States illegally. The delayed cases are those of nearly half of the Central Americans who entered the United States as families since 2014, and close to a quarter of the total number of Central Americans who entered during that period, according to figures from the Justice Department. The delays are being made as a cost-saving measure, federal officials said, because of a lapse in enforcement that allowed immigrants who were supposed to be enrolled in an electronic monitoring program to go free. Some of those affected had failed to report to government offices to be fitted with GPS ankle bracelets, according to a February memo from the chief immigration judge, Print Maggard, in Arlington, Va. Now that the government will not have to pay the daily fee of $4 to $8 a person to monitor such bracelets, the immigrants’ cases have been pushed back for years, some until 2023, judges and federal officials said.

‘Black Lives Matter’ Supporters Plan Looting Sprees as Hurricane Matthew Hits
Paul Joseph Watson - The extreme weather event is hours away from launching a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5 siege on Florida’s east coast before stretching into Georgia and South Carolina, but some are more concerned about how they can hijack the chaos to commit criminal acts. A quick Twitter search reveals dozens of messages posted by Americans living in or near the affected areas that brazenly talk about the opportunity for looting that the hurricane will provide. An analysis of the Twitter accounts shows that many of them are sympathetic towards ‘Black Lives Matter’ – supporters of which have used BLM protests as an excuse to carry out mass looting in Ferguson, Baltimore and most recently Charlotte. Some of the accounts also featured anti-Donald Trump posts as well tweets complaining about racism and “cultural appropriation”.

Sick Hillary? Clinton Won’t Attend Any Rallies For Over 2 Weeks
Paul Joseph Watson - Hillary’s schedule shows that she will appear at just one fundraiser, in San Francisco, California on Sunday, but besides that has absolutely no plans to show her face at any rallies. Hillary’ s absence is emphasized by the fact that Bernie Sanders – who is 75-years-old – will head up no less than seven rallies over the next two days in place of Clinton. While Clinton will appear at none of her own rallies until beyond October 23, Donald Trump is set to headline four rallies over the next seven days alone. Hillary going virtually AWOL from her own campaign trail strongly suggests that the health problems which have forced her to keep a “light schedule” are back with a vengeance. CNN mentioned Clinton’s “light schedule,” although their report failed to highlight the fact that Hillary seems to be taking more time off than ever before. Last month, for example, Hillary’s only event over a six day period was a short speech she gave in Orlando, Florida. In August, Hillary took seven of the first 14 days of the month off and went four days without a single campaign appearance. According to her current schedule, aside from the presidential debates, Hillary won’t make any other public appearance in front of a crowd for at least 18 days – maybe more. Is Hillary merely trying to run out the clock in the belief that she will beat Trump if polls remain the same, or is her absence in sight of the finishing line another disturbing sign that all is not what it seems?

Thank you, Bill Clinton for endorsing Donald Trump
Fox News - Donald Trump wants to repeal ObamaCare. Hillary wants to expand it. The choice doesn’t get any clearer than that. Knowing this, it’s pretty clear that anyone who supports ObamaCare, supports Hillary. Anyone who despises ObamaCare and agrees it’s a disaster is endorsing Trump. Guess who now agrees […] that ObamaCare is a disaster? Former President Bill Clinton…. Bill Clinton announced it publicly just days ago in a speech in Michigan…. Here are Bill’s words: “You’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care, and then the people who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half and it’s the craziest thing in the world.” “On the other hand, the current system works fine if you’re eligible for Medicaid, if you’re a lower-income working person. If you’re already on Medicare or if you get enough subsidies on a modest income that you can afford your health care.” “But the people getting killed in this deal are the small-business people and individuals who make just a little bit too much to get any of these subsidies….” Now, keep in mind that Hillary thinks ObamaCare is fantastic. She thinks it’s working just fine, with a few little tweaks. She thinks it should be dramatically expanded. She wants to raise taxes even higher. She wants more regulations. And she thinks the economy is hunky dory and we are on the verge of a great economic expansion. Which brings up two very important questions: Do Bill and his wife even speak to each other? Who is Bill Clinton campaigning for?

IMF downgraded U.S. growth to 1.6 percent in 2016, decline of 38 percent from previous year
The Free Beacon - The International Monetary Fund downgraded the economic growth outlook for the United States to 1.6 percent in 2016, which is the largest one-year drop seen for an advanced economy, according to the Fund’s World Economic Outlook report. According to the report, the United States grew at a rate of 2.6 percent in 2015 and is projected to slow to 1.6 percent in 2016, a decline of 38 percent. The United States’ decline in growth is the largest one-year drop seen in all of the advanced economies such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Spain…. Weaker-than-expected growth in the United States is one of the reasons why the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth projections. The group projected that global growth would slow to 3.1 percent in 2016 after growing 3.2 percent in 2015, citing the U.S. growth forecast as well as the Brexit vote.

New Mega Oil Discovery In Alaska Could Reverse 3 Decades Of Decline
OilPrice.com - Caelus Energy LLC, a small company backed by private equity, says that it has discovered oil on Alaska’s northern coast. The field could hold as much as 6 billion barrels of oil, with about 1.8 to 2.4 billion barrels considered to be recoverable. If that is the case, the discovery would instantly raise Alaska’s statewide recoverable oil reserve base by about 80 percent. But producing the oil will not be easy. Drilling must take place in the winter. To drill the field, the tentative plan would be to build manmade islands to drill through. Oil produced in the shallow water of Smith Bay will need to be moved somehow. Caelus will have to build an $800 million pipeline that travels 125 miles, connecting to an existing pipeline system in Prudhoe Bay.… The one thing that Caelus has in its favor is strong support from the state of Alaska. Desperate to halt declining output and cratering state revenues, the Alaskan government has been frantically searching for ways to increase oil production. Output has been falling from Alaska’s aging North Slope, with production down below 500,000 barrels per day from a peak in the late 1980s at over 2 million barrels per day.

Hurricane Matthew May Strengthen Before Hitting the US, Forecasts Predict
ABC News - Hurricane Matthew Upgraded to Category 4, as Millions Warned That 'This Storm Will Kill You’. The latest forecast models predict that Hurricane Matthew, which ripped through the Caribbean, leaving a trail of devastation, will grow even stronger as it heads for the U.S. The storm could is expected to strengthen slightly and make landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of up to 145 mph, ABC News meteorologist Max Golembo said. Warm waters off the Florida coast, little atmospheric shear and no interaction with landmass provide the ideal conditions for the storm to become more powerful as it approaches the U.S., according to Golembo…. Matthew is forecast to move towards the central Atlantic coast of Florida tonight and into Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service, bringing "life-threatening" weather conditions.
* Related: Live: Hurricane Matthew Watch – Live Images From Florida, Category 4 Hurricane

“Shelves Go Empty, Sandbags Run Out” As Florida Braces for Emergency Evacuation, Cat 5 Hurricane
Mac Slavo - For those living in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina or North Carolina, and in the path, hopefully preparations have already been made – because store shelves are already running out of critical emergency supplies and the situation looks severe. IF weather forecasts are worth anything in tracking and predicting the course of Hurricane Matthew, the Category 5 hurricane could make a dramatic double-dip around Florida, and batter the peninsula and the people on it twice over. Weird stuff, and it will very likely cause significant damage. t is projected to be the most powerful hurricane to hit Florida in some 9 years, and may cause serious destruction to George, South Carolina and North Carolina as well. South Carolina is already in the process of forcibly evacuating over a million people. According to the AP, evacuation has been urged for millions of coastal residents, and mandated for some low lying and poorly developed areas: “I cannot emphasize enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a Wednesday press conference. “If Matthew directly impacts Florida, there will be massive destruction that we haven’t seen in years. This is a deadly storm approaching our state.”

What?? NBC’s Ron Allen Thinks Climate Deal Is ‘Designed to Stop’ Storms Like Hurricane Matthew (Video)
NewsBusters - Ron Allen: You’re right and this, as you heard the President, is one of the reasons that he ran for office. He believes so deeply in protecting the environment, protecting the climate and this is something he has been pushing for arguably for the past seven and a half years and when you talk to the president and you hear him talk, he thinks that this is one of the most significant aspects of his legacy that he has done something that unites the world around the goal of saving the planet. Now, as a practical matter, it’s very interesting that this is happening a day when there’s a hurricane bearing down on the United States and in the Caribbean because these severe storms, beach erosions, intense weather episodes that we’ve had is perhaps the most practical sample of what the president was talking about as the threat that the planet faces and this is what this whole climate agreement signed by 190 nations and now ratified by 60 or so is designed to stop.

Facebook to Decrypt “Secure” Messages Over Cyber-Bullying Accusations
Kit Daniels - Share this to everyone you know as a warning. Facebook will decrypt “encrypted” messages on its Messenger app if the sender is accused of “cyber-bullying.” “When you report a secret conversation, recent messages from that conversation will be decrypted and sent securely from your device to our Help Team for review,” Facebook’s terms of services states. “We won’t tell the person you’re talking to that you reported it.” “Community Standards violations can include bullying or harassment, threats, and sexual violent or exploitation.” Ironically, Facebook also claimed “a secret conversation in Messenger is encrypted end-to-end, which means the messages are intended just for you and the other person—not anyone else, including us.” In other words, Facebook’s new “encryption” software announced on Wednesday isn’t really encryption at all when the social media giant – and presumably intelligence agencies – can decrypt messages at will despite not being the intended recipients. Users might as well be writing in plain text. This false security is also dangerous given how “social justice warriors” are out destroying the lives and careers of individuals who make “insulting comments” online because to them, free speech ends where their feelings begin. SJWs are even developing an app called “Social Autopsy” which encourages users to submit the real identities of people who cause “offense” online, including their including employment and school records. The app, of course, is open to abuse by leftists to publicly shame anyone for having differing political views – and it will have a chilling effect on free speech.

The Best Way To Grow Indoor Potatoes Is In A … Garbage Bag?
Off the Grid News - While potatoes certainly aren’t your standard house plants, they’re surprisingly easy to grow indoors, and unlike planting in the garden, you get to control the growing conditions. Better yet, you can grow potatoes indoors any time of year, which means fresh potatoes for dinner, even when snow is falling. By the way, while you can plant potatoes indoors in large buckets or plastic containers, it’s really fun to grow them in plastic garbage bags…. Start with fresh seed potatoes from a reputable garden supply store. Avoid potatoes from the grocery store, which are treated with substances that keep the potatoes from sprouting. If you decide to try planting grocery store potatoes, be sure they’re organic. If the potatoes are large, cut them into chunks about the size of a small egg, each with at least two “eyes.” Set cut potatoes aside to dry at room temperature for three or four days. Place 4 to 6 inches of potting soil in a large garbage bag, and then fold the top of the bag down to just above the surface of the soil…. When the plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, roll up the bag and add just enough soil to cover the entire plant so just the tips of the top leaves are visible. You can also use straw or a mixture of potting soil and straw, which keeps the soil loose and easy to handle…. Stop watering the potatoes when the leaves begin to die back and turn yellow – generally about 10 weeks. The extra time gives the skin time to firm up. To harvest potatoes, simply reach into the bag and pull them out. Or, take the bag outdoors and dump the contents on the ground, and then pick out the potatoes.

Neem plant reverses prostate cancer
What Doctors Don't Tell You - The neem plant could reverse prostate cancer. In just 12 weeks, it has reduced the size of tumours by 70 per cent, and halved the rate of growth of the cancer. The astonishing results have been seen in tests on laboratory mice that were given nimbolide pills, which contain an active compound from the neem plant (Azadirachia indica). There were no adverse reactions to the supplement. Researchers from the National University of Singapore think that nimbolide directly targets an enzyme that plays a key role in the development of prostate cancer. The neem plant is routinely used in Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medicine of the Indian sub-continent, and its leaves and bark are often found in many personal care products, including soaps, toothpaste, skincare aids and dietary supplements. Although other studies have shown that neem has cancer-fighting properties, the researchers say that theirs is one of the first to show the biological mechanisms that are taking place.

Proven Ways to Prevent and Ease Shingles
Green Med Info - One in three people will develop shingles (herpes zoster) during their lifetime. It occurs when latent varicella-zoster (chickenpox) virus reactivates along sensory nerves to the skin. It causes a painful, blistering skin eruption that lasts for two to four weeks. But long-term effects including chronic pain can last for several months or years and seriously impair quality of life. Studies show that the rate of shingles is on the rise. And the cause may be the widespread use of the chickenpox vaccine. An Australian study demonstrated that as the use of chickenpox vaccine rises so does the incidence of shingles. But shingles is a far more serious condition than chicken pox. It can also lead to neuropathy, meningitis, hearing loss, and blindness. Here are 8 proven ways to prevent shingles and to ease the symptoms without drugs or vaccines. 1. Vitamin C Therapy - According to Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD, vitamin C has been successfully used in the treatment of shingles. In one study eight patients with shingles received 2,000 to 3,000 mg of vitamin C by injection every 12 hours, supplemented by 1,000 mg in fruit juice every two hours. Seven of the eight patients reported complete pain relief within two hours of the first injection…. 2. Fruits and Vegetables - In a British community-based case-control study researchers […] found a strong link between low fruit intake and increased shingles risk. People who ate less than one piece of fruit per week had more than three times the risk of herpes zoster compared to those who ate more than three per day. The same was true when they looked at combined fruit and vegetable intake. 3. Capsaicin - Postherpetic neuralgia is a complication of shingles, that can last long after the initial rash and blisters disappear. It affects nerve fibers and skin, causing chronic burning pain. Studies show that topical capsaicin may be an effective treatment. Capsaicin is the compound in hot peppers that gives them their spice….
* Related: Vitamin C, Shingles, and Vaccination

Banana Cherry Chocolate Chunk Vegan Ice Cream Recipe
Dr. Edward Group - We found this beautiful, blush-hued treat on Simple-Veganista. The combination of cherries, dark chocolate, and whipped bananas is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth while keeping calories in check. Unlike conventional ice cream, this vegan ice cream has 60% less fat, no added sugar, and only 4 ingredients. Ingredients: 2 medium organic bananas, cut into quarter to half-inch slices and frozen, 1 ½ cups of organic cherries, pitted and frozen, Splash of unsweetened organic coconut milk, almond milk, or other non-dairy milk (hemp milk is great choice), ¼ cup of organic dark chocolate chunks, cacao nibs, or raw chocolate chips.

Flu Vaccines From Dogs?
Natural Blaze - One segment of the pharmaceutical industry literally may be going to the dogs! How come? To make flu vaccines using DOG KIDNEYS. Bloomberg Businessweek and Bruce Einhorn produced a most interesting article on that topic which readers can access here. Einhorn points out vaccines haven’t been that profitable for many in the Big Pharma ‘clan’. I wonder why. Here’s what he has to say about some of their ‘downsizing’: There’s an opening in the $5 billion market for seasonal flu vaccines, of which the U.S. consumes a third. Novartis sold its money-losing vaccine division to CSL for $275 million in 2014. Sanofi and Merck dissolved their flu vaccine joint venture in March. In June the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said AstraZeneca’s FluMist hadn’t been a strong preventive measure for three years. (AstraZeneca has said it’s working with the CDC to resolve the matter.) Of the $5 billion flu vaccine market, the United States consumes one-third! If the current CDC’s proposed rulemaking ever goes into effect [3], which would mean everyone would have to be vaccinated to the point of even carting someone off a plane, bus or street for being presumed exposed to a communicable disease, then the U.S. easily may consume 50 to 75 percent—thereby guaranteeing Big Pharma has a profitable flu vaccine season every year. However, what kind of adverse reactions could there be from flu vaccines grown on dog kidney cells? What kind of mycoplasma could be in that dog kidney flu vaccine? It’s interesting that Novartis sold its “money-losing vaccine division” to CSL, the innovative Australian vaccine maker who wants to introduce the “dog kidney” flu vaccine.

