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Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 9:09 am
by mes5464
The LAPD locked away its drones amid public outcry years ago. Now it wants to try them out - LA Times
For more than three years, a pair of drones donated to the Los Angeles Police Department were locked away, collecting dust after a public outcry over the idea of police using the controversial technology.

Seattle police saw a similar backlash when they wanted to use the devices, grounding their drone program before it even took off. And recently, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s use of a drone has been criticized by activists as well as civilian oversight commissioners who want the agency to stop.

On Tuesday, the LAPD will again wade into the heated debate, as department brass are slated to present details to the Police Commission about a possible pilot program for an “unmanned aerial system.”

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 9:14 am
by mes5464
Specter of coup, surge in violence haunt Venezuela
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela appears to be sliding toward a more volatile stage of unrest after anti-government forces looted weapons during a weekend raid on a military base and frustration over what some see as an ineffectual opposition leadership boils over.

Last week's installation of an all-powerful new legislative body run by leftist President Nicolas Maduro's Socialist Party loyalists, despite massive protests and a global outcry, has left many Venezuelans feeling there are no more democratic options to oppose the government.

That sentiment may have helped trigger Sunday's raid on a military base near the city of Valencia by soldiers and armed civilians, in which the government said two people were killed. Venezuelan authorities say they are hunting 10 of the attackers who escaped with a cache of weapons.

In a pre-taped video, the group of more than a dozen men in military-style uniforms said they were seeking to restore constitutional order and called for Maduro to step aside in favor of a transitional government.

The raid has raised the specter of a coup or a surge in already serious levels of violence in the country of 30 million as its slides further into an economic crisis and chaos.

Even before Sunday's attack, Maduro's consolidation of power had left many protesters disappointed with what they see as a quarrelsome and self-interested opposition coalition.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 12:03 pm
by mes5464
The idea of countries to hire mercenaries to fight wars for them is nothing new. It isn't right, but it isn't new.

War in Afghanistan: Trump White House weighs bold plan to privatize it
The White House is actively considering a bold plan to turn over a big chunk of the U.S. war in Afghanistan to private contractors in an effort to turn the tide in a stalemated war, according to the former head of a security firm pushing the project.

Under the proposal, 5,500 private contractors, primarily former Special Operations troops, would advise Afghan combat forces. The plan also includes a 90-plane private air force that would provide air support in the nearly 16-year-old war against Taliban insurgents, Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater security firm, told USA TODAY.

The unprecedented proposal comes as the U.S.-backed Afghan military faces a stalemate in the war and growing frustration by President Trump about the lack of progress in the war.

The U.S. military has 8,400 U.S. troops there to train and guide local forces. They do not have a direct combat role, and presumably would be replaced gradually by the contractors.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 12:05 pm
by mes5464
CIA 'torture' psychologists to stand trial
Washington (AFP) - Two psychologists who helped design the CIA's post-9/11 detainee interrogation program will stand trial in September for promoting the use of torture methods like water-boarding, starvation and chaining prisoners in extreme stress positions.

Federal judges in Washington state late Monday ordered a lawsuit on behalf of three former detainees -- one of whom died in a CIA prison following harsh interrogation -- to go to a jury trial, rejecting efforts to force a settlement and prevent a full hearing of the case.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the ex-detainees, will be the first involving the torture program to go to trial.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 3:16 pm
by mes5464
Reminds me of the secret courts of the Nazi's.

Venezuela Assembly’s ‘Truth Commission’ Is Ready to Hound Opponents - Bloomberg
A Venezuelan assembly rewriting the nation’s constitution is intensifying a campaign of persecution that already has sent opposition politicians into hiding, exile and prison.

President Nicolas Maduro said the constituent assembly, which supersedes all other democratic institutions, will strip legal immunity from the national assembly that has opposed him. Members of the so-called constituyente plan to establish a truth commission that will function more as a tribunal than a venue that offers amnesty in return for healing testimony.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 10:21 pm
by mes5464
A danger to public health? Uproar as scientist urges us to eat more salt | Science | The Guardian
Public health experts in the UK have spoken out against a new book that claims many of us should be eating more salt, not less – claiming the advice could endanger people’s health.

