News Updates from CLG
6 February 2015
http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
Previous edition: U.S. ground troops could be needed in Iraq: Chuck Hagel, which Google relegated to the sp*m bin.
30,000 troops, 6 Rapid Deployment Force units: NATO increases military power in Eastern Europe | 5 Feb 2015 | The NATO Response Force in Europe might increase to 30,000 troops, more than double the current 13,000, said the alliance's secretary general after a defense ministers' meeting in Brussels. Most of the troops are set to be stationed near Russia's borders. NATO's rapid deployment forces will consist of a 5,000-strong brigade, sea and air-based elements and special task troops, said NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after meeting with the alliance's 28 defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday. The UK has already announced plans to deploy 1,000 troops and four multirole Typhoon fighter jets to join the Response Force in Eastern Europe.
US 'considers arming Ukrainian army' as fighting continues in the east | 2 Feb 2015 | The spectre of a deepening proxy war in Ukraine involving both Russia and the United States has raised its head after reports that the White House is considering supplying weapons to Kiev. Washington has so far refused to supply weapons to the pro-Western Ukrainian government but reports suggest that a growing number of President Barack Obama's advisors are now warming to the idea. According to the New York Times, General Philip Breedlove, Nato's military commander, supports providing arms and equipment to Ukraine's hard-pressed forces [war criminals], which are struggling to quell an uprising led by Russian-backed separatists.
Ukrainian parliament passes law allowing army deserters to be shot | 5 Feb 2015 | Ukraine's parliament has passed a law which authorizes commanding officers to use physical force against army defectors. It comes as the latest military draft has seen a lack of enthusiasm on the part of potential soldiers. Ukraine's parliament voted on Thursday with 260 MPs in favor - only 226 votes were needed to pass the law. The new article 22(1) added to the charter regulating service in the armed forces of Ukraine states that commanders "have the right to personally use physical force, special means, and weapons when in combat" against soldiers who commit "criminal acts."
OSCE confirms Luhansk was shelled with cluster munitions | 4 Feb 2015 | OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, after visiting Luhansk areas where civilians were killed by shelling, confirmed that the city was shelled with cluster munitions from the north-west. "The SMM saw considerable damage caused by the impacts of rocket shelling, such as broken windows, fences, gates and walls...According to the SMM's assessment, a hole in a roof of a house was caused by the impact of what appears to be a bomblet, with small calibre."
Alexander Litvinenko was 'a paid consultant' for MI6 | 2 Feb 2015 | Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was paid 2,000 pounds a month by a British intelligence agency, his widow Marina has told a UK court. At the inquiry into the Russian ex-spy's death, Mrs Litvinenko revealed her husband acted as a "consultant" to a British intelligence service. She could not confirm which agency but the BBC understands it was MI6.
US Embassy Bribing Venezuela Officials to Topple Government | 3 Feb 2015 | Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused officials at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas of conspiring to bribe people close to the Venezuelan government, including current and former ministers and military officials, in order for them to conspire against the Bolivarian government. The president made the accusation during a televised speech Tuesday. Maduro added that the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Secretary-General Ernesto Samper will be visiting Venezuela Wednesday to verify claims that a coup conspiracy is afoot in Venezuela, adding that he is calling on the the regional bloc to work with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to mediate in the conflict between Venezuela and the United States.
Islamic State purportedly shows burning of hostage, Jordan vows 'earth-shaking' response | 3 Feb 2015 | Islamic State militants released a video on Tuesday appearing to show a captured Jordanian pilot being burnt alive in a cage, a killing that shocked the world and prompted Jordan to promise an "earth-shaking" response. A Jordanian official said the authorities would swiftly execute several militants in retaliation, including an Iraqi woman whom Amman had sought to swap for the pilot taken captive after his plane crashed in Syria in December. Reuters could not immediately confirm the content of the video, which showed a man resembling airman Mouath al-Kasaesbeh standing in a small black cage before being set ablaze.