Victory! Montreal’s Pit Bull Ban Suspended Indefinitely
Dogington Post - On Wednesday, October 5, Judge Louis Gouin of the Quebec Superior Court rendered his decision in the lawsuit between the Montreal SPCA and the City of Montreal concerning a newly passed animal control bylaw that banned pit bulls. Agreeing with the Montreal SPCA, he ordered an immediate suspension of the sections of the bylaw targeting certain breeds, namely those prohibiting the adoption of “pit bull type dogs” and requiring these dogs to be muzzled. Judge Gouin ruled that the contested provisions of the bylaw raise serious legal questions which the Court will need to consider in greater depth, but in the meantime, the ban would be suspended, effectively saving the lives of many hundreds of dogs that would otherwise have been euthanized this week. The Judge called to attention the elasticity of the definition of the term “pit bull type dogs”, which, by including mixes of the targeted breeds as well as dogs who physically resemble these, is so vague and imprecise that neither the Montreal SPCA, nor dog owners are able to determine exactly which dogs are banned. The Court also raised the possibility that the City of Montreal had exceeded its powers by providing for the seizure and euthanasia of “pit bull type dogs”, without consideration of whether the targeted animals are, in fact, actually dangerous. The suspension of the bylaw’s problematic sections is temporary, until a hearing can be held on the merits, at which time the Superior Court will consider the legality of these very sections. The dates for this hearing have not yet been determined, but it could take several months for the case to be heard.

Shelter Builds Special Room To Give Lonely Dogs A Taste Of Home
Stephen Messenger - Dogs at the Toledo Area Humane Society now have the chance to step away from their cramped kennel to spend time in the facility's new "Real Life Room," a space designed to look and feel like a forever home. "We basically took an office here and turned it into a living room," a shelter staffer told The Dodo. "We have a recliner, a rug, some pillows and a TV. One of the best things is the lamp we put in there. That means we can turn off the florescent lights and have more soothing lighting in the room." The concept is wonderfully simple, but it can make a big difference for animals who often have a difficult time coping with life behind bars — especially those who have been having more trouble than most finding a real home of their own. "It gives the dogs a nice break from being in the kennels, where it's noisy and they don't have very much space. They can go in there and relax by themselves or with a volunteer," the staffer said, noting yet another benefit. "We get a better picture of how these dogs will actually act in a home. That gives us a better sense of the type of personality the dog has." This isn't the first shelter to have built such a room for the sake of its lonely pets — and that's probably because it works.

Thursday - October 6, 2016 - Today In History:

1683 - The first Mennonites arrived in America aboard the Concord. The German and Dutch families settled in an area that is now a neighborhood in Philadelphia, PA.
1848 - The steamboat SS California left New York Harbor for San Francisco via Cape Horn. The steamboat service arrived on February 28, 1849. The trip took 4 months and 21 days.
1884 - The Naval War College was established in Newport, RI.
1890 - Polygamy was outlawed by the Mormon Church.
1939 - Adolf Hitler denied any intention to wage war against Britain and France in an address to Reichstag.
1949 - U.S. president Harry Truman signed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act. The act provided $1.3 billion in the form of military aid to NATO countries.
1954 - E.L. Lyon became the first male nurse for the U.S. Army.
1961 - U.S. President John F. Kennedy advised American families to build or buy bomb shelters to protect them in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union.
1973 - Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in an attempt to win back territory that had been lost in the third Arab-Israel war. Support for Israel led to a devastating oil embargo against many nations including the U.S. and Great Britain on October 17, 1973. The war lasted 2 weeks.
1979 - Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit the White House.
1992 - Ross Perot appeared in his first paid broadcast on CBS-TV after entering the U.S. presidential race.
2004 - The top U.S. arms inspector in Iraq, Charles Duelfer, reported finding no evidence Saddam Hussein's regime had produced weapons of mass destruction after 1991.

Covert strikes on Assad back on US table to prevent ‘fall of Aleppo’ – report
RT - Top Washington officials are set to discuss striking positions of the Syrian military without a UN Security Council resolution. Bombing air force runways with missiles fired from coalition planes and ships is being considered, according to a report. “One proposed way to get around the White House’s objection to striking the Assad regime without a UN Security Council resolution would be to carry out the strikes covertly and without public acknowledgment,” one administration official who is to take part in the discussions told the Washington Post…. The CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed support for “limited military strikes against the Syrian government,” last Wednesday, when the US discussed such “kinetic” options, the official told the Washington Post. “There’s an increased mood in support of kinetic actions against the regime,” one senior administration official was quoted as saying. “The CIA and the Joint Staff have said that the fall of Aleppo would undermine America’s counterterrorism goals in Syria,” he added.

Syria aid convoy was hit by airstrike - UN expert
Deutsche Welle - The United Nations says satellite images have shown that last month's attack near Aleppo was an airstrike. Twenty people were killed when the 31-truck convoy came under fire. "I can verify that the convoy was bombed," Lars Bromley of the UN's satellite observation program UNOSAT told a media briefing in Geneva on Wednesday. His organization conducted extensive analysis of satellite imagery provided by the US State Department, before concluding that the September 19 attack - on a convoy unloading aid supplies at a warehouse - hailed from the air…. Russia had previously said that its intelligence pointed to an attack from the ground - which would have raised the prospect of Syrian opposition involvement. Syrian rebels do not have an air force. Twenty people were killed and 18 of 31 aid trucks were destroyed in the bombing, which happened in a rebel-held town near Aleppo…. The US has said that Russian jets carried out the strikes,which also damaged an aid warehouse and a nearby medical center. US military officials have said that Russian and Syrian aircraft were in the area at the time of the attack. But Moscow has denied it was responsible, instead blaming a blaze for the widespread damage.

Belgian train station is evacuated and searched for bombs ‘after two police officers are stabbed’
Daily Mail - Two police officers were stabbed as one of Belgium's busiest train stations was evacuated due to a bomb scare. The officers were attacked by an unnamed individual in a busy main road in Schaerbeek, known as a 'hotbed of jihadism'. Police shot the suspect in the leg and arrested him. The assailant has been named in Belgian newspaper De Standaard as 43-year-old 'Hicham D', a Belgian national who was formerly in the armed forces and known to the security services. He is reported to have had contact with jihadi fighters who had returned from Syria. Belgium - which has a population of 11 million people - has supplied the highest per capita number of fighters to Syria of any European country. Federal prosecutor's spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt said 'we have reason to believe it is terror-related.' The attack came hours after commuters were ordered to leave Brussels Nord Train Station as it was swept for explosives. The prosecutor's office said the man stabbed one of the plain clothed police officers in the stomach and the other in the neck.

Free speech crackdown: EU orders British press not to reveal when terrorists are Muslims
Express News - A report from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) found there was an increase in hate speech and racist violence in the UK from 2009 to March 2016. Blaming the press, ECRI Chair Christian Ahlund, said: “It is no coincidence that racist violence is on the rise in the UK at the same time as we see worrying examples of intolerance and hate speech in the newspapers, online and even among politicians.” The report makes a whopping 23 recommendations to Theresa May’s Government for changes to criminal law, the freedom of the press, crime reporting and equality law…. But as Britain prepares to leave the crumbling bloc, the Government waded in to defend freedom of expression. In a written statement to the ECRI, the Government said: “The Government is committed to a free and open press and does not interfere with what the press does and does not publish, as long as the press abides by the law.”

A big Dutch bank is replacing 5,800 people with machines, at a cost of $2 billion
Quartz - European banks are desperately trying to find ways to save money in these straitened times. ING, a major Dutch lender, announced this weekthat it plans to save €900 million ($1 billion) a year by cutting 5,800 jobs as part of a “digital transformation.” A further 1,200 employees will have their jobs changed or moved. This transformation doesn’t come cheap. ING plans to invest €800 million over the next five years on technology that will standardize its infrastructure, data, and other processes into “one digital banking platform.” Most of the job losses will be full-time staff in Belgium and the Netherlands, where risk management, finance, HR, and IT functions will be centralized. In Belgium, the number of ING branches will be cut to 650, from 1,200. The bank is setting aside €1.1 billion for redundancy payments. Added to the IT investments, the rough bill for replacing people with machines will run to the equivalent of more than $2 billion. This has predictably irked unions. They are particularly angry because ING received a €10-billion government bailout in 2008 to keep it afloat…. ING is far from alone in launching a costly technical transformation. Last week, Germany’s Commerzbank announced that by 2020 it will digitalize and automate 80% of its processes, cutting 9,600 full-time jobs, at a cost of €1.1 billion, as a result. Meanwhile, RBS is about to launch an online, AI-powered customer-service system (paywall), which can apparently read a customer’s moods and respond accordingly. It also, presumably, never takes breaks and doesn’t ask for any perks.

Paris climate accord ratified, to start in November - UN
Deutsche Welle - "On October 5, 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement has been achieved," the UN's climate change body announced on its website on Wednesday. Support for the landmark deal widened to countries representing 56.75 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions, above the 55 percent needed for the accord to come into force. The UN said the accord would formally begin on November 4. Agreed in the French capital last December, 195 countries have agreed to drastically reduce carbon emissions, as part of a bid to cap global warming at well under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial levels. Of the signatories, 72 countries have so far ratified the deal. By the end of the century, signatories will be required to shift away from fossil fuels as part of efforts to limit extreme weather and rising sea levels…. The Paris Agreement will enter into being just days before the US presidential election on November 8. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the agreement if elected, while Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton supports the accord.

Hurricane Matthew slams Bahamas as rescuers try to reach Haiti
Fox News - Rescue workers in Haiti struggled to reach cutoff towns and learn the full extent of the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Matthew as the storm battered the Bahamas on Wednesday and triggered large-scale evacuations along the U.S. East Coast. At least 11 deaths were blamed on the powerful storm during its weeklong march across the Caribbean, five of them in Haiti. But with a key bridge washed out, roads impassable and phone communications down, the western tip of Haiti was isolated and there was no full accounting of the dead and injured inMatthew's wake. After moving past Haiti, Matthew rolled across a corner of Cuba and then began pounding the southern Bahamas with winds of 120 mph and heavy rain on a course expected to take it near the capital city of Nassau. Forecasters said the storm could hit Florida — or come dangerously close — Thursday evening and then sideswipe the East Coast all the way up to the Carolinas over the weekend…. At least a half-million people along the lower East Coast were urged to evacuate their homes…. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced plans to evacuate a quarter-million people from the coast, not counting tourists, starting Wednesday afternoon. Florida's Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, asked some 150,000 residents in low-lying areas or mobile homes to move to safety.
* Related: Hurricane Matthew kills 26 in Caribbean on destructive path to U.S.

U.S. Army Chief Threatens War With Russia
Paul Joseph Watson - Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley warned last night that the United States was ready to “destroy” its enemies in comments that were clearly directed at Russia. “I want to be clear to those who wish to do us harm….the United States military – despite all of our challenges, despite our [operational] tempo, despite everything we have been doing – we will stop you and we will beat you harder than you have ever been beaten before. Make no mistake about that,” said Milley. The General went on to warn that Russia and other countries had taken advantage of the U.S. being focused on the war on terror. “Other countries – Russia, Iran, China, North Korea – went to school on us,” he said, adding, “They studied our doctrine, our tactics, our equipment, our organization, our training, our leadership. And, in turn, they revised their own doctrines, and they are rapidly modernizing their military today to avoid our strengths in hopes of defeating us at some point in the future.” Milley cautioned that the next major conflict would “be highly lethal, unlike anything our Army has experienced at least since World War II,” and would involve fighting in “highly populated urban areas.” “Make no mistake about it, we can now and we will … retain the capability to rapidly deploy,” he said, “and we will destroy any enemy anywhere, any time,” he concluded. Gen. Milley made it clear who he was talking about when he went on to quote a senior Russian official who vowed, “Russia can now fight a conventional war in Europe and win.”
* Related: World War Three will be 'extremely lethal and fast': US Army bosses reveal what could happen if the US took on Russia or China

Jerry Brown Signs Law to Stop (Only) Anti-Muslim Bullying
Breitbart - Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 2845, the Safe Place to Learn Act, which seeks to protect students from anti-Muslim bullying — and no other kind of bullying based on religion. The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Carpenteria), claims: “Pupils who are Muslim, Sikh, or of South Asian descent often face verbal, physical, or online harassment, all of which have significant effects on their academic achievement and mental health.” The bill also cites, approvingly, the federal government’s call on Muslim parents to contact the U.S. Department of Justice if their children experience bullying in school. The bill was supported by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and an unindicted co-conspirator in a the Holy Land Foundation terror-funding trial. It argues that Sikh and South Asian students are also targeted, mistakenly, by anti-Muslim bullying because of the way students may dress or look. There is nothing in the bill about bullying of Christian or Jewish students, whether by Muslims or other students…. State Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) opposed the bill, telling the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Religious bullying of any faith is wrong, and I would have supported a bill that was inclusive of all faiths.”

More Crooked Democrats: Police Raid Offices of Indiana Voter Registration Project in Voter Fraud Case
The Gateway Pundit - It is not clear who established or funded the Indiana Voter Registration Project. However, the group released a statement through spokeswoman Christy Setzer, whose PR firm’s website says she has worked as a Democratic strategist for the presidential campaigns of Al Gore, Howard Dean and Chris Dodd. USA Today reported: Indiana State Police investigators on Tuesday searched a voter registration agency on Indianapolis’ north side as they look into a voter fraud case that spans nine counties. The investigation began in late August when police learned of the filing of fraudulent voter registration forms in Marion and Hendricks counties. The investigation has expanded from Marion and Hendricks counties to include Allen, Delaware, Hamilton, Hancock, Johnson, Lake and Madison counties, according to a statement from State Police. Police said the growing number of involved counties leads investigators to believe that the number of fraudulent records might be in the hundreds. The possible fraudulent information is a combination of fake names, addresses and dates of birth with real information. As part of the expanded investigation, State Police detectives served a search warrant for the business offices of the Indiana Voter Registration Project in the 2400 block of North Meridian Street.

BUSTED: Hillary Planted Child Actor to Ask Question at Pathetic Little Town Hall Rally (Video)
The Gateway Pundit - On Tuesday Hillary Clinton held another small town hall rally in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Maybe 200-300 people turned out. During the event a young 15 year-old girl asked Hillary Clinton a question on body image. Her name is Brennan Leach. She has her own IMDb actor’s page.

Amazing! Trump Supporters Line the Highway to Troll Bill Clinton in OHIO (Video)
The Gateway Pundit - There Were HUNDREDS of Trump supporters lining the highway in Ohio to greet Bill Clinton on his bus tour across the Buckeye State. There were more Trump supporters outside than the few Clinton supporters who turned out to see Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton gave a speech in Steubenville, Ohio on Tuesday, yet hardly anyone showed up to see it. Only a few dozen supporters came to see Bill at a middle school gym. But there were hundreds of Trump supporters lining the highway for at least a quarter mile.

Chicago latest to sanction Wells Fargo for defrauding customers
Reuters - The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved a one-year suspension for Wells Fargo & Co from city business because of its scandal over phony accounts, joining the states of Illinois and California in punishing the bank. The ban includes bond underwriting, brokerage, trustee and other services the bank has provided to the city. Wells Fargo has earned $19.5 million in fees from Chicago since 2005. Wells Fargo staff opened checking, savings and credit card accounts without customer approval for years to satisfy managers' demand for new business, according to a $190 million settlement with U.S. regulators and California prosecutors reached on Sept. 8. The bank said it has fired 5,300 employees over the issue.

More Than 700 Department Stores Have Closed Since 2013
Fortune - According to a research report RBC Capital Markets released on Wednesday, Kohl’s, Macy’s (which also owns the upscale Bloomingdale’s chain), J.C. Penney, Dillard’s, and Sears (which also owns Kmart) have closed a total of 700 stores since 2013. That’s almost 20% of those chains’ store count. The closings are meant to shed poor locations; compete with Amazon; and help companies manage the migration of their own business online. Macy’s, which is grappling with its worst slump since the Great Recession, announced last month it would close 100 more stores after the holiday season to make way for incoming CEO Jeff Gennette. When he takes the reins in February, Gennette will try to repair the iconic, diminished chain…. In Kohl’s case, the drop has been modest: the retailer closed 18 of its 1,150+ plus stores…. Sears and Kmart have been closing dozens of stores as sales continue to plummet despite CEO (and top shareholder) Eddie Lampert’s promises to reinvent the retailers.

America's Largest Mall Is Closing for Thanksgiving
Fortune - Could it be we will soon be free to enjoy a shopping-free Thanksgiving again? The nation’s largest shopping mall, Mall of America, will be closed on Thanksgiving for the first time since 2012, according to an Associated Press report, opting for a later start to the shopping bonanza that traditionally kicks the holiday season into high gear…. The mall said the decision was aimed at giving workers time with their families. “We think Thanksgiving is a day for families and for people we care about,” Jill Renslow, the mall’s senior vice president of marketing, told The Associated Press. “We want to give this day back.” At the same time, after several disappointing Thanksgiving-Black Friday weekends, it could well be that beyond this feel-good reasoning, mall operators and stores have found that extended hours haven’t led to more sales, but only more expenses. Not to mention bad PR from millions of Americans offended by the encroachment of seasonal shopping on a major family-oriented holiday.

