RT

Energy minister Yuval Steinitz said Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas represents the top ideological threat to the Jewish state after Abbas vowed to withdraw recognition of Israel if it keeps refusing to reciprocate.

Speaking at a Fatah party congress on Wednesday, Abbas noted that although Palestine recognized Israel, Israel is not poised to do the same, adding that Palestine’s commitment “is not free” and eventually comes down to Israel’s decision to recognize Palestine in return.      Continue reading “Israeli minister calls Abbas ‘#1 foe’ after Palestinian leader calls for mutual recognition”

Off the Grid News

HILLSBORO, Ore. – An Oregon school district is asking staff not to use Santa Claus or other Christmas-themed images in their decorations out of fear they might offend students and visitors who don’t celebrate the holiday.

The letter from the human resources office of Hillsboro School District to staff announced that there would be no door decorating contest this year.   Continue reading “School Bans Santa Because He’s Too ‘Religious’”

Natural News – by Isabelle Z.

When the Center for Environmental Health released test results showing that Pepsi intentionally covered up the presence of high levels of 4-Mel in its popular soft drinks in 2013, the company denied both the presence of this chemical in its beverages and the fact that it was dangerous. 4-Mel, which is short for 4-Methylimidazole, is a compound that is formed in the manufacturing of caramel coloring, and is a known carcinogen.

Since then, the drinks maker has fought against complying with California state requirements to place a cancer warning label on the beverages that contain the ingredient, which include not only Pepsi, but also Diet Pepsi and Pepsi One.   Continue reading “Pepsi admits its soda contains cancer-causing ingredients”

Sent to us by Cleatus.

WPXI 11 News – by Brianna Chambers

A Virginia school has temporarily banned two American classics after a parent said her high school-age son was negatively impacted by the racial slurs they contain.

The decision to remove “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain and “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee came after a parent filed a complaint, WAVY reported. The parent cited excessive racial slurs as the reason for wanting the books banned, Superintendent Warren Holland told the news station.   Continue reading “Virginia schools ban ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ ‘Huckleberry Finn’ for racial slurs”

Liberty Blitzkrieg – by Michael Krieger

While I’m not a Dodd-Frank fan, it’s not because it was too harsh, but because it didn’t really do much of anything. It was the typical neoliberal bait and switch, designed to look tough for public consumption, while merely making tweaks around the edges of a financial system that requires systemic, paradigm level change.

Trump’s support of repealing Dodd-Frank tells you all you need to know. A Trump Presidency will see Wall Street felons who should be in prison, running as wild and free as ever.   Continue reading “There Will Be Swamp – Steve Mnuchin Confirms Treasury Secretary Nod”

USA Today – by Charisse Jones

Saying that “a safe environment to work and shop is a top priority,” the CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. is requesting that gun owners leave their weapons at home when in the company’s offices, facilities or stores.

In a letter posted on LinkedIn, Chip Bergh recounted how a Levi’s customer recently got hurt when a gun the shopper was carrying accidentally fired.   Continue reading “Levi’s: Go ahead and try the jeans, but leave the guns at home”

Washington Post – by Dan Lamothe

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis to be secretary of defense, according to people familiar with the decision, nominating a former senior military officer who led operations across the Middle East to run the Pentagon less than four years after he hung up his uniform.

To take the job, Mattis will need Congress to pass new legislation to bypass a federal law stating that defense secretaries must not have been on active duty in the previous seven years. Congress has granted a similar exception just once, when Gen. George C. Marshall was appointed to the job in 1950.
Continue reading “Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for secretary of defense”

CNBC

Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz will leave his post as the company’s chief executive, the company said Thursday.

Schultz will become the company’s executive chairman, and current President and COO Kevin Johnson will become Starbucks’ next CEO.

The changes will take place on April 3, the company said.   Continue reading “Howard Schultz stepping down as Starbucks CEO; current COO to replace him”

Yahoo News

Mexico City (AFP) – Mexico’s central bank chief Agustin Carstens resigned Thursday, officials said, sending the peso on its latest plunge since Donald Trump’s victory in last month’s US presidential election.

Carstens, who had compared Trump with a maximum Category Five hurricane because of his tough stance toward Mexico, will step down on July 1 next year, the Banco de Mexico said in a statement.   Continue reading “Mexico’s central bank chief resigns amid Trump turmoil”

College Fix – by Jason Chulack

University of California President Janet Napolitano has announced that system leaders will protect and defend students in the country illegally — and will advise campus cops to do the same.

