Now Arriving: Airport Control Towers With No Humans Inside

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Passengers landing at remote Ornskoldsvik Airport in northern Sweden might catch a glimpse of the control tower – likely unaware there is nobody inside.

The dozen commercial planes landing there each day are instead watched by cameras, guided in by controllers viewing the video at another airport 90 miles away.

Ornskoldsvik is the first airport in the world to use such technology. Others in Europe are testing the idea, as is one airport in the United States. While the majority of the world’s airports will, for some time, still have controllers on site, experts say unmanned towers are coming. They’ll likely first go into use at small and medium airports, but eventually even the world’s largest airports could see an array of cameras mounted on a pole replacing their concrete control towers. (Read more from “Now Arriving: Airport Control Towers With No Humans Inside” HERE)

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Penn State Removes Bibles From Hotel Rooms After Atheists Say They Encourage ‘Killing Nonbelievers,’ Gays

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Penn-State-BiblePenn State has removed Gideon Bibles from hotel rooms after a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) accused the Bibles of advocating the killings of nonbelievers.

“The bible [sic] calls for killing nonbelievers, apostates, gays, ‘stubborn sons,’ and women who are not virgins on their wedding nights,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement last week. “What is obnoxious in a private hotel, however, becomes inappropriate and unconstitutional in state-run lodgings.”

A spokesperson from the university has confirmed to Campus Reform that the Bibles have been removed from individual guest rooms following an inquiry from FFRF earlier in the summer.

“The decision to remove Bibles from individual guest rooms was made following questions from the Freedom From Religion Foundation,” Lisa Powers, director of strategic communications at Penn State told Campus Reform in an email. “It raised our awareness and we took the opportunity to review our hotel practices. We wish to be respectful of all religions, and also of those who have differing beliefs, yet we still want to make the publication available to those who desire to read it while staying with us.”

FFRF claims in their statement that Penn State officials confirmed to them that the Bibles have been removed from the two university-run inns, but Powers confirmed to Campus Reform that the Bibles can still be found by guests in public areas. (Read more from “Penn State Removes Bibles From Hotel Rooms After Atheists Say They Encourage ‘Killing Nonbelievers,’ Gays” HERE)

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Kentucky-Cop Killer Was Huge Obama Supporter, Attended Mike Brown’s Funeral

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KY-Trooper-Shot-640x480The Facebook page of Joseph Thompson Johnson-Shanks — the man who killed a Kentucky State Trooper Sunday night — shows that he was an Obama and Black Lives Matter supporter who attended Mike Brown’s funeral.

Kentucky trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was murdered by Johnson-Shanks after a traffic stop. Following an all-night manhunt, Johnson-Shanks was killed by the police after he refused to drop his weapon.

Johnson-Shanks ’s Facebook page is posted under the name Jay MileHigh and the header image features pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Mike Brown. A previous cover photo was a photo of Pres. Obama depicting him as Superman.

Originally from Florissant, near Ferguson, Missouri, Johnson-Shanks’s Facebook account shared numerous news stories, images and videos discussing race, police brutality and the Mike Brown shooting, as well as articles like “Weed Protects You From Ebola.” (Read more from “Kentucky-Cop Killer Was Huge Obama Supporter, Attended Mike Brown’s Funeral” HERE)

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$2,883,250,000,000: Federal Taxes Set Record Through August

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money-ap_photo-j_scott_applewhite-2The federal government raked in a record of approximately $2,883,250,000,000 in tax revenues through the first eleven months of fiscal 2015 (Oct. 1, 2014 through the end of August), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released Friday.

That equaled approximately $19,346 for every person in the country who had either a full-time or part-time job in August.

It is also up about $198,425,330,000 in constant 2015 dollars from the $2,684,824,670,000 in revenue (in inflation-adjusted 2015 dollars) that the Treasury raked in during the first eleven months of fiscal 2014.

Despite the record tax revenues of $2,883,250,000,000 in the first eleven months of this fiscal year, the government spent $3,413,210,000,000 in those eleven months, and, thus, ran up a deficit of $529,960,000,000 during the period.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total seasonally adjusted employment in the United States in August (including both full and part-time workers) was 149,036,000. That means that the federal tax haul so far this fiscal year has equaled $19,345.99 for every person in the United States with a job. (Read more from “$2,883,250,000,000: Federal Taxes Set Record Through August” HERE)

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Man Used Phone to Call 911 After Being Mauled by Bear in Alaska

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8.-Alaska-Bear-Viewing1A 62-year-old man used his cellphone to call 911 after he was mauled by a bear while walking a neighbor’s dog in Alaska woods, authorities said Monday.

Danny High of Funny River, Alaska, was in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg said his family doesn’t want details released about his injuries.

High didn’t have a gun or bear spray when he was attacked Sunday, authorities said. (Read more from “Man Used Phone to Call 911 After Being Mauled by Bear in Alaska” HERE)

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Watch: 9/11 Cheerleading Routine Goes Viral

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cheerleading1A high school cheerleading squad’s stunning 9/11 memorial routine, set to audio from the day of the attacks, went viral after being posted online (video below).

