Millions of Iranians March, Burn US Flag, Chant ‘Death to Israel’

/9 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Free Beacon By Adam Kredo. Millions of Iranians took to the streets on Friday to rally against the United States and Israel, burning the flags of both countries and chanting, “Death to Israel,” according to multiple regional reports.

Iranians marched across the country in support of Quds Day, an annual anti-Israel, anti-American holiday in which citizens lend their support for Palestinian violence against the Jewish state.

Hoards of Iranians could be seen in the streets in cities across the country. They waved signs advocating the destruction of Israel and America and also rallied in support of the Palestinians seizing Jerusalem.

“Demonstrators chant[ed] slogans in condemnation of the Zionists’ crimes in the occupied Palestinian lands,” Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency reported.

Chants of “Down with the U.S.” and “Down with Israel” could also be heard echoing through the streets, according to Fars. (Read more from “Iranians Burn US Flag, Chant ‘Death to Israel'” HERE)

[Listen to Joel Richardson predict a regional war instigated by Iran]

________________________________________________________________________

Pro-Tehran Lobby Demands Iran Be Given Ballistic Missiles

By Adam Kredo. A pro-Tehran advocacy group long accused of concealing illicit ties to the Iranian regime is lobbying Congress in support of a demand that America repeal a United Nations arms embargo limiting the Islamic Republic’s ability to stockpile arms, including ballistic missiles, which could be used to carry nuclear payloads, according to a copy of an email sent by the group to various lawmakers.

The National American Iranian Council (NIAC), which has long been suspected of acting as Tehran’s lobbying shop in Washington, D.C., sent lawmakers an email on Friday asserting that “the Iranian arms embargo will need to be disposed of as part of a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.”

The email comes roughly a week after Iranian diplomats issued a similar demand during ongoing talks in Vienna between world powers and Iran. The new condition has been blamed for grinding negotiations to a halt, as diplomats blew through a third self-imposed deadline this weekend.

The NIAC email on ballistic missiles is in step with Iran’s potentially deal-breaking demands.

“The UN embargo imposed on Iran’s trade in certain conventional arms was specifically imposed by the Security Council to deal with the nuclear dispute,” wrote Tyler Cullis, who is identified in the email as a legal fellow at the council. (Read more from “Pro-Tehran Lobby Demands Iran Be Given Ballistic Missiles” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

US Personnel Chief Resigns After Massive Data Breach, Bigger Than Previously Disclosed

/5 Comments/in , /by

By Tribune News Service. The head of the U.S. personnel office, Katherine Archuleta, resigned Friday in the wake of a pair of massive data hacks said to affect 25 million people, far more than had been acknowledged before.

Personal information, including the Social Security numbers of 21 million people, was stolen in the hacks into government personnel files that began last year, officials said Thursday. Another 4 million people also had information stolen in one of the breaches, which weren’t discovered until a few months ago.

Archuleta said in a statement that she told President Obama that it was best for someone else to lead the Office of Personnel Management as it tries to recover from the intrusions and toughen the government’s digital security systems.

“It is best for me to step aside and allow new leadership to step in, enabling the agency to move beyond the current challenges and allowing the employees at OPM to continue their important work,” Archuleta said. (Read more from “US Personnel Chief Resigns After Massive Data Breach” HERE)

___________________________________________________________________

Day Before Hack Announced, Director of Personnel Focused on ‘Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination’ Issues

By Jeryl Bier. The day before the Office of Personnel Management first announced a massive data breach of personal information, now former OPM director Katherine Archuleta’s attention was focused elsewhere. Archuleta published a blog post on June 3 entitled “Celebrating Every Member of Our Federal Family” in recognition of “LGBT Pride Month.” The White House reposted Archuleta’s article the same day.

In her post, Archuleta announced the release of an updated guide called “Addressing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination in Federal Civilian Employment: A Guide to Employment Rights, Protections, and Responsibilities.”

As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month, I want to proudly reinforce my continued commitment to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of our federal family, and recognize the incredible contributions this community has made in service to the American people…

That’s why I’m so excited to announce that the Office of Personnel Management is joining our partners at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit System Protections Board, and the Office of Special Counsel to release an updated guide titled “Addressing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination in Federal Civilian Employment: A Guide to Employment Rights, Protections, and Responsibilities.” This informative resource will help LGBT federal employees make more informed choices about how best to pursue their individual claims when they believe they have suffered from discrimination.

On the OPM website, the agency has seven “top priorities” listed. The first two are “Honoring the Workforce” and “Build a More Diverse and Engaged Workforce”. Number four on the list is “IT Improvement” to “streamline and update IT systems” and number five is “Background Investigations” to “lead efforts to strengthen the background investigations program across government.” The priorities list does not include any direct references to “security.” (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Anthrax Probe After Mysterious Bison Deaths in Montana

/1 Comment/in , /by

By Reuters. Investigators are probing whether anthrax played a role in the mysterious deaths of more than a dozen bison at an American Indian reservation in Montana, the state veterinarian said on Thursday.

