Capital Hill Outsider – by Ronnie Herne

The greater question is not “were” Harvey and Irma magnified and steered, but “by whom”?

I cannot tell you 100% that our recent hurricanes were magnified and steered into population centers.  But I can tell you 100%  that they certainly could have been magnified and steered into those population centers.

   Readers here are generally ahead of the curve.  It’s one of the reasons you read here.  A bunch of you have encountered the awkward, somewhat  unfriendly word “Geoengineering”.  It is sometimes written more phonetically as GeoEngineering.   Continue reading “Weather Wars. Weather Weapons. Surprised?”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Friday abruptly warned Americans not to visit Cuba and ordered more than half its Havana embassy personnel to leave the island in a dramatic response to mysterious recent “specific attacks” harming the health of U.S. diplomats.

The actions deal a blow to already delicate ties between the U.S. and Cuba, longtime adversaries who only recently began putting their hostility behind them. The embassy in Havana will lose roughly 60 percent of its U.S. staff, and will stop processing visas in Cuba indefinitely, officials said. Roughly 50 Americans are currently working at the embassy in Havana.   Continue reading “US slashes Cuba embassy staff, warns Americans not to visit”

Yahoo News – by Jonathan Spyer, Foreign Policy Magazine

JERUSALEM – Israeli officials believe that Iran is winning its bid for dominance in the Middle East, and they are mobilizing to counter the regional realignment that threatens to follow. The focus of Israel’s military and diplomatic campaign is Syria. Israeli jets have struck Hezbollah and Syrian regime facilities and convoys dozens of times during Syria’s civil war, with the goal of preventing the transfer of weapons systems from Iran to Hezbollah. In an apparent broadening of the scope of this air campaign, on Sept. 7 Israeli jets struck a Syrian weapons facility near Masyaf responsible for the production of chemical weapons and the storing of surface-to-surface missiles.   Continue reading “Israel Is Going to War in Syria to Fight Iran”

Fox News

Every player on both sides of the field stood during the national anthem ahead of Thursday night’s NFL game.

Players, coaches and staff on the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears were all linked arm-in-arm, and some with hands on their hearts, as American country singer Tyler Farr sang.  Continue reading “Packers, Bears stand during anthem before NFL game”

New York Post – by Marisa Schultz

The Justice Department filed suit against a Colorado company Thursday ​saying it discriminated against American workers​ by hiring seasonal foreigners instead.​

The Loveland-based Crop Production Services Inc. refused at least three US citizens work in 2016 because ​it​ preferred to hire temporary ​workers with H-2A visas, according to​ the​ Justice Department.   Continue reading “Justice Department sues company for hiring foreigners”

Fox News

As part of a massive illegal immigration sweep, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Thursday that officials this week arrested nearly 500 illegal immigrants living in sanctuary cities across the country.

The raid, referred to as “Operation ‘Safe City’” in a news release, spanned four days in cities through the U.S., and ended Wednesday.   Continue reading “ICE arrests nearly 450 illegal immigrants in sanctuary city raids”

Yahoo News

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — A hunk of rock “the size of an apartment building” fell off the granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring another on a mountain at the height of climbing season, officials and witnesses said.

At least 30 climbers were on the wall at the time, but it was not clear if the victims were climbers or tourists, ranger Scott Gediman said.

“It was witnessed by a lot of people,” he said.   Continue reading “Massive granite slab falls kills 1, injures 1 in Yosemite”

Argus

New York, 27 September (Argus) — US crude exports reached 1.5mn b/d last week, breaking the previous record of 1.3mn b/d set earlier this year in the week ending 26 May, as a glut of light crude in the Gulf coast following Hurricane Harvey improved export economics.

Most of the exports have been heading to Asia, with charterers including South Korea’s SK Energy, Japan’s Cosmo and China’s Unipec, and traders such as Trafigura, Vitol and Mercuria, according to shipbrokers.   Continue reading “US exports record volume of crude weeks after Harvey”

The Hill – by Mallory Shelbourne

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced early Thursday that President Trump has waived the Jones Act, lifting shipping restrictions to bolster relief efforts on hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

“At @ricardorossello request, @POTUS has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico. It will go into effect immediately,” Sanders tweeted, referring to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.   Continue reading “Trump lifts Jones Act to bolster Puerto Rico relief”

Washington Examiner – by Paul Bedard

The swelling population of illegal immigrants and their kids is costing American taxpayers $135 billion a year, the highest ever, driven by free medical care, education and a huge law enforcement bill, according to the the most authoritative report on the issue yet.