In a video of the routine, students at Lumberton High School in Lumberton, Texas, are seen beginning their routine with a dance set to the song, “God Bless the U.S.A.”

Next, the cheerleaders begin tumbling and cheering to audio of news reports from Sept. 11, 2001, when the twin towers fell in New York City. Audio of then-president George W. Bush making a statement on the attacks can be heard.

The video received mostly positive responses, with many praising the tribute as moving.

“Just watched the Lumberton cheerleader’s 9/11 performance and it gave me chills,” one viewer wrote. “That was awesome.” (Read more from “9/11 Cheerleading Routine Goes Viral” HERE)

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Bubonic Plague Case Confirmed in Michigan

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635778451378692012-bubonic-plagueA Michigan resident has contracted the rare, life-threatening bubonic plague — the first documented case in Michigan’s public health history, state officials confirmed.

The Marquette County adult is recovering after apparently contracting the flea-borne illness during a trip to Colorado. Officials are reassuring the public there is no cause for alarm, despite the disease’s connection to the microorganism that caused the Black Death plague in Europe in the 1300s, killing millions and reshaping history . . .

The bubonic plague, in fact, is notably marked by one or more swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes, usually in the groin, armpit or neck.

With the bubonic plague, people are most often infected by bites from infected fleas or when they have direct contact with the tissues or body fluids from an infected animal. The highest risk is in settings that offer food and shelter for rodents — campsites and cabins, for example, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

The Michigander’s case did not develop into the more contagious pneumonic form of the plague. Pneumonic plague may be passed between humans, infecting the lungs and causing a rapidly developing pneumonia that can lead to respiratory failure and shock, according to the CDC. (Read more from “Bubonic Plague Case Confirmed in Michigan” HERE)

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Hunting Show Host Charged With Poaching in Alaska

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alaska-hunt-areaThe host of the Sportsman Channel hunting show “The Syndicate” was charged Monday with two felonies related to poaching in northwest Alaska.

Karen Loeffler, the U.S. attorney in Alaska, said at a news conference that grizzly bears, moose, caribou and Dall sheep were illegally killed in the Noatak National Preserve with the illegal kills ending up on the cable television show.

“The charges show five years of documented, illegal take of wildlife involving over two dozen big game animals,” Loeffler said. (Read more from “Hunting Show Host Charged With Poaching in Alaska” HERE)

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Watch: Reagan’s Son Makes Stunning Announcement About His Father and Trump- Not What Many Wanted to Hear

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Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C Groundbreaking CeremonyMany people are comparing Donald Trump to late president Ronald Reagan, but according to his son Michael Reagan, these comparisons are unfounded.

The son of the late president talked about his distaste for the Trump campaign and the American people’s enthralled reaction to the billionaire in a series of regular interviews with Newsmax over the summer. Reagan said his father really believed in what he called the “11th Commandment,” which is “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

Reagan said Trump does nothing but attacks and his father would be shocked.

“My father would be appalled,” Reagan said. “On behalf of my father and the Reagan family to see someone like this who just personally attacks people time and time and time again is absolutely appalling to me and I hope all the voters start to see through Donald Trump and the kind of candidate that he his and the kind of president he may end up being.”

He said the constant attacks is doing nothing for the political system because it isn’t allowing people to be informed on issues that matter. Reagan said that includes himself.

“I don’t like and I don’t appreciate the things he says about Jeb Bush, or what he says about Gov. Perry or anybody else. I want to hear what he’s going to do and when he tells us what he’s going to do, I can be for or against it,” Reagan said. (Read more from “Watch: Reagan’s Son Makes Stunning Announcement About His Father and Trump- Not What Many Wanted to Hear” HERE)

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How Jeb Bush Would’ve Saved $3M With His Own Tax Plan

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102986166-IMG_5393r.530x298All kinds of people will have lower taxes if Jeb Bush gets his way with the tax code—especially those who earn the sort of money the candidate himself has.

In fact, a Big Crunch analysis of the most recent six years of Bush’s tax returns available suggest he would have saved more than $3 million, had his proposals had been enacted at the time.

In 2013 alone, the most recent year available, Bush would have saved nearly $800,000 of the nearly $3 million he paid the federal government in taxes. Most of that would have come from wages and business, which account for 91 percent of his total taxable income.

In June, Bush released 33 years of tax returns—more than any other major presidential candidate in history. The returns show his business growth as a real estate player in Florida, the drop in income when he took office as governor, and sky-rocketing income as a consultant and speaker in the years since leaving office.

“On the top end you have businesses that allow you to take a lot of expense deductions that the lower end doesn’t have,” said Timothy Gagnon, faculty director for the MST and MSA online programs at Northeastern University. “If I’m an average guy and I buy the Boston Globe, I just pay for it, but if I need the Boston Globe to keep up with business affairs, I get to deduct it.” (Read more from “How Jeb Bush Would’ve Saved $3M With His Own Tax Plan” HERE)

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