New York scientist James DiNicolantonio says in his book The Salt Fix that the World Health Organisation and the US and UK advisory bodies on diet have got it wrong with their advice to cut down on salt.

Salt is necessary and good for us, he says. Eating more salt will reduce the amount of sugar in our diet and help us lose weight, he says. Indeed low-salt diets may be causing brittle bones and memory loss and more salt could fix diabetes, he claims.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 7:54 am
by mes5464
What bothers me is that people accept the idea of "you can tax anything", as true.

South Korea introduces world's first 'robot tax'
South Korea has introduced what is being called the world's first tax on robots amid fears that machines will replace human workers, leading to mass unemployment. 

The country will limit tax incentives for investments in automated machines as part of a newly proposed revision of its tax laws.

It is hoped the policy will make up for lost income taxes as workers are gradually replaced by machines, as well as filling welfare coffers ahead of an expected rise in unemployment, according to the Korea Times. 

Experts predict robot workers will replace humans in numerous industries in the near future, with machines and artificial intelligence expected to take a third of British jobs by 2030. 

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 8:01 am
by mes5464
Monsanto Was Its Own Ghostwriter for Some Safety Reviews - Bloomberg
Monsanto Co. started an agricultural revolution with its “Roundup Ready” seeds, genetically modified to resist the effects of its blockbuster herbicide called Roundup. That ability to kill weeds while leaving desirable crops intact helped the company turn Roundup’s active ingredient, the chemical glyphosate, into one of the world’s most-used crop chemicals. When that heavy use raised health concerns, Monsanto noted that the herbicide’s safety had repeatedly been vetted by outsiders. But now there’s new evidence that Monsanto’s claims of rigorous scientific review are suspect.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 11:17 am
by lundbaek
Licenses, ID Cards Sold to Illegal Aliens by Corrupt State Workers Used for Voter Fraud

AUGUST 09, 2017

A year after Judicial Watch reported a rise in illegal aliens using fake Puerto Rican birth certificates to obtain authentic U.S. passports and drivers’ licenses, the feds have busted a Massachusetts operation run by corrupt state workers. The state employees sold drivers’ licenses and state identification cards to illegal immigrants who bought Puerto Rican documents on the black market, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The operation perpetuated voter fraud because some of the false identities and addresses were used to vote in Boston, the state’s capital and largest city.

The case is the latest of many illustrating that there’s an epidemic of voter fraud in the U.S. that’s seldom reported in the mainstream media. It’s not clear how many false identities and addresses were used to fraudulently register to vote in Boston, but the feds indicate that it occurred in multiple cases and Judicial Watch is investigating the matter as part of a five-year-old Election Integrity Project. The scheme was operated by four taxpayer-funded employees at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) along with two outside accomplices who sold Puerto Rican documents to illegal aliens. All six were recently arrested and charged with aggravated identity theft. They probably never would have been caught if not for an anonymous tip received by the Massachusetts State Police nearly two years ago and there’s no telling how long the illicit scheme operated.

The anonymous letter said that a corrupt RMV employee was providing stolen identifications and drivers’ licenses to individuals seeking false IDs, the DOJ announcement states. An investigation ensued and authorities discovered that the four clerks were working with a document vendor and document dealer to provide the licenses and official state ID cards to illegal immigrants in exchange for cash. “The scheme involved several steps,” the DOJ says. First, the document dealer sold a Puerto Rican birth certificate and U.S. Social Security card to the document vendor for approximately $900. The vendor would then sell the stolen identities for more than $2,000 to illegal aliens—some with criminal records—seeking legitimate identities in Massachusetts. After the first layer of illicit transactions occurred, the counterfeit documents and false identities and addresses were used to fraudulently register clients to vote in Boston.