Marty Zaluski said the bison, which have died since the start of the July 4 weekend at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, may have succumbed to anthrax. But he said more testing was needed to confirm what he emphasized was an early suspicion.

Anthrax bacteria can be found naturally in soils but the infectious and sometimes deadly disease it can cause is rare in humans and animals in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Spores of naturally occurring anthrax can lie dormant in the environment for years without being ingested or breathed in by grazing livestock or wild animals, according to the CDC.

Zaluski said results from testing of tissue from one of the Fort Belknap bison will help agricultural, tribal and wildlife officials determine the gravity of the threat posed by the unknown illness. (Read more from “Anthrax Probe After Mysterious Bison Deaths in Montana” HERE)

__________________________________________

Anthrax Confirmed as Cause of Death for Canadian Cattle

By Canadian Press. Saskatchewan Agriculture says anthrax has killed two bison and is suspected in seven other deaths.

The bison were found northwest of North Battleford.

Anthrax is caused by the bacteria bacillus anthracis, which can survive in spore form for decades in soil.

Spores can concentrate in sloughs and potholes, and risk of animal exposure to anthrax increases in drier years when these areas dry up and become accessible.

Livestock are infected when they eat forage contaminated with spores and they are found dead without any signs of illness. (Read more from this story about the anthrax probe in Canada HERE)

__________________________________________

North Dakota Anthrax Case Confirmed

By AP. State Veterinarian Susan Keller is urging North Dakota ranchers to make sure their livestock are vaccinated against anthrax, after the first confirmed case of the year in a Grand Forks County beef cow. . .

Anthrax bacteria spores lie dormant in the soil and become active under extreme weather conditions such as drought or flooding. Livestock grazing in areas where spores are present can get infected by consuming or breathing in the spores. (Read more from this story about the anthrax probe in North Dakota HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Watch: Kayaking Couple Have Extremely Close Encounter With Humpback Whales in Alaska

/0 Comments/in , /by

This is the moment a couple encountered with a huge pod of humpback whales while kayaking in Alaska.

Dramatic headcam footage shows bubbles emerging in the water at Cape Resurrection as Jack Delaney, 22, and Kat Georgia, 27, are heard panicking off-camera.

Suddenly, a pod of humpback whales rises to the surface and Mr Delaney and Ms Georgia scream hysterically . . .

Speaking after their close encounter, Mr Delaney said: “At first I was excited and nervous. Then the bubbles started coming up more rapidly and I got scared and started freaking out. (Read more from “Kayaking Couple Have Extremely Close Encounter With Humpback Whales in Alaska” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The Decline of US Power? [+video]

/2 Comments/in , /by

By Nick Bryant. Standing on the Washington Mall at the turn of the new millennium, it was impossible not to be struck by America’s power and global pre-eminence . . .

Few argued when the 20th Century was dubbed the “American Century”, a term first coined in the early 1940s when the country was still overcoming its isolationist instincts.

Even the New Year’s fireworks, which illuminated the obelisk of the Washington Monument in a way that made it resemble a giant number one, projected the country’s supremacy as the world’s sole superpower.

Over the past 15 years, America’s fortunes have changed with dizzying speed.

First came the tremors: the dot-com bust and a disputed presidential election in 2000. Then came the massive convulsions: the destruction of the Twin Towers in 2001 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. (Read more from “The Decline of US Power?” HERE)

__________________________________________________________________________

CBO: Debt Headed to 103% of GDP; Level Seen Only in WWII; ‘No Way to Predict Whether or When’ Fiscal Crisis Might Occur Here

By Terence P. Jeffrey. Testifying in the U.S Senate yesterday, Congressional Budget Office Director Keith Hall warned that the publicly held debt of the U.S. government, when measured as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, is headed toward a level the United States has seen only once in its history—at the end of World War II.

To simply contain the debt at the high historical level where it currently sits—74 percent of GDP–would require either significant increases in federal tax revenue or decreases in non-interest federal spending (or a combination of the two).

Historically, U.S. government debt as a percentage of GDP hit its peak in 1945 and 1946, when it was 104 percent and 106 percent of GDP respectively.

In 2015, the CBO estimates that the U.S. government debt will be 74 percent of GDP. That is higher than the 69-percent-of-GDP debt the U.S. government had in 1943—the second year after Pearl Harbor.

By 2039, CBO projects, the debt will increase to 101 percent of GDP and by 2040 to 103 percent GDP. (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

DC Council Wants to Give Non-Citizens the Right to Vote

/3 Comments/in , /by

District of Columbia council members voiced their support Wednesday for a new law that would allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.

“These are residents who are well on their paths to citizenship,” Councilman David Grosso said. “Unfortunately not all of our residents have a say in the politicians who are elected to represent them.”