Jordan hangs two Iraqi militants in response to pilot's death | 4 Feb 2015 | Jordan hanged two Iraqi jihadists on Wednesday including a female militant in response to an Islamic State video appearing to show a captured Jordanian pilot being burnt alive by the hardline group. Islamic State had demanded the release of the woman, Sajida al-Rishawi, in exchange for a Japanese hostage who was later killed. Sentenced to death in 2005 for her a role in a suicide bomb attack in Amman, Rishawi was executed at dawn, a security source and state television said. Authorities also executed a senior al Qaeda prisoner, an Iraqi man who was sentenced to death in 2008.
More Britons dislike Israel than Iran, survey finds | 2 Feb 2015 | Thirty-five percent of British respondents to a recent survey said they feel "especially unfavorable" towards Israel. The only non-European country Britons appeared to dislike more -- at 40 percent -- was North Korea. Iran, Israel's current geopolitical nemesis, was deemed "especially unfavorable" by 33 percent of the respondents. The poll was part a joint YouGov-Chatham House project that surveyed more than 2,000 Britons on their attitudes regarding their country's foreign policy...In October, the British House of Commons voted to recognize Palestine as an independent state, a symbolic act that doesn't affect the policies of Britain's leadership.
Professor fired over anti-Israel tweets sues University of Illinois | 1 Feb 2015 | A professor who lost his job over anti-Israel tweets is suing several officials at the University of Illinois. Professor Steven Salaita quit Virginia Tech University, after he was offered a position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). However, just two weeks before the start of the 2014 academic year, Salaita was informed of a job offer being rescinded over his "uncivil" tweets, posted mainly during the summer war in Gaza...In the federal suit, filed in US District Court in Chicago on Thursday, Salaita argues the university violated his constitutional right to freedom of speech and "trampled on principles of academic freedom."
NSA Utah Data Center using more water | 2 Feb 2015 | More water poured into the National Security Agency's Utah Data Center in 2014 than in previous years, but the facility is still paying for water that it is not using. Records provided by Bluffdale show Data Center water usage spiked to 6.6 million gallons during August. For the months of January through November -- the time frame reviewed by The Tribune -- the water usage was higher than it was for those months in 2013.
FBI put Anonymous 'hacktivist' Jeremy Hammond on terrorism watchlist | 2 Feb 2015 | The prominent Anonymous "hacktivist" Jeremy Hammond, who participated in some of the hacking collective's most audacious cyber acts, was placed by the FBI on a terrorism watchlist, the Daily Dot reported on Monday. The internet news website obtained a leaked document from the New York state division of criminal justice services that shows Hammond was classified as a "possible terrorist organisation member". The document is marked "destroy after use" and includes the instruction: "Do not advise this individual that they are on a terrorist watchlist."
Paris bans filming of action movies following recent terror attacks --Scenes featuring religious sites or schools are also banned under the emergency security plans. | 5 Feb 2015 | Restrictions have been placed on filming action movies in Paris following the recent terrorist attacks. Police officials have revealed fears that "actors in uniform could be targets for terrorists" in the wake of the attack on a 'satirical' magazine which left 20 dead including three gunmen. "There's a problem with these action-type scenes, as the actors in uniform could be targets for terrorists," Sylvie Barnaud, the police official who grants outside filming permission in Paris, told The Associated Press. "Also, the actors could pose confusion for the general public - during this highly sensitive period.' [Yeah, gotta keep the crisis actors separated from the actual actors. --LRP]
Man, 19, Accused of Lying to FBI Agents in Terrorism Probe | 5 Feb 2015 | A 19-year-old Minneapolis man is accused of lying to the FBI after authorities say he and three other young men from Minnesota took a bus to New York City and tried to board flights overseas. Hamza Ahmed was arrested as federal authorities are investigating people who have gone to Syria to fight with the Islamic State group. He was charged with making a false statement in a terrorism investigation, according to documents unsealed Thursday.
