Today's News: April 03, 2019

World News
China Sends Troops to Venezuela Despite US Warnings
Infowars – It doesn’t appear last Friday’s strong warning from national security adviser John Bolton for countries “external to the Western Hemisphere” to keep their militaries out of Venezuela had the intended effect.
Bolton’s and other White House statements saying “Russia has to get out” came following Russian Air Force planes landing in Caracas with about 100 troops, which the Kremlin said were there as “specialists” servicing existing defense equipment contracts.
And now according to Al-Masdar News, citing defense analyst photographs and local reports, “more than 120 soldiers from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army arrived at Venezuela’s Margarita Island to deliver humanitarian and military supplies to the government forces.”
The military flight appears to have touched down on Sunday, two days after a prior Chinese cargo plane delivered 65 tons of medicine and other aid to Venezuela. The Chinese troops are also there ostensibly to assist with the humanitarian mission, but it appears Beijing is also now alongside the Russians pushing back against Washington ultimatums to stay out of Venezuela, after repeatedly condemning any external coup plotting against President Nicolas Maduro.
“We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations,” Bolton had warned in his statement.
Pence: Turkey Must Choose Between Remaining NATO Partner or Buying Russian S-400
Sputnik – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier in the day on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington that Turkey would inform US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton that its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems is a “done deal.”
“Turkey must choose. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?” Pence said in remarks at a NATO event in Washington.
Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement for the supply of S-400 air defence systems in 2017. In early March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed that the deal with Russia on deliveries of the S-400 air defence systems was completed, and said a new deal on purchases of advanced Russian-made S-500 systems could be possible in future.
A State Department official told Sputnik on Monday that the US government warned Ankara that it could face even more consequences including sanctions for purchasing Russian S-400 systems.
UK lawmakers approve first stage of Brexit delay law
Reuters – British lawmakers voted on Wednesday to approve the first stage of legislation which would force Prime Minister Theresa May to seek a delay to Brexit in order to prevent the risk of leaving without a deal on April 12.
Algerian President Resigns After 20 Years in Power, Protests Continue
Breitbart – Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday after months of turmoil, street demonstrations demanding his ouster, and finally the military taking steps to force him out by questioning the sick and reclusive 82-year-old president’s fitness for office. The question of what comes next is on the minds of both international observers and Algerians, who continued demonstrating in the streets after Bouteflika’s announcement, demanding the rest of the corrupt political elite depart as well.
Bouteflika’s increasingly desperate effort to hang on to his office over the past year went from attempting to run for re-election again, to bowing out of the elections and then canceling them entirely, to positioning himself as a “caretaker” who would depart sometime next year after a new government was established, to insisting that he would stay until his final term formally expired at the end of April.
The head of Algeria’s military, Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaed Salah, stepped in on Tuesday and ended Bouteflika’s run by urging Algeria’s constitutional council to declare the president unfit for office. Salah said alternative proposals to keep the incumbent in power were intolerable efforts to undermine “constitutional legitimacy” and the prestige of the “national army.” Bouteflika saw the handwriting on the wall and resigned soon afterward.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
Duke University pays $112M to settle faked-research lawsuit
NBC – Duke University will pay $112 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit after federal prosecutors said a research technician’s fake data landed millions of dollars in federal grants, the school and the government said Monday.
The private university in Durham submitted claims for dozens of research grants that contained falsified or fabricated information that unjustly drained taxpayer money from the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, the U.S. Justice Department said. The school said it is repaying grant money and related penalties.
“Taxpayers expect and deserve that federal grant dollars will be used efficiently and honestly,” local U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin said in a statement. “May this serve as a lesson that the use of false or fabricated data in grant applications or reports is completely unacceptable.”
The lawsuit was first filed in 2015 by whistleblower and former Duke employee Joseph Thomas. The Justice Department took it over afterward. The suit claims the faked research was conducted by former research technician Erin Potts-Kant, who was supervised by pulmonary medicine researcher William Michael Foster. Foster’s lab experimented with mice, seeking to determine the effects of inhaling diesel exhaust, among other tests. Several research papers by Foster’s team were later retracted.
