Hundreds of Troops Participate in Homeland Response Drill Across 7 States

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militaryBy Poststar.com. Nearly 600 Army and Air National Guard forces from New Jersey and New York are preparing for the worst.

They are participating in a homeland response force drill at New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Friday. (Read more from “Nearly 600 Troops Participate in Homeland Response Drill” HERE)

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Big Spring Invites Army to Conduct Special Ops Training in City

By Julia Deng. A large-scale military exercise set to run from July 15 to November 15 has sparked rampant conspiracy theories involving everything from Walmart to martial law.

The Special Operations mission, called Jade Helm 15, is just another training opportunity to “practice core special warfare tasks,” according to United States Army representatives.

“The size and scope of Jade Helm sets this one apart,” said Army Special Operations Command officials. “To stay ahead of environment challenges faced overseas, Jade Helm will take place across seven states… The diverse terrain in these states replicates areas Special Operations Soldiers regularly find themselves operating in overseas.”

Special Operations Forces will only train in five states: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

According to Jade Helm operations planners, training will only be conducted on private and public land with the permission of landowners or regional authorities. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Thousands of Iraqis Flee as Islamic State Makes Gains in Sunni Heartland

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ISIS man with flagThousands of families fleeing Iraq’s western city of Ramadi choked checkpoints leading to Baghdad on Friday, after an Islamic State advance spread panic and left security forces clinging to control.

A column of traffic several vehicles wide snaked for miles at a checkpoint in Sadr al-Yusufiyah, on the edge of Baghdad province, as minibuses, cars and trucks picked up families who crossed by foot carrying their possessions in bags and wheelbarrows. Suhaib al-Rawi, the governor of Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital, described it as a human disaster on a scale the city has never witnessed.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned that the city is at risk of falling to the Islamic State despite seven months of airstrikes by U.S. planes in Anbar. Such a loss would be a serious blow to Iraq’s government, which recently announced a military campaign for the province after retaking the militant stronghold of Tikrit, and to the international effort to push back the militant group, whose gains in Ramadi have demonstrated an ability to create chaos even while under pressure.

That resilience was further underscored in the Kurdish city of Irbil on Friday, where the Islamic State was suspected of carrying out a car bombing near the U.S. Consulate. Faced with the expanding crisis on his return Friday from Washington, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered immediate reinforcements to Ramadi amid claims that some Iraqi security forces had withdrawn.

“The situation is critical right now,” Rawi said of the teetering security in Ramadi. “Such a large wave of displacement has never happened in the history of the city.” (Read more from “Thousands of Iraqis Flee as Islamic State Makes Gains in Sunni Heartland” HERE)

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Police Shoot Pregnant Woman in Stomach With AR-15 [+video]

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downloadThe footage in this story shows the fatal shooting of Jeanetta Riley. Riley, 35, was killed by Sandpoint, Idaho police after they were called to a hospital where she had been treated for mental health problems.

The department has cleared its officers “of any criminal wrongdoing,” claiming that they followed all proper procedures when they chose to use an AR-15 rifle on the mentally ill, pregnant woman who was holding a knife.

The officers could have used less-than-lethal weapons, like a taser, but instead they chose not only a firearm, but an AR-15 when they approached her outside of Bonner General Hospital.

The police can be heard on the video telling Riley to show her hands . . .

She does not charge or approach the officers. They clearly are in no immediate danger. They clearly had no need to shoot at that point, and were far enough away that they had time to react to any true aggressive moves by the woman . . . [T]hey just killed her with an automatic weapon designed for wartime use. All that, and the cop had the weapon set for an auto three round burst, not even just single shots. (Read more from “Police Shoot Pregnant Woman in Stomach With AR-15” HERE)

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Mystery of Earth’s ‘Hum’ Heard by Millions SOLVED by Researchers

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Earth-571110It is the unexplained buzzing noise that has fed suspicions of an alien invasion or UFO activity in the skies.

But the mystery of a bizarre drone that has plagued millions of people around the world could finally be solved, scientists believe.

