Ancient Reptile With ‘Ridiculously Long Neck’ Unearthed in Alaska

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elasmosaur-paintingThe fossilized remains of an ancient marine reptile with an extremely long neck and paddlelike appendages were recently uncovered in an unlikely place: the side of a cliff in Alaska.

The bones belong to an elasmosaur, an animal that swam the seas about 75 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period, said Patrick Druckenmiller, earth sciences curator at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. It’s the first time that the skeleton of one of these creatures has been found in the state, he added.

“This is a very unusual group of marine reptiles that belongs to a larger group known as plesiosaurs, Druckenmiller told Live Science. “Elasmosaurs are famous because they have these ridiculously long necks and relatively small skulls.” [Image Gallery: Ancient Monsters of the Sea]

Most of the newly uncovered elasmosaur’s bones are still lodged in a rocky cliff in the Talkeetna Mountains of southern Alaska, so no one has measured the full skeleton yet. But Druckenmiller, who visited the fossil site in June, estimates that the animal was about 25 feet long, with a neck that made up half its body length.

The incredible length of the ancient carnivore’s neck gave rise to an interesting theory in the 1930s, when someone suggested that the mythical Loch Ness monster was really just a plesiosaur (possibly an elasmosaur) that didn’t go extinct with the rest of its species. But Druckenmiller said that theory is a “bunch of bunk,” because there’s no way a plesiosaur could have held its head up out of the water like a swan (which is how “Nessie” commonly appears in popular culture and hoax photographs). (Read more from “Ancient Reptile With ‘Ridiculously Long Neck’ Unearthed in Alaska” HERE)

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Obama Admin Purchased Aborted Baby Parts, May Be From Babies Planned Parenthood Slaughtered

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barackobama19A new report indicates the Obama administration may have purchased the body parts of aborted babies from a biotech firm Planned Parenthood sold the body parts to after killing the babies in abortions. The revelation comes after five videos have exposed the baby body parts sales scandal occurring at Planned Parenthood abortion centers across the country.

According to the report in Politico, one of the biotech firms mentioned in the undercover videos identified as a fetal tissue supplier Planned Parenthood sold aborted babies to earned at least $300,000 from federal governmental agencies after selling fetal tissue to them. Officials say they are unsure if the specific fetal tissue sold to the Obama administration came from babies aborted at Planned Parenthood.

Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR) has had contracts with the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration since 2009. In one of the videos, Katharine Sheehan, a former medical director of Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest, mentioned selling fetal tissue from aborted babies to ABR and admitting a long-term relationship with it.

“We have already a relationship with ABR,” Sheehan says. “We’ve been using them for over 20 years — a really long time… They’re doing the big collection for government-level collections.”

According to the Politico report, the National Institutes of Health has paid Advanced Bioscience Resources $257,000 since 2009 and spent $53,000 on fetal tissue from aborted babies. The babies victimized by abortions were between 17 and 22 weeks old at the time they were aborted. (Read more from “Obama Admin Purchased Body Parts Possibly From Babies Planned Parenthood Killed” HERE)

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Emerging Market Mayhem: Economist Warns Of “Debacle” as Currencies, Bonds Collapse

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downloadThings are getting downright scary in emerging markets. Just ask Bill Gross:

Or have a look at this week’s headlines:

– UK rate hike fears recede, emerging markets on edge
– EMERGING MARKETS-Currencies retreat on talk of a Fed rate hike
– Lost Decade in Emerging Markets: Investors Already Halfway There
– Some Greek Lessons for Emerging Markets
– Currencies in Freefall Handcuff Bankers From Chile to Colombia

And on, and on.

One particularly alarming case that we’ve been keen to document lately is that of Brazil which, you’ll recall, is “up sh*t creek without a paddle” both figuratively and literally. For one thing, as Goldman recently noted, there’s not a single period in over a decade “with a strictly-worse growth-inflation outcome than that of 2Q2015.” In other words, “since 1Q2004 there has not been a single quarter in which we had simultaneously higher inflation and lower growth than during 2Q2015.” (Read more from “Emerging Market Mayhem: Gross Warns Of “Debacle” as Currencies, Bonds Collapse” HERE)

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Trump to Megyn Kelly: I Don’t Have Time for Political Correctness and Neither Does This Country [+video]

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donaldseriousBy Real Clear Politics. Megyn Kelly calls out Donald Trump for sexist remarks from his Twitter history. “You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.'”

“Only Rosie O’Donnell,” laughs Trump, before turning serious. “I’ve been challenged by so many people and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either. This country is in big trouble.”

