Obamas arrive in south of France on private jet for vacation at $60,000-a-week, 18th century farmhouse…
June 15, 2019
For the past week rumours had been circulating the Obamas might be staying at the magnificent home of former French Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi, high above Villeneuve, AFP reported.
Avignon was the papal seat of the Catholic Church from 1309 to 1377 and can be seen at the medieval Palais des Papes (Pope's Palace) in the centre of Avignon...
Why is he really there? France deeply tied to Iran deal?...
Judge dismisses suit against Trump and campaign over forcible kissing & pay discrimination…
June 15, 2019
U.S. District Court Judge William Jung, a Trump appointee, tossed out Johnson’s complaint Friday, saying it was too laden with political claims and attacks for the court to allow it to proceed. “As currently stated, the Complaint presents a political lawsuit, not a tort and wages lawsuit,” Jung wrote in his 15-page order. “Plaintiff will receive a fair day in court, but the Court will try a tort and wages dispute—not a political one. If Plaintiff wishes to make a political statement or bring a claim for political purposes, this is not the forum.” While Jung dismissed the suit in its present form, he said he would allow Johnson to file a reframed complaint in the next 30 days.
Cellebrite Says It Can Unlock Any Iphone For Cops…
June 15, 2019
On Friday afternoon, the Israeli forensics firm and law enforcement contractor Cellebrite publicly announced a new version of its product known as a Universal Forensic Extraction Device or UFED, one that it's calling UFED Premium. In marketing that update, it says that the tool can now unlock any iOS device cops can lay their hands on, including those running iOS 12.3, released just a month ago. Cellebrite claims UFED Premium can extract files from many recent Android phones as well, including the Samsung Galaxy S9.
Hackers behind dangerous oil and gas intrusions are probing US power grids…
June 15, 2019
In a new troubling escalation, hackers behind at least two potentially fatal intrusions on industrial facilities have expanded their activities to probing dozens of power grids in the US and elsewhere... The most alarming thing about this attack was its use of never-before-seen malware that targeted the facility’s safety processes. Such safety instrumented systems are a combination of hardware and software that many critical infrastructure sites use to prevent unsafe conditions from arising...
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“The threat has proliferated and is now targeting the US and Asia Pacific electric utilities, which means that we are no longer safe thinking that the threat to our electric utilities is understood or stable,” he said in an interview... Whoever is behind Xenotime, the group's demonstrated ability to cause physical destruction puts it in a group of threat actors that so far is known to include only four others....Jeff Bezos wants to build the infrastructure for space startups…
June 15, 2019
He noted that we now know so much more about the moon than ever before, including that it does provide a number of resources that make it a good base for further space exploration. “The reason we need to go to space is to save the Earth,” he said. “We are going to grow this civilization — and I’m talking about something that our grandchildren will work on — and their grandchildren. This isn’t something that this generation is able to accomplish. But we need to move heavy industry off Earth.”
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“You cannot start an interesting space company today from your dorm room. The price of admission is too high and the reason for that is that the infrastructure doesn’t exist,” Bezos noted. “So my mission with Blue Origin is to help build that infrastructure, that heavy lifting infrastructure that future generations will be able to stand on top of the same way I stood on top of the U.S. Postal Service and so on.”...Adobe’s prototype AI tool automatically spots Photoshopped faces…
June 15, 2019
The resulting algorithm is impressively effective. When asked to spot a sample of edited faces, human volunteers got the right answer 53 percent of the time, while the algorithm was correct 99 percent of the time. The tool is even able to suggest how to restore a photo to its original, unedited appearance, though these results are often mixed.
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The researchers said the work was the first of its kind designed to spot these sort of facial edits, and constitutes an “important step” toward creating tools that can identify complex changes including “body manipulations and photometric edits such as skin smoothing.”...Is Wray obstructing Justice? Or is Wray just pulling you along for a little ride – same way Trump pulled the media along for a ride when he said he would accept Opposition Research from Foreign entities?…
June 15, 2019
BREAKING: House GOP leadership has soured on Comey replacement Wray. They r now convinced Wray's not part of the FBI cleanup & not cooperating w AG Barr & is in fact part of the cover-up of #SpyGate scandal after burying documents & refusing to make people available for interview
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) June 15, 2019
How do you catch a fish? BAIT.