N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets
NY Times - The contractor was identified as Harold T. Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie, Md., according to a criminal complaint filed in late August. He was charged with theft of government property, and unauthorized removal or retention of classified documents. During an F.B.I. raid of his house, agents seized documents and digital information stored on electronic devices. A large percentage of the materials found in his house and car contained highly classified information. At the time, F.B.I. agents interviewed Mr. Martin, and he initially denied having taken the documents and digital files. The agency later said he had stated that he knew he was not authorized to have the materials. According to the complaint, he told the agency that “he knew what he had done was wrong and that he should not have done it because he knew it was unauthorized.” n a brief statement issued on Wednesday, lawyers for Mr. Martin said: “We have not seen any evidence. But what we know is that Hal Martin loves his family and his country. There is no evidence that he intended to betray his country.” The information believed stolen by Mr. Martin — who like Mr. Snowden worked for the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which is responsible for building and operating many of the agency’s most sensitive cyberoperations — appears to be different in nature from Mr. Snowden’s theft.

Johnson & Johnson Warns Insulin Pump Owners They Could Be Killed By Hackers
Techdirt - Johnson and Johnson this week had to reach out to owners of the company’s insulin pumps to warn them that the devices could be used to kill somebody by overdosing diabetic patients with insulin. According to researchers, the devices were launched with wireless connectivity in 2008 as a means of bringing added convenience for customers, but Johnson and Johnson failed to encrypt the device’s wireless traffic… As with pacemakers, an attacker needs to be relatively close to make this happen (25 feet), resulting in Johnson and Johnson insisting the overall risk was low… That's not really comforting. While this particular hack was publicized and fixed, there's a growing zero-day exploit market for medical device vulnerabilities that can be used to kill or injure an individual without detection, something that's going to be increasingly attractive to nation state actors and private contractors using the Internet of Things for globally malicious (and in some instances potentially fatal) activity. The rise in hackable medical devices has forced the FDA to issue formal guidance on how medical device makers should handle reports about cyber vulnerabilities.

Feds blow $700K to find out what REALLY happened on the moon
Washington Examiner - The federal government spent $700,000 to study whether astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous quote as the first man on the moon was transcribed accurately, only to reach no conclusion. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called out the waste of federal money as part of his latest Waste Report this week. He said the National Science Foundation issued two grants totaling $700,000 to study whether Armstrong really did say on the moon, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." It's long been noted that his quote wasn't quite said in a grammatically correct way, and that Armstrong should have said he took one small step for "a" man, and one giant leap for mankind. The NSF grants were used to see if his quote was transcribed incorrectly, and whether Armstrong maybe did say it correctly after all. The grant money was used to pay researchers from four universities to study the question. "So, did they solve the mystery?" Paul's report asked. "Well, no." He said the final report isn't clear on whether he said the word "a" too quickly to be heard, and also points out that there is "substantial ambiguity" over what was said. "Truly groundbreaking," Paul concluded.

New Samsung Note 7 forces airplane evacuation
Deutsche Welle - A Baltimore-bound flight was forced to evacuate crew and passengers after a Samsung device began emitting smoke. The owner said the company had replaced his phone just 2 weeks prior following a recall. A Southwest Airlines flight was evacuated on Wednesday, apparently after a Samsung device caught fire. Around 75 people, passengers and crew members, were forced to leave the Baltimore-bound plane in Louisville Kentucky after the overheated Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone started emitting smoke. No one was injured, airport authorities said. According to the family who owned the phone, it was a replacement sent to them after a string of fires and property damage caused Samsung to issue a universal recall. Local media reported that Brian Green of Indiana noticed his phone making a popping noise and caught fire as he was shutting it down. He said Samsung had shipped it to him only two weeks prior.

Video: Amazing UFO Destroys Chemtrail
Midnight in the Desert - I caught an extraordinary UFO sighting. I was watching an odd looking light crossing the sky at variable speeds around my house, during the sunset. To me it was just some sort of helicopter, or maybe a drone. But after 5 or 10 minutes, I began suspecting the object not to be man-made. It was performing weird maneuvers, accelerating and decelerating randomly. When the light started to accelerate towards a huge Chemtrail, I took my camcorder and tried to find it in the distance. The object stopped in front of the Chemtrail, and slowly destroyed it. Indeed, the trail was being “consumed” progressively. I was simply speechless. I still can’t believe what I caught. The Chemtrail got literally perforated! I can’t be 100% sure it’s due to the object itself, but I’m sure there’s a link between it and the Chemtrail. Such a huge trail can’t just disappear like that, for no reason! And only a small portion of the trail gets erased, justly around the object! After the UFO attacked the trail, it moved backwards and flied West, in my opposite direction. It disappeared pretty quickly.

Frankenbroccoli for Dinner? Organic products are at risk. Action Alert!
Alliance for Natural Health - When consumers purchase organic produce, they expect to avoid vegetables and fruits that have been genetically modified or sprayed with dangerous pesticides. The unsettling reality, however, is that cross-contamination between GM plants and conventional or organic plants is not only possible—it is already happening. Take the example of rapeseed (Brassica napus). Millions of acres of GM rapeseed, which is used to make canola oil, the most popular cooking oil in North America, are being grown—in Canada and Australia in particular, but also in the US. This GM rapeseed has spread across the world, growing wild in ports, railway beds, along highways, and other areas where it has “escaped” during transport. This has been documented particularly in Japan but has been found growing wild in North Dakota as well. Not only is it growing wild—it has contaminated another Brassica, the parent of cruciferous vegetables known as Brassica rapa. Organic broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Napa cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and more are now under threat. Keep in mind that when one type of GM plant crosses with another plant, it keeps all the GM mutations. What is particularly alarming is that GM plants and non-GM plants do not need to be close together for cross-pollination to occur. GM rapeseed is spread thousands of miles along places where it’s spilled. Its pollen can also travel thousands of miles…. The issue here is not only one of cross-contamination—not only between GM and non-GM plants of the same species, but also between different species.

These 6 Toxic Artificial Sweeteners Are Still Approved By The FDA
Natasha Longo - 1. Aspartame - It is frequently used in diet soda products, yogurt, chewable vitamins, desserts, popsicles, candy, chewing gum as well as many other foods. It is also marketed as Nutrasweet, Spoonful, Canderel and Equal (sometimes shown as the E number E951)…. Over ten thousand complaints were tabulated which reported 92 different vile consequences from consuming the chemical, including death. Since [1997] the FDA has not updated their aspartame report, and now denies it ever existed!…. 2. Sucralose - Splenda/sucralose is simply chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon. Common chlorocarbons include carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethelene and methylene chloride, all deadly. Chlorine… a highly excitable, ferocious atomic element employed as a biocide in bleach, disinfectants, insecticide, WWI poison gas and hydrochloric acid. When turned into Splenda it becomes a chlorocarbon, in the family of Chlorodane, Lindane and DDT…. Sucralose has been found to shrink thymus glands (the biological seat of immunity) and produce liver inflammation in rats and mice. 3. Neotame - …marketed as an inexpensive artificial sweetener made by NutraSweet, which is a former division of Monsanto and original manufacturer of aspartame…. Neotame is aspartame plus 3-di-methylbutyl, which can be found on the EPA's list of most hazardous chemicals. The aspartame formula is comprised of Phenylalanine [50%], which caused seizures in lab animals and Aspartic Acid [40%], which caused "holes in the brains" of lab animals -- bonded by Methyl Alcohol, or Methanol [10%] which is capable of causing blindness, liver damage and death….

5 best natural diuretics
STEPin2 - Diuretics are natural substances that help your body get rid of extra fluid and salt. These diuretics are very useful for people with high blood pressure, heart failure, swollen tissues, and kidney disease. We have the 5 best natural diuretics for you. Let’s take a look. 1. Black cumin is a natural diuretic that is believed to be as effective as pharmaceutical prescribed diuretics. Black cumin helps increase urination, which helps reduce excess sodium and potassium levels. 2. Caffeine has a diuretic effect. 3. Ginger is often used in teas because of its potent detoxifying and anti-inflammatory properties. It helps detoxify the body through the urine. 4. Hibiscus is a flower that is extremely popular in tea form for its slightly sour, cranberry-like taste and potent health benefits. Hibiscus is a natural diuretic and helps get rid of excess sodium. 5. Parsley has been shown in studies to significantly increase urination. It has been used for many years as a diuretic remedy.

Wednesday - October 5, 2016 - Today In History:

1774 - The first session of the U.S. Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. The delegates drafted a declaration of rights and grievances, organized the Continental Association, and elected Peyton Randolph as the first president of the Continental Congress.
1793 - In France, the "Reign of Terror" began. The National Convention enacted measures to repress the French Revolutionary activities.
1836 - Sam Houston was elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.
1877 - Sioux chief Crazy Horse was killed by the bayonet of a U.S. soldier. The chief allegedly resisted confinement to a jail cell.
1881 - The American Red Cross provided relief for disaster for the first time. The disaster was the Great Fire of 1881 in Michigan.
1882 - The first U.S. Labor Day parade was held in New York City.
1917 - Federal raids were carried out in 24 cities on International Workers of the World (IWW) headquarters. The raids were prompted by suspected anti-war activities within the labor organization.
1939 - The U.S. proclaimed its neutrality in World War II.
1945 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino was arrested. D'Aquino was suspected of being the wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose". She served six years and was later pardoned by U.S. President Ford.
1947 - First presidential speech on TV
1983 - U.S. President Reagan denounced the Soviet Union for shooting down a Korean Air Lines. Reagan demanded that the Soviet Union pay reparations for the act that killed 269 people.
1985 - Rioting in South Africa spilled into white neighborhoods for the first time.
1990 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urged for a Holy War against the West and former allies.
1995 - France set off an underground nuclear blast in the South Pacific.
2005 - Defying the White House, the Senate voted 90-9 to approve an amendment that would prohibit the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against anyone in U.S. government custody.
2010 - Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant who'd tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in New York.
2011 - Apple founder Steve Jobs died at age 56.

Moscow delivers S-300 missile system to Syria for defense of Russian naval base
RT - A battery of Russian S-300 air defense missile launchers has been transported to Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. Its sole purpose is to defend a Russian naval base and warships, the ministry added. The information about the S-300’s deployment was confirmed by ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov…. Konashenkov said it is unclear why the deployment of the missile system has created such a fuss in the West. “The S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat,” he said. He recalled that before the deployment of S-300, Russia had delivered Fort air defense missile systems to Syria. The statement comes after a report by Fox news that a Russian S-300 was deployed to Syria. The media cited three US officials who claimed that Moscow “continues to ramp up its military operations in Syria.”

Pakistan boosts military ties to Russia amid Kashmir tensions
Washington Times - Worried about increasingly close U.S.-India defense ties, Pakistan will conduct joint military exercises with Russia and begin buying arms from Moscow for the first time in decades, a key Pakistani lawmaker and aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday.... Pakistan’s military overtures to Russia, which was a major supplier of military hardware to India during the Cold War, were part of a “new regionalism” strategy being pursued by the Sharif regime, Mr. Hussain [aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif] said. Islamabad is also proposing new infrastructure projects with China to open trade routes with their South and Central Asian neighbors, he added. But countering India’s growing alliance with Washington was a driving factor in Islamabad’s decision to pursue stronger ties with Russia, he acknowledged. “India has a veto” over Washington’s efforts to provide military assistance to Pakistan, Mr. Hussain said, citing the collapse of a multimillion-dollar deal by the U.S. to sell Pakistan eight F-16 fighters earlier this year.... Security analysts say the escalating tensions in Kashmir represent one of the globe’s security trigger points and a continual stumbling block to the Obama administration’s diplomatic and defense ambitions in the region.

UK stocks hit simultaneous highs for first time since 1999
RT - A weaker pound along with stronger than expected economic figures have pushed all UK equity indexes to record highs. The FTSE 100 blue chip index, the FTSE 250 index of medium-sized companies and the FTSE Small Cap index all hit records on the same day for the first time in almost 17 years. “We have a really nice combination of sterling weakness, reasonably robust economy and generally not a bad environment for risk assets,” said Alan Higgins, chief investment officer at Coutts & Co in London, as quoted by Bloomberg. The economist added that it was a buy UK phenomenon. The FTSE 100 climbed 1.88 percent by 2:00pm GMT, while the FTSE 250 was up 2.2 percent and the FTSE Small Cap excluding investment trusts index gained 1.8 percent. The weaker sterling helped UK's megacaps which generated almost three-quarters of their revenue from overseas. The FTSE 250 includes more domestic companies, which gain about half of their sales from Britain, according to JPMorgan and UBS. The measure of smaller shares gets nearly half of its sales from abroad as well, according to JPMorgan Asset Management estimates.

Hurricane Matthew makes landfall in Haiti
USA Today - Matthew inflicted major damage on Haiti, though the extent was not immediately known, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the country's Civil Protection Agency, told the AP. "It's much too early to know how bad things are, but we do know there are a lot of houses that have been destroyed or damaged in the south," Jean-Baptiste said. Many streets were flooded or blocked with fallen trees throughout the southwestern peninsula.... More than 6,400 people were evacuated to temporary shelters in Haiti, Agence France-Presse reported.... Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is already struggling to regain its footing almost seven years after an earthquake and ensuing cholera epidemic ravaged the nation. It remains particularly vulnerable to vicious weather storms because it is one of the most deforested countries in the world: Less than 2% of the land still has trees. The country also has relatively steep terrain as well, which can make it prone to landslides and mudslides. But some shantytown residents were reluctant to evacuate because they fear their possessions may be stolen. "If we lose our things we are not going to get them back!” Toussaint Laine, an unemployed man who lives with his family in a shack in Tabarre, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, told the AP.

Monsanto “Crimes Against Humanity” Tribunal Officially Begins October 14th In Hague Netherlands
Activist Post - The aim of the Tribunal is to give a legal opinion on the environmental and health damage caused by the multinational Monsanto. This will add to the international debate to include the crime of Ecocide into international criminal law. It will also give people all over the world a well documented legal file to be used in lawsuits against Monsanto and similar chemical companies…. Frequently, when a company like Monsanto is the defendant, the company settles out of court, whereby circumventing the establishment of a negative legal precedent. General purpose of the Tribunal: To get a ruling- even symbolic – against Monsanto by a bench of real judges, after veritable proceedings in an international court, and contribute to the establishment of international mechanisms to bring justice to victims of multinationals…. Interestingly this tribunal holds Monsanto to the standards of the UN’s Agenda 21/Agenda 2030 which calls for things like “sustainable environment,” the right to eat healthy food, the right to the enjoyment of the highest standard of health, and even the violation of the freedom of scientific research. Above and beyond all of this, the very serious question of Monsanto’s outright war crimes against humanity will be posed. Ironically these questions will ultimately be posed to the UN, the same system that labels the natural and necessary nutrient known as CO2 a “pollutant,” so it will be interesting to say the least to see what if anything comes of this on the part of the United Nations.

Obama Warned To Defuse Tensions With Russia, "Unintended Consequences Likely To Be Catastrophic"
Zero Hedge - A group of ex-U.S. intelligence officials is warning President Obama to defuse growing tensions with Russia over Syria by reining in the demonization of President Putin and asserting White House civilian control over the Pentagon…. We [The Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity] write to alert you, as we did President George W. Bush, six weeks before the attack on Iraq, that the consequences of limiting your circle of advisers to a small, relatively inexperienced coterie with a dubious record for wisdom can prove disastrous.* Our concern this time regards Syria. We are hoping that your President’s Daily Brief tomorrow will give appropriate attention to Saturday’s warning by Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova: “If the US launches a direct aggression against Damascus and the Syrian Army, it would cause a terrible, tectonic shift not only in the country, but in the entire region.” Speaking on Russian TV, she warned of those whose “logic is ‘why do we need diplomacy’ … when there is power … and methods of resolving a problem by power. We already know this logic; there is nothing new about it. It usually ends with one thing – full-scale war.”

