‘NO’ MEANS ‘YES’: Ilhan Omar Gets Nasty With Trump’s Venezuela envoy, Elliott Abrams…
February 13, 2019
The Trump administration's new special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, clashed Wednesday with freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., during a House hearing on the Caracas crisis after the congresswoman tried to turn focus to Abrams' history in Latin America while asking him point-blank whether he'd support "genocide" if it served American interests.
Newly isolated neurotransmitter-producing gut bacterium reveals possible connection to depression…
February 13, 2019
The research team from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, Northeastern University and elsewhere made the connection by first isolating the KLE1738, a bacterium that has a surprising dependency upon a brain chemical called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
"The association of microbial GABA metabolism with mental health is highly compelling," said Jack Gilbert... "The general ability of the microbiome to produce and/or consume GABA has not been as broadly described before, and a bacterium dependent on GABA has never been reported."
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The researchers found an inverse relationship between the relative abundance of fecal Bacteroides and functional connectivity in a part of the brain associated with elevated activity during depression. This means that low abundance of Bacteroides was associated with high activity in that part of the brain, and vice versa.NASA’s Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars Comes to End…
February 13, 2019
One of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration, NASA's Opportunity rover mission is at an end after almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars and helping lay the groundwork for NASA’s return to the Red Planet.
The Opportunity rover stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its location in June 2018. After more than a thousand commands to restore contact, engineers in the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) made their last attempt to revive Opportunity Tuesday, to no avail. The solar-powered rover's final communication was received June 10.
Cohen to testify before three congressional panels before going to prison…
February 13, 2019
Those panels include the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where Cohen's testimony will be public. Cohen had previously indefinitely postponed his appearance before that committee due to fears for his family's safety.
Davis told CNBC that the date of that upcoming appearance will be released by the House panel. An Oversight Committee staffer declined to release the date on Wednesday.
Massage Envy sex assault lawsuit claims rise to 5 in N.J., 400 nationwide…
February 13, 2019
Nationwide, more than 400 allegations of sexual assault at the chain’s locations have been made in the last two years, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said this week. The organization added the franchise to its 2019 Dirty Dozen List of contributors to sex exploitation “due to years of mishandling sexual harassment and assault cases.”
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The woman claims she was forcibly kissed and groped on Dec. 27, 2016 by a male therapist who asked, “How far can we go?”
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All of the allegations involve male massage therapists who allegedly assaulted female customers.DC District Court Hands Trump’s EPA A Major Victory Over Environmentalists…
February 13, 2019
EPA issued the policy directive in 2017 under former Administrator Scott Pruitt. A coalition of environmental groups promptly filed suit, alleging it lacked the authority to make changes to advisory board policies and violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
Judge Trevor McFadden ruled against environmental groups, led by Physicians for Social Responsibility, and agreed to dismiss all four counts leveled against EPA’s ethics policy. President Donald Trump appointed McFadden to the D.C. District Court in 2017.
Companies are using artificial intelligence to try and prevent school shootings…
February 13, 2019
Bark Technologies, Gaggle.Net, and Securly Inc. are three companies that employ AI and machine learning to scan student emails, texts, documents, and in some cases, social media activity. They look for warning signs of cyber bullying, sexting, drug and alcohol use, depression, and to flag students who may pose a violent risk not only to themselves, but classmates.
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Bark is currently used in more than 1,100 school districts, covering 2.6 million children... Bark sends out between 35,000 and 55,000 alerts each day, many just instances of profanity. But 16 plausible school shootings have been reported to the FBI since Bark launched its school product last February, she says.
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Gaggle, which has been around 20 years, charges schools $6 per student, per year. Since July 1, the company claims to have stopped 447 deaths by suicide at the 1,400 school districts that use its service, and that last year it prevented 542 potential deaths by suicide.
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For its part, a third company, Securly, works with about 2,000 school districts. It charges $3 per student per year for a flagship product called Filter, with premium add-ons that can add about $2.50 per student to the cost. This past October, one of Securly's premium services known as 24—it combines AI with trained human analysts—flagged a student who had searched Google for both "how to make a bomb" and "how to kill yourself." The analyst contacted the school.Devin Nunes: We will be making criminal referrals to new Attorney General of MANY PEOPLE…
February 13, 2019
Gallup: 69% say it is now a good time to find a quality job, a record high…
February 13, 2019
Although Americans' perceptions of the job market have been positive for the past year, the 69% in February who say it is now a good time to find a quality job is the highest it has been (albeit by one point) since Gallup first asked the question in 2001.
