Ancient Human Fossils Found in African Cave Astonish Scientists, Reflect Intentional Burial

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635774192580235042-06-ngm-1015-MM8345-mystery-man-robert-clarkThe two amateur cavers had to feel their way along the cave’s winding passages, crawl on their stomachs through an opening less than 10 inches high, ascend a jagged wall, cross a narrow ledge dubbed the “Dragon’s Back,” and make a 400-foot descent, sideways, through a vertical crack before finally arriving at the prize: a 30-foot-long chamber probably between 2 million and 3 million years old.

American paleoanthropologist Lee Berger had asked the men to keep their eyes open for fossils, though the well-explored cave at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa had given up most of its treasures decades ago.

What they found in September 2013 nearly took their breath away: fossil fragments of a relative of the human species, and a cache of bones and teeth buried in ancient clay that would eventually number more than 1,500 — the largest hominin fossil discovery of its kind in Africa. . .

Although the fragments have not yet been dated, the scientists said they could well represent one of the most primitive members of the genus Homo, which includes today’s humans.

Perhaps more remarkable, they added, was that the pieces belonged to at least 15 individuals of the same species — men, women, children and infants — and all of them appeared to have been deliberately placed there after death. The implication was as astonishing as the initial discovery: It suggested the ritualized disposal of bodies. (Read more from “Ancient Human Fossils Found in African Cave Astonish Scientists” HERE)

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O’Keefe Strikes Again: Undercover Video Suggests Hillary Campaign Violating Law

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clinton (1)An undercover video published Thursday by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas purports to show Nevada-based Hillary Clinton campaign staffers and volunteers ignoring and knowingly violating Nevada’s voter registration laws. Moreover, the video appears to show that this conduct is being condoned and encouraged by a local attorney who works for the Clinton campaign.

According to the video, it is a felony in the state of Nevada for anyone involved in the voter registration process to “solicit a vote for or against a particular question or candidate; speak to a voter on the subject of marking his or her ballot for or against a particular question or candidate.”

The video appears to show that numerous Hillary Clinton campaign staffers are well aware of the law. Nevertheless, the video shows them laughing at the law and repeatedly bragging about violating it by promoting Hillary Clinton verbally and with campaign literature as they attempt to register potential voters . . .

According to the video, when the attorney in question, identified as Christina Gupana, was told about this alleged lawbreaking, she advised the staffers to, “Do whatever you can. Whatever you can get away with, just do it, until you get kicked out like totally.” (Read more from “O’Keefe Strikes Again: Undercover Video Purports to Hillary Campaign Violating Law” HERE)

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Watch: ‘Siri’ Interrupts White House Press Briefing, Answers Iran Question

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gty_iphone_siri_jp_113011_wg“Siri” tried to butt in on Thursday’s White House press briefing.

The virtual iPhone personal assistant unexpectedly interjected when a reporter was asking Press Secretary Josh Earnest about the Iran nuclear deal, and whether President Obama was “upset” he couldn’t get any Republicans on board.

A virtual voice could be heard in the room answering: “Sorry, I’m not sure what you want me to change.” (Read more from “‘Siri’ Interrupts White House Press Briefing, Answers Iran Question” HERE)

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UTTER INSANITY: San Francisco Jails to House Transgender Inmates Based on Gender Preference

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Screen-Shot-2015-03-31-at-5.12.29-PMBy the end of the year, San Francisco’s county jails will be among the first in the nation to house transgender inmates by their gender preference, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi said Thursday.

Currently, San Francisco County puts transgender inmates in an isolated wing of its downtown jail facility. But under the policy announced Thursday, Mirkarimi said, he hopes to have transgender inmates living with their preferred population before 2016.

But transgender inmates who choose to remain in segregated housing or to continue living with other inmates who share the gender they were assigned at birth can do so, according to Kenya Briggs, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office . . .

Inmates who seek to have their housing status changed will be subject to a review process, but Mirkarimi said housing decisions will not be solely based on an inmate having gender reassignment surgery or a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

“It’s not going to be based on genitalia alone. We will have an advisory committee, experts that help represent the transgender population,” he said. “There will be complicated incidences where we’ll have to decide if this is the proper fit or not.” (Read more from “San Francisco Jails to House Transgender Inmates Based on Gender Preference” HERE)

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Poll: Donald Trump Surges to 32% Support

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Donald-Trump-smiling1By Jennifer Agiesta. Donald Trump has become the first Republican presidential candidate to top 30% support in the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, which finds the businessman pulling well away from the rest of the GOP field.