DOJ Drops Charges Against Arms Dealer Who "Threatened To Expose" Hillary Arming Islamic Extremists
Zero Hedge - Politico reported that the Obama administration is moving to dismiss charges against an arms dealer whom it had accused of selling weapons destined for Libyan rebels and who had threatened to expose Hillary Clinton's talks about arming anti-Qaddafi rebels. According to a motion filed in federal court in Phoenix, the DOJ on Monday filed a motion to drop the case against the arms dealer, an American named Marc Turi. One potential reason for the surprising move is that as Politico writes, the deal averts a trial that threatened to cast additional scrutiny on Hillary Clinton’s private emails as Secretary of State, and to expose reported Central Intelligence Agency attempts to arm rebels fighting Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi…. Turi was indicted in 2014 on four felony counts: two of arms dealing in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and two of lying to the State Department in official applications. The charges accused Turi of claiming that the weapons involved were destined for Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, when the arms were actually intended to reach Libya. Turi’s lawyers argued that the shipments were part of a U.S. government-authorized effort to arm Libyan rebels. It’s unclear if any of the weapons made it to Libya, and there’s no evidence linking weapons provided by the U.S. government to the Benghazi attacks. According to Politico government lawyers were facing a Wednesday deadline to produce documents to Turi’s legal team, and the trial was officially set to begin on Election Day, although it likely would have been delayed by protracted disputes about classified information in the case. A Turi associate asserted that the government dropped the case because the proceedings could have embarrassed Clinton and President Barack Obama by calling attention to the reported role of their administration in supplying weapons that fell into the hands of Islamic extremist militants. Making matters worse, Turi’s case had delved into emails sent to and from the controversial private account that Clinton used as Secretary of State, which the defense planned to harness at any trial.

New Report Claims Hillary Clinton Wanted to Assassinate Assange with Drone Strike
Activist Post - A new article published on TruePundit.com and tweeted by WikiLeaks claims that in 2010, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broached the idea of launching a drone strike to take out Julian Assange. Assange’s latest batch of leaks at that time, dubbed CableGate, had become an embarrassment to the Obama administration and constituted what State Department officials viewed as a danger to the international intelligence community. True Pundit’s unconfirmed report alleges the topic came up on the morning of Tuesday, November 23, 2010, on Mahogany Row at the State Department, where Secretary Clinton abruptly changed the focus of the meeting from the color of her sweater to extrajudicial assassination…. “Can’t we just drone this guy?” True Pundit‘s anonymous sources say she asked, prompting a full discussion of legal and non-legal methods of dealing with the WikiLeaks whistleblowing organization. After all, she said, he was a soft target, “walking around” and freely disseminating private correspondence between diplomats and foreign leaders.

Never Before Seen Video – Obama on Race: “I am saddened that whites are still superior….things could explode”
Paul Joseph Watson - The footage, filmed and narrated by Obama’s sister Auma, shows the president on his first trip to Kenya as a young man in his 20s. Michelle Obama also accompanied her husband on the trip. Crowdfunding platform WeSearchr provided the video exclusively to Infowars. Obama says in the film: “I’m deeply saddened by a sense that whites are still superior in this country, in some sense, that if you sit at a restaurant, they’re served before a Kenyan is served. If you go through customs, a white person is going to have an easier time going through customs.” Obama also warns that “things could explode at any point” as a result of the resentment black Kenyans have towards white people. At one point in the movie Obama says he has “a lot at stake” in building “a strong black country in Kenya.” Elsewhere, the footage shows white and Asian tourists visiting poor Kenyan villagers, a sight that offends Obama, who refused to join them on the tour according to his sister…. Obama’s 1990 comments are fascinating given the fact that his presidency has been tainted by some of the worst race relations in America for decades, fueled by police shootings and riots in Ferguson, Baltimore and Charlotte. “The film is full of insights into Barack Obama’s psychology and worldview, especially with regards to the way he sees his family in Kenya and black-white race relations,” said WeSearchr’s Chuck Johnson, adding, “How much of a black nationalist do you think Obama is? What do you think he thinks of white people?”

Columbia University To Hold No-Whites Student Retreat
Washington Times - There’s only one rule for Columbia University students who want to attend an upcoming leadership retreat: you can’t be white. The “Students of Color Leadership Retreat 2016,” slated for Nov. 12 at New York City’s YMCA Camp, bills itself as “an intensive weekend of personal development, empowerment and community building” for students at the Ivy League university and all-women’s Barnard College, reported The College Fix. But it’s only for those who “identify themselves as a person of color as a primary identity,” Columbia’s website adds

Land Of The 'Free' Plunges To 15th "Free-est" Nation In The World
Zero Hedge - Turns out the "Land of the Free" may not be so "Free" after all. That is, at least according the 2015 Legatum Prosperity Index which found that the U.S. has dropped to the 15th "most free" country in the world behind Costa Rica and Uruguay, among others. Perhaps even more staggering is that the U.S. dropped to 33rd in terms of "Safety & Security" ranking behind Uruguay and Slovaki and just ahead of the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, in the one piece of positive news for the U.S., Legatum found Americans to be the "healthiest" people in the world with a life expectancy 6.8 years longer than the global average. Apparently the cost of adding that incremental 6.8 years to the life expectancy of the average American was a 560% increase in per capita healthcare expenditures....and just wait until those numbers get updated for Obamacare.

9 states and counting, are teaching (indoctrinate) kids to deal with police
MassPrivateI - According to a Chicago Tribune article, students enrolled in driver's education courses will be required to learn how to respond if they're pulled over by police. Ask yourself why is it mandatory only for students? How long before the government FORCES everyone to take them? "I think it's really timely, so that teenagers and young drivers don't look at a police officer as a threat or a problem," said sponsoring Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield. "It's just a part of driving, and if they respond in a responsible, correct way, it should never escalate." What's wrong with this picture? Kids across the country are being required to learn how to deal with police? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't cops be required to learn how to treat the public with respect?… It won't be long before all 50 states, make it mandatory to teach kids what the gov't., expects of them during a police encounter. Don't forget, police are also paying school kids to spy on classmates. The "Project Safe Campus" (PSC) program is an anonymous CASH rewards program that pays students $100.00 to spy on fellow classmates. According to a statement from Detroit public schools... "The goal of PSC is to increase the number of anonymous tips coming from the schools. Students who give tips that result in disciplinary action can earn $100 cash rewards."

Kaine Vs. Pence: Vice Presidential Debate From Longwood University (Full Replay)
Right Side Broadcasting - Tuesday, October 4, 2016: Coverage of the 2016 Vice Presidential debate between Governor Mike Pence of Indiana and Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia.

After Tim Kaine Flops in Vice Presidential Debate, New Doubts About Hillary
Breitbart - Those doubts are twofold: first, about her decision to choose so weak a candidate, who seemed unable to answer basic policy questions; and second, about Clinton’s health, since if her medical troubles are as bad as feared, Kaine may be taking over at some point if she is elected. Kaine could not stop interrupting Pence, at times sounding high-pitched and shrill, at times whining and defensive. Pence was cool and even-tempered — presidential, in other words, while Kaine seemed to be playing cable news pundit. The Democrat was often unable to suppress the juvenile impulse to shout campaign talking points, even in the middle of his opponent’s answers. At one point, he interjected: “Our plan is like Ronald Reagan’s plan from 1986.” (Note to Democrats: the Reagan plan failed.) Later, when the moderator asked why Putin would respect a Trump-Kaine administration, Pence answered: “Strength.” Kaine, unable to restrain himself, blurted out: “Business deals.” His smirk betrayed his conviction that he had just scored points, even though the moderator had to instruct him — for the third time, at least — to wait until it was his turn to speak. Kaine seemed not to understand how un-serious he looked. Pence responded with a steady, and appropriate, put-down: “That’s nonsense.” Pence also beat Kaine over the head with the Russian “reset,” Clinton’s email scandal, and the Clinton Foundation. Moderator Elaine Quijano of CBS News stepped into protect Kaine, especially when it came to the email scandal (though, to her credit, she at least asked about it, unlike NBC News’ Lester Holt in the first presidential debate).

Video: Gov. Pence Hits Back on Clinton Foundation and Email Scandal, Moderator Ends Discussion
The Gateway Pundit - So this happened… Over and Over and over…. If Senator Kaine wasn’t interrupting Governor Pence, the moderator was interrupting him… VP debate moderator Elaine Quijano from CBS News cut off Governor Mike Pence when hit back on the Clinton Foundation and her email scandal.

RNC: Kaine interrupted over 70 times
The Hill - The Republican National Committee claimed Tim Kaine interrupted Mike Pence and the moderator over 70 times during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.Shortly after the debate ended, the RNC made a quick note of Kaine’s aggressive style in an email to reporters. The email simply included a pair of tweets from reporters, citing specific voters being turned off by the Democratic vice presidential nominee's style. “Undecided voter in Ohio says, 'Kaine came off like a jerk' tonight. Adds that he 'reinforced' some of the negatives about Clinton,” read one tweet from CNN’s Dan Merica. In a separate statement, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus described Kaine as having “desperately flailed away with empty platitudes and constant interruptions.”

***Live Updates*** Pence, Kaine Square Off in VP Debate
Breitbart - Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine will square off in tonight’s vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Virginia. And this debate, which takes place in Kaine’s home state of Virginia, has the feel of one in which Kaine will have a short field for 90 minutes, especially if most of the questions will focus on all of Trump’s recent “scandals.” The seasoned Pence, who will not be unprepared and will not wing it, must flip the field back in Team Trump’s favor before Trump’s second debate with Clinton on Sunday.

Hacked Clinton Foundation files show 'pay to play', bank ties (Chart)
RT - Documents reportedly hacked from the Clinton Foundation servers have identified major Democratic donors and troubling ties between TARP aid given to banks and their political contributions. One folder is outright labeled “Pay to Play.” A Hacker calling himself “Guccifer 2.0,” who claimed responsibility for previous breaches of the Democratic National Committee and the congressional Democrats, published the documents on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the vice-presidential debates. “I hacked the Clinton Foundation server and downloaded hundreds of thousands of docs and donors’ databases,” the hacker wrote on his blog. “Clinton and her staff don’t even bother about the information security.” The Clinton Foundation has denied the hack, with president Donna Shalala saying that “none of the files or folders shown are ours.” Guccifer 2.0 also claimed that one of the documents shows that big banks are donating a percentage of funds received through the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program to the DNC, citing a spreadsheet that lists the TARP amounts next to the amounts donated to lawmakers like then-Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), co-author of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. “It looks like big banks and corporations agreed to donate to the Democrats a certain percentage of the allocated TARP funds,” he wrote. Another document posted on the blog appears to be a master list of Clinton Foundation donors in the western US, tracking contributions from 2009 to 2015. Among the names are movie directors JJ Abrams and Gore Verbinski; Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff; Google CEO Eric Schmidt; Walt Disney Co. President and CEO Robert Iger; Microsoft founder Bill Gates; Microsoft VP Steve Ballmer; and major Hollywood stars like Barbra Streisand, James Brolin, and Tom Hanks.

Assange: WikiLeaks will publish all US election docs by Nov. 8
WikiLeaks will release documents on the US presidential elections before November 8, the group’s founder, Julian Assange, said in an eagerly anticipated address via videolink at the Volksbuhne Theater in Berlin to mark WikiLeaks’ 10th anniversary. WikiLeaks hopes to be publishing documents “every week for the next 10 weeks,” Assange said. Assange also promised to publish about a million documents related to at least three governments before the end of 2016, saying that the organization is evolving and planning to expand its collaboration with media outlets beyond the 100 it is already working with…. He also denied that any of WikiLeaks’ publications are aimed at damaging the image of US presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, saying that some of his statements in this regard had been misquoted…. According to Assange, the documents released or to be released by the organization “are revealing, but also the government/state reactions to the releases are revealing also.” Assange also promised to release documents on war, oil, Google, and mass surveillance.

Americans Ask ‘President Trump’ to Visit Hurricane-ravaged Haiti (Video)
Adan Salazar - On Tuesday several Twitter users put out calls for the businessman to personally fly aid to the hurricane-ravaged region, which had also suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010. The requests for Trump to visit Haiti come after radio host Alex Jones asked listeners to tweet at the GOP nominee to visit the afflicted victims of the impoverished nation…. The hotel mogul has made it a point throughout his political campaign to call attention to the Clinton Foundation’s misuse of donations meant to help Haitian victims of the 2010 earthquake. “Clinton was responsible for doing things a lot of the Haitian people are not happy with,” Trump has stated. “Taxpayer dollars intended for Haiti and the earthquake victims went to a lot of the Clinton cronies.” Last month, Trump also heard concerns from former Senate President of Haiti, Bernard Sansaricq, who claimed the Clinton foundation had almost totally squandered funds meant for victims. [Video] “In 2010, the earthquake of Haiti, not only American taxpayers, but the whole world has given billions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation for the Haitians. Not even two percent of that money went back to Haiti. So Mr. Trump we are asking you, begging you – the Haitian community will side with you if one day you ask Hillary Clinton publicly to disclose the audit of all the money they have stolen from Haiti in 2010 after the earthquake.”

Media Refuses To Show Trump’s Massive Crowds In Loveland, Colorado – One Camera Did! (Video)
American Lookout - Thousands upon thousands were there. In Colorado! At rallies, Trump always asks the media to show the massive crowds. He wants the world to see the love. He wants the world to see the numbers. He wants the world to see that this is a movement!… Thanks to RightSide Broadcasting for showing the crowd.

Video: Hillary Clinton Caught Bussing in Supporters to Small PA Rally
The Gateway Pundit - Hillary Clinton held a small campaign rally in Haverford, Pennsylvania today with her daughter Chelsea and Elizabeth Banks. Only a few hundred turned out to see the Democratic nominee. And ONCE AGAIN the corrupt media will not report on the unbelievably small turnout to see Hillary Clinton in rally after rally. So the campaign bussed in supporters. It’s the Hillary way. And here are the bussed in supporters walking to the Hillary event. Actors and paid attendees?
Related: Video: Clinton Camp Caught Handing Out Pre-Made Signs to Rally-Goers – So Pathetic!

Stunning Photo: Even Press Blows Off Hillary Clinton’s Akron, Ohio Rally
The Gateway Pundit - A bizarre behind the scenes image from the campaign trail was posted Monday that bespoke a lack of interest in the media in covering Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. With just over one month to go until election day, Clinton campaigned in the bellwether state of Ohio, holding rallies in Toledo and Akron. Both Clinton rallies were held in small halls with small crowds as has been her pattern…. New York Times reporter Amy Chozick posted a photo to Twitter Monday evening from Clinton’s Akron rally that showed a nearly empty press pen. Chozick lamented the lack of interest by her fellow reporters.

'New low': Dead vets left to 'decompose' in VA morgue for weeks without burial
Fox News - (September 29, 2016) An Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital already under fire for excessive wait times, festering black mold and kitchen cockroaches faces a new shame – the bodies of dead patients left unclaimed in the morgue for up to two months without proper burial, whistleblower documents allege. The whistleblower, whose identity is not being revealed for fear of retaliation, complained last month to the VA’s inspector general about the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital’s handling of veterans’ remains in cases where families have not come forward to claim the body. The complaint singled out Christopher Wirtjes, chief of Patient Administrative Services, saying “The Chief of PAS has the funds available, yet has no sense of urgency to lay the veteran to rest.” Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., whose office also received the complaint along with emails, is now calling for Wirtjes’ firing and in a statement, slammed the hospital – located in the Western suburbs of Chicago -- over its recent history of controversies…. The whistleblower, who has spoken with Kirk’s office, described a “horrible issue” at the hospital in the letter to the IG: “Some veteran’s remains have been left in our hospital morgue for 45 days or more until they are stacked to capacity at times.”

Flint faces new outbreak of contagious disease as residents scared to wash hands
RT - Two years after Flint, Michigan, residents were exposed to unsafe levels of lead contamination in drinking water and an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, local officials report an outbreak of a highly-contagious gastrointestinal illness, shigellosis. Genessee County, home of Flint, is leading the state in reported cases of shigellosis, with 84 through September, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. At least 53 of those cases have occurred within Flint city limits, Jim Henry, Genesee County's environmental health supervisor, told CNN. At least 27 of the Flint cases resulted in hospitalization. Meanwhile, neighboring Saginaw County has the second-highest cases of shigellosis in the state, with 47, according to state health records. Shigella bacteria causes about 500,000 cases of diarrheal disease in the US each year. Shigellosis is marked by abdominal pain and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration. Symptoms usually take five to seven days to pass without antibiotic treatment, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The bacteria can be spread through contact with contaminated surfaces or ingesting contaminated food and water.

Yahoo secretly scanned its users' email for U.S. intelligence services
Boing Boing - Yahoo email accounts were scanned by the company on behalf of U.S. intelligence services from last year. This represents the first example of a U.S. service provider providing complete access to "all arriving messages," reports Reuters. It is not known what information intelligence officials were looking for, only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of characters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment, said the sources, who did not want to be identified. Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request. According to the two former employees, Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's decision to obey the directive roiled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook Inc.

