Bob Simon, 73, was a correspondent for CBS news show '60 Minutes.'New York Daily News – by ROCCO PARASCANDOLA, JOSEPH STEPANSKY, BILL HUTCHINSON, DENIS SLATTERY

60 Minutes” reporter Bob Simon, a survivor of numerous close calls as a war correspondent, was killed Wednesday in a horrific car crash on the West Side Highway.

The 73-year-old CBS veteran, who won 27 Emmy Awards in a career spanning five decades, had to be cut from a mangled livery cab that rear-ended a Mercedes-Benz and slammed into a concrete median near W. 30th St.   Continue reading “Bob Simon, ’60 Minutes’ reporter and veteran war correspondent, killed in horrific crash on West Side Highway”

The Daily Telegraph

The US Navy is considering a plan to base warships in Australia and would like to broaden yearly maritime exercises with India to permanently include close regional allies Japan and Australia, in an expansion of security ties that could risk exacerbating strategic rivalries with China.

Visiting Australia to inspect port facilities the US would like to use to support a regular Marine training presence in the northern city of Darwin, US Chief of Navy Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, said military officials from both countries were looking to increase maritime cooperation.    Continue reading “US considers basing warships in Australia”

SYRIAThe World Post

WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign fighters are streaming into Syria and Iraq in unprecedented numbers to join the Islamic State or other extremist groups, including at least 3,400 from Western nations among 20,000 from around the world, U.S. intelligence officials say in an updated estimate of a top terrorism concern.

Intelligence agencies now believe that as many as 150 Americans have tried and some have succeeded in reaching in the Syrian war zone, officials told the House Homeland Security Committee in testimony prepared for delivery on Wednesday. Some of those Americans were arrested en route, some died in the area and a small number are still fighting with extremists.   Continue reading “20,000 Foreign Fighters Flock To Syria, Iraq”

Digital Journal

The US Navy said it has censured three admirals for their roles in a widening bribery scandal, the highest-ranking officers to be punished in the case so far.

Although a criminal investigation did not result in charges for the three officers, the admirals had failed to uphold the standards of conduct and would receive letters of censure from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, officials said.

The three officers “demonstrated poor judgment and a failure of leadership in prior tours,” Mabus said in a statement.   Continue reading “U.S. Navy censures three admirals in bribery scandal”

Prevent Disease – by DAVE MIHALOVIC

History is being made on how the world is responding to vaccination. Even long-term health professionals are refusing to vaccinate themselves in the face of continued injury and death being caused by the practice. Almost half of healthcare professionals are now refusing to vaccinate and children’s uptake for HPV, influenza, chicken pox and many other vaccines are reaching historic lows as the awakening spans across the planet. One thing is for sure–those who have stopped vaccinating will never start vaccinating again. So the challenge for the pharmaceutical industrial complex is now aggressively shifting to holding on to the remaining vaccinators before they convert to the anti-vaccine position. How will they do this? Fear of course.    Continue reading “As Vaccine Uptake Reaches All-Time Lows, Public Health Policy Now Shifts To Mandatory Enforcement and Criminalization To Those Refusing Vaccines”

Washington Post – by Darla Cameron and Dan Keating

A lawsuit claims that Oklahoma’s great increase in earthquake activity has been caused by pumping waste from drilling operations back underground. The suit involves the largest measured quake in the history of the state, a 5.6 tremor that happened in Prague, east of Oklahoma City in November 2011. As the volume of drilling waste pumped underground has grown, the number of earthquakes with magnitude 3 or higher has increased. In particular, as the drilling has intensified along the northern border, the quakes have followed. The Prague 5.6 magnitude quake in 2011 had one 4.8 magnitude foreshock and one 4.8 magnitude aftershock.   Continue reading “Oklahoma’s earthquake problem is getting worse”

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WGME 13 News

SMITHFIELD (WGME) — Police arrest a man after they say he swore at a police dog and then challenged a cop to a fight.

Officers say they found 22-year-old Jonathan Damon drunk and pounding on the door of a home in Smithfield Sunday morning.

According to the morning sentinel, deputies say Damon started taunting a police dog in the back of a cruiser and challenging the dog to come get him.   Continue reading “Police arrest man after for allegedly swearing at police dog”

Dr. Ashton Carter testifies for his nomination hearing to become the next Secretary of Defense Feb. 4, 2015 in Washington, DC. (M. Scott Mahaskey/Politico)Govt Slaves

(Michael Crowley)  In October of 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney issued one of his regular dire warnings that terrorists could use a weapon of mass destruction, including a nuclear bomb, to kill thousands of Americans. “You have to get your mind around that concept,” Cheney said.

One person who didn’t need persuading was Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama’s nominee for secretary of defense. Three years after Cheney’s comment, Carter co-authored a policy paper titled: “The Day After: Action Following a Nuclear Blast in an American City.”   Continue reading “Obama’s Nominee For Secretary Of Defense Lusts For EMP And Nuke Attacks”

The Conversation – by Pam Jarvis

In order to make young children “school ready”, the English government is now encouraging parents to place their children in school nurseries shortly after their second birthday. But there is evidence to suggest that this policy might be poorly aligned to the developmental needs of such young children and that it contravenes their underlying human nature.

