Restaurant Report Card Grades on Antibiotics in Meat Supply

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packaged-meatA new report is sounding the alarm about the use of antibiotics in the meat and poultry supply chains of the 25 largest U.S. fast food and “fast casual” restaurants.

Most top U.S. restaurant chains have no publicly available policy to limit regular use of antibiotics in their meat and poultry supply chains, according to the “Chain Reaction” report by Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council and four other consumer interest, public health and environmental organizations.

“When livestock producers administer antibiotics routinely to their flocks and herds, bacteria can develop resistance, thrive and even spread to our communities, contributing to the larger problem of antibiotic resistance,” the authors wrote in the report, which was released Tuesday. “The worsening epidemic of resistance means that antibiotics may not work when we need them most: when our kids contract a staph infection (MRSA), or our parents get a life-threatening pneumonia.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have repeatedly warned about the not-far-off public health threat of antibiotic resistance. The CDC estimates at least 2 million Americans contract antibiotic-resistant infections every year, and that 23,000 die as a result.

“A post-antibiotic era — in which common infections and minor injuries can kill — far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the 21st century,” the WHO cautioned in a 2014 report. (Read more from “Restaurant Report Card Grades on Antibiotics in Meat Supply” HERE)

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After Banning Confederate Flags, Amazon Decided to Sell This Shocking Item

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635707604186072305-confederate-flag-stockA nationwide law enforcement coalition joined numerous social media activists this week in denouncing Amazon’s policy of selling anti-police merchandise. After stripping its virtual shelves of all items bearing Confederate markings following a fatal shooting in South Carolina, Amazon has come under fire for not similarly restricting access to products that promote hate or violence against cops.

The item that apparently sparked much of the backlash was a black T-shirt bearing the unedited phrase “F–k the Police” and simulated blood splatter.

“Social media has become a major source of propaganda for the anti-law enforcement movement,” wrote Michael Bouchard, president emeritus of the Major County Sheriff’s Association.

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After criticizing Facebook for allowing groups with anti-police messages, he lamented the fact that Amazon sells items “depicting the assassination of law enforcement officials” even as police deaths are occurring at a rate of roughly 10 per month.

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“The MCSA calls upon Facebook and Amazon to support the men and women who risk their lives everyday [sic] for the safety of their communities,” he concluded. (Read more from “After Banning Confederate Flags, Amazon Decided to Sell This Shocking Item” HERE)

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China Reportedly Compiling ‘Facebook’ of US Government Employees

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official-facebook-logo-slideA private industry IT security firm tells Fox News that personal data stolen over the span of several high-profile U.S. cyber breaches is being indexed by China’s intelligence service into a massive Facebook-like network.

According to CrowdStrike founder Dmitri Alperovitch, Chinese hackers are using information gained from the breaches of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, as well as intrusions into the Anthem and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield health insurance networks, to build a complete profile of federal employees in what the company calls a “Facebook of Everything.”

“That can now be used to embarrass you publicly and force you to work for the Chinese government,” Alperovitch told Fox News. “It’s, in effect, a private version of Facebook with much more detail about your life than even Facebook has that the Chinese now have access to.” Current and former intelligence officials echoed the assessment.

As Fox News has reported, the most sensitive information stolen in the OPM breach was lifted from what is known as the Standard Form 86, or SF-86. The 127-page security clearance application is essentially a road map to your life. It contains highly detailed information on everything from where an applicant lived and worked, to personal references, family members, friends and associates, as well as drug history and intimate health information.

What’s startling is the fact that virtually all government employees and contractors who hold the top echelon of U.S. security clearances were impacted by the OPM breach, even the Director of the FBI. James Comey joked at an intelligence and national security summit last week that had his SF-86 been stored in a strongly encrypted database “maybe someone wouldn’t be reading it today.” (Read more from “China Reportedly Compiling ‘Facebook’ of US Government Employees” HERE)

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Watch What Happens Immediately After Michigan Town Denies Mosque Building Permit

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344897When a Michigan town planning commission voted unanimously to deny a permit to erect a large mosque, public demonstration soon followed. The majority of those who showed up to hear last week’s decision, though, supported the commissioners.