Grow Your Own Turmeric In a Pot
REALfarmacy - Turmeric can help prevent cancer, it eases arthritis symptoms, it can soothe an upset stomach, it can help the heart stay healthy, it’s a natural fat burner, it helps prevent Alzheimer’s, it can help lower cholesterol, and it can help treat depression! These are only a few of the many benefits of this amazing herb. Turmeric is a perennial herb that re-shoots every spring. Growing turmeric organic in pots is not difficult. Although turmeric thrives in tropical climates, it can be grown in temperate areas in the summer. You can always move your plant inside when temperatures begin to dip. Turmeric can be grown in garden beds or containers. Be sure to grow in well draining containers because water retention will cause rhizomes to rot, reducing yield…. The plants cannot tolerate climates colder than 65 degrees F. Plant turmeric in spring to summer because the roots sprout well when the soil is warm. Turmeric thrives well in direct or indirect sun, but it can also grow in light shade…. Buy some turmeric roots from the market (be sure they are organic). Select small rhizomes with one or two buds. Plant rhizomes about 7 to 10 inches apart and bury them in wet soil about 2 to 3 inches deep. Do not water until shoots appear. The roots will germinate/shoot in 3-6 weeks depending on the soil temperature. Turmeric shoots will appear in about 20 to 45 days after planting. Grow fresh plants every 3 to 4 years or leave a few roots inside while harvesting. Once the plants grow, keep them well watered. Bring your turmeric indoors once the temperature gets below 50 degrees F. You can also start turmeric in pots indoors and move it outdoors when the temperature begins to rise.

Could Gluten Literally Drive You Insane? Going Back 60 Years…
Natural Society - Want to know how long gluten has been suspected as a cause of neurological disorders? About 60 years…and it still hasn’t been recognized in the mainstream! The oldest reports of emotional disturbances being resolved after the removal of gluten date back to 1951. In 1966, a study was published showing an association between schizophrenia rates and wheat consumption. Less wheat consumption, which required a world war to happen, was linked to significantly lower first-time admissions for schizophrenia. More recent research has found a drastically higher incidence of anti-gluten antibodies among schizophrenics, and a 2006 review found significant reductions in schizophrenic symptoms after initiating a gluten-free diet in some patients. In a study published in 1984, only 2 people out of over 65,000 Pacific Islanders eating a traditional, grain-free diet had chronic schizophrenia. Westernization of their diets resulted in a Western-level prevalence of the disease.

5 Symptoms Of Mercury Poisoning You Can’t Ignore!
David Wolfe - You might be surprised at how far-reaching the effects of mercury poisoning are. Simple exposure to the metal can wreak havoc on everything from your brain to your muscles…. #1 – A Metallic Taste In Your Mouth - Researchers from the University of Georgia say that having more than 8 silver amalgam fillings places you at risk of mercury poisoning. That’s quite concerning since 25% of the American population actually has 11 or more fillings. Regardless of how many fillings you have, though, look out for a metallic taste in your mouth. #2 – Mood Swings - According to biological dentist Dr. Gerald H. Smith, environmental exposure to mercury can actually damage one’s nervous system. This can actually cause diagnosable bipolar disorder, characterized by intense mood swings. Dr. Smith says mercury easily travels through the lymphatic system and into the thyroid gland, which is responsible for secreting hormones directly linked to mood. #4 – Insomnia - Chronic insomnia is a common problem among industrial workers exposed to mercury. This is largely due to the way the metal affects your thyroid. You see, your thyroid is responsible for secreting a hormone called melatonin that controls your body’s sleep/wake cycles. Remember, mercury also impacts your central nervous system. This can lead to hyperarousal, which will keep you awake and in ‘fight or flight’ mode. #5 – Headaches - Dr. Gerald H. Smith dealt with a patient named ‘Robert C.’ who suffered from migraines for over 25 years. He had no idea what was causing the headaches until he had his mercury fillings removed. Then, just like that, the headaches were gone.

Salmon dog treats made by Plato and sold by Amazon.com found to contain alarmingly high levels of toxic mercury: Immediate recall urged
(NaturalNews) An ICP-MS analysis of Plato brand dog treats in my laboratory, CWC Labs, found alarmingly high levels of toxic mercury in salmon flavored products. For the analysis, we tested 31 salmon and fish products sold as pet food or pet treats by the online retailer Amazon.com. No mercury was found in 29 out of the 31 products. Plato brand, however, showed alarmingly high mercury for two products: • Salmon Strips Dog Treats (Plato) • Thinkers Pacific Salmon Dog Treats (Plato)… Plato products, by the way, are manufactured by KDR Pet Treats, LLC in Fresno, California. The web address is PlatoPetTreats.com. Their phone number is 559.485.4316 and their email is info@platopettreats.com. Mercury is an extremely toxic heavy metal with a well document profile of neurological damage in mammals. In the same way that mercury damages human brains, it also damages the brains of dogs, cats and other mammals that might consume it. No "safe" level of mercury consumption has ever been established.
 

Tuesday - October 4, 2016 - Today In History:

1777 - At Germantown, PA, Patriot forces and British forces both suffer heavy losses in battle. The battle was seen as British victory, which actually served as a moral boost to the Americans.
1876 - The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas formally dedicated by Texas Gov. Richard Coke. It was the state's first venture into public higher education. The college opened for classed two days earlier.
1895 - The first U.S. Open golf tournament took place in Newport, RI. Horace Rawlins, 19 years old, won the tournament.
1915 - The Dinosaur National Monument was established. The area covered part of Utah and Colorado.
1927 - The first actual work of carving began on Mount Rushmore.
1940 - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met in the Alps at Brenner Pass. Hitler was seeking help from Italy to fight the British.
1965 - Pope Paul VI addressed the U.N. General Assembly and became the first reigning pontiff to visit the Western Hemisphere.
1993 - Russian Vice-President Alexander Rutskoi and Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov surrendered to Boris Yeltsin after a ten-hour tank assault on the Russian White House. The two men had barricaded themselves in after Yeltsin called for general elections and dissolved the legislative body.
1993 - Dozens of Somalis dragged an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu. A videotape showed Michael Durant being taken prisoner by Somali militants.
1994 - South African President Nelson Mandela was welcomed to the White House by U.S. President Clinton.
2001 - NATO granted the U.S. open access to their airfields and seaports and agreed to deploy ships and early-warning radar planes in the war on terrorism.
2001 - In Washington, DC, Reagan National Airport re-opened. The airport had been closed since the terrorist attacks on the United States on 9-11, 2001.
2002 - Richard Reid pleaded guilty in a federal court to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.
2010 - The Supreme Court began a new era with three women serving together for the first time as Elena Kagan took her place at the end of the bench.

Putin suspends nuclear pact, U.S. suspends Syria ceasefire talks with Russia
Washington Times - In a sharp deterioration of relations, the U.S. on Monday suspended diplomatic contacts with Russia over Syria, while Moscow halted cooperation on a joint program for disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. The U.S. move followed a threat last week from Secretary of State John Kerry after new Russian and Syrian attacks on the city of Aleppo. The State Department said Russia had not lived up to the terms of an agreement last month to restore the cease-fire and ensure sustained deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged cities.... Monday’s announcement came just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a Russia-U.S. deal on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium, in a move that also underscored rising tensions between Washington and Moscow. Putin’s decree cited Washington’s “unfriendly actions” and the United States’ inability to fulfill its obligations under the 2000 deal as reasons for the move. Under the agreement, which was expanded in 2006 and 2010, Russia and the U.S. each were to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium, enough material for about 17,000 nuclear warheads.

40 Million Russians to Take Part in ‘Emergency Evacuation’ Drill
Paul Joseph Watson - Federal agencies, heads of regions, local authorities and other organizations will take part in the massive exercise, which runs from October 4-7. The simulation will include 200,000 “professional rescue units” and 50,000 pieces of equipment,” reports Interfax. Abnormal emergency rescue teams” will wargame “evacuation” procedures during a national crisis, according to the report. According to Oleg Manuilov, the director of the Russian Civil Defence Department, the exercise will be a test run of how the population would respond to a “disaster occurrence” under an “emergency” situation. The drill takes place amidst heightening tensions between the United States and Russia. As we reported last week, Moscow responded to U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby’s warning that Russian cities could suffer terrorist attacks if Vladimir Putin continued his military campaign in Syria by taking it as a veiled threat.

Germany’s Deutsche Bank, Again in Trouble, Received a U.S. Bailout Twice as Big as Lehman Brothers
Wall Street On Parade - ... most Americans would be stunned to learn that the German Deutsche Bank, which perpetually finds itself on the wrong side of the law, was bailed out in five separate U.S. emergency lending operations during the 2007-2010 financial crisis, receiving more than twice the emergency financial assistance as that received by Lehman Brothers, the failed U.S. investment bank.... According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Deutsche Bank received cumulative loans totaling $77 billion under the Federal Reserve’s Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF) and $277 billion in cumulative loans under the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) for a total of $354 billion. Lehman Brothers received only $183 billion in Fed emergency lending programs according to the GAO report.... But Deutsche Bank received additional forms of bailouts during the crisis.... two units of Deutsche Bank borrowed at least $2 billion in low-cost loans from the Fed’s Discount Window during the crisis. And, it was finally revealed that Deutsche Bank was one of the banking behemoths that got a back-door bailout via the failed insurance giant, AIG.... One of the most egregious aspects of the bailout of Deutsche Bank is that it has serially defrauded both U.S. taxpayers and investors.... In 2015 Deutsche Bank settled charges with British and U.S. authorities for $2.5 billion for rigging the interest rate benchmark known as Libor. Deutsche Bank pleaded guilty to the U.S. charges.... According to the U.S. Justice Department, Deutsche Bank also has a history of “participating in transactions used to defraud the IRS.”.... Now, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice believes that Deutsche Bank owes American taxpayers $14 billion for selling toxic mortgage backed securities that helped to collapse the U.S. housing market during the financial crisis.

This is What they Were Afraid Of -- Iraqis Use 'Sue the Saudis' 9/11 Bill to Sue US for 2003 Invasion
The Free Thought Project - The lobbyist group Arab Project in Iraq now sees their opportunity to ask for compensation from the United States over violations by US forces following the invasion of Iraq that saw the toppling of late President Saddam Hussein in 2003, according to a report from Al-Arabiya News. The group is pushing for “a full-fledged investigation over the killing of civilians targets, loss of properties and individuals who suffered torture and other mistreatment on the hand of US forces.” While many states have criticized JASTA [Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act] for its potential of eroding the principle of sovereign immunity and changing international law, this immunity has been used by Saudi Arabia, who was found to have aided and abetted the 9/11 highjackers, to shield themselves from any and all accountability.

Hurricane Matthew set to hit Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba
Daily Mail - A 'life-threatening' hurricane is set to wreak havoc on Haiti and Jamaica with flash floods, mudslides and torrential rainfall. Hurricane Matthew, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in the past decade, is poised to deliver a potentially catastrophic strike on Haiti on Monday. The category-4 hurricane also poses a danger to eastern Cuba and Jamaica as it crawls through the Caribbean. Experts say there is a chance it could also hit Florida and the East Coast - but they have warned it is too early to tell. Forecasters said the hurricane could dump 40 in. of rain on some areas of Haiti, where thousands still live in tents following the devastating earthquake in 2010. It is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history and was briefly classed as a category-5, becoming the strongest in the region since Felix in 2007. The Haitian authorities have urged people to stock up on food and water and secure their homes on the poverty-stricken island.

UPDATE: Wikileaks Cancels Highly Anticipated Tuesday Announcement Due to 'Security Concerns'
Heat Street - After canceling a planned announcement in London, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is now planning to appear via video link Tuesday morning at Wikileak’s tenth anniversary celebration in Berlin. He’s a last-minute addition to the roster of festivities taking place this week in Germany. Wikileaks used its Facebook page and Twitter to confirm that Assange would speak at the event, which takes place at 3AM Eastern time. According the Wikileaks, the change of venue was made “due to specific information”. Wikileaks did not specify further, but Monday’s Tweet followed several in which Wikileaks alleged that the Clinton camp wants to assassinate Assange. Sources close to the event tell Heat Street that Assange may be planning to release some new information his organization has obtained about the U.S. Democratic Party. But Heat Street has yet to receive independent confirmation that Assange plans to dump information specifically on Hillary Clinton.

Historic Live Coverage: Wikileaks’ Hillary October Surprise
Prison Planet - Yes, you read that right: 2:00 in the morning (AM) Central. Wikileaks is set to make a huge announcement during German daylight hours, which would be early in the morning for the US, and it’s reported the announcement pertains to a huge data dump that exposes more of Hillary’s crimes. “People have a right to understand who it is they’re electing,” said Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, adding that the information comprised of “a variety of different types of documents, from different types of institutions that are associated with the election campaign, some quite unexpected angles that are quite interesting, some even entertaining.”

DOJ 'side agreements' let agents destroy laptops in Clinton email case
Washington Examiner - House Republicans are demanding to know why Justice Department officials entered into a pair of "side agreement" with Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson - two of Hillary Clinton's top former aides who went on to become her personal attorneys during the FBI's email investigation - that allowed law enforcement agents to destroy their laptops after searching their hard drives for evidence. In a letter from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday, Goodlatte questioned why the destruction of the laptops used to sort Clinton's emails was included in immunity deals that already protected Mills and Samuelson from prosecution based on the records recovered from their computers.... In his letter, Goodlatte noted that the immunity agreements revealed the FBI agents limited their search to documents authored before Jan. 2015. The Republican chairman argued such parameters prevented investigators from examining potential proof of the destruction of evidence that may have occurred after that date, and that the deals offered to Mills and Samuelson already protected the aides from prosecution related to their alleged roles in the deletion of federal records.

U.S. top court denies Obama request to rehear major immigration case
Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to rehear a bid to revive President Barack Obama's plan to spare from deportation millions of immigrants in the country illegally, a case in which the justices split 4-4 in June. In a brief order, the court rejected the Obama administration's long-shot request, meaning the justices' June 23 decision is final. That ruling left in place lower court decisions blocking the plan, which Obama announced in 2014 but never went into effect.... The Democratic president's plan was challenged in court by Republican-governed Texas and 25 other states that argued he overstepped the powers granted to him by the U.S. Constitution by infringing upon congressional authority. Obama acted unilaterally by executive action, bypassing the Republican-led Congress.... Obama's plan was designed to let roughly 4 million people - those who have lived illegally in the United States at least since 2010, have no criminal record and have children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents - get into a program that shields them from deportation and supplies work permits.

Air Force Mandates Diversity Hires On Selection Boards
The Daily Caller - The Air Force announced a new set of 13 inclusion initiatives Friday with the goal of ensuring the force isn’t as white, male and heterosexual as it is now. Air Force officials are intent on building upon a foundation of nine initiatives from 2015, in order to boost diversity.... To head-off immediate criticisms of the far-reaching proposals, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein recently insisted to Air Force Times in an interview: “This is not about social engineering. This is about maintaining a competitive advantage.” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James put down her foot and said she wants to make the demographics of the service match more closely with the changing demographics of America.... But even as diversity increases, there are still numerous key positions that don’t seem to attract diverse candidates, namely pilots, cyber operations, intelligence operations and space and missile operations, which is very upsetting to Air Force officials. So in careers where there isn’t a lot of diversity, commanders will have to come up with plans explaining why airmen in those positions are mostly white, male heterosexuals and how commanders can work towards changing that representation.

Feds Spy On Gun Show Attendees By Having Police Scan License Plates
Western Journalism - Gun show attendees in California, and perhaps elsewhere, have had their license plates scanned by local police at the behest of federal agents, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal. The report said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement developed a plan in 2010 to have police officers use license-plate readers at gun shows in Southern California, including one in Del Mar, near the border with Mexico. The plan was for those license plates to be compared with the information on cars that crossed the border into Mexico. The Journal reported that the goal of the operation was to find gun smugglers.... Other emails obtained by The Journal indicate that other shows were also targeted for the tactic, but it was not clear if plans were operationalized. The Journal said that a June 2012 email lists several gun shows including ones in Costa Mesa and Ontario, Calif.... Jay Stanley, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the surveillance “highlights the problem with mass collection of data.” Stanley said he was concerned that two legal activities were linked as potentially law-breaking and it was wrong that “because those two activities in concert fit somebody’s idea of a crime, a person becomes inherently suspicious.”.... Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, also spoke out against the practice. “Information on law-abiding gun owners ends up getting recorded, stored, and registered, which is a violation of the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act and of the Second Amendment,” Pratt said.

