Gas Explosion at Russian bioweapons facility which stores viruses including Ebola, smallpox and Anthrax…
September 17, 2019
The blast occurred on Monday after a gas cylinder exploded during scheduled repair work on the fifth floor of the six-story Russian State Centre for Research on Virology and Biotechnology, commonly known as Vector, the facility said in a statement. No biological material was held in the sanitary inspection room where the explosion occurred, and no structural damage was caused to the concrete laboratory building, the center added.
Corey Lewandowski testifies before House Judiciary Committee…
September 17, 2019
Christine Blasey Ford’s friend now says she’s skeptical of Kavanaugh accusation…
September 17, 2019
“I don’t have any confidence in the story,” Leland Keyser told two New York Times reporters in their book “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation”... Her lawyer, Howard Walsh, wrote an email to the committee during the hearing to say she doesn’t known Kavanaugh and doesn’t recall being at the party with him. But in a revised statement, Walsh said she “does not refute Dr. Ford’s account, and she has already told the press that she believes Dr. Ford’s account.” But Keyser now says she lacks confidence in Ford’s account.
The Federal Reserve Is Likely to Cut Interest Rates Tomorrow…
September 17, 2019
Market prices currently imply a 90% chance the Federal Reserve will reduce short-term interest rates by a quarter-point to a range of 1.75%-2.0% when policy makers meet this week. Such a move would be consistent with the Fed’s “midcycle adjustment” that began in July. The interesting question, therefore, is not what the Fed will do to rates when its two-day policy meeting concludes Wednesday, but what it will indicate it wants to do over the next few years. Current pricing implies a 60% chance that the Fed’s rate band will be lowered again before the end of 2019, and an almost 50% chance of further reductions by next spring.
NY judge resigns after allegedly posting ‘Make America Great Again’ message with noose…
September 17, 2019
Kyle R. Canning, who was a part-time judge in Altona, N.Y., was charged over a Facebook post that allegedly showed a photo of a noose, along with the statement "IF WE WANT TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE EVIL PEOPLE FEAR PUNISHMENT AGAIN,” the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct said in a statement Tuesday. The language used in the post echoed President Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. The commission said that Canning was charged with sharing an image that "conveyed racial and/or political bias."
Ilhan Omar Inexplicably Deletes Father’s Day Message from 2013…
Link to her archived tweet...
September 17, 2019
Your father is Nur Said?
Not: Nur Omar Mohamed?So you’re Ilhan Nur Said?
And you married Ahmed Nur Said,
You married your brother.
(Most Americans don’t know that in most Muslim countries, the surname is actually the father’s name)
R E S I G N
Ilhan in 2013 👇🏽 BUSTED. https://t.co/qaHrmgnhHT
— Imam of Peace (@Imamofpeace) September 17, 2019
‘Bint’ means ‘daughter of’. That’s usually not included in the official legal documents. What’s written is: Ilhan Nur Said. But spoken as: Ilhan Bint Nur Said.
‘Bint’ is an ARABIC word. Somalis don’t use ‘bint’.
If her dad is Nur Said, as she says.
Then she is: Ilhan Nur Said.
— Imam of Peace (@Imamofpeace) September 17, 2019
Activists push U.S. Congress to pass Hong Kong bill…
September 17, 2019
Hong Kong democracy activists urged members of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday to pass legislation to combat human rights abuses in the city, rejecting any suggestion that such a move would be inappropriate U.S. involvement in another country’s affairs... The panel of witnesses also urged members of the commission, which includes senators and members of the House of Representatives from both parties, to take actions that might affect Hong Kong’s economy.
US government is suing Edward Snowden over his new memoir ‘Permanent Record’…
September 17, 2019
The Justice Department filed suit Tuesday against renegade former CIA and NSA employee Edward Snowden, saying his memoir "Permanent Record" violates non-disclosure agreements he signed with both agencies. The suit claims Snowden, living in exile in Moscow, violated the agreements by publishing the book without submitting for pre-publication review and by giving public speeches on intelligence-related matters. The suit doesn't seek a halt to distribution of the book, released Tuesday in more than 20 countries, but does press for recovery of all proceeds.
Meet The Nuclear-Powered Self-Driving Drone NASA Is Sending To A Moon Of Saturn…
September 17, 2019
Known as Dragonfly, it is a dual-rotor quadcopter (technically an octocopter, even more technically an X8 octocopter); it's roughly the size of a compact car; it's completely autonomous; it's nuclear powered; and it will hover above the surface of Saturn's moon Titan... Quadcopters (even X8 octocopters) are for sale on Amazon these days. Self-driving technology is coming along quickly. Nuclear power is harder to come by, but the team plans to use the same kind of system that runs NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. Everything that's going into Dragonfly is already being used somewhere else.