“We expect Duke researchers to adhere always to the highest standards of integrity, and virtually all of them do that with great dedication,” university President Vincent Price said in a statement. “When individuals fail to uphold those standards, and those who are aware of possible wrongdoing fail to report it, as happened in this case, we must accept responsibility, acknowledge that our processes for identifying and preventing misconduct did not work, and take steps to improve.”
The settlement was announced on the same day that U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles had scheduled a hearing on why the deal supposedly struck in November hadn’t been finalized by the Justice Department.
The government alleged that between 2006 and 2018 Duke knowingly submitted faked data to federal agencies in 30 grants. The university had warning signs that some of the research was fraudulent but didn’t act until discovering in 2013 that Potts-Kant had siphoned off money for spending on clothes and other items, the lawsuit said.
House Judiciary authorizes subpoena for full Mueller report
NBC – The resolution, passed Wednesday, also authorized the committee to issue subpoenas for documents and testimony from five current and former White House aides.
Dozens of women claim they were secretly recorded by hidden cameras at California hospital, suit says
Fox – A lawsuit filed by 81 women against a California hospital accuses the medical center of using hidden cameras to record them while they were being examined by physicians, undergoing surgery and even giving birth.
A lawyer representing the women claims as many as 1,800 women may have been filmed without their knowledge at the facility.
The lawsuit, filed last week in a state superior court, alleges Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa installed hidden, motion-sensing cameras in three operating rooms in the hospital’s women’s center, allegedly in a bid to catch anyone stealing medicine.
Between July 2012 and June 2013, the lawsuit charges that women were recorded without their knowledge as they were examined by doctors, undressed for procedures and were put under anesthesia for operations. The faces of female patients can reportedly be identified on the recordings as the women entered the operating rooms, gave birth or laid unconscious during surgery.
“It’s such a shocking breach of patient privacy,” Allison Goddard, the attorney representing the women in the case, told BuzzFeed News. “I’ve talked to hundreds of women who were affected by it. The response is nearly universal: They just can’t believe it happened.”
The cameras allegedly recorded women during extremely private and personal medical procedures, including deliveries, emergency C-sections, miscarriages, hysterectomies, sterilizations and various other gynecological procedures.
ACLU sues over review process for government secrets
Fox – Civil liberties groups have filed a lawsuit challenging a pre-publication review required for people who have had access to government secrets.
Millions of former government and intelligence agency employees are bound by a lifelong obligation to keep national security secrets as long as the government deems the information classified. Because of responsibility, they are required to submit manuscripts and drafts for government review before publication.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday said that obligation is too broad, often implemented arbitrarily and ultimately suppresses free speech. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed the suit jointly on behalf of five former federal employees.
Vera Eidelman, an ACLU staff attorney, said the case “highlights the possibility of viewpoint based government censorship” and the politicization of the system of classification. Eidelman said proponents of the intelligence community are often fast-tracked when detractors are not.
“The system gets worse every year, and it applies to an increasing number of people each year because these are lifetime obligations,” Eidelman said.
Texas Senate Approves Bill to Ban State and Local Funding of Abortion Providers
Breitbart – The Texas Senate voted Monday to prohibit state and local governments from allowing tax dollars to fund abortion providers.
Great to have so many wonderful pro-life advocates in Texas. Sending SB22 to the House! @TXRightToLife pic.twitter.com/3yYCBVQ1Cv
— Donna Campbell (@DonnaCampbellTX) April 2, 2019
“I think taxpayers’ dollars should not be used for abortion facilities or their affiliates,” said state Sen. Donna Campbell, reported The Eagle.
Campbell authored Senate Bill 22, legislation that would bar state and local governments from affiliating with abortion providers, even if their contract is unrelated to direct abortion services.
The bill passed an initial vote, 20-11, with one Democrat – state Sen. Eddie Lucio – joining with Republicans to support the measure.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick expressed support for the bill.