Earth is approaching a large “meteor swarm” that has potential of causing catastrophic impact…
June 15, 2019
The Taurid swarm is a dense cluster of meteors within the Taurid meteor stream. Earth periodically passes through the Taurid swarm, and it is one of the three space phenomenons that could result in a catastrophic collision...
This summer, Earth will approach within 30,000,000 km of the center of the Taurid swarm, the study says. That would be Earth's closest encounter with the swarm since 1975 and the best viewing opportunity we'll have until the early 2030s.
This closeness will not only benefit star-gazers, but it also allows the researchers to study the Taurid swarm and its potentially risks.
Midwest corn farmer on planting season: ‘Disaster like I’ve never seen before’…
June 15, 2019
It’s a tough decision that many of the Midwest’s farmers had to make this month: To plant, or not to plant... After non-stop rain plagued the region this spring – when corn farmers typically get seed in the ground – most have decided time is now too short and are choosing not to plant... According to the USDA, only 83 percent of the corn crop is in the ground across the nation, at a time when it should all be done. In the Midwest, the situation is harshest. In Ohio, only half of cornfields have been planted. In Indiana, it’s two-thirds. Illinois has reached just 73 percent. Another important snapshot of the year’s crop will come June 28, when the USDA releases its annual acreage report, which directly surveys farmers. Hartsock, who travels the Midwest visiting farms, said traders and farmers alike will be watching it closely.
Jury Ups Bakery’s Award From Oberlin College to $44M…
June 15, 2019
Owners of a market were awarded $44 million in damages this week in a lawsuit claiming Oberlin College hurt their business and libeled them—in a case some observers said embodied racial hypersensitivity and political correctness run amok. An Ohio jury awarded David Gibson, son Allyn Gibson and Gibson's Bakery, of Oberlin, $33 million in punitive damages Thursday, the AP reports. That comes on top of an award a day earlier of $11 million in compensatory damages.
Gay conservative activist sues LGBT center for discrimination…
June 15, 2019
According to a complaint filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court and exclusively obtained by The Post, the LGBT Center in Greenwich Village discriminated against Straka by canceling his 250-person WalkAway event “LGBT TownHall” in March, days before it was scheduled to take place.
The event was to feature Straka and a panel of two gay men and a transgender woman talking about why they left the Democratic Party. “I’m considered a traitor. [The community] wanted to silence me, they wanted to roll over me and make me disappear,” said Straka, who is seeking $20 million in damages. He alleges that the LGBT Center caved to pressure from liberal activists who, Straka said, “mounted a smear campaign.” Some 280 people signed an open letter to the center, demanding that the event be canceled. The letter refers to Straka and his panelists as “racist” and “transphobic.” (One of the panelists, Rob Smith, is black.)
New Asset Forfeiture Filings Will Give U.S. Government Ownership Of NXIVM “Tech”…
June 15, 2019
The “tech” includes approximately 2,000 modules. Whether the government will auction the “tech” off to the highest bidder (which could well be Barbara Bouchey) – or it decides to turn it over for use by the CIA – has yet to be determined. U.S. May Also End Up With Other Raniere Patents. It is unclear at this time whether First Principles, Inc. also owns all the other patents that Raniere supposedly obtained over the years – but at least some of those patents were apparently issued in the company’s name. What is clear is that Raniere made a major mistake when he decided to have Nancy Salzman be listed as the owner of First Principles, Inc. Nancy has already consented to have the government obtain ownership and control of First Principles, Inc. So, unless Raniere plans to sue the U.S. government to assert ownership over the company and its assets – kind of like how he sued AT&T and Microsoft for their infringement of patents that he didn’t own – it’s bye-bye “tech” and bye-bye patents.