Trump gained 8 points since August to land at 32% support, and has nearly tripled his support since just after he launched his campaign in June. The new poll finds former neurosurgeon Ben Carson rising 10 points to land in second place with 19%. Together, these two non-politicians now hold the support of a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, and separately, both are significantly ahead of all other competitors.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stands in third place with 9%, down 4 points since August, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz holds fourth place with 7%. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker follow at 5%, with all other candidates at 3% or less, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who notched the only other statistically significant shift in the poll by falling 5 points since August.

Trump’s gains come most notably among two groups that had proven challenging for him in the early stages of his campaign — women and those with college degrees. While he gained just 4 points among men in the last month (from 27% in August to 31% now), he’s up 13 points among women, rising from 20% in August to 33% now. Trump has also boosted his share of the vote among college graduates, increasing his support among those with degrees from 16% in August to 28% now. Among those without degrees, he stands at 33%, just slightly higher than the 28% support he had in August.

Trump has also catapulted ahead of the rest of the field among Republicans who back the tea party movement, from 27% support in August to 41% now. Among that group in the new poll, Carson follows with 21%, and Cruz, another candidate with an anti-Washington message, holds third with 11%. No other candidate tops 5% among tea partiers. (Read more from “Poll: Donald Trump Surges to 32% Support” HERE)

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Front-Runner Status Challenged? Polls Show Clinton Trailing Sanders in Iowa, NH

By Fox News. Just days after a New Hampshire poll showed Hillary Clinton slipping further behind Bernie Sanders in the vital early primary state, a fresh survey shows the Vermont senator narrowly edging ahead of her in Iowa as well.

The Quinnipiac University poll shows Sanders leading Clinton 41-40 percent.

The results are well within the margin of error and represent a virtual tie in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. But together, the polling in New Hampshire and Iowa indicates Clinton’s front-runner status is now being challenged in the primary season’s two lead-off contests.

“Obviously the campaign is delighted,” Sanders Press Secretary Lilia A. Chacon said in a statement. “People and Iowans are responding to a message based on issues. The more people know about Bernie the more they like him.”

The Clinton campaign is stressing that they always thought this would be a “close race.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Two out of Three Hispanics Oppose Immigration Increase

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border-protest-AP-640x480Two out of three Hispanics oppose the establishment’s campaign to increase the annual inflow of migrants into the United States., according to an Aug. 20 report by Gallup . . .

[This is] bad news for Jeb Bush, who claims he can boost the one-in-four Hispanic support for the GOP by inviting more foreign blue-collar and college-graduates to compete for the jobs sought by American Hispanics . . .

Sixty-four percent of each group of Hispanics want migration to be reduced or leveled, said Gallup, which released the report under a misleading headline, “U.S. Support for Increased Immigration Up to 25%.”

Twenty-six percent of self-identified Hispanics born in the United States, all of whom can vote, want legal migration to be reduced. However, the percentage of Hispanics opposing increases may be much higher, partly because a growing number of Hispanics now identify themselves as core white Americans . . .

A late-August poll by Rasmussen showed that 54 percent of whites, 38 percent of blacks, and 42 percent of “others,” most of whom are Hispanics, believe illegal immigration is “very serious.” An additional 51 percent of blacks, and 29 percent of “others,” say illegal immigration is “somewhat serious.” (Read more from “Two out of Three Hispanics Oppose Immigration Increase” HERE)

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ISIS’ Second-In-Command on Kayla Mueller: ‘Her Stupid Government, We Killed Her’

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Kayla MuellerKayla Mueller, the American humanitarian aid worker held captive by the Islamic State, was killed by the terrorist group despite previous reports that she died in a Jordanian airstrike, according to another hostage.

BBC reported that a Yazidi woman held as a “slave” by now-deceased Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) second-in-command Hajji Mutazz said the terrorist group was responsible for Mueller’s death.

While it was previously reported that Mueller was repeatedly raped by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the terrorist group has alleged that the American hostage was killed in a building destroyed by Jordanian airstrikes.

However, according to the since-escaped Yazidi woman, Amshe, the IS second-in-command informed her that Baghdadi killed Mueller when he was finished abusing her . . .