Napolitano — who served as Secretary of Homeland Security under the Obama administration, charged with protecting the nation’s borders — put out a statement Wednesday that her office will “vigorously protect the privacy and civil rights of the undocumented members of the UC community and will direct its police departments not to undertake joint efforts with any government agencies to enforce federal immigration law.”   Continue reading “UC President Napolitano to campus cops: Don’t enforce federal immigration law”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

Las Cruces, NM — Two Las Cruces cops were caught on video, severely beating a handcuffed man, and they will face no consequences for their crimes. The victim, Ross Flynn was in jail for being accused of pulling a gun on his neighbor — a crime of which later he’d be found not guilty.

Flynn was beaten so badly that he suffered several broken facial bones and a cracked skull.  Continue reading “Cops Get Off Scot Free Despite Shattering Handcuffed Man’s Face, Cracking His Skull On Video”

Wall Street Journal – by Ted Mann

Indiana officials agreed to give United Technologies Corp. $7 million worth of tax breaks over 10 years to encourage the company’s Carrier Corp. unit to keep about 1,000 jobs in the state, according to people familiar with the matter.

The heating and air conditioning company will invest about $16 million to keep its operations in the state, including a furnace plant in Indianapolis that it had previously planned to close and shift the work to Mexico, the people said.   Continue reading “Indiana Gives $7 Million in Tax Breaks to Keep Carrier Jobs”

Activist Post – by Brandon Turbeville

On Tuesday, ISIS supporter Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech that many have interpreted as a declaration of war on Syria. During a typical Erdogan rant, the Turkish Prime Minister stated, “Close to one million people died in Syria, and they continue dying. Where is the U.N.? What are they doing? We kept saying ‘patience, patience, patience’ but could not take it any more and entered Syria. We are there to bring justice. We are there to end the rule of the cruel Assad, who has been spreading state terror.”   Continue reading “Did Turkey Just Declare War On Syria?”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

As most people are still trying to figure out exactly what Jill Stein is doing and why she’s doing it, a judge in Montgomery County Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia, has decided he’s seen enough.  After hearing arguments from attorneys representing Jill Stein’s campaign and the Montgomery County Board of Elections, Judge Bernard A. Moore dismissed the petitions of voters in 78 precincts to recount votes or forensically analyze voting machines due a lack of evidence and improperly filed petitions.  Per The Times Herald of Montgomery County:   Continue reading “More Bad News For Jill Stein As Pennsylvania Judge Blocks Recount Petitions”

MRC TV – by Brittany M. Hughes

Recent government data shows that more than two-thirds of the aliens the Obama administration has brought to the United States under the president’s Central American Minors program weren’t actually minors at all.

To date, more than 10,600 Central Americans from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have applied for refugee status or humanitarian parole under the CAM program, the State Department said Wednesday. The controversial initiative was launched in December 2014 as part of President Obama’s executive actions on immigrant, and was touted as a way to bring illegal alien children from certain Central American countries into the United States to be reunited with their families, who are often here illegally themselves.   Continue reading “2/3 Of Aliens Admitted Under Obama’s ‘Minor’ Program Are Adults”

ABC News

An armed man was taken into custody after a hostage situation stemming from a bank robbery at a Jacksonville, Florida, bank, authorities said this morning.

Eleven hostages were rescued, authorities said, adding that no one was injured.   Continue reading “Armed Man in Custody After Hostage Situation at Florida Bank”

Daisy Luther

This is one of the weirdest stories I’ve heard in a long time. So very weird that I have to call BS (baloney sandwiches) on the whole darned thing.

Last week, 8500 people were sent to the hospital in Melbourne, Australia during a period of five hours due to a freak storm that caused what authorities are referring to as “thunderstorm asthma.” An ambulance was dispatched every 4.5 seconds during the peak of the storm, and eight people died. (Learn more here.)   Continue reading “Do You Really Think a Group “Asthma Attack” Caused 8500 People to Drop Like Flies in Australia?”

Reuters

A last-ditch effort in the Senate to block or delay rule changes that would expand the U.S. government’s hacking powers failed Wednesday, despite concerns the changes would jeopardize the privacy rights of innocent Americans and risk possible abuse by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden attempted three times to delay the changes, which will take effect on Thursday and allow U.S. judges will be able to issue search warrants that give the FBI the authority to remotely access computers in any jurisdiction, potentially even overseas. His efforts were blocked by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican.   Continue reading “FBI to gain expanded hacking powers as Senate effort to block fails”