Many living in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights noted the increased Islamic presence in the region. The demographic shift in Michigan is unmistakable, with the Muslim population swelling to as high as 30 percent in cities like Dearborn.

Prior to the commission’s vote, a number of residents expressed their concern with building the 20,500-square-foot facility, specifically in its proposed residential location. Several opponents explained that their children are living in fear due to the news coverage of Islamic terror attacks, explaining that an increased Muslim presence in their neighborhood would only add to their stress.

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“You guys are forcing us out of this neighborhood,” one resident stated.

Many in the packed house applauded when another mosque opponent made it clear such a suspicious facility is not welcome in the community. (Read more from “Watch What Happens Immediately After Michigan Town Denies Mosque Building Permit” HERE)

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Caught off Guard: Floods in This State Kill at Least 16 People

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0916 Fatal Flash FloodS_20150915_232825At least 16 people have been killed in flash flooding in two locations in southern Utah, officials said late Tuesday.

Sgt. Brock Bentley of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said three additional bodies were found a day after two vehicles were washed away in floodwaters in a town of women and children at the Utah-Arizona border, bringing the total there to 12 dead, and one still missing.

Earlier in the day, rescue workers recovered the bodies of two people in Arizona, about two and a half miles downstream from where flood waters swept them away in southern Utah on Monday. Six other bodies had been recovered in Utah, officials said.

The Utah Division of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post that heavy rains caused the flash flooding at about 5 p.m. local time Monday in Hildale, approximately 315 miles south of Salt Lake City. The statement said a “large wall of water and debris” smashed into the vehicles, washing them and their occupants downstream.

The women and children were in two different cars, a full size van and an SUV, on a gravel road north of the towns, Hildale assistant fire chief Kevin Barlow said. It appears they were coming back from a park in the area, backing their cars up when the flash flood hit, he said. (Read more from “Caught off Guard: Floods in This State Kill at Least 16 People” HERE)

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U.S. Training Helped Mold Top Islamic State Military Commander

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ISIS-Omar_02The 15 Chechens looking to cross the border from Turkey to Syria didn’t strike Abdullah as particularly important or unusual.

It was early summer in 2012, and as a smuggler based in the Turkish border town of Killis, Abdullah, who’d fled his home village in Syria because of fighting on the outskirts of Aleppo, was used to secretive groups of foreigners – journalists, aid workers and many recently aspiring jihadists – hiring him to cross Turkish military lines at the border while avoiding what was then still a significant Syrian government presence in northern Syrian . . .

The 15 men had reached Abdullah through a network of contacts that were funneling new fighters to northern Syria, and Abdullah recalled they said they were going to Syria to assist in the fight against Assad. They were quiet, disciplined and for the most part spoke only a bit of crude formal Arabic.

Only later did Abdullah realize that the network that funneled these men to him was the beginnings of the Islamic State, and that one of the 15 would turn out to be the most important non-Arab figure in the Islamic State hierarchy, a former American-trained noncommissioned officer in the special forces of the nation of Georgia, who’d led his men heroically during the 2008 Russian invasion of his homeland . . .

But analysts of extremist groups said Batirashvili’s impact has been far greater than the small numbers of Muslims in Georgia would suggest. Since he swore allegiance to the Islamic State in 2013, thousands of Muslims from the Caucasus have flocked to Syria to join the extremist cause. (Read more from “U.S. Training Helped Mold Top Islamic State Military Commander” HERE)

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Republican Candidates Prepare to Hit Trump at Second Debate

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<> on August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio.The Republicans’ second presidential debate is shaping up to have all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster: drama, high-speed collisions and, of course, the fiery explosions. Donald Trump, of course, is getting the star billing at the CNN production.

The White House hopefuls are set to clash—and maybe crash—Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles for a pair of back-to-back forums, split among those who are polling atop the field and the also-rans. As with their first forums, all eyes will be focused on Trump, the brash billionaire who is leading polls and in potshots aimed at his rivals.