“We killed her because she is an American,” he allegedly continued. “If Obama wanted to he could tell Bashar [al-Assad, the Syrian president] to stop bombing us. Ten of our women and children die every day. This is our revenge. We will kill any American citizen we capture. If any Western government refuses to put pressure on Bashar, we will kill their citizens too.” (Read more from “ISIS’ Second-In-Command on Kayla Mueller: ‘Her Stupid Government, We Killed Her'” HERE)

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China: USA Must Take More Syrian Refugees; We’ll Take Zero, Thanks

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ap_ap-photo298-e1441850714519-640x480“The United States should take its responsibility in the disheartening refugee crisis in Europe as its controversial Middle East policies resulted in wars and chaos that displaced large numbers of people,” hectors China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua.

They dwell on the photo of the drowned Syrian toddler — who was not in the process of fleeing from Syria when he died — and the horrid deaths of 70 refugees in a smuggler’s truck in Austria.

China is not generally noted for its genial indulgence of lawbreakers, especially when there are national security implications, but it expects the United States to throw caution to the winds. “Even though it has remained relatively ‘quiet’ on this matter, the United States actually has an inescapable responsibility on what happens today in Europe and the Middle East,” Xinhua pontificates . . .

If you’re waiting for some massive groundswell of public sympathy for refugees to change the Chinese Politburo’s mind about settling some Syrians in their territory, the Hong Kong Free Press notes that the Chinese public is “overwhelmingly against the idea,” because they think “China is not responsible for turbulence in the Middle East, many Chinese people are still living in poverty and that the refugees won’t want to come to China anyway.”

That latter point sounds pretty dismal, and indeed some Chinese spoke poorly of their own nation, with one arguing that “China cannot provide refuge, because we the Chinese look more like refugees”… but others pointed out the refugees were more interested in migrating to the generous welfare states of Europe. (Read more from “China: USA Must Take More Syrian Refugees; We’ll Take Zero, Thanks” HERE)

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New York Times Launches Congress ‘Jew Tracker’

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Earns New York TimesThe New York Times has come under fire from Jewish organizations for launching a website aimed at tracking how Jewish lawmakers are voting on the Iran nuclear agreement.

The online chart, which tracks whether lawmakers who opposes the accord are Jewish, is being criticized as anti-Semitic in nature and an attempt to publicly count where Jews fall on the issue, which some have sought to turn into a debate about dual loyalty to Israel.

The feature, titled “Lawmakers Against the Iran Nuclear Deal,” includes a list of legislators currently opposing the deal.

Critics say the chart feeds into a larger narrative promulgated by the Obama administration that Jewish Americans oppose the deal because they feel that it would endanger Israel. The issue of dual loyalty—or claims that lawmakers are more loyal to Israel than America—has become a trademark criticism of administration supporters seeking to discredit opponents of the Iran deal.

“Though more Jewish members of Congress support the deal than oppose it, the Democrats against the deal are more likely to be Jewish or represent Jewish constituencies,” the Times writes on the site. (Read more from “New York Times Launches Congress ‘Jew Tracker'” HERE)

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Latest Military Lab Concerns Involve Plague Bacteria, Deadly Viruses

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081228-bacteria-art-02The Pentagon’s most secure laboratories may have mislabeled, improperly stored and shipped samples of potentially infectious plague bacteria, which can cause several deadly forms of disease, USA TODAY has learned.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flagged the practices after inspections last month at an Army lab in Maryland, one of the Pentagon’s most secure labs. That helped prompt an emergency ban on research on all bioterror pathogens at nine laboratories run by the Pentagon, which was already reeling from revelations that another Army lab in Utah had mishandled anthrax samples for 10 years . . .

Moreover, officials point out that continuing testing has shown the suspect samples of plague contain a weakened version, and not the fully virulent form that was of concern to lab regulators at the CDC.

There is no danger to the public from the plague and encephalitis specimens found in the labs, said Army spokesman Dov Schwartz. After extensive testing, no danger has been found to scientists and researchers who have worked with the vials, he said. Final test results are expected by the end of the month.

However, for the first time since the scandal broke in May about an Army lab’s botched handling of anthrax, the Pentagon is now acknowledging that worries now extend to other lethal agents that it studies. In addition to the plague samples and some additional anthrax specimens, the CDC has raised concerns about military labs’ handling of specimens created from two potentially deadly viruses that are also classified as bioterror pathogens: Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and Eastern equine encephalitis virus, which can cause rare but serious illnesses in people, including deadly inflammation of the brain. (Read more from “Latest Military Lab Concerns Involve Plague Bacteria, Deadly Viruses” HERE)

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