Author: NC

Forbes – by Jon Hartley

In an unexpected and interesting move, Burger King is in talks to buy Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Horton’s Inc., a merger that would be structured as a “tax inversion” which would effectively move Burger King’s headquarters to Canada (more specifically, my hometown of Oakville, Ontario). For those who are unfamiliar with Tim Horton’s, the brand is tantamount to Canada’s version of Dunkin Donuts that could just as easily adopt its own version of the tagline “America Runs on Dunkin” (think “Canada Runs on Tim Horton’s”). Tim Horton’s is no small coffee-shop chain. Tim Horton’s, Canada’s largest coffee-shop chain, has a market capitalization of about $8.4 billion, while Burger King’s market capitalization is about $9.6 billion; the proposed merger would form a new entity worth about $18 billion.   Continue reading “Burger King’s Tax Inversion and Canada’s Favorable Corporate Tax Rates”

Yahoo News – by Becky Oskin

In an unexpected discovery, hundreds of gas plumes bubbling up from the seafloor were spotted during a sweeping survey of the U.S. Atlantic Coast.

Even though ocean explorers have yet to test the gas, the bubbles are almost certainly methane, researchers report today (Aug. 24) in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“We don’t know of any explanation that fits as well as methane,” said lead study author Adam Skarke, a geologist at Mississippi State University in Mississippi State.   Continue reading “Hundreds of Methane Plumes Erupting Along East Coast”

Breitbart – by ILDEFONSO ORTIZ

MCALLEN, Texas — Border Patrol agents seized more than $650,000 in cash that had been left behind near the Rio Grande River that separates Texas from Mexico.

The seizure was made Thursday night when U.S. Border Patrol Agents following a set of footprints near Sullivan City ended up coming across four backpacks filled with bulk cash and a little more than a kilo of cocaine, an agency news release shows.    Continue reading “Texas Border Bust: Cash, Weapons and Grenades Seized”

Reuters – by NADIA DAMOUNI

Budget pressures at the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division are cutting the number of investigators there to the lowest level in four decades, and officials say the changes are forcing the division to scale back its fight of financial crime.

It will also hurt government coffers, they add, since IRS probes can bring in hefty fines.

The division investigates a variety of financial misconduct, from tax fraud and money laundering to identity theft, narcotics and counter-terrorism. Federal prosecutors around the country often seek help for cases involving money issues.   Continue reading “Exclusive: IRS enforcement agent numbers could drop to lowest levels since 1970s”

Phys Org

Robo Brain – a large-scale computational system that learns from publicly available Internet resources – is currently downloading and processing about 1 billion images, 120,000 YouTube videos, and 100 million how-to documents and appliance manuals. The information is being translated and stored in a robot-friendly format that robots will be able to draw on when they need it.

To serve as helpers in our homes, offices and factories, robots will need to understand how the world works and how the humans around them behave. Robotics researchers have been teaching them these things one at a time: How to find your keys, pour a drink, put away dishes, and when not to interrupt two people having a conversation. This will all come in one package with Robo Brain.   Continue reading “‘Robo Brain’ will teach robots everything from the Internet”

Yahoo News – by Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal

EDGARTOWN Mass./WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the distribution of military hardware to state and local police out of concern at how such equipment has been used during racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.

The president ordered the examination of federal programs and funding that enable state and local law enforcement to purchase such equipment, a senior Obama administration official said on Saturday.

Images of police wielding military-style guns and armor have shocked many Americans following clashes that were triggered by the fatal shooting of a black teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson two weeks ago.   Continue reading “Obama orders review of U.S. police use of military hardware”

Breitbart – by Caroline May

With their proposals defeated in Congress for now, pro-amnesty activists have dropped off the radar while President Obama considers a major executive action that Republicans have warned could precipitate a constitutional crisis.

August recess town halls have also been relatively quiet, devoid of reports of pro-amnesty demonstrations. The border crisis has dominated many such events, with lawmakers taking tough questions from constituents, but few have dealt with protests when they make themselves available to constituents.     Continue reading “Crickets From Amnesty Activists In August”

CBS Denver

DENVER (CBS4) – The conflict in Ferguson, Mo., where an unarmed teen was shot by police has raised the issue whether police agencies are becoming too militarized. And records show several Colorado law enforcement agencies have an array of equipment that the military no longer needs.

CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger looked at what local agencies have gotten and how they’re using it.

Rather than throw it away, the Department of Defense gives items they no longer need away to local police agencies. But the trouble in Missouri has raised questions whether militarization has gone too far.   Continue reading “Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies Obtain Unwanted Military Equipment”

So are they going to drag this whole event out until October then? Pathetic.

Bloomberg – by Tim Bross

The Missouri grand jury that began considering evidence today in the police killing of an unarmed man won’t decide whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson until October “at the earliest,” a spokesman for the local prosecutor said.   Continue reading “Ferguson Prosecutor Says No Charge Decision Until October”

Yahoo News – by John Heilprin

GENEVA (AP) — The death toll from three years of Syria’s civil war has risen to more than 191,000 people, the United Nations reported Friday.

The figure, covering the period from March 2011 to April 2014, is the first issued by the U.N.’s human rights office since July 2013, when it documented more than 100,000 killed.   Continue reading “UN: death toll from Syrian civil war tops 191,000”

CBS Chicago – by John Dodge

CHICAGO (CBS) — Is the same radical group that executed a U.S. journalist this week making threats in Chicago?

An ominous post on Twitter, purportedly from somebody connected with Islamic State, shows a photo of the Old Republic Building, 307 N. Michigan Ave. and the White House.   Continue reading “Ominous Tweet Connects ISIS Threat In Chicago”

New York Times – by MICHAEL R. GORDON and HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria cannot be defeated unless the United States or its partners take on the Sunni militants in Syria, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday.

“This is an organization that has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision that will eventually have to be defeated,” said the chairman, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, in his most expansive public remarks on the crisis since American airstrikes began in Iraq. “Can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in Syria? The answer is no.”   Continue reading “U.S. General Says Raiding Syria Is Key to Halting ISIS”

KRGV 5

FALFURRIAS – Brooks County remains a busy human-smuggling corridor despite the reported drop in illegal crossings, area ranchers said.

The ranchers feel different groups along the border are sending mixed messages about the reality of the border crisis.

Recent remarks by McAllen Chamber of Commerce officials forced a group in Brooks County to draft a letter asking for the truth to be told about illegal immigration.   Continue reading “Brooks County Landowners Want Unified Front against Illegal Immigration”

KRVG 5

HIDALGO – Violence continues in the Mexican border city of Reynosa.

Reynosa officials confirmed a shooting happened Wednesday morning. The firefight spread panic among the residents, they said.

Reynosa residents said gun battles have become commonplace in the city. Wednesday’s shooting left one soldier dead, according to Tamaulipas state officials.   Continue reading “Violence Rages on in border city Reynosa”

Fukushima Update

via The Straits Times / August 19, 2014 / Japan is to restart exports of rice grown in Fukushima for the first time since foreign sales were halted due to fears of contamination by the nuclear disaster there, officials said on Tuesday.

The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zen-Noh), a major wholesaler of Japanese agricultural products, said it will send 300kg of the grain to Singapore. Its provenance will be marked and it will not be mixed with other produce, an official said. The rice was grown some 60km to 80km west of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, he said.   Continue reading “Japan To Resume Exports Of Rice Grown In Fukushima”

Infowars – by Kurt Nimmo

Richard Haass, director of the Council on Foreign Relations and former high level functionary at the State Department, is calling for attacking ISIS.

The CFR, as Hillary Clinton has readily admitted, drives U.S. foreign policy.

The remarks by Haass foreshadow an expansion of U.S. military action following the Pentagon’s attacks of little consequence on ISIS following the theatrical Mount Sinjar incident and the vastly overstated Yazidis humanitarian situation reported earlier this month.   Continue reading “CFR Boss Calls for Military Action Against ISIS”

Breitbart – by ADELLE NAZARIAN

Sacramento City officials say they were not informed that there is a potential Ebola victim in their mist and that the fatal virus might have reached California’s capital city.

Councilman Allen Warren of Sacramento’s District 2 told Fox 40, “Not in a public setting and I have not had any discussion with anybody about that issue,” when asked if the council had any knowledge about the situation.

And according to Vice Mayor Jay Schenirer, “We work with the county on that. So, if there was something going on and the county wanted us to know, we would be following their lead.”   Continue reading “Sacramento Officials Were Not Told About Suspected Ebola Case”