“There is nothing more important than defending the defenseless,” he said in a statement. “Senate Bill 22, authored by Sen. Campbell, will continue Texas’ commitment to defend the most vulnerable in our society and preserve the sanctity of life.”
The legislation would put an end to “sweetheart rent deals,” such as one Planned Parenthood facility’s rental agreement with the city of Austin for $1 per year, even though that particular clinic does not provide abortions.
“I wanna make sure we get this concept straight,” state Sen. Royce West, a Democrat, said, according to ABC affiliate KVUE. “The State is telling local cities, local taxpayers, what they can and cannot spend their money on when we pass this bill, is that correct?”
“If the local government is using taxpayer dollars for any type of contract with an abortion provider or affiliate, yes, this bill prohibits that transaction,” Campbell replied, pointing to Planned Parenthood’s contract with Austin, since 1979, to rent a building for $1 per year with a 20-year extension.
“While they may not be doing abortions here, those dollars can still pass through to prop up the abortion industry, so this bill does inhibit local municipalities from contracting with an abortion facility,” Sen. Campbell said.
I’m proud of my 20 colleagues in the Senate who joined me in passing this important bill. Texas is creating a culture of life! https://t.co/QSNI9bFtoD
— Donna Campbell (@DonnaCampbellTX) April 2, 2019
Campbell also shot down an attempt by Democrat state Sen. Jose Rodriguez to add an amendment to the bill that would allow an exception for contracting with Planned Parenthood for public health emergencies such as Zika virus outbreaks and those related to HIV and STDs.
Meanwhile, the Texas House State Affairs committee heard testimony on the House’s version of the bill – House Bill 1929– introduced in that chamber by state Rep. Candy Noble.
“This bill seeks to protect Texans from being forced to pay for abortions with their tax dollars,” Noble said at the hearing, reported Daily Texan Online.
Texas Senate: ‘Crisis’ at Mexican Border Is an ‘Emergency’
Breitbart – The Texas Senate passed a resolution Tuesday afternoon calling the “crisis at the Texas-Mexico International Border an emergency.” The resolution calls on Congress to take action and supports President Donald Trump’s recent emergency declaration.
The resolution, authored by Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), passed on a 19-12 party-line vote. Sens. Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Campbell, Creighton, Fallon, Flores, Hall, Hancock, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Nelson, Nichols, Paxton, Perry, Schwertner, Seliger, Taylor voted to pass the bill, according to official Texas Senate records obtained by Breitbart News. Senators Alvarado, Hinojosa, Johnson, Lucio, Menendez, Miles, Powell, Rodrıguez, Watson, West, Whitmire, Zaffirini voted no.
“I think that the resolution speaks to the fact that there is a crisis at the border. We have gone to a very good debate already about how we’re recognizing the humanitarian, the sex trafficking, the vulnerable populations, et cetera, and, and the reality is that when you have an unprecedented number of crossings of 100,000 in the month of March of 2019,” Senator Bettencourt said during debate on the Senate floor.
Texas Senate: ‘Crisis’ at Mexican Border Is an ‘Emergency’
Breitbart – The Texas Senate passed a resolution Tuesday afternoon calling the “crisis at the Texas-Mexico International Border an emergency.” The resolution calls on Congress to take action and supports President Donald Trump’s recent emergency declaration.
The resolution, authored by Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), passed on a 19-12 party-line vote. Sens. Bettencourt, Birdwell, Buckingham, Campbell, Creighton, Fallon, Flores, Hall, Hancock, Huffman, Hughes, Kolkhorst, Nelson, Nichols, Paxton, Perry, Schwertner, Seliger, Taylor voted to pass the bill, according to official Texas Senate records obtained by Breitbart News. Senators Alvarado, Hinojosa, Johnson, Lucio, Menendez, Miles, Powell, Rodrıguez, Watson, West, Whitmire, Zaffirini voted no.
“I think that the resolution speaks to the fact that there is a crisis at the border. We have gone to a very good debate already about how we’re recognizing the humanitarian, the sex trafficking, the vulnerable populations, et cetera, and, and the reality is that when you have an unprecedented number of crossings of 100,000 in the month of March of 2019,” Senator Bettencourt said during debate on the Senate floor.
