Year: 2015

Sputnik

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to bring the country’s Northern Fleet to full alert in a snap combat readiness exercise Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

“The main task of the [combat readiness drill] is to assess the armed forces from the Northern Fleet’s capabilities in fulfilling tasks in providing military security of the Russian Federation in the Arctic region,” Gen. Shoigu said.   Continue reading “Putin Orders Northern Fleet to Full Alert for Combat Readiness Drills”

CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new high-tech pilot program that will help the NYPD determine where shots are fired, even if no one calls 911.

The technology is called Shot Spotter and it works like a GPS triangulation system, using antennas and coordinates to identify the location and direction the gunfire comes from, 1010 WINS’ Juliet Papa reported.   Continue reading “NYPD Roles Out Shot Spotter Pilot Program In Areas Of Bronx, Brooklyn”

DNA Info – by Murray Weiss

NEW YORK CITY — The NYPD has identified — but will likely only issue minor reprimands against — two veteran police officers who allegedly used department computers to change Wikipedia pages on several high profile police abuse cases, including the death of Eric Garner, officials and sources said on Monday.

“Two officers, who have been identified, were using department equipment to access Wikipedia and make entries,” Commissioner Bill Bratton said at an unrelated press conference on Monday afternoon. “I don’t anticipate any punishment, quite frankly,” he added.   Continue reading “2 NYPD Officers Who Edited Wikipedia Pages Face Slap on Wrist”

Oregon Live – by Jeff Mapes

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Monday signed a bill to automatically register voters using drivers’ license data — and she did it with an extra dose of enthusiasm since she had first developed and championed this legislation when she was secretary of state.

Brown said it was a “unique and humbling opportunity” to be able to sign a first-in-the-nation bill that she originally brought to the Legislature in 2013 as a way to improve access to the polls.   Continue reading “Kate Brown gets to sign her own bill, for automatic voter registration in Oregon”

RT

The US secretary of state appeared to say on CBS News that America has to negotiate with Syria’s president about a political transition in the war-torn country. But later the State Department clarified that John Kerry wasn’t referring to Bashar Assad.

“But to get the Assad regime to negotiate, we’re going to have to make it clear to him that there is a determination by everybody to seek that political outcome and change his calculation about negotiating,” Kerry said on Sunday.   Continue reading “Kerry says US wants to negotiate with Assad… State Dept denies”

Mail.com

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Once upon a time, Mexican marijuana was the gold standard for U.S. pot smokers. But in the new world of legal markets and gourmet weed, aficionados here are looking to the United States and Europe for the good stuff.

Instead of Acapulco Gold, Mexican smokers want strains like Liberty Haze and Moby Dick — either importing high-potency boutique pot from the United States, or growing it here in secret gardens that use techniques perfected abroad.   Continue reading “Homegrown, gourmet pot on the rise in Mexico”

Mail.com

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The starving sea lion pup was so tiny that it looked like a rock at the base of the seaside cliff until it struggled to raise its head as humans approached.

It bleated weakly as volunteer Brennan Slavik eased it into a crate for transport to a rescue center, where it peered from a child’s playpen with woeful eyes made enormous by an emaciated frame. At almost a year, the pup weighed just 23 pounds — a third of what it should — and staff quietly took it to a private room, euthanized it and moved on.   Continue reading “Starving sea lion pups stranding on California beaches”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — If a column in honor of heart health suggests a can of Coke as a snack, you might want to read the fine print.

The world’s biggest beverage maker, which struggles with declining soda consumption in the U.S., is working with fitness and nutrition experts who suggest its cola as a healthy treat. In February, for instance, several wrote online pieces for American Heart Month, with each including a mini-can of Coke or small soda as a snack idea.   Continue reading “Coke a healthy snack? How company gets its message out”

Washington Examiner – by Paul Bedard

The Environmental Protection Agency has its eyes on pollution from backyard barbecues.

The agency announced that it is funding a University of California project to limit emissions resulting in grease drippings with a special tray to catch them and a “catalytic” filtration system.

The $15,000 project has the “potential for global application,” said the school.

The school said that the technology they will study with the EPA grant is intended to reduce air pollution and cut the health hazards to BBQ “pit masters” from propane-fueled cookers.   Continue reading “Backyard burger and wiener roasts targeted by EPA”

UPI – by Ben Hooper

MADERA, Calif., March 16 (UPI) — Police in California said a fleeing suspect attempted to “camouflage himself” by covering his face in black spray-paint.

Madera Police said Jose Espinoza, 23, was seen fleeing Saturday evening from a car that had been reported stolen.

Investigators said they tracked down Espinoza later in the evening and discovered he had spray-painted his face black “in an effort to camouflage himself.”   Continue reading “Police: Fleeing suspect spray-painted face for ‘camouflage’”

Yahoo News – by Rachel Zoll

NEW YORK (AP) — As a rabbinic student in 1980s New York, Denise Eger lived away from other seminarians. She quietly started a group for fellow gay and lesbian students, but held the meetings in another borough. By the time of her ordination, she wasn’t formally out, but her sexuality was known, and no one would hire her. Later, she took the only job offered, with a synagogue formed expressly as a religious refuge for gays.

Since then, the Reform Jewish movement — Eger’s spiritual home since childhood — has traveled a long road toward recognizing and embracing same-sex relationships. That journey has led this week to Philadelphia, where Eger will be installed Monday as the first openly gay president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the rabbinical arm of Reform Judaism.   Continue reading “US Reform Jewish rabbis install 1st openly lesbian leader”

Yea, I’m sure they really are. Maybe they should try looking within their own government, the CDC or even chemtrails.

Yahoo News – by Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, March 13 (Reuters) – A virulent strain of avian flu that has killed turkeys in the heart of the nation’s poultry region has been found through molecular testing to be nearly identical to viruses isolated in migratory ducks.

But some wildlife experts are skeptical of suggestions that wild birds are responsible for spreading the H5N2 flu strain that has infected poultry in Minnesota, Missouri and Arkansas.   Continue reading “U.S. bird experts mystified by Midwest avian flu spread”

Time – by Rishi Iyengar

China’s exports of weapons rose by a 143% between 2010 and 2014, making the world’s second largest economy the third largest arms exporter behind Russia and top dog the U.S.

The Asian superpower rose above Germany, which had held third place until 2010 but saw its exports reduce by 43% over the same period, according to a report Monday from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.   Continue reading “China Edges Out Germany to Become the World’s Third Largest Arms Exporter”