Illegal aliens would then bring the stolen identities to the RMV where the corrupt clerks worked and they would accept cash to illegally issue authentic documents, including drivers’ licenses and ID cards. “The clerks also accepted cash to use the RMV’s system to run queries, including Social Security number audits, to confirm that the identities the clients were stealing actually belonged to verifiable individuals,” the DOJ announcement states. The unscrupulous state workers face up to two years in prison, according to the feds, who won’t reveal the magnitude of the operation and how many authentic state documents were issued fraudulently to illegal aliens.

Last year Judicial Watch published a story about the increasing number of illegal aliens using fake Puerto Rican birth certificates to obtain authentic American documents. Located about 1,000 miles southeast of Florida, Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory about two decades after the Caribbean island was acquired from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American war. Puerto Ricans are American citizens at birth though they don’t have the right to vote in federal elections and the island has only one non-voting representative in Congress. In recent years a record number of Puerto Ricans have left their troubled island for the U.S. and a big chunk has settled on Florida. A recent study found that the island’s ongoing economic recession has led to a mass exodus not seen in more than five decades. The U.S. government and its various agencies accept Puerto Rican birth certificates blindly even though fraud involving the easily forged documents has been pervasive for years.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 11:22 am
by lundbaek
While in Denmark last month with my wife visiting her Brothers and sisters and their families, from 3 different books in one of my wife's brothers' library on the subject, I read that in WW2 about 12000 Danish men volunteered to serve in the German army against the Soviet Union. The population of Denmark at that time was about4- 5 million. 6000 were accepted. Only about 3000 actually fought on the front. About 2000 were killed or otherwise never came back. According to what I read, a big reason was that so many Danes, although detesting Hitler & Co., were much more afraid of the Soviet Union.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 9:22 pm
by mes5464
Silicon Valley titans support free cash handouts to Americans
One by one, some of the biggest names in tech are publicly supporting the idea of giving cash handouts to all Americans.

The latest is self-made multimillionaire Stewart Butterfield, the CEO and co-founder of the workplace chat program Slack, which is reportedly in the process of raising $500 million at a $5 billion valuation. Butterfield also co-founded Flickr, which sold to Yahoo, reportedly for $35 million.

He joins Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Y-Combinator president Sam Altman, who all say society will both need and benefit from universal basic income (UBI), a guaranteed cash payment g

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 9:25 pm
by mes5464
Secret scandals of elite prep schools and college clubs | Daily Mail Online
hild porn raids, sexual abuse and rare book heists are just some of the scandals at schools attended by some of the most famous people in America
New book 'Vanity Fair's Schools for Scandal: The Inside Dramas at 16 of America's Most Elite Campuses' exposes the dark side of campus life
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and JFK's rumored mistress Mimi Alford  both attended Miss Porter's private college prep school which was rocked by a bullying and pregnancy scandal
Former President George W. Bush and former United States Secretary of State John Kerry were both in the Skull and Bones secret society at Yale which is rumored to have a bizarre masturbation ritual inside a coffin 
At Ivanka Trump's alma mater, Choate Rosemary Hall,  12 former teachers were declared  guilty of sexually molesting both male and female students since the 1960s
Richard Nixon's daughters attended Marlborough School where a teacher went to jail after it was revealed he got a student pregnant 

North Korea Planning Guam Attack

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 9:27 pm
by Joel
North Korea is "seriously examining a plan" to launch a missile strike targeting an area near the US territory of Guam in response to President Donald Trump's warning to Pyongyang that any additional threats will be met with "fire and fury," according to a new statement from Gen. Kim Rak Gyom published by state-run media KCNA.

The North Korean Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army is "seriously examining the plan for an enveloping strike at Guam through simultaneous fire of four Hwasong-12 intermediate-range strategic ballistic rockets in order to interdict the enemy forces on major military bases on Guam and to signal a crucial warning to the US," the statement said.
The Hwasong-12 rockets to be launched by the KPA wpuld cross the sky above Shimane, Hiroshima and Koichi prefectures of Japan, and would fly 3,356.7 kilometers for 1,065 seconds and hit the waters 30 to 40 kilometers away from Guam, according to the statement.

