Obama Joins Israel Boycott, Labels West Bank Goods

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In a step towards joining an Israel boycott, the U.S. is now requiring goods originating from the West Bank (also known as Judea and Samaria) to be labeled separately from products from the rest of Israel, following the European Union’s crackdown on products from the disputed territories.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has issued new mandates requiring that West Bank products not be marked “Israel,” citing a notice from the year 1997 that offers such instructions.

The memo from DHS, titled, “West Bank Country of Origin Marking Requirements,” reads:

“The purpose of this message is to provide guidance to the trade community regarding the country of origin marking requirements for goods that are manufactured in the West Bank.”

According to the instructions, “It is not acceptable to mark” goods from the West Bank as having been from “Israel,” “Made in Israel,” or from “Occupied Territories-Israel.” (Read more from “Obama Joins Israel Boycott, Labels West Bank Goods” HERE)

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Stealth Influence in Governor’s Office Includes Carlyle Group, Rogoff

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A KTUU investigative report shows that Governor Bill Walker is not actually implementing a hiring freeze in his own office.

Instead, he’s using high-priced consultants in pricey no-bid contracts to convince lawmakers and the public about his plans for taxes and his “sovereign wealth fund.”

One of the most interesting aspects of the report reveals the involvement in the deep workings of the Governor’s Office by Alaska Dispatch Publisher Alice Rogoff, raising the question now being asked in the halls of the Capitol: Shouldn’t Rogoff be registered as a lobbyist, considering the ongoing, documented influence she has had over the Executive branch?

Rogoff has met with the governor dozens of times in the last year, and has communicated with him by email and text, according to our sources.

She is not registered as a lobbyist, although she has been pushing for Walker’s “sovereign wealth fund” and advancing her Arctic port project with her family’s Carlyle Group connections.

Carlyle is the No. 1 private equity company in the world. Rogoff’s husband, David Rubenstein, manages a portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund through Carlyle, which he co-founded.

The laws governing lobbyists are clear. Since Rogoff has substantial financial interest in the Permanent Fund through The Carlyle Group, and since she has inserted herself into the restructuring of the fund, she has a conflict of interest. However, because she purchased a newspaper, she may have found a loophole to exclude herself from having to register as a lobbyist because of the “newspaper” clause.

“This may be something the Legislature wants to take up, because the influence of one person who owns the major media in the state, and now appears to be working extremely closely with the governor on restructuring our state’s savings account challenges the very concept of transparency that our laws seek to protect,” said Suzanne Downing, communication director of the Alaska Republican Party.

“Transparency is not something Governor Walker has become very good at,” Downing said. “Will he get there — or will he continue to try to fool all the people, all the time?”

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Doubts That the Holocaust Occurred

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By Jerusalem Post. Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday once again repeated provocative assertions about the Holocaust, defying the world on a day that it paused to remember the victims of the Nazi genocide in Europe.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released a video in which he said America “assists the fake Zionist regime” and that when “they say in their slogans that they are opposed to terrorism and ISIS they are lying,” according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Of the Holocaust, Khamenei remarked: “It is not clear whether the core of this matter is a reality or not. Even if it is a reality, it is not clear how it happened…This is the ignorance that exists in today’s world. We should be awake. [Muslims] should know that we can stand up against the ignorance.” “Who assists the fake Zionist regime,” Khamenei says in the video. “Who supports them, who clears the road for them, who stands behind them.”

“It is Western powers headed by America that are doing so. This is while they say in their slogans that they are opposed to terrorism and ISIS.” (Read more from “Iran’s Supreme Leader Doubts That the Holocaust Occurred” HERE)

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Obama Says ‘We Are All Jews’

By Eric Cortellessa. US President Barack Obama joined members of the American Jewish community Wednesday night for a ceremony honoring four individuals who were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, an honorific bestowed by the State of Israel on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews in the Holocaust.

The ceremony at the Israeli Embassy in Washington was the first of its kind to be held in the United States, and thus the first to be addressed by a sitting US president. Held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Obama said the unusual gathering was to “make real the call to ‘never forget.’”

Mere months after a tumultuous showdown with Israel’s government over his signature foreign policy priority — an Iranian nuclear accord that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blasted as a “historic mistake” that poses an existential threat to Israel — Obama sought to showcase the US’s enduring ties with the Jewish state, undergirded by a genuine solicitude for the Jewish people.

“We are all Jews,” he said, paying homage to one of the four individuals being honored.

Americans Roddie Edmonds of Knoxville, Tennessee; Lois Gunden of Goshen, Indiana; and Polish citizens Walery and Maryla Zbijewski of Warsaw were the four recognized by Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust remembrance and education organization. (Read more from “Obama Says ‘We Are All Jews'” HERE)

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Zika Virus Could Become ‘Explosive Pandemic’

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By BBC. US scientists have urged the World Health Organisation to take urgent action over the Zika virus, which they say has “explosive pandemic potential”.

