CNBC – by Lauren Thomas

Walmart is expanding its “Scan & Go” technology to an additional 100 locations across the U.S., the retailer announced Tuesday, playing into a growing trend of companies giving consumers the option to shop their stores without interacting with a cashier.

Others working to perfect their own digital shopping scanners include grocery giant Kroger and internet behemoth Amazon, which has been piloting a store without checkout lines, called Amazon Go, near its Seattle headquarters.
Continue reading “Between Walmart and Kroger, 500 stores are about to ditch cashiers”

USA Today

INDIANAPOLIS — Carrier has announced 215 workers will lose their jobs at its Indianapolis heating and air conditioning plant this week, the last of about 600 previously announced layoffs.

To register their displeasure, many of the workers will gather at an Indianapolis bar Wednesday night to call on President Trump to stop manufacturing jobs from leaving the United States.    Continue reading “Indiana Carrier plant to lay off 215 workers on Thursday”

Buzz Feed – by Stephanie McNeal

Diana Durkin is a 19-year-old from Houston. She’s a sophomore at Texas Tech University, but took this past semester off to help her family recover from Hurricane Harvey. She told BuzzFeed News she’s REALLY excited to go back to school next week.

Diana has always had a lot of school spirit, and was even nominated for “most spirited” in high school. So when she got to Texas Tech, she said totally embraced her new school and all their customs and traditions.  

Continue reading “TSA Interrogates Woman For Making Finger Gun Symbols At Airport”

RT

The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry says it has granted citizenship to Julian Assange. The reaction of the ministry comes one day after Quito reportedly issued an ID card to the WikiLeaks editor.

The passport could provide Assange’s first step to obtaining diplomatic immunity, as Ecuador wants to resolve his indefinite embassy stay. The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for five years.   Continue reading “Ecuador has granted citizenship to Julian Assange, says Foreign Ministry”

Mail.com

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Trump administration’s anti-marijuana move has some members of the president’s voting base fuming. Fans of President Donald Trump who use marijuana say Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ move to tighten federal oversight of the drug is the first time they’ve felt let down by the man they helped elect. The move feels especially punitive to Trump voters who work in the growing industry around legalized marijuana that has taken root in states of all political stripes.

It remains to be seen whether Trump’s pot-loving voters will take their anger to the ballot box in 2018 and 2020. But pro-legalization conservatives are also chiding the administration’s anti-pot move as an affront to personal liberties and states’ rights.  Continue reading “Some fans of Trump and pot feel allegiances go up in smoke”

Mail.com

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has acknowledged being “unfaithful” in his marriage but denies allegations that he blackmailed a woman to stay quiet, following a bombshell news report that overshadowed his annual address to the Legislature.

The Republican governor and his wife released a statement late Wednesday after St. Louis television station KMOV reported that he had a sexual relationship with his former hairdresser in 2015. The station reported that the woman’s ex-husband alleged Greitens photographed her nude and threatened to publicize the images if she spoke about the affair.   Continue reading “Missouri Gov. Greitens acknowledges affair, denies blackmail”

Mail.com

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — The father of an 8-year-old Pakistani girl whose rape and killing shocked the nation accused the police on Thursday of being slow to respond when his daughter went missing in eastern Punjab province.

The father, Anees Ansari, who was on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia with his wife at the time of his daughter’s disappearance, spoke after meeting with the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Sharif travelled to the city of Kasur to visit the family hours after Ansari returned home from Saudi Arabia to attend his daughter’s funeral Wednesday.  Continue reading “Pakistani father of slain girl blames police for slow action”

Bloomberg – by Matthew Boyle

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is boosting its starting hourly wage to $11 and delivering bonuses to employees, capitalizing on the U.S. tax overhaul to stay competitive in a tightening labor market.

The increase takes effect next month and will cost $300 million on top of annual wage hikes that were already planned, the world’s largest retailer said Thursday. The one-time bonus of up to $1,000 is based on seniority and will amount to an additional $400 million. The company is also expanding its maternity and parental leave policy and adding an adoption benefit.
Continue reading “Wal-Mart Raises Hourly Wage to $11 in Wake of Tax Overhaul”

Anti-Media – by Darius Shahtahmasebi

In September, Russia held extensive military exercises that included the use of both Russian and Belarusian military forces. The drills were scheduled to last for at least a week.

On December 19, German newspaper BILD reported that two NATO member intelligence sources had claimed the September drills were a “dry run” for a “full-scale conventional war against NATO in Europe.”   Continue reading “Russia Secretly Simulated a Full-Scale War Against NATO: Report”

Free Thought Project

A second member of a three-man team who created a secure system for whistleblowers to submit information to news outlets has committed suicide at the age of 36, reports the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Software engineer James Dolan took his own life nearly five years to the day after the death of “SecureDrop” co-creator and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz.   Continue reading “Second WikiLeaks-Inspired “SecureDrop” Developer Commits Suicide Just Like His Predecessor”

Natural News – by Rita Winters

For many years now, scientists have been warning us of the decreasing honey bee population. A new research reveals that honey bees could soon go extinct due to the increased uses of chemical pesticides and the severely low amount of food supplies for these poor creatures. A University of California, San Diego study shows that chemical pesticides, as well as a lack of food for honey bees, are threatening their already low population.   Continue reading “Double threat may WIPE OUT honey bees, scientists warn: Pesticides and dwindling food supplies are killing them off at a record pace”

Breitbart – by John Carney

Chinese officials have recommended that the government slow or halt its purchases of U.S. Treasuries, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

China holds $3.1 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, making it the world’s largest holder. China’s central bank amasses dollars when the country turns a large trade surplus with countries such as the U.S. and when Chinese authorities manipulate their currency by selling it and buying dollars.   Continue reading “Report: China May Stop Buying U.S. Treasuries”

Free Thought Project – by Claire Bernish

Dayton, OH — “I thought I might die,” said Amber Swink of her harrowing experience being pepper-sprayed while in a seven-point restraint chair in the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton, Ohio, on November 15, 2015.

Video footage of the torturous incident shows Swink so tightly restrained in the chair, she is hardly able to move her head; but that didn’t stop Sgt. Judith L. Sealey from entering the isolation cell and unleashing pepper-spray in the 25-year-old’s face — at near point-blank range — for seemingly no reason but sadistic pleasure.   Continue reading “Horrifying Video Shows Cop Torturing Restrained Woman With Mace Until She Falls Unconscious”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Update: As the House prepares to reauthorize FISA, Axios reports that Republicans were caught by surprise Thursday morning when the president unexpectedly blasted the FISA act, claiming it helped the Obama administration “surveil and abuse” the Trump campaign.

One source close to the GOP leadership said “I have decided that the only way to stay sane in Trump’s Washington is to ignore everything he says.”  Continue reading “Trump Blasts FISA Act Ahead Of House Vote On Reauthorization”