KCNA published a wire criticizing Trump for having "let out a load of nonsense about 'fire and fury,' failing to grasp the on-going grave situation. This is extremely getting on the nerves of the infuriated Hwasong artillerymen of the KPA [Korean People's Army]."

The article goes on to state that "sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him.”

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 10th, 2017, 7:52 am
by mes5464
This is the story of "Brave New World" come to life. We are living in a "1984" now and we are on the verge of "Brave New World".

The future of work is medically enhanced ‘elite super-workers,’ report says | Ladders
In the future, we will be competing against medically-enhanced workers who can work longer and harder than us. Artificial intelligence will make it easier to monitor our every move in the office. This may sound like science fiction, but it’s a likely reality, according to a new report by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The report, which drew upon a team of science researchers and a survey of more than 10,000 workers based in China, Germany, India, the U.K., and the U.S., predicts that rapid advances in technology, resource scarcity, and population demographics are among the key forces that would radically shape the future of work by 2030.

According to PwC, these forces will result in four potential futures: one where “humans come first,” one where “innovation rules,” one where “companies care,” and one where “corporate is king.”

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 10th, 2017, 7:58 am
by mes5464
China working on 'repression network' which lets cameras identify cars - and humans - with unprecedented accuracy
CAMERAS which catch speeding drivers and hit them with fines are one of the most unpopular motoring innovations ever introduced.

But the next generation of roadside spies are set to be even more powerful - and creepy - than traditional speed cameras.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 10th, 2017, 8:20 am
by mes5464
They are going with the same stop-n-frisk that NYC was using. What they should do is start respecting self-defense rights and allow people to defend themselves, even with lethal force if need be. In the UK the only thing you are allowed to do to defend yourself is call for help.

Acid attacks crime wave sees Britain's top cop and Home Secretary back increasing stop and search powers
THE HOME Secretary and Britain’s top cop last night vowed to up “vital” police stop and search powers to clamp down on acid attacks and stabbings.

Teaming up with Met boss Cressida Dick, Amber Rudd said her “purpose is simple: to take as many offensive weapons, knives, guns, acid and harmful drugs out of the pockets of criminals as possible.”

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 10th, 2017, 8:21 am
by mes5464
I have seen reports on these kinds of weapons.

US embassy employees in Cuba possibly subject to 'acoustic attack' - CNNPolitics
(CNN)The US believes several State Department employees at the US embassy in Havana were subjected to an "acoustic attack" using sonic devices that left at least two with such serious health problems they needed to be brought back to the US for treatment, several senior State Department officials told CNN.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 10th, 2017, 8:26 am
by mes5464
Microchip: You will get chipped — eventually
LOS ANGELES — You will get chipped. It’s just a matter of time.

In the aftermath of a Wisconsin firm embedding microchips in employees last week to ditch company badges and corporate logons, the Internet has entered into full-throated debate.

Religious activists are so appalled, they’ve been penning nasty 1-star reviews of the company, Three Square Market, on Google, Glassdoor and social media.

On the flip side, seemingly everyone else wants to know: Is this what real life is going to be like soon at work? Will I be chipped?

“It will happen to everybody,” says Noelle Chesley, 49, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “But not this year, and not in 2018. Maybe not my generation, but certainly that of my kids.”

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 10th, 2017, 6:17 pm
by mes5464
Missing Denver man died in elevator after twice pushing emergency button
An elderly man who died in a parking-garage elevator had pushed the emergency button twice during an 8-minute span July 6 but got no response despite Denver code requiring elevator operators to monitor emergency notifications around the clock.