Writing in a US medical journal, they called on the WHO to heed lessons from the Ebola outbreak and convene an emergency committee of disease experts.

They said a vaccine might be ready for testing in two years but it could be a decade before it is publicly available.

Zika, linked to shrunken brains in children, has caused panic in Brazil.

Thousands of people have been infected there and it has spread to some 20 countries. (Read more from “Zika Virus Could Become ‘Explosive Pandemic'” HERE)

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Scientists Plan to Use Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes to Fight the Spread of Zika Virus

By Drew Prindle. If you’ve been paying attention to the news for the past week, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the recent Zika virus outbreak by now. The virus, which is currently spreading across the Americas, has been linked to a rare birth defect known as microencephaly, a condition in which infants are born with abnormally small heads and brains. Since the outbreak, there’s been a sizable uptick in infants born with this condition. The World Health Organization estimates that as many as 4 million people could be infected with the virus — and to make matters worse, there’s currently no vaccine to help stop it from spreading.

But all is not lost. Biologists are taking a bold new approach to stop the virus from spreading any further. Rather than developing a new vaccine or keeping mosquito populations at bay with insecticides, biotech firm Oxitec plans to fight the spread of Zika by deploying swarms of genetically engineered mosquitoes that will prevent virus-carrying bugs from multiplying.

The science behind it all is immensely complicated, but the overall idea is actually pretty easy to grasp. Basically, Oxitec has created a genetically modified breed of the Aedes aegypti mosquito — the species that is primarily responsible for spreading the Zika virus. This GM version (called OX513A), has been engineered to carry a gene that causes offspring to die before they reach reproductive age. When Oxitec releases these OX513A mosquitoes into the wild, they mate with females and produce offspring that never fully mature — eventually leading to a sizable reduction in the Aedes aegypti populaiton, and (hopefully) a noticeable decrease in the spread of the Zika virus. (Read more from “Scientists Plan to Use Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes to Fight the Spread of Zika Virus” HERE)

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Look What Donald Trump Has Donated to Charities Over the Last Five Years

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With GOP candidate Donald Trump bowing out of tonight’s Fox News debate, he’s been the talk of the town. I know what you’re thinking. When hasn’t he been, right?

I know how you feel. You either love him or you hate him.

Well a photo is making its way around the Internet that might actually boost him just a touch with those who aren’t quite ready to jump on the Trump train.

It’s a picture of his personal finances and shows how much money he’s given to charities over the last five years.

It’s a pretty substantial amount. (Read more from “Look What Donald Trump Has Donated to Charities Over the Last Five Years” HERE)

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US Schools Get Failing Grade for Financial Literacy Education

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The number of states that require high school students to complete a course in economics has dropped over the last two years, and mandates for personal finance education in the upper grades remain stagnant, a new survey shows.

The biennial Survey of the States by the Council for Economic Education, released exclusively to CNBC.com, found 20 states currently mandate that high school students take economics — two fewer than in 2014.

There has been no change since then in the number of states that require standardized testing of economic concepts. Currently, 16 states require testing, which is down significantly from 25 in 1998.

At the same time, the Council for Economic Education survey found the number of states that require high school students to take a course in personal finance has remained unchanged at 17 since 2014 . . .

Yet from a historical perspective, some progress has been made. Forty-five states now include personal finance in their K–12 standards, up from 21 in 1998. (Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming and the District of Columbia still do not.) (Read more from “US Schools Get Failing Grade for Financial Literacy Education” HERE)

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FBI’s Video of LaVoy Finicum Killing Raises More Questions Than It Answers

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UPDATE: Over 24 hours after the incident in question, and after repeated demands by websites like Restoring Liberty, the FBI finally released a video of what allegedly happened during the LaVoy Finicum killing. However, neither audio nor video from the numerous officers on the ground was released. Here’s an enhanced video – from the FBI’s aerial recording – of the shooting:

As you watch the video, keep in mind that LaVoy Finicum wore his pistol on his right hip, as depicted here:

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Attorney KrisAnne Hall: LaVoy Finnicum, “Summarily Executed”

KrisAnne Hall, the legal advisor for the Coalition of Western States, was interviewed today on The Joe Miller Show. Ms. Hall, who was just in Burns, Oregon this last week teaching several constitutional law courses, spoke with protesters present at the refuge. She also discussed what happened regarding LaVoy Finicum’s shooting with Ammon Bundy’s sister.

Ms. Hall states that no shots were fired by any of the protesters, but that there were multiple shots fired by federal agents at the protesters’ car. She characterized the stop as an “ambush.” Additionally, Ms. Hall states that LaVoy Finicum was “summarily executed.”