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL: Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don’t use a politician’s filter. However that is not without its downsides, in particular when it comes to women. You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. Your twitter account–

DONALD TRUMP: Only Rosie O’Donnell.

KELLY: For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O’Donnell.

(Read more from “Trump to Megyn Kelly: I Don’t Have Time for Political Correctness and Neither Does This Country” HERE)

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Donald Trump: ‘The Questions to Me Were Not Nice’

By Alex Pappas. During a brief, chaotic scrum with reporters after the debate here Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he believes he won the televised showdown but thought the moderators were not “nice” to him.

“The questions to me were much tougher than the questions to anyone else,” Trump said, going on to single out co-moderator Megyn Kelly.

He also expressed frustration with the way Kelly “behaved.”

“The questions to me were not nice,” he said. “I didn’t think they were appropriate.” (Read more from “Donald Trump: ‘The Questions to Me Were Not Nice'” HERE)

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Republican Debate: Donald Trump Was Garbled, Incoherent – but Dominant

By Paul Lewis. Donald Trump, the unexpected frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination for president, plunged headfirst into the primary’s first televised debate on Thursday, causing an instant splash that was remarkable even by his own standards.

The billionaire celebrity, who has a clear lead in the polls, electrified the debate from the start, declaring “politicians are stupid” and implying he was prepared to abandon the Republican party altogether to launch his own, independent candidacy.

Combative, outlandish, at times barely coherent, Trump lived up to the hype, although he became gradually quieter as the two-hour debate dragged on into policy areas where he had little or nothing of substance to contribute.

It was a good night for the Florida senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker, who emerged unscathed with polished performances. Jeb Bush, the establishment favourite, also made it through the ordeal, dealing better than he has in the past with thorny questions about his family name.

It was a less successful debate for the Kentucky senator Rand Paul, who capped a disastrous few days for his campaign with a series of scrappy exchanges with rival candidates in which he came off the worst. (Read more from “Republican Debate: Donald Trump Was Garbled, Incoherent – but Dominant” HERE)

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Texas Sheriffs Decry Federal Policies: Criminal Aliens Have Free Reins

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illegal-aliens-stop-the-invasionTexas Sheriffs, the Lieutenant Governor, and experts in immigration related issues met at the State Capitol on Wednesday to discuss the federal government’s creation of a sanctuary state for criminal aliens through its Priority Enforcement Program (PEP).

Jackson County Sheriff Aj (Andy) Louderback, immediate past president of the Sheriff’s Association of Texas, told Breitbart Texas that the federal government’s PEP program “has created a sanctuary state for criminal aliens because it has gutted the immigration system.”

A press conference was held on the crisis facing Texas that was created by the new immigration policies of the federal government. The sheriffs complained that aliens are being brought into the criminal justice system in Texas but are being released into the community because of the federal policies.

In the past, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) could place a 48-hour hold on illegal immigrants when they were wanted on immigration related issues. The PEP program replaced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Secure Communities plan and now that is no longer possible.

The policy was released by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in November, 2014. In January, the program went into effect and Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby exclusively reported leaked training documents detailing how the program would be implemented. Darby dubbed the program, “Catch and Release 2.0.” (Read more from “Texas Sheriffs Decry Federal Policies: Criminal Aliens Have Free Reins” HERE)

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Sparks Fly During GOP Debate When Rand Paul Goes After Chris Christie: ‘Use the Fourth Amendment!’

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rand-paulBy Oliver Darcy. Sen. Rand Paul faced off with Gov. Chris Christie over the Fourth Amendment Thursday during the first Republican presidential debate.

The debate came after moderator Megyn Kelly asked the New Jersey governor about criticism he has leveled against Paul over the Kentucky senator’s opposition to the the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records.

“Do you really believe you can assign blame to Senator Paul just for opposing the people’s bulk collection of phone records in the event of a terrorist attack?” Kelly asked.

“Yes, I do,” Christie replied, noting his national security experience and recalling how he was in the area of the 9/11 terror attack.

Paul quickly responded. (Read more from “Sparks Fly During GOP Debate When Rand Paul Goes After Chris Christie: ‘Use the Fourth Amendment!'” HERE)


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Social Media Says Fiorina Wins Early Republican Debate

By Adelle Nazarian. Carly Fiorina was the clear winner of the early Republican presidential debate–at least according to social media.

The former Hewlett Packard CEO joined six other contenders who failed to qualify for the evening’s main event, which is restricted to the top ten candidates in recent polls. However, her performance in the undercard event generated a great deal of online enthusiasm.

Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com weighed in:

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Companies Giving to Planned Parenthood Frequently Reject Religious Charities

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731benandjerry1-1250x650As The Daily Signal and 2nd Vote have revealed, corporate America is a major source of revenue for Planned Parenthood. While less than the half-billion in taxpayer dollars Planned Parenthood receives annually, corporate contributions made up a healthy piece of the $127 million in “excess revenue” the ostensible nonprofit received last year alone.

But while corporate America has been comfortable donating funds to Planned Parenthood for years, it has been far less willing to give—or even allow its employees to give—to religious charities.

As their gifts to an organization whose senior officials have been caught on video haggling over money for baby hearts, lungs and livers have come under fire, many of these corporations have begun to back away from their relationship with Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood even had to pre-empt the controversy by hiding the names of its corporate donors. Many of the companies sought to diminish the significance of their gifts to Planned Parenthood, explaining that the contributions were simply matching gifts for employee contributions through the company’s charitable campaign.

But if this kind of employee-directed donations is no big deal, why are religious charities often excluded?

Some of the companies matching employee gifts to Planned Parenthood are much more cautious with their money when it comes to religious nonprofits. Whether through exclusions of religious charities altogether or the application of religion and “sexual orientation” nondiscrimination rules to the employment practices of religious organizations, corporations often exclude the religious charities that are making a difference in our communities and our world. (Read more from “Companies Giving to Planned Parenthood Sometimes Reject Religious Charities” HERE)

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Report: Russia Hacks the Pentagon

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Pentagon-Building-in-Wash-007U.S. officials tell NBC News that Russia launched a “sophisticated cyberattack” against the Pentagon’s Joint Staff unclassified email system, which has been shut down and taken offline for nearly two weeks. According to the officials, the “sophisticated cyber intrusion” occurred sometime around July 25 and affected some 4,000 military and civilian personnel who work for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Sources tell NBC News that it appears the cyberattack relied on some kind of automated system that rapidly gathered massive amounts of data and within a minute distributed all the information to thousands of accounts on the Internet. The officials also report the suspected Russian hackers coordinated the sophisticated cyberassault via encrypted accounts on social media . . .

Almost immediately after the cyberattack was detected, the Pentagon took the aggressive step of shutting down the entire Joint Staff unclassified email system and Internet during its investigation. The system should be back online before the end of this week. (Read more from “Report: Russia Hacks the Pentagon” HERE)

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New Hampshire Defunds Planned Parenthood Following ‘Baby Parts’ Scandal

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New-Hampshire-State-House-Concord-NH2-672x372One day after the release of the fifth video from the Center for Medical Progress featuring a top Planned Parenthood employee discussing the abortion giant’s fetal parts business was released, New Hampshire has defunded Planned Parenthood.

A majority in the state’s Republican executive council voted to terminate the contract with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. The business will not be receiving $639,000 of state funds now, which is about one-third of its funding.

GOP councilor Chris Sununu, who voted to cancel the contract, has supported Planned Parenthood in the past, and is now calling for the state to investigate the practices at that Planned Parenthood facility . . .

The NH GOP released a press release applauding the vote, and called out Hassan. A release had also previously been issued in light of Hassan refusing to investigate Planned Parenthood. Today’s release reads in part:

“We applaud Councilors Sununu, Wheeler and Kenney for standing up for taxpayers by refusing to fund Planned Parenthood and calling for an official investigation of its practices. It’s time for Governor Hassan to put politics aside and work with the Commissioner of Health and Human Services and the Executive Council to identify alternative health care providers to cover the services that were included in this contract.”

(Read more from “New Hampshire Defunds Planned Parenthood Following ‘Baby Parts’ Scandal” HERE)

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ISIS Executes 19 Girls for Refusing to Have Sex With Fighters

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2B214EDC00000578-3186229-image-m-20_1438811604610ISIS fanatics have executed 19 women for refusing to have sex with its fighters, a Kurdish official has said.

He claimed the women were being held hostage in Islamic State’s stronghold of Mosul, Iraq, which the terror group seized in June last year.

Meanwhile a UN envoy investigating Islamic State’s vile sex trade has said ‘girls get peddled like barrels of petrol’ and one can be bought by six different men.

She also verified a disturbing ISIS document which suggested the extremists sell the Yazidi and Christian women and children they have abducted, with girls aged just one to nine-years-old fetching the most money.

ISIS stormed the Sinjar district in northern Iraq last year and captured hundreds of women belonging to the Yazidi community, who the Islamists view as heretics. (Read more from “ISIS Executes 19 Girls for Refusing to Have Sex With Fighters” HERE)

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