RCMP make arrest, charge three in terrorism investigation | 3 Feb 2015 | The RCMP have arrested an Ottawa man and is seeking two accomplices in Syria, bringing the number of national-capital residents who face terrorism-related charges for alleged links to Islamic State to six. The Mounties arrested Awso Peshdary, 25, and issued an arrest warrant on Interpol for the arrest of Khadar Khalib and John Maguire. However, police acknowledged reports on social media that Mr. Maguire may have recently been killed in Syria.
Scientists find 10 million-gallon 'bath mat' of oil on floor of Gulf of Mexico | 4 Feb 2015 | Scientists have already reported finding what they called a 1,235-square-mile "bathtub ring" of oil on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico left over from the huge 2010 BP oil spill. Now it appears this ring is part of a washroom set: A different team of scientists has found that up 10 million gallons of oil have created what can be called only a "bath mat" beneath the sediment of the gulf's floor.
4,000 errors in inspection records at Japan's Onagawa nuclear plant | 4 Feb 2015 | Tohoku Electric Power Company says it has found more than 4,000 improper entries in its inspection records about one of the reactors at its Onagawa nuclear power plant. The initial inspection was held to check a wide range of facilities at the plant's No. 2 reactor after the great earthquake that hit northeastern Japan. The operator is hoping to restart the reactor about 100 kilometers north of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant. But Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority pointed out last year that Tohoku Electric's inspection was lax and the firm was re-examining the inspection records on the No. 2 reactor.
Ministry of Defence releases heavily redacted report identifying weaponised Ebola scenarios | 2 Feb 2015 | British military experts were asked to draw up guidance at the height of the Ebola outbreak in west Africa late last year on the feasibility and potential impact of terrorists "weaponising" the virus. The Ministry of Defence has released a heavily redacted report, prepared in October, that identified three scenarios involving the exploitation of Ebola for bioterrorism. Details of the first scenario are entirely blacked out, as are most of those of the second, which is described as "logistically and technically challenging for a non-state group to undertake". The third scenario -- details of which were also heavily redacted -- was described as the "most technically challenging".
The 21 curious questions we're never allowed to ask about vaccines | 1 Feb 2015 | The surest sign of a medical dictatorship is an aggressively enforced blockade against intelligent questions. Intelligent questions, after all, can destroy a medical police state because they expose the fraud of it. Intelligent questions -- which the vaccine industry characterizes as "dangerous" -- are the greatest threat to the vaccine delusions still being played out across the world today, which is precisely why such questions are not allowed to be asked. Those daring to ask such questions are now being threatened with mass arrest and imprisonment -- that's how vulnerable the fraudulent vaccine industry has now become. It can be brought down by mere words if only those words are allowed to be circulated.
Flu Vaccine Doesn't Work in Europe, Either | 5 Feb 2015 | The [mercury-laden, dangerous] flu vaccine, which hasn't worked well to protect Americans against influenza, isn't helping in Europe, either. The same mutated version of flu is circulating in Britain and other European countries this winter, and it's only protected about 3 percent of those vaccinated, British health officials estimate. That's even worse than in the U.S., where federal health officials say the vaccine reduced disease risk by 23 percent.
Dozens of foster parents to forgo licenses over forced flu shots | 2 Feb 2015 | Dozens of Washington state foster parents say they’ll give up their licenses to care for kids from birth to age 2 rather than get flu shots mandated by a new regulation. Some foster parents said they object to the influenza vaccine because they believe it is "experimental" and poses potential side effects. Others said they simply don't like being told to inoculate themselves and their biological kids, and they worry that the regulation will worsen a growing shortage of foster families..."The vaccine itself has risks and is no guarantee that one will not come down with the illness," Ann Marie Henninger, a registered nurse in Sequim, wrote. "This decision is not evidence-based and will result in the loss of countless foster families who will raise their age limit of dependent children accepted rather than submit to the government mandate that they vaccinate their families against their will and better judgment."