In the broader history of humanity, state-funded schooling is a very recent public strategy and is only about two centuries old in England. It arose from the industrial revolution as a process to instill the population with basic literacy and numeracy skills. Until even more recently, there was never any suggestion that a school environment was the right place in which to nurture children under five years of age.   Continue reading “It’s against human nature to send two-year-olds to school”

mcdonalds-stock-declineNatural Society – by Anthony Gucciardi

The impossible is happening: McDonald’s is quickly diving out of its stable stock position and into a world of financial hurt as citizens of the United States and elsewhere have decided they are completely done with the company’s frankenfoods.

The decision has hit McDonald’s so hard that its own CEO has even stepped down following the news of continued decline in the company’s most recent briefing. The world’s largest restaurant chain is frantically replacing its foundation in an attempt to recover, from removing its CFO and CEO to launching a new ‘trendy’ advertising campaign that premiered at the Super Bowl.   Continue reading “McDonald’s Sales Rapidly Decline As Americans Reject Fake Food”

The Hill – by Kristina Wong

The Air Force deployed a dozen A-10 “Warthog” attack jets and approximately 300 airmen to Germany this week in support of military exercise Operation Atlantic Resolve (OAR), according to officials.

The jets and airmen are being sent to Spangdehlem Air Base, a spokesman said.

“The Air Force has been rotating forces as a part of OAR for the past year,” said Lt. Gen. Tom Jones in an Air Force article.     Continue reading “Air Force deploys 12 Warthogs, 300 airmen to Germany”

Photo: Uzbekistan, US negotiating on military equipment supply / UzbekistanTrend – by Demir Azizov

The governments of the US and Uzbekistan are holding negotiations on the supply of military equipment to Uzbekistan, Daniel Rosenblum, the deputy assistant secretary for Central Asia at the US Department of State, said.

He made the remarks during a conference call with reporters from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The conference call was organized by a media center in Brussels.

Rosenblum didn’t provide detailed information about the negotiations.   Continue reading “Uzbekistan, US negotiating on military equipment supply”

Joe Biden, Eric Holder, Peter King, John CurelyABC News – by Josh Ledeman

Police officers and firefighters who helped save lives in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and the shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin were honored with the Medal of Valor in a White House ceremony Wednesday.

Vice President Joe Biden draped the purple and yellow striped ribbons around the necks of 20 public safety officers, and presented medals to the families of two officers killed while responding to armed robberies. The two were off-duty at the time.   Continue reading “Medal of Valor: Officers Saved Lives in Boston, Wisconsin”

Police Officer Peter Liang (left) arriving at State Supreme Court in Brooklyn where he was arraigned for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley, an unarmed man in a New York City housing project. Brooklyn, New York, Wednesday February 11, 2015.New York Times – by BARRY PADDOCK, EDGAR SANDOVAL, JOHN MARZULLI, LARRY MCSHANE

A rookie cop accused of fatally shooting a man in a Brooklyn housing project stairwell was taunted by the victim’s relatives Wednesday after pleading not guilty.

Officer Peter Liang, 27, was released without bail after a hearing during which he stood silently in a dark gray suit, accompanied by an attorney for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

“Murderer!” screamed Hertencia Peterson, an aunt of Akai Gurley, as Liang was hustled from the courtroom. “He’s a murderer! Why is he out? … If he was a black man, he’d be shackled.”   Continue reading “NYPD Officer Peter Liang pleads not guilty in Akai Gurley shooting”

The Guardian – by Saffron Alexander

New research claims that official warnings against the consumption of saturated fats should never have been introduced

The article in BMJ’s Open Heart journal argues that the advice was based on flawed data and “very limited evidence”.

Continue reading “Food fat warnings: why you should add butter to your shopping list”

Russia space launchBusiness Insider – by Tomas Hirst

Russia just lost its early-warning system for detecting ballistic missiles because of delays in the launch of its new “Tundra” advanced early-warning system.

According to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, the system was due to replace ageing satellites launched as part of the Oko programme that had already exceeded their expected life span of five to seven years. The system had been beset by technical problems, and in January this year the last two satellites, which were operational for only a few hours each day, finally went offline.   Continue reading “Russia has lost its ability to detect incoming nuclear missiles from space”

Alter-Net – by Alex Hern, The Guardian

So, your TV might be spying on you. It probably just wanted to join in with the rest of the technology in your life, because let’s face it: if you live in the 21st century you’re probably monitored by half a dozen companies from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep. (And if you wear a sleep tracker, it doesn’t even stop then.)

Compared with some of the technology that keeps a beady eye fixed on you, the news that Samsung’s privacy policy warns customers not to discuss sensitive information in front of their smart TVs is actually fairly tame. The warning relates to a voice-recognition feature that has to be explicitly invoked, and which only begins transmitting data when you say the activation phrase “hi, TV”.   Continue reading “6 Ways Your Tech Is Spying on You — and How You Can Fight Back”

undefinedABC News 7

A student came to school on Knickerbocker Road this morning carrying a prop rifle for the school’s production of Hello Dolly, police said.   Continue reading “Prop Gun Sparks Lockdown At Northern Valley Regional High School In Demarest, NJ”

U.S. President Barack Obama (Reuters/Larry Downing)RT

President Barack Obama has said the reality of “American leadership” at times entails “twisting the arms” of states which “don’t do what we need them to do,” and that the US relied on its military strength and other leverage to achieve its goals.

In a broad-ranging interview with Vox, which Obama himself described as a venue “for the brainiac-nerd types,” the US president both denied the efficacy of a purely “realist” foreign policy but also arguing that at times the US, which has a defense budget that exceeds the next 10 countries combined, needed to rely on its military muscle and other levers of power.   Continue reading “Obama: ‘We have to twist arms when countries don’t do what we need them to’”