‘The Hum’ – as it is known – can be heard by some more than others and has been blamed for pushing people to the brink of madness with sleepless nights and a constant ringing in the ears.

Some thought it was the fault of gas pipes or power lines, but experts now believe the elusive buzzing is down to “ocean waves”.

Researchers say currents in the sea cause the Earth to vibrate subtly as they shift across its surface, creating “microseismic” activity that elicits a “ring”. (Read more from “Mystery of Earth’s ‘Hum’ Heard by Millions SOLVED by Researchers” HERE)

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Couple Shocked to Learn They Were Babysitting a Kidnapped Child

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Photo Credit: KOMO News

Photo Credit: KOMO News

In a bizarre twist to a violent kidnapping, a Renton [Iowa] couple was stunned to learn the child they were babysitting had been abducted.

“It’s probably the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” said John Truong moments after police took custody of the 2-year-old boy. “It’s like something out of a movie.”

Authorities issued an Amber Alert Tuesday night after learning the toddler and his mother had been kidnapped from their home in Des Moines. Tuong and his wife didn’t know about the alert until early the next morning.

“I’m eating my breakfast, I’m checking my Facebook, all of a sudden I see this Amber Alert for this child,” recounted Tuong. “And it looks like this child in my bed, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God! What’s going on?’ ”

He called police, who arrived to find the boy safe and sound. Tuong then explained to detectives how the boy he had never seen before ended up at his house. (Read more from “Couple Shocked to Learn They Were Babysitting a Kidnapped Child” HERE)

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Alaska Airlines Bans Trapped Worker From Handling Its Flights as 911 Call Released [+video]

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PlaneA Seattle airport baggage handler who fell asleep in the cargo hold of an Alaska Airlines plane Monday has been banned from working on any of the carrier’s flights.

Alaska Airlines said in a statement late Thursday that the unidentified worker “has been permanently banned from ever working on any Alaska Airlines flights.”

The employee of Menzies Aviation, which contracts with airlines to handle baggage, told first responders he had taken a nap in the front cargo hold of the Los Angeles-bound flight. The plane was forced to return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport 14 minutes into the flight after the pilot and passengers heard banging sounds coming from the front cargo hold.

Menzies officials said he had worked for the company for 18 months and was fortunate he was trapped in a part of the plane that was pressurized and temperature-controlled. The front cargo hold is often used to carry passengers’ pets. The company added that its policies were knowingly violated by the employee.

Also Thursday, 911 calls made by the worker in the early part of the flight were released, revealing his increasing desperation to get out of the hold. (Read more from “Alaska Airlines Bans Trapped Worker From Handling Its Flights as 911 Call Released [+video]” HERE)

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Iowa High School Principal Prohibits Students From Creating a Pro-Life Club

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Photo Credit: Life News

Photo Credit: Life News

Principal Steve Madson of Hampton-Dumont High School has received a demand letter from Students for Life of America’s law firm, the Thomas More Society, on behalf of student Isabell Akers and Students for Life of America. The letter charges that Principal Madson has unconstitutionally discriminated against Isabell by denying her the right to form a Students for Life club at Hampton-Dumont High School.

“The pro-life students are simply asking for equal treatment,” said Jocelyn Floyd, Associate Counsel of Thomas More Society. “Here the school is trying to claim that its lesser treatment is justified because Isabell’s club doesn’t tie in with the school’s curriculum—but neither do most of the school’s other clubs, such as the book club, mock trial, or SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving). By law, Hampton-Dumont High School administrators must give their pro-life students the same opportunities as they give all these other school clubs.”