Saudis Call for Oil Supply Protection, blame tanker attacks on Iran…
June 15, 2019
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said there must be “a rapid and decisive response to the threat” to energy supplies, market stability and consumer confidence, his ministry said on Twitter.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in an interview with Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, blamed Iran and called on the international community to take a “decisive stand” against the attacks. “The kingdom does not want a war in the region but it will not hesitate to deal with any threats to its people, its sovereignty, or its vital interests,” the crown prince said.
Archeological discovery in old grave indicates that the Chinese smoked weed 2,500 years ago…
June 15, 2019
The find was announced by Chinese, German and Australian archaeologists in a story in Science Advances.
They discovered and studied weed remains that they found in a kind of 'smoking pots' in the cemetery high in the Pamir mountains.
The cannabis contained more tetrahydrocannabinol, the ingredient that causes the feeling of being high, than usual. The researchers therefore suspect that the cannabis was cultivated and 'processed' to enhance the intended effect during smoking...
Pope Francis gets super-political by declaring ‘climate emergency’ and urges action…
June 15, 2019
Pope Francis has declared a global “climate emergency”, warning of the dangers of global heating and that a failure to act urgently to reduce greenhouse gases would be “a brutal act of injustice toward the poor and future generations”.
He also endorsed the 1.5C limit on temperature rises that some countries are now aiming for, referring to warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of “catastrophic” effects if we crossed such a threshold. He said a “radical energy transition” would be needed to stay within that limit, and urged young people and businesses to take a leading role...
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ROGER STONE COURT CASE: FBI Never Saw Crowdstrike Report on DNC Russian Hacking Claim…
June 15, 2019
Suspecting they could prove the Russian hacking claim was false, lawyers representing Roger Stone requested the full Crowdstrike report on the DNC hack. When the DOJ responded to the Stone motion they made a rather significant admission. Not only did the FBI not review the DNC server, the FBI/DOJ never even saw the Crowdstrike report.
Yes, that is correct. The FBI and DOJ were only allowed to see a “draft” report prepared by Crowdstrike, and that report was redacted… and that redacted draft is the “last version of the report produced”; meaning, there are no unredacted & final versions...NOAA: 279 dolphins dead on U.S. Gulf Coast, triple usual number…
June 15, 2019
Scientists will investigate whether lingering effects from the 2010 BP oil spill and more immediate effects from low salinity because of freshwater flowing from high rivers and a Louisiana spillway contributed to the deaths, said Teri Rowles, coordinator for NOAA Fisheries' Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program... Mississippi had 121 dolphin strandings as of Wednesday, with 89 in Louisiana, 32 in Alabama and 37 in Florida, Fougères said.
Near record ‘dead zone’ predicted for Gulf of Mexico:
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is predicting a near-record “dead zone” for the Gulf of Mexico this summer due to abnormally heavy rains in states across the Mississippi River watershed and the flooding that will ultimately spill hundreds of thousands of tons of nutrient-rich sediments into the Gulf. The 2019 forecast is predicted to be 7,829 square miles — roughly the size of Massachusetts — where oxygen levels are expected to drop to levels unable to sustain marine life. It would be the biggest such area since 2017.
NASA spots “Star Trek” Starfleet logo on Mars surface…
June 15, 2019
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a series of strange chevron symbols on a Martian sand dune in the southeast Hellas Planitia region. The MRO HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera team at the University of Arizona highlighted the discovery... According to the team, the shapes on the red planet were created by wind, lava and dunes...
Pew: Illegal Alien Population Booms in Red States Ahead of 2020 Election…
June 15, 2019
Pew Research Center analysis finds that in Louisiana, North Dakota, and South Dakota — three states that went overwhelmingly for Trump over failed Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election — the illegal alien population has increased over the last ten years.
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Increases in illegal alien populations across red states have electoral consequences where American voters’ votes are diluted in elections due to counting illegal aliens in congressional apportionment.Police: Arkansas woman arrested in ex-lawmaker’s death…
June 15, 2019
Arkansas State Police said they and Randolph County sheriff's deputies arrested 48-year-old Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell in connection with the death of former state Sen. Linda Collins . Police said criminal charges were pending and did not say whether they were seeking any other suspects in Collins' death...