Judge Confirms Nothing Wrong With Trump's Released Tax Records, Leaker Probably Broke The Law
Zero Hedge - According to Napolitano, Trump was within the law when he declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, which amounts to a substantial deduction. When asked by Fox’s Steve Doocy if Trump did anything wrong, the former judge responded: “No.” “No, in the United States of America we tell the government what we owe,” Napolitano said. “The government doesn’t tell us.” “Congress has given guidelines, very lengthy, very complex guidelines,” the judge continued before going on to explain that the tax code in the U.S. would create a four foot standing pile of paper. “If a person goes through the tax code and finds ways to minimize their obligation, they are following the laws that congress has made available.”.... Napolitano told the Fox and Friend cast that the person who provided the tax records to the New York Times “probably broke the law” and is criminally liable.... Judge Andrew Neapolitan said on Monday morning that the Times is immune from civil liability in the case of publishing the records because they can be considered to be in the best interest of the public. The Judge explained: “Why? because Donald Trump has portrayed himself in this campaign as a brilliant bullishness man who’s background is appropriate for the presidency and part of that brilliance, in his view, is how he dealt with his taxes. So, his taxes are what the law calls ‘of material interest to the public’.”

Donald Trump Buys ClintonKaine.com, Turns It into Anti-Hillary News Portal
Breitbart - Donald Trump has trolled Hillary Clinton by buying the domain ClintonKaine.com and turning it into a Drudge Report-style website reporting all the negative aspects of the Clinton campaign. USA TODAY reports that a man called Jeremy Peter Green bought the domain for $7.30 in 2011 but recently sold the domain to the Trump campaign for $15,000. The bottom of the page now reads: “Paid for by Donald J. Trump For President, Inc.” with a link to the official Trump campaign website…. The page now provides links to all the negative press surrounding Clinton, with the lead story being: “Clinton: Sanders Supporters Live In Parents Basement.” Other stories on the site include stories from Trump’s website on Clinton’s damaging trade agenda, criticisms of her running mate Tim Kaine, and references to Hillary Clinton’s lies about her emails. Donald Trump also posted a link to the site on his official Facebook account on Monday.

Guess Who Else Was Partying in Paris at a Hillary Fundraiser?
Economic Policy Journal - There has been considerable reporting on the fact that George W. Bush's daughter, Barbara was spotted at a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in Paris.... Interesting, but is appears there was a much more significant Bush operator at the fundraiser.... Forget about Barbara. she is a nobody when it comes to cutting deals. A Jonathan Bush appearance at a Hillary fundraiser is significant. He is a younger brother (by 7 years) of George H.W. and a major operator. He is a senior officer at Fairfield Bush & Co, an investment advisory firm, In the early 1980s, he helped organize investors for George W.'s first oil venture, Arbusto, later called Bush Explorations.

Hillary Holds Major Rally in Small Room in Toledo, Ohio
The Gateway Pundit - Hillary Clinton has given up on trying to fill high school gymnasiums. Today she held a major campaign rally in a small room in Toledo, Ohio. Hillary has not been to Ohio in a month.

Rebuffed Again – Clinton Speaks To Empty Seats in Charlotte, NC, AME Church… (Video)
The Last Refuge - Once again Hillary Clinton finds her racially-driven campaign efforts contrasted against lackluster black audience. This time in Charlotte, North Carolina. Last month, Hillary Clinton gave the key note address to the National Baptist Convention in Kansas City. There were 20,000 convention attendees for the four day conference, yet less than 3,000 attended the key note address…. Once again the MSM hides the reality of a Clinton event targeting the black community, where the audience doesn’t show up to hear her speech. You will not find a single article in the national or local media discussing how poorly attended Hillary Clinton’s visit to AME church actually was.

VA Hospital Spent $300K on Robots It Couldn’t Use
Free Beacon - Staffers at the VA Medical Center in Madison, Wisconsin, purchased two robots for about $313,000 in September 2012 without determining whether they could move effectively through the hospital’s hallways, according to a Friday report released by the agency’s inspector general substantiating allegations of wasted funds at the medical center.... The Madison VA hospital bought the robots four years ago to help distribute supplies throughout the facility and free up time for employees to focus on other priorities, according to the inspector general. However, the logistics department did not assess whether the robots would be able to navigate the hospital’s crowded hallways before purchasing them.... They were eventually transferred to two other VA hospitals, where they were again not used, before being auctioned in March 2016 for $1,937, a tiny fraction of their original price tag.... The same year that the hospital purchased the robots, the cardiology department leased a laser lead extractor, a tool used to remove pacemaker defibrillator leads from patients’ hearts, for about $100,000. Hospital workers were unable to use the device because of issues with operating room space and staffing. Still, the medical center continued to lease the device for two and a half years without using it.... Because the hospital could not use the lead extractor, the VA paid for veterans to go to non-VA facilities to undergo lead extraction procedures.

US Construction Spending Crashes Into Contraction For First Time In 5 Years
Zero Hedge - For the first time in 5 years, US construction spending fell [Year over Year] YoY in August. The 2nd monthly drop in a row and large downward revisions reduced construction spending to its weakest since 2015. Public construction spending dropped considerably more than private, with highway construction tumbling. This is the biggest drop in over 5 years... At a time when seasonally, construction spending has picked up... As the report details, the decline was broad based and impacted both private and public construction.

Apple adopts Windows 10 tactic to auto-download Sierra to Macs
Computerworld - Apple today began automatically downloading macOS Sierra to Macs that have yet to upgrade to the new operating system, taking a step that rival Microsoft was criticized for last year. Although the upgrade to macOS 10.12 will automatically download to eligible Macs, it will not automatically install. Instead, users must authorize the upgrade after being notified that it has been retrieved and is ready to install. Users may also decline the upgrade at that same notification.... "On Mac [automatic downloading] has been available for all software except major releases until today [emphasis added]," an Apple spokeswoman said today via email. Previously, step updates -- those identified, for instance, as 10.11.4 -- were automatically downloaded to appropriate Macs. But what the Apple spokeswoman called "major releases," the now-annual upgrades, had not been automatically pushed to Macs.... Sierra will auto-download to Macs running 10.11.5 or 10.11.6, the last two updates to OS X Yosemite, said Apple, assuming the systems' users have left the settings in the App Store section of Preferences unchanged from their defaults.

Bitter melon can stop cancer cells from growing and spreading
(NaturalNews) A popular Asian fruit that looks kind of like a cucumber with warts, bitter melon has a long history of use in traditional cooking, holding a prominent place in both Indian and Chinese cuisine. But recent research out of St. Louis University (SLU) shows that bitter melon serves as a whole lot more than just a tasty gourd, showing viability in the prevention and treatment of cancer. With the help of a $40,000 grant from the Lottie Caroline Hardy Charitable Trust, researchers from SLU are expanding their investigation into the anti-cancer effects of bitter melon, which has already shown that the fruit can prevent the growth and spread of breast cancer cells. This time around, Dr. Ratna Ray, Ph.D., a longtime advocate of bitter melon for medicinal use, is looking into how the fruit can help prevent prostate and other forms of cancer…. Generally speaking in terms of cancer, bitter melon acts at the cellular level to stop cancer cells from both multiplying and spreading. Acting upon multiple pathways, including several signal transduction pathways, bitter melon facilitates the body's natural means of eradicating cancer cells on its own, which it does on a constant basis to prevent the formation of tumors. Bitter melon is also effective against type-2 diabetes… Studies have shown that bitter melon contains special compounds that activate AMP-activated protein kinase, or AMPK, a cellular enzyme that helps protect against obesity and diabetes by encouraging the movement of glucose transporters to the surface of cells. This process, researchers have determined, significantly improves metabolic function, thus minimizing the damage caused by excess sugar intake.

Top 15 Natural Healthy Foods for People with Kidney Disease
Natural News Blogs - Now-a-days we come across to see people with numerous small and big kidney diseases like kidney stone, kidney improper functioning (need of dialysis) and many others. In this article we will try to convey a number of healthy and natural foods that can help in kidney disease or these may aid in it’s functioning. Here are some: 1. Olive oil: Being a great natural source of oleic acid, olive oil is an anti-inflammatory fatty acid which protects against oxidation. Other compounds like polyphenols prevent oxidation as well as inflammation. 2. Coriander: The best organic food for kidney disease is coriander. Add a little lemon juice in one glass coriander boiled water and drink it on daily basis. It will improve the kidney function as well as reduce oxidation. 3. Water: Drinking plenty of water will clean the kidneys and take out the waste in the urine. 4. Garlic: It reduces inflammation and cholesterol in the body to make kidney perform well. 5. Cranberries: These small and tangled berries will reduce and protect bladder infections. 6. Blueberries: These contains antioxidant phytonutrients known as anthocyanidins which are good anti-inflammatory. 7. Marshmallow root: It is a diuretic compound that will protect from bladder infections, kidney stones and urinary tract infections. 8. Red clover: Rich in vitamin C and vitamin A, an excellent anti-oxidant for kidney function. 9. Turmeric: It has antiseptic properties usually used to treat the kidney infections and inflammations….

Facts About Edamame: This is Why You Should Avoid Edamame at All Costs
LA Healthy Living - Edamame are immature soy bean pods that are harvested before the pod hardens. In 2008, the first soybeans were grown in Europe to be sold commercially. Edamame where first marketed as an alternative protein and its popularity has since grown annually. Edamame are said to be “a powerhouse of nutrition”. I think you may disagree once you can get past all the hype. Let’s face the facts about this soy bean. Soy is higher in phytoestrogen than any other food. Phytoestrogens are plant based estrogen that mimic the estrogen in our body. Consuming high amounts of phytoestrogen, is the leading cause of breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, infertility and low libido. Phytlates found in soy block mineral absorption. Scientists agree that diets high in phytates contribute to mineral deficiencies in third world countries. Soy is also the king of cell Goitrogens (thyroid suppressors). Soy isoflavones can damage thyroid function. In the U.S.A., thyroid problems are pandemic, especially in women. Reproductive health, researchers believe that exposure to phytoestrogen could have impacts on fertility. Human females as a fetus, infant, child, and adolescent reproductive systems are at risk. Research reports have also suggest that the compound genistein impairs sperm ability to swim toward the egg, which would impair your ability to conceive. Also found in Soy, Trypsin inhibitors, inhibits proper digestion of protein. And last but not least… 93% of Soy is genetically modified and has the highest percentages of contamination by pesticides of any of our foods.

Surgical removal of wisdom teeth often just a sham... pointless surgery rakes in dough for dentists
(NaturalNews) For many years it's been standard operating procedure for dentists to recommend the surgical removal of wisdom teeth – even when there is no pain or symptoms. But is it really necessary or beneficial? According to a recent study, the answer is "maybe not." From Fox News Health: "Third molars, or so-called wisdom teeth, generally emerge fully or partially between ages 17 and 26 into limited space and they are often wedged against the second molars. This can cause swelling, root damage, decay or gum disease, and in these cases experts agree the wisdom teeth should be removed. "But if there are no symptoms, it is unclear whether the benefits of surgery outweigh the risks, researchers write in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews." There have been no studies showing any benefit to the removal of "symptom-free" wisdom teeth, which is surprising, since "the preventive removal of asymptomatic disease-free wisdom teeth is very common" in the U.S. and elsewhere, according to lead researcher Hossein Ghaeminia…. Surgical removal of wisdom teeth is not only expensive and painful, but also carries risks such as infection, inflammation and temporary nerve damage.

“Pet Fooled” — Trailer
Susan Thixton - Pet Fooled tells the story that many of us are familiar with – the madness of pet food ignored by/endorsed by regulatory authorities…but it is so shocking to see in one sitting. I’ve previewed the film multiple times over the years of its making, and each time – through all progressive steps of the film, I can’t stop watching it. It draws me in, even though I know the subject matter very well. Producer Kohl Harrington did a fabulous job. Featured in the film are veterinarians Dr. Karen Becker and Dr. Barbara Royal. And I’m excited to say…I’m in the film too! Pet Fooled includes an interview of Dr. Dan McChesney of FDA too. Followers of this site might remember the name Dr. Dan McChesney. Dr. McChesney is the FDA representative that openly stated (in a March 2016 meeting with TAPF) the FDA will continue to allow diseased or dead/non-slaughtered animals in pet food (even though federal law prohibits it). Now you’ll be able to put a face to the name. I don’t know if the film will be airing in theaters, I believe it will be available on Pay Per View type channels beginning in early January…. Pet owners in the Washington DC area can view the film at the Utopia Film Festival October 21 – 23, 2016.

Monday - October 3, 2016 - Today In History:

1863 - U.S. President Lincoln declared that the last Thursday of November would be recognized as Thanksgiving Day.
1906 - W.T. Grant opened a 25-cent department store.
1922 - Rebecca L. Felton became the first female to hold office of U.S. Senator. She was appointed by Governor Thomas W. Hardwick of Georgia.
1929 - The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes officially changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
1932 - Iraq was admitted into the League of Nations leading Britain to terminate their mandate over the nation.
1941 - Adolf Hitler stated in a speech that Russia was "broken" and they "would never rise again."
1942 - The Office of Economic Stabilization was established by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He also authorized controls on rents, wages, salaries and farm prices.
1944 - During World War II, U.S. troops broke through the Siegfried Line.
1952 - Britain became the third nuclear power in the world when they successfully detonated their first atomic bomb. The U.S. and Russia were the only other nuclear powers.
1988 - The space shuttle Discovery landed safely after its four-day mission. It was the first American shuttle mission since the Challenger disaster.
1989 - East Germany suspended unrestricted travel to Czechoslovakia in an effort to slow the flow of refugees to the West.
1990 - The Berlin Wall was dismantled eleven months after the borders between East and West Germany were dissolved. The unification of Germany ended 45 years of division.
1990 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein made a visit to Kuwait since his country had seized control of the oil-rich nation.
1994 - The headquarters of the Haitian pro-army militia was raided by U.S. soldiers.
2003 - Ray Horn, of the duo "Siegfried & Roy," was attacked by tiger during a performance. Roy survived the attack after being dragged offstage.
2006 - North Korea announced that it would conduct a nuclear test as a key step in the manufacture of atomic bombs that it viewed as a deterrent against a U.S. attack. A date for the test was not announced.

Russia warns against US attack on Syrian forces
AP - Russia warned the United States Saturday against carrying out any attacks on Syrian government forces, saying it would have repercussions across the Middle East as government forces captured a hill on the edge of the northern city of Aleppo under the cover of airstrikes.... Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that a U.S. intervention against the Syrian army "will lead to terrible, tectonic consequences not only on the territory of this country but also in the region on the whole." She said regime change in Syria would create a vacuum that would be "quickly filled" by "terrorists of all stripes.".... U.S.-Russian tensions over Syria have escalated since the breakdown of a cease-fire last month, with each side blaming the other for its failure. Syrian government forces backed by Russian warplanes have launched a major onslaught on rebel-held parts of Aleppo.

Indian commandos strike terrorists inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
The Long War Journal - The Indian military launched “surgical strikes” against Pakistani terrorists across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last night [Thursday, Sept. 28], killing “up to 38 terrorists and Pakistani soldiers,” according to India Today. The raids were based on “very specific and credible information that some terrorist units had positioned themselves to infiltrate” into the country, the Indian Army’s Director General of Military Operations said. The raids were clearly designed to retaliate for the Sept. 17 attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed on an Indian Army base in Uri in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Seventeen Indian soldiers were killed in the deadly raid.... The Pakistan military’s Inter-Services Public Relations directorate (ISPR) denied that India launched “surgical strikes” against “alleged terrorist bases.”.... The Indian military has stated that it recorded the operation..., so it can easily refute Pakistan’s denial of a cross-border raid against the “alleged terrorist camps.” While Pakistan denies the existence of terrorist camps on its soil, Syed Salahuddin, the leader of Hizb-ul-Muhajideen, a terrorist alliance that operates in Kashmir and includes groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, said in 2011 that the Pakistani military allows it to operate freely and run hundreds of training camps.