The bill would allow permanent residents in the city who are not American citizens to vote in elections for mayor, city council, the attorney general and State Board of Education members, among other things.

“They are our neighbors and our friends and they want to see our city flourish, yet they have no say in how the city’s government is run,” said Councilwoman Elissa Silverman.

Silverman went on to say that nearly one in eight D.C. citizens are immigrants, but only about 30 percent of them are American citizens, and that “all long-term residents of a city should have a right to have a choice in who represents them.” (Read more from “DC Wants to Give Non-Citizens the Right to Vote” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Is a Mini ICE AGE on the Way? Scientists Now Warn the Sun Will ‘Go to Sleep’ in 2030

/31 Comments/in , /by

A new study claims to have cracked predicting solar cycles – and says that between 2020 and 2030 solar cycles will cancel each other out.

This, they say, will lead to a phenomenon known as the ‘Maunder minimum’ – which has previously been known as a mini ice age when it hit between 1646 and 1715, even causing London’s River Thames to freeze over.

The new model of the Sun’s solar cycle is producing unprecedentedly accurate predictions of irregularities within the Sun’s 11-year heartbeat.

It draws on dynamo effects in two layers of the Sun, one close to the surface and one deep within its convection zone.

Predictions from the model suggest that solar activity will fall by 60 per cent during the 2030s to conditions last seen during the ‘mini ice age’ that began in 1645, according to the results presented by Prof Valentina Zharkova at the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno. (Read more from “Is a Mini ICE AGE on the Way? Scientists Warn the Sun Will ‘Go to Sleep’ in 2030” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Leaders of the Largest Association of Psychologists Reportedly Collaborated With CIA to Allow for Torture

/0 Comments/in , /by

Leaders of the largest association of psychologists in the country reportedly collaborated with Pentagon and CIA officials to weaken the group’s guidelines, allowing psychologists to take part in and cover up their involvement in coercive interrogation tactics after the 9/11 attacks.

The American Psychological Association’s report details findings from a former federal prosecutor that seem to show the complicity of psychologists in interrogation programs that sometimes relied on torture, according to The Washington Post.

The investigation into the association concludes that the APA’s ethics director and others colluded with top level Department of Defense officials to have the association issue “loose, high-level ethical guidelines that did not constrain” the Pentagon in its interrogations of Guantanamo Bay detainees.

The Post reports the investigation also found that “current and former APA officials” had pertinent interactions with the CIA between 2001 and 2004 when the agency used waterboarding and other extreme measures to try and get information from prisoners at the camp.

The scathing 542-page report was commissioned by the psychological association’s board of directors last year base on an investigation led by David H. Hoffman. Hoffman was an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago from 1998 to 2005. (Read more from “Leaders of the Largest Association of Psychologists Reportedly Collaborated With Officials on Abusive Interrogations” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Obamacare Administrators Fail to Protect Individuals’ Personal Data Entered on Obamacare Website

/1 Comment/in , /by

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not implement auditor recommendations to protect personal information at HealthCare.gov, Politico reported.

An official told lawmakers that CMS “has not yet implemented auditors’ recommendations that it conduct privacy impact assessments on HealthCare.gov systems that store personal information,” states Politico.

This is cause for concern considering the Office and Personnel Management (OPM) news that more than 21 million individuals had their sensitive information, including Social Security numbers and family and personal data, accessed by hackers because of a data breach.

“The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has identified a cyber security incident potentially affecting personnel data for current and federal employees, including personally identifiable information (PII),” said OPM in a statement on June 4.

At a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on the OPM data breach, Gregory Wilshusen, an information security expert at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said he is not aware of any efforts by CMS to act on GAO’s recommendations regarding the Obamacare website. GAO recommended in September 2014 that CMS and HHS “implement security and privacy controls to enhance the protection of systems and information related to Healthcare.gov.” (Read more from “Gov’t Agency Fails to Protect Individuals’ Personal Data on Obamacare Website” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Wacky World Continues: Dems Declare War on Words ‘Husband,’ ‘Wife’

/9 Comments/in , /by

More than two dozen Democrats have proposed legislation that would eliminate the words “husband” and “wife” from federal law . . .

“The Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act recognizes that the words in our laws have meaning and can continue to reflect prejudice and discrimination even when rendered null by our highest courts,” Capps said. “Our values as a country are reflected in our laws. I authored this bill because it is imperative that our federal code reflect the equality of all marriages.”

The Supreme Court ruled in June that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution means all states have to license same-sex marriages, a ruling that effectively ended the same-sex marriage debate in America. Capps said her bill was aimed at taking the next step, which is to ensure the United States Code “reflects the equality of all marriages.”

She said her bill would also have other benefits if it became law. In one example, she noted that U.S. law says it’s illegal to threaten the president’s wife, but says nothing about the president’s husband. (Read more from “Dems Declare War on Words ‘Husband,’ ‘Wife'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.