Bird flu detected among chickens on a British farm | 2 Feb 2015 | A 'low severity' case of bird flu has been confirmed in chickens at a farm in Hampshire, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has revealed. Restrictions have been imposed on the affected farm pending further tests. Access to the farm and movement of the flock are subject to strict controls. A Defra spokesman said: "Tests have confirmed the outbreak as a low severity H7 strain of the disease, a much less severe form than the H5N8 strain found at a Yorkshire duck farm in November."
Sign petition to let bear stay with his 'parents': Ohio couple seeks to keep elderly rescued bear on their property --'Let an old bear live his remaining years with the family. Shame on those trying to take him away.' | 1 Feb 2015 | An Ohio couple may have to part with a pet they can't bear to be without. Jeff and Debbie Gillium rescued the 40-year-old black bear Archie when he was six and have kept him at their Lodi home.
Net neutrality: FCC chairman proposes strong new rules | 4 Feb 2015 | The federal government's top communications regulator on Wednesday called for strong new rules to bar Internet and wireless providers from blocking, slowing or discriminating against consumers' access to particular websites and services, setting up a long-anticipated showdown over how -- and how much -- government ought to manage Internet access. Wheeler said the new rules are intended to "preserve the Internet as an open platform for innovation and free expression."
Big money helped Minnesota GOP flip House | 4 Feb 2015 | Republicans and their campaign allies, often financially outmatched in recent years by a cash-rich DFL machine, focused their resources on a relatively small number of key and expensive state House races and the gamble paid off, according to campaign finance reports made public Tuesday. The reports show that of the 10 most expensive statehouse races in 2014, Republicans won seven -- the exact number they needed to take the majority, plus four others for good measure.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's Administration Facing New Criminal Investigation | 5 Feb 2015 | Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as well as members of his administration, a man at the center of the investigation told ABC News. The U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey has interviewed former Hunterdon County Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn, who claims he was fired because he objected to Christie officials dismissing indictments against political allies of the governor. Barlyn confirmed the investigation to ABC News.
Christie vetoes 'buy American' legislation --Democrats, unions advocated for law | 5 Feb 2015 | Governor Chris Christie (R-Koch) vetoed a package of bills Thursday that would require New Jersey state and local government agencies and bistate authorities to buy more American-made products. The proposal would have applied to bistate authorities such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Delaware River Port Authority, which buy large amounts of steel for construction projects, as well as state colleges, counties, municipalities and school districts. The main bill in the package was passed 27-4 by the state Senate and 43-24, with seven voting to abstain, in the Assembly.
Chris Christie Shows Fondness for L-xury Benefits When Others Pay the Bill | 2 Feb 2015 | As Gov. Chris Christie (R) of New Jersey waited to depart on a trade mission to Israel in 2012, his entourage was delayed by a late arrival: Mr. Christie's father, who had accidentally headed to the wrong airport. A commercial flight might have left without him, but in this case, there was no rush. The private plane, on which Mr. Christie had his own bedroom, had been lent by Sheldon G. Adelson, the billionaire and supporter of Israel...King Abdullah of Jordan picked up the tab for a Christie family weekend at the end of the trip.
Seven dead as commuter train hits car near New York City | 4 Feb 2015 | Seven people were killed and a dozen injured when a crowded New York commuter train struck a car stalled on the tracks near suburban White Plains during the rush hour on Tuesday evening, sparking an explosion and a fire, officials said. Six people on the train died, as well as the driver of a sport-utility vehicle that got stuck on the tracks and was hit at about 6:30 pm, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference after visiting what he said was a devastating scene.
Northeast gets its 2nd major workday snowstorm in a week | 2 Feb 2015 | Boston scrambled to dig out Monday from the second major winter storm in a week and delayed a celebratory Super Bowl parade, and forecasters from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine, warned that "flash freezing" could make roads dangerously slippery. Officials said a Massachusetts woman was run over and killed by a snowplow, and New York state police said two people were killed in a multivehicle crash on an interstate in Rye.
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