AFRICOM masks military operations in Somalia as ‘self defense strikes’
The Long War Journal - The US military continues to classify combat operations against Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, as “self-defense strikes,” even though many of the incidents reported, such as the targeting of training camps and raids in Shabaab-held territory, are clearly offensive in nature. United States African Command, or AFRICOM, has now launched two so-called self-defense strikes against Shabaab in three days.... AFRICOM’s attempts to mask direct combat operations against Shabaab targets such as training camps and IED factories as advise and assist missions whitewashes the more than 10-year-old war that the Somali government, the African Union, and the United States has waged against al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia. This year, AFRICOM announced nine “self-defense strikes” and “defensive fires” missions in Somalia. The Department of Defense has even justified airstrikes on Shabaab training camps, such as the one in Raso on March 5, 2016, as defensive operations. The US military has been launching airstrikes and naval bombardments, as well as special operations raids against Shabaab and its predecessor, the Islamic Courts Union, since 2006. Many of these raids were in direct support of military operations, such as airstrikes and naval bombardments in 2007 and that supported Ethiopia’s invasion to depose the Islamic Courts Union.

Colombia referendum rejects peace deal with Farc guerrillas
The Guardian - Colombians have rejected a peace deal to end 52 years of war with FARC guerrillas, throwing the country into confusion about its future. With counting completed from 98% of polling stations, the no vote led with 50.23% to 49.76%, a difference of 61,000 votes. The verdict on the deal between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC reached after four years of intense negotiations means it cannot now not be implemented. Polls before the vote predicted yes would win with a comfortable 66% share. Santos had been confident of a yes result and said during the campaign that he did not have a plan B and that Colombia would return to war if the no vote won. His opponents, led by former president Alvaro Uribe, said a win for their side would be a mandate for the government and rebels to negotiate a “better agreement”. Both government and rebels have repeatedly said that the deal was the best they could achieve and a renegotiation would not be possible.... The deal would have allowed rebel leaders to avoid jail time if they confess to their crimes such as killing, kidnapping, indiscriminate attacks, and child recruitment, something that many Colombians found hard to swallow.

Saudi-Led UN Human Rights Council Declines Inquiry Into Saudi Abuses In Yemen
Mint Press News - That latest behind-the-scenes negotiations at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva have ended, as with last year, declining to launch an independent investigation into Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen, leading to a series of very public condemnations from human rights groups. Salma Amer, of the Cairo Institute, termed the latest deal as having put “Saudi Arabia’s desire for impunity above the need to protect the people of Yemen,” while others accused the council itself of abusing their positions to deflect accountability. Last year’s debates of the matter ended with the agreement that the Saudi government and its allies could investigate themselves, which naturally just amounted to a solid year of rubber stamping continued war crimes. The new text, dubbed a “compromise,” will allow a handful of UN investigators to observe the internal investigation, so they can keep track of how it’s going nowhere in real time. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in lobbying against any international reproach for its actions in Yemen, ending up briefly on the UN “name and shame” list of violators of children’s rights before complaining until the UN Security Council grudgingly took them off the list.

Iran showcases new combat drone, copied from U.S. unmanned aircraft
Yahoo News - Iran's Revolutionary Guards unveiled a home-built drone that they said was capable of carrying bombs, state media reported on Saturday, in what appeared to be another copy of a reconnaissance U.S. drone that Iran captured five years ago.... "This long-range drone is capable of hitting four targets with smart precision-guided bombs with high accuracy," the head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace arm, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. The Guards did not demonstrate the drone's abilities and did not say what range it had. Photograph carried by the Tasnim news agency showed the Iranian drone looked similar to the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel aircraft that was captured in eastern Iran in 2011. Iranian media said the Iranian model was based on the U.S. one. U.S. President Barack Obama asked Iran to give back the drone which belonged to American forces in neighboring Afghanistan, but Tehran said Washington should apologize for spying on the country with unmanned aircraft.

Obama Admin Signed Secret Documents to Lift UN Sanctions on Iranian Banks – Same Day Tehran Released US Hostages
The Gateway Pundit - The Wall Street Journal reported: The Obama administration agreed to back the lifting of United Nations sanctions on two Iranian state banks blacklisted for financing Iran’s ballistic-missile program on the same day in January that Tehran released four American citizens from prison, according to U.S. officials and congressional staff briefed on the deliberations. The U.N. sanctions on the two banks weren’t initially to be lifted until 2023, under a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers that went into effect on Jan. 16. The U.N. Security Council’s delisting of the two banks, Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International, was part of a package of tightly scripted agreements—the others were a controversial prisoner swap and transfer of $1.7 billion in cash to Iran—that were finalized between the U.S. and Iran on Jan. 17, the day the Americans were freed. The new details of the delisting have emerged after administration officials briefed lawmakers earlier this month on the U.S. decision.

May Will Trigger Article 50 by End of March Next Year
Breitbart - British Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed she will formally begin the process of leaving the EU by the end of March 2017.... She added that there would be no parliamentary vote on triggering Article 50, accusing those calling for one of attempting to “subvert democracy” and “kill [Brexit] by delaying it” .... Theresa May also said that Scotland would have no veto over Brexit, telling the Conference: “We will leave the European Union as one United Kingdom. There is no opt out from Brexit.”.... “This is about delivering for the British people. It is not just about leaving the EU, it’s about people’s trust in politicians. The people have spoken, we must deliver,” the Prime Minister said.

Fukushima Radiation Has Contaminated The Entire Pacific Ocean - And It's Going to Get Worse
True Activist - Fukushima continues to leak an astounding 300 tons of radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean every day. It will continue do so indefinitely as the source of the leak cannot be sealed as it is inaccessible to both humans and robots due to extremely high temperatures. It should come as no surprise, then, that Fukushima has contaminated the entire Pacific Ocean in just five years. This could easily be the worst environmental disaster in human history and it is almost never talked about by politicians, establishment scientists, or the news.... Not long after Fukushima, fish in Canada began bleeding from their gills, mouths, and eyeballs. This “disease” has been ignored by the government and has decimated native fish populations, including the North Pacific herring. Elsewhere in Western Canada, independent scientists have measured a 300% increase in the level of radiation. According to them, the amount of radiation in the Pacific Ocean is increasing every year. Why is this being ignored by the mainstream media? It might have something to do with the fact that the US and Canadian governments have banned their citizens from talking about Fukushima so “people don’t panic.”

7 military trainees from Afghanistan missing from U.S. bases
WSB-TV - Seven trainees went AWOL from bases so far this month. [Georgia State University security and counterterrorism expert Robert] Friedmann says he doesn’t think the timing is a coincidence. “It's fairly likely that it was coordinated, because that's too much of a coincidence,” he said. The same weekend a U.S. citizen from Afghanistan detonated a bomb in New York City, two trainees disappeared from Fort Benning, one from Fort Lee, Virginia and Little Rock, Arkansas. Two weeks later, one walked away from Fort Gordon and two more from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The Afghans were part of a Department of Defense training program for foreign soldiers.... Last December, two Afghan airmen disappeared from Moody Air Force Base in south Georgia. One turned up in Virginia weeks later. The other is still missing.... So far the feds have not identified the seven new missing Afghans. In a written statement a Homeland Security spokesperson told [Channel 2’s Aaron] Diamant, “ICE's Homeland Security Investigations is aware of the situation, and is actively working to locate these individuals in coordination with the State Department and the Department of Defense."

DEA’s Army of 18,000 Informants Pocketed $237 Million Over Five Years
The Intercept - Published Thursday by the DOJ’s Inspector General, the audit reports that from 2010 to 2015, the DEA boasted more than “18,000 active confidential sources assigned to its domestic offices, with over 9,000 of those sources receiving approximately $237 million in payments for information or services they provided.” .... Exactly how useful the DEA’s sources are is unclear — even, apparently, to the DEA itself. “Because DEA’s files do not detail the universe of information provided by its sources, it is unable to examine their reliability and whether they frequently or rarely provide useful information, or whether the information DEA agents acted upon resulted in identifying individuals involved in illegal activity or instead caused DEA to regularly approach innocent civilians for questioning,” the audit noted.... The audit identified at least 33 DEA sources working at Amtrak, including train attendants and ticket agents, who collectively were paid more than $1.4 million over four years.... “The DEA violated federal regulations by selectively approaching and paying Amtrak employees for information that the DEA would have received for free,” the company said of the DOJ audit.... The DOJ also found at least eight TSA employees who had secretly worked as DEA informants.... DEA informants were also found working in the commercial airline industry — “because they had access to corporate airline databases containing detailed passenger information” — and for private intercity bus companies.

Pentagon Paid for Fake ‘Al Qaeda’ Videos
The Daily Beast - The Pentagon gave a controversial UK PR firm [Bell Pottinger] over half a billion dollars to run a top secret propaganda program in Iraq, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism can reveal.... The work consisted of three types of products. The first was television commercials portraying al Qaeda in a negative light. The second was news items which were made to look as if they had been “created by Arabic TV”, Wells said. Bell Pottinger would send teams out to film low-definition video of al Qaeda bombings and then edit it like a piece of news footage. It would be voiced in Arabic and distributed to TV stations across the region, according to [ex-employee Martin] Wells.... The third and most sensitive program described by Wells was the production of fake al Qaeda propaganda films. He told the Bureau how the videos were made. He was given precise instructions: “We need to make this style of video and we’ve got to use al Qaeda’s footage,” he was told. “We need it to be 10 minutes long, and it needs to be in this file format, and we need to encode it in this manner.” US marines would take the CDs on patrol and drop them in the chaos when they raided targets.... The CDs were set up to use Real Player, a popular media streaming application which connects to the internet to run. Wells explained how the team embedded a code into the CDs which linked to a Google Analytics account, giving a list of IP addresses where the CDs had been played.

Texas Withdraws From Federal Refugee Resettlement Program Due To Security Concerns
Daily Wire - “Refugees will continue to come to Texas, albeit without the state acting as the middleman between federal dollars and local resettlement agencies," stated popular Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. "Texas has repeatedly requested that the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director of National Intelligence provide assurances that refugees resettled in Texas will not pose a security threat, and that the number of refugees resettled in Texas would not exceed the State's original allocation in fiscal year 2016 — both of which have been denied by the federal government.”.... Texas has resettled roughly 7,000 refugees. Many come from terrorist safe-havens in the Middle East, including Syria. Abbott argued that the federal government has so far failed to provide proper security assurances to assuage the fear of state and local representatives.... According to NPR, “[Governor] Abbott made the announcement on the day of a deadline for Texas and the federal government to negotiate next year's refugee resettlement budget for the coming year.” The federal program will officially end in January. Texas is the third state to withdraw from the Refugee Resettlement Program. Kansas and New Jersey were the first two to withdraw, citing the same security concerns.

Teen accused of stealing 65-cent carton of milk at middle school to stand trial
Washington Post - The teenager says he had forgotten to grab the drink the first time through the line at the Graham Park Middle School cafeteria, so he headed back. A recipient of free lunches at the Virginia school, Ryan felt he was just doing what he did every day. But a school resource officer said he spotted the teen cutting in line and accused him of stealing the 65-cent milk. When Ryan did not cooperate with a trip to see the principal, authorities say, he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and petit larceny. Ryan turned down an offer of nonjudicial punishment, and, this week, a Prince William County judge set a trial date in November for the Dumfries teen, who is now a freshman in high school. He will face the criminal charges just days after his 15th birthday. Ryan and his mother, Shamise Turk, acknowledge that he took a carton of milk on that day last school year, but they say he was entitled to it and did nothing wrong. They, and their lawyer, allege that Ryan was discriminated against, targeted because he is a black teenager who did not want to go along with a police officer who they say was being unfair.

Police Shoot 6-Year-Old Autistic Boy Dead, But He’s White So No One Cares
Paul Joseph Watson - Police officers shot and killed a 6-year-old autistic boy during an incident in Louisiana, but the boy was white, wasn’t holding a gun and didn’t have a long criminal record, so don’t expect any protests or national media attention…. Police claim they chased the boy’s father Christopher Few after he had an argument with his girlfriend and that Few used his vehicle as a weapon, prompting them to open fire. “However, state District Court Judge William Bennett said the video doesn’t show Few using his car as a “deadly weapon” at the time of the shooting,” reports CBS News…. The officer seems to be shooting at a stationary car while Few is clearly seen with his hands up. Mardis, who had autism, died at the scene after suffering multiple gunshot wounds while his father survived. Police claimed they were chasing Few because of an outstanding warrant, although it was later confirmed that there were no outstanding warrants against him. While ‘Black Lives Matter’ demonstrators will stage riots, attack reporters and burn down cities over the shooting deaths of black victims who invariably turn out to have either been carrying a gun or resisting arrest, saying “all lives matter” is racist, so there will be no protests over Mardis.

Disturbing Dashcam Shows Raging Cop Shatter His Windshield With Handcuffed Man’s Face
RT - An Ohio officer slammed a handcuffed man’s face into a police cruiser with so much force that it broke the windshield, causing the glass to shatter, newly released footage shows. Despite the violent impact, the local police chief is defending the officer. Dash cam video obtained exclusively by NBC affiliate WKYC shows Pele Smith being escorted to the squad car while handcuffed in Lorain, Ohio. Instead of opening the car door for Smith and placing him in the backseat, the officer escorting him throws him against the windshield so hard that the glass shatters. Smith was treated at Mercy Regional Medical Center for facial injuries following the incident. The arrest took place while police were investigating drug complaints in Smith's neighborhood. According to a statement released by Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera on Wednesday, Smith tried to destroy drug evidence by placing it in his mouth and “physically resisted officers” as they tried to retrieve the evidence. However, the video merely shows Smith calling out to his mother to look after his son. Smith was ultimately charged with tampering with evidence, obstructing official business, and resisting arrest. As part of a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty and received probation.

US Tax Expert: NY Times and Clinton Crime Family Commit Criminal Act – Publish Donald Trump’s 1995 Tax Returns
The Gateway Pundit - The corrupt Clinton supporting New York Times released an article today on Donald Trump’s taxes. The article reads: The New York Times obtained three pages of Mr. Trump’s 1995 tax returns, for filings in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, marking the first time any of his actual tax returns have been publicly revealed. They showed more than $900 million in losses that could have allowed him to avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years. This is just another illegal act by the Clintons and Clinton cronies. First of all, if the tax returns provided to the NYT were legit, it would be illegal for someone other than Mr. Trump or his designates to provide to anyone his tax returns or those of his companies without his permission. Whoever provided these documents to the NYT may have committed a crime unless Mr. Trump gave them the authority to release his returns…. The NYT reported this past week that they support Hillary for President. For the NYT to report Trump’s tax information without his consent, is both unethical and most likely criminal…. US Tax Law permits taxpayers to avoid taxes within the parameters of the law. If it is true that Mr. Trump offset future profits with past tax loss carry-forwards, he is smart in doing so and well within the parameters of the law.
Related: NY Times: Donald Trump Tax Records [20 Years Ago] Show He Could Have Avoided Taxes for Nearly Two Decades, The Times Found

Hypocrite Hillary Clinton Used Same Tax Avoidance Law As Trump To Save Money On Taxes
The Gateway Pundit - Hillary posted several tweets attacking Trump for using a common legal tax offset scheme. …a look back at Hillary Clinton’s tax returns from 2015 (here), proudly displayed by the campaign proving she has nothing to hide – shows something awkward on page 17… While not on the scale of Trump’s business “operating loss”, Hillary Clinton – like many ‘wealthy’ individuals is taking advantage of a legal scheme to use historical losses to avoid paying current taxes.

The New York Times Paid No Taxes in 2014
Breitbart - The New York Times has excited the Clinton campaign and the rest of the media with a revelation that Republican nominee Donald Trump declared a $916 million loss in 1995 that might have resulted in him not paying taxes in some subsequent years…. But the Times itself has “avoided” paying taxes — in 2014, for example. As Forbes noted at the time: … for tax year 2014, The New York Times paid no taxes and got an income tax refund of $3.5 million even though they had a pre-tax profit of $29.9 million in 2014. In other words, their post-tax profit was higher than their pre-tax profit. The explanation in their 2014 annual report is, “The effective tax rate for 2014 was favorably affected by approximately $21.1 million for the reversal of reserves for uncertain tax positions due to the lapse of applicable statutes of limitations.” If you don’t think it took fancy accountants and tax lawyers to make that happen, read the statement again. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Trump on Sunday, telling NBC News’ Meet the Press that Trump was a “genius” in business who was simply doing what the tax code allows every American to do by counting losses against tax liabilities, and bouncing back from failure to success.