Unable to escape the elevator car — possibly because of dementia — 82-year-old Isaak Komisarchik died between the morning of July 6 and Aug. 2, when elevator repair workers finally discovered the body after multiple residents of the apartment complex reported a terrible stench.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 11th, 2017, 7:54 am
by mes5464
Stanford University course to study ‘abolishing whiteness’ - The College Fix
Anthropology course will explore ‘coming to terms with white identity’

Stanford University is slated to offer a class this fall called “White Identity Politics,” during which students will “survey the field of whiteness studies” and discuss the “possibilities of … abolishing whiteness,” according to the course description.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 11th, 2017, 8:04 am
by mes5464
Jim Rogers says the 'biggest crisis in his life' is less than a year away - The Financial Express
Jim Rogers, the renowned co-founder of Quantum Fund believes that there’s an impending crisis, and it’s much sooner than you think. “We could see the worst crash in my entire life pretty soon,” said Jim Rogers in a recent conversation with Kitco news. Jim Rogers founded the Quantum Fund alongside George Soros, who is regarded as one of the most successful investors of all time. From 1970 to 1980, their portfolio returned 4200% while the S&P had posted paltry returns of about 47%.

Jim Rogers said, “We’ve had economic problems in the US, in North America, every four years since the beginning of the republic, to say that we’re going to have a problem is not unusual.” Going a step further, the veteran said that it would be ‘bizarre’ if we didn’t have a problem. Rogers observed that the 2008 financial crisis was caused due to a rise in debt, and since then the debt has gone through the roof. In fact, Alberto Gallo of Algebris Investments, in a recent blog, noted that global debt levels have almost quadrupled, rising 276% in the last decade to $217 trillion. Talking about the timeline, Jim Rogers predicts that the impending crisis could be as early as next year.  

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 11th, 2017, 8:07 am
by mes5464
YouTube CRACKS DOWN on Diamond and Silk => Demonetizes 95% of Their Videos 'For Supporting Trump'
Pro-Trump personalities Diamond and Silk took to Twitter Thursday, accusing Google-owned YouTube of demonetizing 95 percent of their videos. The pair believes YouTube’s decision was driven by their support for President Trump.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 11th, 2017, 6:54 pm
by Sunain
$1-trillion loss in world stocks valuations this week triggered by the war of words between Pyongyang and Washington
Wall Street put a floor under global equities on Friday after a weak inflation reading brought investors back into U.S. stocks even as tensions between the United States and North Korea continued to escalate, though that tension still drove safe-haven buying of gold and the yen.

A small rise in a measure of U.S. consumer prices pointed to benign inflation that could make the Federal Reserve cautious about raising interest rates again this year, which would be favorable to equity investors.

The hope that the Fed will have to slow its rate-hike path appeared to stop, at least for now, the near $1-trillion loss in world stocks valuations this week triggered by the war of words between Pyongyang and Washington.

"The slight bias to the upside (in stocks) is a result of the CPI number. The market is interpreting it as lowering the odds of the Fed raising rates in December," said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at SunTrust Advisory Services in Atlanta.
A group of pretty powerful people are making a lot of money off of this. The world events manipulation for monetary gain and the creations of new laws to gain more power is really getting out of control.

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 11th, 2017, 7:51 pm
by mes5464
FEC 'reform' a smokescreen to weaponize government against free speech | TheHill
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) recently introduced the Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections Act. Despite the innocuous name, this is yet another attempt to weaponize government against free speech, free association and political dissent.

The legislation would overhaul the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by lowering the number of FEC commissioners from six to five, supposedly putting an end to “gridlock.” The bill would also “reduce partisanship” by limiting commissioners to serving one term and granting the president power to nominate an FEC “chair” to serve for 10 years. This chair would have the authority to act independently of other commissioners, centralizing power in a single unelected political appointee. 

Re: News You Can Use

Posted: August 11th, 2017, 8:47 pm
by freedomforall
BREAKING! CLINTON CAUGHT IN MAJOR $5 BILLION NORTH KOREA SCANDAL!