And despite claims from pro-illegal immigration advocates that the aliens pay significant off-setting taxes back to federal, state and local treasuries, the Federation for American Immigration Reform report tallied just $19 billion, making the final hit to taxpayers about $116 billion.   Continue reading “Record $135 billion a year for illegal immigration, average $8,075 each, $25,000 in NY”

Yahoo News

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 35,000 people had signed a petition to remove a Ray Lewis statue from the Baltimore Ravens’ stadium, after Lewis knelt during the national anthem before a game with current Ravens players last Sunday.

Where to even start with this one …

The petition on Change.org was started by Eric Moniodis of Hydes. He wrote: “To kneel during (the national anthem) is disrespectful, regardless of what you are protesting. I will not stand for that kind of disrespect towards our country, especially from a legend such as Ray Lewis.” Many people obviously agreed, since the petition grew quickly.   Continue reading “35,000 sign petition to remove Ray Lewis statue after he knelt for anthem, Lewis says he was praying”

CBS Los Angeles

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA) — A woman on a flight to Los Angeles International Airport was dragged off a Southwest plane Tuesday night by two police officers after claiming she was deathly allergic to two dogs on the flight.

Video shows the woman being forcibly removed by two law enforcement officers. She can be heard yelling, “Don’t touch me,” and at one point also accused the officers of ripping her pants.

The kerfuffle was preceded by the woman telling the flight crew that she had a life-threatening allergy to two dogs on the flight, one of which was a service animal, and her demand that they be removed from the flight.   Continue reading “Woman Dragged Off Southwest Flight Over Allergy”

Washington Examiner –  by Gabby Morrongiello

President Trump is preparing an executive order to allow Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines, a reform conservatives have long championed as a way to bring costs down and stir greater competition in the national marketplace.

The executive action gives the White House a chance to follow through on at least one promise related to healthcare reform, after Senate Republicans’ second attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare failed this week. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul first mentioned the action during a TV appearance Wednesday morning, saying Trump was considering taking matters into his own hands.   Continue reading “Trump preparing executive order to let Americans purchase health insurance across state lines”

Washington Post – by  Cleve R. Wootson Jr.

Investigators believe that a Russian couple knocked their victims out with sedatives, then skinned them alive. Afterward, police say, they ate parts of their victims, froze the remains or packed them in jars filled with saline solution.

At times, the couple tried to turn soldiers at the military academy where they worked into unwitting cannibals, slipping “canned human meat” into their food.

And people in the city of Krasnodar may never have known about any of it if not for a cellphone lying on a city street, authorities say.   Continue reading “Russian ‘cannibal couple’ may have drugged, killed and eaten as many as 30 people, police say”

Yahoo News – by Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Tuesday denied a request to waive shipping restrictions to help get fuel and supplies to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, saying it would do nothing to address the island’s main impediment to shipping, damaged ports.

The Jones Act limits shipping between coasts to U.S. flagged vessels. However, in the wake of brutal storms, the government has occasionally issued temporary waivers to allow the use of cheaper, tax free or more readily available foreign-flagged ships.   Continue reading “U.S. denies request for Puerto Rico shipping waiver”

AL.com – by Leda Gore

The good news is the world didn’t end last Saturday. The bad news is – at least according to one Doomsday writer – is we have a new date for the apocalypse.

David Meade is a Christian numerologist who predicted the world would end Sept. 23 after being struck by a rogue planet, called Nibiru or Planet X. Meade said his prediction was based on Biblical verses and codes that pointed to that date.

Saturday came and went without a cosmic collision and now, Meade said there’s a new Doomsday date: Oct. 15.   Continue reading “Goofy-Ass Alert: Man who claimed world would end Sept. 23 has a new Doomsday date”