Inside rival campaigns, advisers are all trying to come up with a plan to deflate Trump. During the first debate, most tried to keep Trump at arm’s length and, with the exception of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, none tried to confront Trump on his thin record as a Republican. That approach worked for the first session, but it’s not a winning strategy going forward, especially with Trump outpacing more serious candidates in the polls by factors of three or four.

“We kept waiting for him to do himself in. That hasn’t happened, so it’s time to help that process along,” one adviser to a Trump rival said. Added a second campaign’s strategist: “If we don’t as a party change our posture, we’re looking at another President Clinton. Hillary will beat Donald Trump in 49 states if he’s our nominee. And I’m not sure she doesn’t pick up Texas, too.”

Ahead of the debate, to be held beside Reagan’s retired presidential airliner, candidates were already trying out their attacks. “If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then you are not going to be able to serve as commander and chief,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said, pointing to Trump’s struggle to answer questions about foreign policy. “There’s nothing behind the curtain,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says of Trump. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was even more direct, calling Trump a “madman.” (Read more from “Republican Candidates Prepare to Hit Trump at Second Debate” HERE)

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Texas Nationalists Reportedly Try to Get Secession Question Onto GOP Primary Ballot

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balloA group calling for Texas to secede from the United States and become an independent nation has launched an effort to get a question about independence onto next year’s Republican presidential primary ballot.

The Texas Tribune reports that the Texas Nationalist Movement has begun circulating a petition with the goal of getting 75,000 signatures by December 1, over 8,000 more than what the Texas Secretary of State’s office requires to put the question on the ballot.

The vote on whether Texas “should reassert its status as an independent nation”, in the words of the petition, would be non-binding and the state Republican party has already distanced itself from the group.

“Historically the executive committee of the Republican Party has chosen what goes on this,” spokesman Aaron Whitehead told the Tribune, “and it’s party preference that it stays that way.”

Texas was a Republic for nine years after gaining independence from Mexico before it was admitted to the Union in 1845. The state voted to secede in 1861 to join the Confederate States of America prior to the Civil War. Scholars told the Tribune that under the auspices of an 1869 Supreme Court ruling, Texas would not be able to secede from the U.S. again even if voters gave the go-ahead. (Read more from “Texas Nationalists Reportedly Try to Get Secession Question Onto GOP Primary Ballot” HERE)

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How Obama Bullies a Weak Republican Congress

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whitehouseobamatoastObama’s position has been straightforward, at least privately. He will do whatever he wants and no one will stop him. He has repeatedly defied Congress and the courts to do so.

While he plays the game of giving speech in which he demands that Congress do X or Y, it’s in practice shut out of the process. Here’s how it worked on the Iran Deal.

Obama made it clear to Democrats in Congress that he would implement the deal no matter what. The Republican leadership by now has gotten the message. The message is that Congressional voters are irrelevant. They don’t affect policy unless the dictator-in-chief allows them to.

That reduces all such votes to positioning. Gestures. Some are more meaningful than others, but barring impeachment proceedings, they don’t really matter.

Obama illegally allocates money, goes to war, makes treaties and makes appointments while bypassing the Senate. In such an environment, you either defy or you appear to defy. Compromise is irrelevant because Obama doesn’t compromise. Not even with fellow Democrats. (Read more from “How Obama Bullies a Weak Republican Congress” HERE)

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Poll: Illegal Aliens a Serious Problem

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immigration_5A poll conducted just ahead of the Labor Day weekend finds that the overwhelming majority of Americans view illegal immigration as a serious problem.

The poll, conducted by YouGov, surveyed 1,000 adult Americans asking them their opinions on issues surrounding the illegal immigration problem.

Despite ongoing media favoritism towards illegals 77% said illegal immigration was a problem, with 51% calling it very serious and 26% somewhat serious. Just 4% said illegal immigration was not a problem at all.

The poll saw no difference between men and women. Looking along racial lines, whites were most likely to call illegal immigration a serious problem at 80% compared to 74% of black Americans, but even 64% of Hispanic Americans called illegal immigration a serious problem for the country. (Read more from “Poll: Illegal Aliens a Serious Problem” HERE)

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