Isabell Akers, a senior at Hampton-Dumont High School, attempted to start a Students for Life club when she was a sophomore, but she met resistance from school administrators. After a series of delays and denials, the school eventually allowed Isabell’s club to meet periodically in the spring and fall of 2014, but not to advertise or host events. As Isabell will soon graduate, she tried once again in February to acquire school club status for her Students for Life club, to leave an established club in place for future high school leaders. However, the principal once again denied Isabell’s application, claiming that the Students for Life club is too “controversial.” (Read more from “Iowa High School Principal Prohibits Students From Creating a Pro-Life Club” HERE)

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Wal-Mart Suddenly Closed 5 Stores and Laid off Thousands of Workers and No One Knows Why

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walmart-wal-mart-32Wal-Mart suddenly closed five stores in four states on Monday for alleged plumbing problems.

The closures could last up to six months and affect roughly 2,200 workers in Texas, California, Oklahoma, and Florida, CNN Money reports.

Wal-Mart employees say they were completely blindsided by the news, having been notified only a couple hours before the stores closed at 7 p.m. Monday.

“Everybody just panicked and started crying,” Venanzi Luna, a manager at a store in Pico Rivera, California, told CNN Money.

All workers will receive paid leave for two months. After that, full-time workers could become eligible for severance, according to CNN Money. But part-time workers will be on their own. (Read more from “Wal-Mart Suddenly Closed 5 Stores and Laid off Thousands of Workers and No One Knows Why” HERE)

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Dry Wells Plague California as Drought Has Water Tables Plunging

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Photo Credit: Bloomberg Business

Photo Credit: Bloomberg Business

Near California’s Success Lake, more than 1,000 water wells have failed. Farmers are spending $750,000 to drill 1,800 feet down to keep fields from going fallow. Makeshift showers have sprouted near the church parking lot.

“The conditions are like a third-world country,” said Andrew Lockman, a manager at the Office of Emergency Services in Tulare County, in the heart of the state’s agricultural Central Valley about 175 miles (282 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.

As California enters the fourth year of a record drought, its residents and $43 billion agriculture industry have drawn groundwater so low that it’s beyond the reach of existing wells. That’s left thousands with dry taps and pushed farmers to dig deeper as Governor Jerry Brown, a 77-year-old Democrat, orders the first mandatory water rationing in state history.

“The demand we’re placing on the aquifer and the deep bedrock drilling, which is going on at an alarmingly fast pace, is really scary,” said Tricia Blattler, executive director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau. “Folks are really concerned we’re not going to be able find water in the groundwater system much longer. We are tapping it way too quickly.”

Nowhere has lack of rain been felt more than in Tulare County, in a valley dotted with dairy farms and walnut orchards at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains. With 458,000 residents, it’s home to 1,013 dry wells, accounting for more than half of those that have failed in the state since January 2014. (Read more from “Dry Wells Plague California as Drought Has Water Tables Plunging” HERE)

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USDA Veterinarian: Bird Flu Outbreak Could Be ‘Devastating’

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birdThe nation’s poultry industry may have to live with a deadly bird flu strain for several years, which would be “devastating,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief veterinary officer said Thursday.

Dr. John Clifford also said that while new cases should drop to close to zero once the weather warms up and kills off the virus, there’s “very likely” to be a resurgence this fall when the wild waterfowl that are natural carriers of avian influenza fly south for the winter.

Clifford spoke on a visit to Minnesota, the state hit hardest by outbreaks that have led to the death of over 2.5 million turkeys and chickens in the Midwest since early March. He said the fact that the highly pathogenic H5N2 virus has already appeared as far east as southern Ontario means there’s an uncomfortable risk of it spreading to the East Coast where much of the U.S. broiler chicken industry is based.

“If it sticks around and continues it’s going to be very devastating to our poultry industry and our international markets, trade markets, as well as the loss domestically,” Clifford said in an interview with The Associated Press. “That’s why we have to really use this time appropriately to do all that we can to determine how best we can address and prevent introductions in the future.”

Authorities have confirmed H5N2 outbreaks at nearly 40 commercial poultry farms in the Midwest, including 26 in Minnesota. All were turkey operations except for one chicken farm in Wisconsin. On Thursday, officials said four more Minnesota farms and two more in Wisconsin had been struck. (Read more from “USDA Veterinarian: Bird Flu Outbreak Could Be ‘Devastating'” HERE)

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