Ms. Hall asks, “Does the federal government have the right to execute these people” without due process? Listen to the full interview here:


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LaVoy Finicum’s Daughter Says Her Dad Was Murdered

From LaVoy Finicum’s daughter’s (Thara Tenney’s) Facebook page:

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Interview With Victoria Sharps Who Claims She Was Present in the Vehicle at the Time of the Shooting

Watch: Rand Paul Just Dissed Trump in a Major Way – It Has to Do With the Debate Boycott

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By Susan Jones. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says the Republican Party is better off having Donald Trump off the debate stage Thursday night:

“You know, I think Donald Trump taking his ball and going home — there’s absolutely no risk. It’s an improvement to the debate. The IQ of the debate went up a couple dozen points,” Paul told Fox News on Wednesday.

“And I think it’s probably a good thing for the party. It shows sort of his delusions of grandeur, that he think he gets to dictate everything. He thinks he’s already elected himself king. So I’d say good riddance, and I’d say we’re going to have a much better debate.”

Trump announced Wednesday night that he would not take part in the Fox-hosted debate Thursday in Des Moines. He objects to having Megyn Kelly as a debate moderator, after she questioned his treatment of women — and his temperment to be president — in the first debate last August.

Fox News refused to remove Kelly as a moderator, and in the back-and-forth, the cable network jabbed Trump Wednesday night in a statement, saying: “We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.” (Read more from “Rand Paul Just Dissed Trump in a Major Way – It Has to Do With the Debate Boycott” HERE)

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Trump Refuses to Reconsider Debate in Fiery Fox Interview

By Jonathan Easley. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday night lashed out at Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in his first appearance on the network since he announced he’d boycott the next GOP debate.

He also refused to reconsider his decision to sit out the network’s Thursday night debate – the last before the Iowa caucuses in five days – and said he’d move forward with his own competing event to raise money for wounded veterans.

Speaking on “The O’Reilly Factor,” Trump continued his long-running feud with Kelly, who he has been criticizing ever since she challenged him on his past derogatory remarks about women at the first GOP debate in August.

“I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly,” Trump said. “I don’t think she’s good at what she does and I think she’s highly overrated. And frankly, she’s a moderator; I thought her question last time was ridiculous.”

Kelly is also set to moderate Thursday night’s debate on Fox News. (Read more from “Trump Refuses to Reconsider Debate in Fiery Fox Interview” HERE)

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HIDDEN CAMERA: Buying Machine Guns Without Background Checks?

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If you’re a leftist who believes other leftists, it’s probable you think guns (even fully automatic ones) can easily be purchased without a background check. You hold this notion for a simple reason: your leftist leaders in political circles reaching as high as the White House, say such silly things as “Guns are easier to buy than books.” A myth which is as true as receiving a college scholarship from the tooth fairy.

To prove how wrong leftists are about guns, we took a hidden camera to gun shows and gun dealers. We tried weaseling through the “gun show loophole” and even tried getting automatic weapons without background checks. It went as well as anyone who’s ever purchased a gun legally would expect it to go.

Highlights:

Nobody was able, nor willing, to sell us a fully automatic weapon. The lengthy process is described in the video. It’s not easy. It’s actually really, really hard.

The gun show loophole is a myth. What Obama and Bernie are referring to are already illegal practices, as seen by the hilarious reactions of gun salesman at the gun shows.

There is no way to purchase a firearm at a qualified store without a background check. It doesn’t happen. Again, watch the hilarious video.

We’ve already covered how the gun show loophole was a giant myth and a distraction, but this realllly puts it into perspective. Guns are not easy to buy. Guns are so difficult to buy, we nearly got arrested for trying to buy guns the way Obama says people by guns. Which means, Obama is, as we already knew, a giant lair. He hates your Second Amendment rights almost as much as he hates people who work for a living. (For more from the author of “HIDDEN CAMERA: Buying Machine Guns Without Background Checks?” please click HERE)

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Ammon Bundy Urges Protesters to Leave Refuge

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Oregon militia leader Ammon Bundy is urging his followers at a wildlife refuge near Burns, Ore., to leave, according to a statement released by his attorney.

Bundy’s lawyer, Mike Arnold, read a statement by Bundy, arrested Tuesday, on the steps of a courthouse in Portland.

“Right now, I am asking the federal government to allow the people at the refuge to go home without being prosecuted,” the statement read. “To those remaining at the refuge, I love you. Let us take this fight from here. Please stand down. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now in the courts. Please go home.”

The statement also paid tribute to Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, the protester who died on Tuesday, as federal and state authorities arrested Bundy and seven others during a traffic stop on Highway 395 between the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge refuge and John Day, Oregon. Bundy and the protesters had holed up at the refuge since Jan. 2. Authorities said the arrests came after futile efforts to end the standoff peacefully for 25 days.

As of 8:15 p.m. PT, it was unclear if any of the protesters had left. But several armored law enforcement vehicles arrived at that time and told media members to leave the area. (Read more from “Ammon Bundy Urges Protesters to Leave Refuge” HERE)

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