Lesbian Activist Defends ‘Biological Reality’ After Being Booted From Baltimore LGBTQ Commission…
February 13, 2019
Julia Beck, a lesbian activist kicked off a Baltimore LGBTQ Commission for using the “wrong” pronoun to refer to an alleged male rapist who considers himself a female, defended “biological reality” while lamenting the fact that, in today’s environment, men can easily “gain access to single-sex spaces” simply by calling themselves female.
Report: Texas crude oil production breaks 1970s record…
February 13, 2019
Texas oil wells produced more than 1.54 billion barrels of crude in 2018, beating the previous record of 1.28 billion barrels set in 1973, TIPRO reported in its annual "State of Energy Report" early Monday morning.
Natural gas production also grew, reaching 8.8 trillion cubic feet in 2018, the report stated
Skeleton of a 13 year old girl discovered next to mysterious pyramid in Egypt…
February 13, 2019
Experts aren’t sure when the girl was buried there although they were able to estimate her age by studying her bones.
Her body was described as being ‘in a squatting position’ inside the tomb. There were no goods left inside the pyramid or any other human remains nearby.
Archaeologists believe the pyramid was built for Snefru, a pharaoh who ruled from about 2575 to 2551 BC. It was originally created as a step pyramid with flattened sections until it was converted into a proper pyramid with smoother sides.
White House official suggests Trump is open to border deal…
February 13, 2019
A White House official told The Washington Post on Wednesday morning that Trump sees signing the legislation, if passed by Congress, as the way to avoid another shutdown.
Bipartisan negotiators struck a compromise late Monday that includes $1.375 billion for 55 miles of new fences along the border, short of the $5.7 billion Trump had sought for 234 miles of steel walls.
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But Trump would also likely pursue an executive order to reallocate additional federal funds to barrier projects, the official said, in addition to signing legislation. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, spoke on the condition of anonymity.Spartacus Booker: ‘This Planet Simply Can’t Sustain’ People Eating Meat…
February 13, 2019
Booker told the vegan magazine VegNews earlier this month that he became vegan after coming to the realization that eating eggs "didn't align with my spirit."
While claiming he does not want to lecture Americans on their diets, Booker says Americans need to be nudged into fake cheese because the planet cannot sustain the "environmental impact" of the food industry.
“Dirty Dozen” list compiled by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation – AMAZON NO. 1…
February 13, 2019
Try “gratuitous nudity and simulated sex scenes.” Think “child-like sex dolls.” Think “eroticized child nudity.” Think “incest, babysitter, and group-sex themes.”
That’s from the “Dirty Dozen” list compiled by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, which each year “exposes and calls to account groups, agencies and businesses that contribute significantly to the normalization of sexual exploitation.”
ICE removes MS-13 member wanted in El Salvador…
February 13, 2019
A Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang member associated with the Los Angeles Crazy Salvatruchas clique and wanted in El Salvador was removed from the U.S. Friday by deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO.)
Saul Ernesto Orellana-Jandres, 25, is wanted by Salvadoran authorities for membership to a terrorist organization.
The US government is about to put a dog tag on your drone…
February 13, 2019
Get ready to stick some ID on the outside of your drone — starting February 23rd, a new FAA rule will require all small unmanned aircraft to have their registration markings visible on the outside of their body, so law enforcement can easily find their owners.
Stone Files Motion: Alleges Special Counsel’s Office Released Unsealed Indictment To CNN…
February 13, 2019
According to the motion, the clerk’s office “informed counsel for Mr. Stone that the Indictment’s entry into the docket was made on January 25 at 8:55 a.m., more than two- and-a-half-hours after the news reporter sent the “draft” Indictment to counsel, and four hours after the news organization’s camera crew arrived at Mr. Stone’s house to film his arrest on the sealed Indictment.”
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Based on this new evidence, Stone’s attorney’s contend his arrest on Jan. 25, was staged for the CNN crew, which was ready to film the arrest and that someone in the Special Counsel’s office leaked the information.U.S. charges former Air Force intelligence specialist with conspiring to share classified information with Iran…
February 13, 2019
A former Air Force intelligence specialist who defected to Iran has been charged with conspiring to provide U.S. defense information to representatives of that country’s government, including the code name and mission of a highly classified program, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, a former counterintelligence officer, is accused of revealing the Defense Department program, the details of which are unclear, as well as helping Iranian intelligence services direct hacking and identity theft attempts at her military co-workers. She defected to Iran in 2013 and was believed to be abroad.
The Justice Department also charged four Iranian nationals with attempting to commit computer intrusion and aggravated identity theft in the case.
President Trump Speaks at the Major County Sheriffs & Cities Chiefs Association Joint Conference…
February 13, 2019