WikiLeaks cancels Tuesday announcement amid security concerns: report
The Hill - WikiLeaks has canceled an unknown announcement it had planned for next week due to security concerns, according to an NBC News reporter. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was scheduled to make an announcement Tuesday from the balcony of London's Ecuadorian Embassy. It was expected to be connected to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. However, NBC News reporter Jesse Rodriguez reported that because of security concerns at the embassy, the event has been canceled. WikiLeaks hasn't said whether the announcement will be rescheduled. Over the summer, Wikileaks published a trove of emails which appeared to show top officials at the Democratic National Committee planning how to undermine Sen. Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign. Assange has promised to release more emails from the massive hack of the Democratic National Committee. Last month, Assange said more Clinton leaks would be coming soon. Roger Stone, a supporter of Donald Trump, tweeted Sunday morning that Clinton's would be "done" on Wednesday because of the Wikileaks announcement.

Clinton Names Merkel Favorite Leader…
Breitbart - U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as her favourite world leader, choosing specifically to praise her record on the migrant crisis — despite her policies on opening Europe’s borders now providing a source of immense regret for her party and Germany. The comments were made during a question and answer session on board Mrs. Clinton’s campaign aeroplane in Chicago yesterday, when a member of the press asked what the presidential candidate’s favourite world leader is…. She told members of the press: “One of my favorites is Angela Merkel because I think she’s been an extraordinary, strong leader during difficult times in Europe, which has obvious implications for the rest of the world and, most particularly, our country”, reports Politico.

Black Lives Matter Vandalizes Trump International in DC – Liberal Media Completely Ignores Attack –Update: With Video
The Gateway Pundit - Hillary Clinton supports the #BlackLives Matter movement. Hillary met privately in January with #BLM leaders Deray Mckesson and Johnetta Elzie. DeRay McKesson and Elzie (ShordeeDooWhop) were the lead agitators at the Ferguson and Baltimore riots. Black Lives Matter activists are responsible for millions of dollars of public destruction and dozens of attacks on police and innocent pedestrians. On Saturday Black Lives Matter goons defaced the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC. The liberal mainstream media totally IGNORED the attack. A Google search on “Trump International Washington DC” finds only one article on the vandalism – by conservative media outlet Independent Journal Review.

Report: Crooked Hillary’s Mysterious Cleanup Man Is Linked to Egypt, Arab Spring
The Gateway Pundit - Various ways that Hillary apparently cheated have already been identified… Other unusual items are now literally coming to light… The below video shows a light on Hillary’s podium go out after the debate. Trump did not have the same light on his podium. The bright light that went out after the debate was a not a light for reading because it was too high and faced her and not the podium. The light appears to be more like a small monitor or teleprompter perhaps used to transmit messages to her during the debate. A picture from one website shows that Hillary’s podium has something directly under the top of the podium that Trump’s podium does not have, a sort of black box with an on/off light illuminated. After the debate a strange man now referred to as ‘the cleaner’ quickly rushed the stage and picked up Hillary’s notes off of her podium. This stranger then handed the notes to Holt as he was leaving the stage. He mysteriously is also the first person to meet Hillary before the debate as she walked in the building after arriving in her black vehicle which leads some to speculate that he handed her notes before the debate or placed them on her podium before the debate. Another video shows ‘the cleaner’ after handing Holt Hillary’s notes, grab something from under Hillary’s podium while looking guilty of doing something and then he eventually walks out with the Clinton’s. It looks like he took the black box that was under Hillary’s podium but not under Trump’s podium. The identity of the ‘cleanup man’ has been reported as being lawyer Brady Williamson. He has been involved with the Clinton’s for a long time. The fact that the Clinton’s used him, a lawyer, to pick up her papers after the debate leads to many questions. …it’s reported that Williamson was involved in projects in Iraq, Southern Sudan, Egypt and Bangladesh, traveling frequently to Baghdad and East Africa to work with the committees drafting new national and regional constitutions. His constitutional work has been sponsored, under a grant from the U.S. government, by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), a nonprofit organization working to strengthen democracy world-wide. It’s also reported that the NDI was given a grant of $14 million and then court proceedings against NDI’s staff began in Cairo on February 2012,. NDI was charged with managing an unlicensed nongovernmental organization and receiving funds from the U.S. government without the approval of the Egyptian government.

Army Veteran Beaten by Charlotte Mob Screaming “You’re in the Danger Zone White Boy”
The Gateway Pundit - Army veteran David Palmer was beaten badly last week during the violent #BlackLivesMatter riots in Charlotte. David was jumped by 10 men that were attacking multiple victims and looting several businesses around the Epicentre. Popular Military reported: According to Palmer’s sister, Ashley, he had been out of the Army for less than a year and was working at a bar to make money before starting school in the spring. Palmer was walking down 4th St -near the Epicentre parking deck- after leaving dinner at the Blackfinn with his sister, at around 8:45 p.m when the attack occurred. His sister parted ways with him after dinner but reports the men ambushed Palmer from a concealed position behind a construction site. As the began to beat him they reportedly shouted, “You’re in the danger zone white boy.” There’s a Go Fund Me page set up for David Palmer.

Third US Navy sailor dies after being exposed to Fukushima radiation
NaturalNews - August 24, 2015 - At least three of the U.S. Navy sailors exposed to radiation from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan have now died from mysterious illnesses, according to Charles Bonner, an attorney representing approximately 250 of the sailors in a class action lawsuit against companies involved in running the Fukushima plant. Bonner said in a July 21 update on the case that more than 250 sailors have come down with illnesses and three have died. "We had one of the sailors who came home and impregnated his wife. They gave birth to a little baby born with brain cancer and cancer down the spine, lived for two years, and just died in March of this year." Following a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was redirected to the coast of Japan to assist in relief efforts. By the time the ship arrived, the first of what would eventually be three meltdowns had taken place at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and a massive radioactive plume had erupted into the sky. The two successive meltdowns occurred when the ship was already close to shore…. In the four years since then, at least 500 sailors have become ill, many with still-unexplained health problems: muscle wasting, cancer, internal bleeding, thyroid dysfunction, abscesses, and birth defects in their children. The class action lawsuit seeks damages from TEPCO along with other Fukushima builders and operators Toshiba, Hitachi, Ebasco and General Electric. Among its allegations are that TEPCO deliberately concealed the fact that the plant was in full meltdown, thereby prolonging the sailors' exposure to dangerous radiation.

Near ‘Collapse,’ Minnesota to Raise Obamacare Rates by Half
Bloomberg - Minnesota will let the health insurers in its Obamacare market raise rates by at least 50 percent next year, after the individual market there came to the brink of collapse, the state’s commerce commissioner said Friday. The increases range from 50 percent to 67 percent, Commissioner Mike Rothman’s office said in a statement. Rothman, who regulates the state’s insurers, is an appointee under Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat. The rate hike follows increases for this year of 14 percent to 49 percent. “It’s in an emergency situation -- we worked hard and avoided a collapse.” Rothman said in a telephone interview. “It’s a stopgap for 2017.” On average, rates in the state will rise by about 60 percent, said Shane Delaney, a spokesman for MNSure, the state’s marketplace for Obamacare plans.... Jonathan Gold, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Minnesotans would still have affordable options for coverage next year. “Headline rate changes do not reflect what these consumers actually pay because tax credits reduce the cost of coverage below the sticker price,” Gold said in a statement. Of the about 70,000 people who had insurance on the Obamacare markets this year, 63 percent got subsidies last year, according to the commissioner’s office.

Restaurant Industry, Leading Indicator of US Economy Sours, Bankruptcies Pile up
Wolf Street - Eight restaurant companies representing 12 chains have filed for bankruptcy since December: Restaurants Acquisitions, Cosi, Logan’s Roadhouse, Fox & Hound, Champps, Bailey’s, Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Ryan’s, Johnny Carino’s, Quaker Steak & Lube, and Zio’s Italian Kitchen.... Restaurants are precarious creatures.... Some of that is normal. The [new] restaurants come along, and old ones die. “But the current wave of bankruptcies is definitely unusual, and rivals the chain bankruptcy wave of 2009 and 2010, when several chains filed for debt protection after sales fell,” writes Jonathan Maze at Nation’s Restaurant News.... Other restaurants are trying to hang on by cutting costs and shrinking their footprint, which entails more sales declines, and thus continues the downward spiral.... The restaurant industry is not a sideshow. About 14 million people work in it, according to the National Restaurant Association. With $710 billion in annual sales, it’s an important part of consumer spending and accounts for about 4% of GDP. If the industry is having problems, it’s a red flag for the overall economy.

Quake alert issued for Southern California
The Orange County Register - Southern California cities should remain on heightened alert into early next week for the increased possibility of a powerful earthquake following a swarm of temblors near the Salton Sea, officials announced. Such warnings are uncommon – typically issued once or twice a year, said Kelly Huston, the deputy director of crisis communications for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Given the swarm’s location near the San Andreas fault, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services issued the warning this week. The Salton Sea is located on the 800-mile-long San Andreas, the state’s fastest moving fault. It experienced 142 temblors starting Monday. Those quakes ranged in strength from a magnitude of 1.4 to 4.3 near Bombay Beach at the southern end of the fault, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Because of the cluster of quakes, scientists estimate the likelihood of an earthquake of a magnitude 7.0 or higher increased to between 0.03 and 1 percent, according to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. That means the probability of a sizable earthquake on the southern San Andreas fault being triggered is between 1 in 3,000 and 1 in 100.

This Secret Tool Tracks Everything You Do at Restaurants and Nightclubs
Fortune - Montaniel, 32, is the co-founder and CEO of SevenRooms, a customer relationship management (CRM) platform that gives nightclubs and restaurants a detailed view of who they’re serving. Through the tool, businesses can see a customer’s photo, as well as his or her zip code, birthday, allergy information, previous food and drink orders, and spending…. It’s now used by clubs and restaurant in 100 cities across the globe…. The software platform, which has an app for venue operators, tracks the number of customer cancellations, no-shows, and tardies — all factors that could affect the bottom line of a hospitality business…. SevenRooms was scraping public information from social media sites to pull in phone numbers, email addresses, photos, job titles and other available information…. Today, the company uses an algorithm to track what you order and how much you spend, but all other data is entered manually by staff… This means that your profile could also include any notes of how you treated (or mistreated) the staff. Your profile can be shared across different nightclub and restaurant properties owned by the same company. And if you don’t want any of this data tracked? Montaniel says you could personally call the venue to say you don’t want a profile; the onus is on you, the customer.

Organic Grain Imports Threaten Domestic Markets and Standards
Cornucopia - During the third week in May 2016, the Nakagowa — a cargo ship docked in Indiana on Lake Michigan with a cargo of 450,000 bushels of supposedly organic corn. The Nakagowa took on that cargo from a Turkish port, a fact that raised even larger questions about the “organic integrity” of the shipment. Other reports indicate that additional ships docked on the East Coast with similar “organic” grain cargos. These combined “organic” cargoes resulted in dumping up to 1.2 million bushels of corn on the U.S. organic market. That’s an amount equal to 336 rail cars of organic grain.

Hemp seeds are a natural anti-inflammatory powerhouse
(NaturalHealth365) Many foods are touted as “super foods,” but hemp seeds have the credentials to back up that claim. In fact, no other plant-based food has such a perfect ratio of all the essential amino (and fatty) acids in such an easily digestible form for human consumption as the hemp seed. Their notoriety as a super food comes primarily from the significant amounts of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and gamma linolenic acid (GLA) they contain. These hemp seed benefits help to make hemp seeds a natural combatant for chronic inflammation, marking them as an important defense mechanism against chronic disease and the effects of premature aging…. Hemp seeds can be easily added to your diet in natural, unshelled form, and the typical suggested serving size is 1.5 to 3 tablespoons. They are easily incorporated into a diet on a regular basis by sprinkling them onto yogurt, hot cereal or salads; mixing them into shakes or smoothies; using them in baked goods such as muffins or granola bars; or just eating them in raw form as a snack. Just in case you’re wondering, the hemp seed is high in protein and tends to have a delicious (delicate) taste – similar to sunflower seeds.

Drinking to Cure: How Did A Woman Cure Her Arthritis In Two Weeks With Apple Cider Vinegar
Natural News Blogs - This is a real story. Linda Faulkner, a woman who was suffering from arthritis, tried countless treatments since 2006, but the results were not good, as the treatments could not help her for a long term. She still suffered from the pain in wrists, neck, and back. A miracle happened when she decided to try apple cider vinegar, actually she drunk a mixture of apple cider vinegar and honey. A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of raw honey with a cup of hot water, she kept drinking a cup every morning and evening. She felt the differences after 2 weeks, she was totally pain-free the first time since 2006. How Does Apple Cider Vinegar Relieve Arthritis Pain? 1. Joint pains and arthritis are normally caused by mineral deficiency, and apple cider vinegar is a good source of many essential minerals, such ad calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus. 2. Apple cider vinegar strengthens the bone as it contains a good amount of magnesium, which helps bones absorb calcium. 3. Apple cider vinegar is packed with antioxidants and acetic acid, which help block the damaging effects of free radicals and prevent some conditions including arthritis. 4. Apple cider vinegar also aids in digestion and promotes the nutrients absorption, which is essential to healthy joints. 5. Acetic acid and mallic acid in apple cider vinegar help flush the toxins out of the body, this is also an important process for relieving the symptoms of arthritis.

14 Practical Reasons to Stock a Bottle of Castor Oil at Home
Dr. Mercola - Castor oil is a triglyceride that is composed of fatty acids, 90 percent of which is ricinoleic acid. Other seeds and oils, like soybean oil and cottonseed oil, also contain this unique fatty acid, although in much lower concentrations. Ricinoleic acid is said to be the primary healing ingredient in castor oil and, according to David Williams, a medical researcher, chiropractor and biochemist, it’s: “[E]ffective in preventing the growth of numerous species of viruses, bacteria, yeasts and molds. It's successful as a topical treatment for ringworm, keratoses, skin inflammation, abrasions, fungal-infected finger- and toenails, acne and chronic pruritus (itching).” In his article, Williams also says that in India, castor seed plants are traditionally used for various health conditions such as dysentery, asthma, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, and bladder and vaginal infections. “The most effective use of castor oil is castor oil packs or poultices, which increase topical absorption. When used properly, castor oil packs improve the function of the thymus gland and other immune system functions,” he adds…. The website Natural Living Ideas gives 14 ways on how you can use castor oil, which I’ve summarized below: 1. Safe and natural laxative. A 2010 study highlighted how castor oil packs helped to effectively reduce constipation among the elderly. The U.S. FDA actually deems this oil "generally regarded as safe and effective" for use as a stimulant laxative…. 2. Muscle pain relief. Rub it on your muscles after an intense workout to promote blood circulation and relieve soreness. Mix it with peppermint oil or Roman chamomile oil for extra healing and soothing effect…. 3. Alleviates joint pain. The ricinoleic acid in castor oil has a decongestant effect on the lymphatic system, which is responsible for collecting waste from your tissues and carrying it to your bloodstream to be eliminated…. 4. Helps treat fungal diseases. It’s said that castor oil is just as effective as anti-fungal drugs in treating common infections like ringworm,

Hemp For Dogs: Should You Use It?
Dogs Naturally - Unlike fish oil, hemp seed oil contains the perfect ratio of Omega-6 (linoleum acid) to Omega-3 (alpha linolenic acid) fatty acids. These are essential fatty acids, meaning your dog can’t produce them and needs to get them in his diet. A good balance of these Omega oils is critical to your dog’s health because they work synergistically in the body. Hemp seeds are also high in an essential Omega-6 fatty acid called gamma linolenic acid (GLA). That’s important because there’s some really good reasons to boost the GLA in your dog’s diet: 1. It Fights Cancer - Researchers at the American Cancer Society say there’s evidence that people with cancer, diabetes and skin allergies don’t make enough GLA … and these issues are incredibly common in dogs too. While GLA is considered a conditionally essential fatty acid (which means that most dogs can make enough of it, most of the time), there are many circumstances (hard exercise or stress) where dogs can’t make enough GLA and supplementing can become important. The THC in hemp seeds have also been found to stop brain cancer (British Journal of Cancer), improve breast cancer (Breast Cancer Research and Treatment) and lung cancer. 2. It Reduces Joint Pain - Researchers in the Journal of Arthritis and Rheumatology found that the GLA found in hemp seeds reduced arthritis symptoms by 25% compared to the placebo at 4%. Once again, this is because the perfect balance of fatty acids helps to reduce inflammation naturally. 3. It Improves Skin And Coat - Hemp seed has long been used in cosmetic products and soaps because the oil can penetrate the inner layers of the skin and promote healthy cellular growth.