Saudi Arabia has to explain how its oil assets in Abqaiq were attacked, says ex-US diplomat…
September 17, 2019
"I think the Saudi leadership has a great deal of explaining to do that a country that ranks third in terms of total defense spending ... was not able to defend its most critical, and I can't underscore that enough, its most critical oil facility from these kinds of attacks," said Grappo...
Trump campaign cuts ties with top adviser in Florida…
September 17, 2019
President Donald Trump‘s campaign has severed ties with Florida adviser Susie Wiles, leaving the president without a top adviser in a major battleground state going into the 2020 election. The move was made at the urging of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been attempting to install his own allies in the state party... DeSantis personally made it clear he wanted Wiles out, according to two senior Republicans familiar with discussions between DeSantis and the Trump campaign.
MIT Computer Scientist Richard Stallman Resigns After Claiming Epstein Victim Was ‘Entirely Willing’…
September 17, 2019
Richard Stallman had also advocated for the legalization of child pornography and pedophilia on his personal blog for 15+ years.... In a post on his personal site, Richard Stallman, a visiting scientist at MIT and well-known open source software developer, was unapologetic: “To the MIT community, I am resigning effective immediately from my position in CSAIL at MIT. I am doing this due to pressure on MIT and me over a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations.”
He also resigned as president of the Free Software Foundation, an organization that advocates for the development of open source software, according to a statement from the foundation’s executive director. Stallman started the organization in 1985 and had served as its president ever since.
north carolina cheerleaders warned for pro trump display…
September 17, 2019
A photo of the teenagers spread on social media, sparking controversy and prompting the North Carolina High School Athletic Association to put the North Stanly High School squad on probation for the rest of the season, the Observer reported. The athletic association has not defined the terms of the probation, and the Stanly County School District has said the squad is expected to continue cheering, according to the Observer.
Trump Will End California’s Authority to Set Stricter Auto Emissions Rules…
September 17, 2019
The Trump administration is expected on Wednesday to formally revoke California’s legal authority to set tailpipe pollution rules that are stricter than federal rules, in a move designed by the White House to strike twin blows against both the liberal-leaning state that President Trump has long antagonized and the environmental legacy of President Barack Obama. The announcement that the White House will revoke one of California’s signature environmental policies will come while Mr. Trump is traveling in the state, where he is scheduled to attend fund-raisers in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
A major progressive political party just endorsed Pocahantas over Bernie Sanders — and it’s a sign that she’s on the rise…
September 17, 2019
"Senator Warren knows how to kick Wall Street kleptocrats where it hurts, and she's got some truly visionary plans to make this country work for the many," Maurice Mitchell, the party's national director, told The New York Times. The announcement drew immediate rebuke from Sanders' supporters, some of whom accused the group of intentionally hiding its internal vote tally to promote Warren. WFP endorse Sanders in 2016's Democratic primary race. The unexpected move is a sign that the progressive left is uniting behind Warren, who offers a more mainstream vision of progressive politics than Sanders' democratic socialism...
Here’s The Air Force’s Questionably Ambitious Plan To Develop New Fighters In Five Years. The service says it can outpace potential enemies by producing multiple short runs of fighters in tiny periods of time…
September 17, 2019
Canadian RCMP Official’s Arrest Could Compromise ‘Five Eyes’ Intelligence Alliance…
September 17, 2019
The allegations are "extremely unsettling."
Okla. woman, 18, accused of threatening to shoot 400 people at former high school…
September 17, 2019
Alexis Wilson, 18, is being held on $250,000 bond after she was arrested on accusations of making terroristic threats against her former school, McAlester High School in McAlester, Oklahoma. Authorities say one of Wilson’s coworkers at Pizza Inn reported the 18-year-old had threatened to “shoot 400 people for fun” and added she would like to shoot many people at her old school. She also allegedly showed the coworker videos of herself shooting an AR-15 rifle she’d just bought... Wilson says the alleged threat was a misunderstanding, and she would never shoot up a school. She told police she had purchased an AK-47 and was only telling her coworker about it to teach her not to be afraid of guns.
Christian Artists Who Want To Refuse LGBTQ Customers Get Court Victory…
September 17, 2019
The Arizona Supreme Court says the free speech rights of two Christian artists who make wedding invitations were violated by Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance that makes it illegal for businesses to refuse service to same-sex couples for religion reasons. The 4-3 decision on Monday reverses lower-court rulings that were favorable to the city. The Supreme Court says its ruling is limited to only the creation of custom wedding invitations by Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski and isn’t a blanket exemption from the ordinance for all their business operations.
Body scanners used to screen passengers for hidden explosives and weapons are being used for the first time at a London railway station…
September 17, 2019
A Home Office sponsored five-day trial has started at Stratford station, east London. Portable scanners are being used to screen passengers from up to 30ft away without them having to pass through a security checkpoint. The Home Office said the scheme was part of a "battle against knife crime".