Pilot Spots Large Object off Reunion, Aviation Authorities Say

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150805141042-07-reunion-island-debris-0730-exlarge-169Nearly two months after debris from the vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 washed up on Reunion Island, a large object reportedly floating off the island has piqued the interest of French officials there.

An Air France pilot reported seeing “a white object” floating in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday morning about 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of the French island, said Siva Vadivelou, assistant director of the French Civil Aviation Authority on Reunion.

The Air France flight was at an altitude of 3,000 meters, or about 9,800 feet, the office of the island’s prefect said. Because of the altitude, “it must be a voluminous object for the pilot to see it,” Vadivelou said.

Authorities diverted a merchant ship to the area and flew an aircraft over it at low altitude, but nothing was found Tuesday, according to the prefect’s office.

French investigators said this month that debris that washed up on the island in July — an airplane flaperon — was from MH370, a Boeing 777 that disappeared with 239 people aboard in March 2014 while on a flight scheduled from Malaysia to China. (Read more from “Pilot Spots Large Object off Reunion, Aviation Authorities Say” HERE)

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Vet Group Hosting Trump Lost Nonprofit Status

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Donald TrumpThe Internal Revenue Service revoked the nonprofit status of the veterans benefit organization that hosted and sold tickets to a foreign policy speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump aboard a retired U.S. battleship, The Associated Press has learned. The group’s endorsement of Trump at the event also could raise legal problems under campaign finance laws.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions from the AP about whether it was aware that the IRS had revoked the nonprofit status of the Veterans for a Strong America, which sold tickets to Trump’s event for up to $1,000 as a fundraiser. The IRS issued its decision Aug. 10, citing the group’s failure to file any tax returns for three consecutive years, according to IRS records reviewed by the AP.

The group’s chairman, Joel Arends of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said the organization was appealing the IRS decision. He would not provide AP with copies of any tax returns, which would show how much money the group has collected over the years and how it spends its money. By law, such records are supposed to be available to the general public for inspection. (Read more from “Vet Group Hosting Trump Lost Nonprofit Status” HERE)

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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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