California law limiting gun magazines to 10 rounds ruled unconstitutional – results in buying frenzy
Daily Sheeple – On Friday a federal court struck down as unconstitutional a California law limiting gun magazines to 10 rounds. Since thn firearms owners throughout the state have flooded suppliers with purchases.
On-line retailers reacted to the surprising news by resuming sales to California. Rainier Arms has seen a significant uptick in traffic with most sales being for the Magpul Gen2 30 round magazine. This increase in internet transactions has even crashed Rainier Arms payment processing server reported Ammoland.
“We received such an overwhelming surge of sales over the weekend, it actually crashed our merchant services, the website was fine, but our payment services were so overwhelmed it crashed,” said Aristotle Bartolome of Rainier Arms. “With that said, we closed out a very strong weekend, and even with the chaos, we’re currently 48 hours behind on getting all of the weekend orders caught up and adjusting staffing to better support our customers getting their orders quicker.”
Rainier Arms isn’t alone in their increase in sales. Brownells, one of the largest gun retailers on-line, is also reporting an increase in magazines sales to California.
The rush in part is fueled by a desire to “stock up” on magazines before the state can appeal U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez’s decision to the Ninth Circuit Court. The Ninth Circuit Court was notoriously left-leaning but with recent appointments by President Trump it is more evenly balanced creating a greater chance that the ruling will be upheld on appeal.
Economy & Business
Hopes for U.S.-China trade, soft Brexit boost shares
Reuters – World stocks rose for a fifth session on Wednesday amid optimism over U.S.-China trade talks and for a softer British exit from the European Union, while oil prices retreated after an unexpected rise in inventories.
Energy & Environment
It’s a simple chain of cause-and-effect: Toxic green algae in Florida is the result of man-made pollution
NaturalNews – An organism that has plagued Florida waters since 2017, bringing an assault of toxic green algae and red tide blooms, is finally disappearing, according to a report released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The announcement was made a few weeks after marine scientists observed that Karenia brevis, the microscopic algae responsible for the harmful blooms, are no longer present in samples collected from different parts of the state.
While satellite photos still reveal red tide blooms in southwest Florida, the concentrations of K. brevis are still declining even in those areas, according to Vincent Lovko of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.
“We’ve seen a much-reduced number of cell count samples that have elevated Karenia brevis,” Lovko added in an NPR report. “That does seem to indicate that the bloom has largely dissipated.”
The report comes as a relief for those living on the Gulf Coast, especially in communities that have been hit the hardest by the red tide blooms. In particular, tourism in areas affected by the red tide has significantly declined over the past years because of the situation.
Science & Technology
NASA, MIT engineers re-imagine airplane wing, unveil futuristic new design
Fox – An innovative team of engineers from NASA joined up with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) grad students, among others, to improve upon the traditional airplane wing.
The researchers unveiled a concept for a redesigned wing on Monday that they believe would ultimately reduce costs and increase performance for future airplanes. Their approach was detailed in a paper published in the journal Smart Materials and Structures.
Similar in size to a wing on a single-seater plane at just over 16 feet, the revamped airplane wing is made up of hundreds of small, cube-like pieces which allows it to “change shape to control the plane’s flight,” the researchers explained in a news release.
The ultralight materials are bolted together and covered with a thin polymer material, which makes up the framework for the airplane part. The researchers claim this would make the wing more energy efficient.
Benjamin Jenett, a graduate student in MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms who helped work on the project, said the wings are optimized for each part of the flight — from takeoff to landing and everything in-between.
Check-in gets creepy as facial recognition hits hotels
Fast Company – Alibaba has created the hotel of the future and it’s wild, wonderful, and just a little creepy. FlyZoo, which is reportedly a Chinese pun for “must stay,” is a 290-room ultra-modern boutique hotel in Hangzhou, China that lets guests play with technology, check in with ease, and spend the night in the future for a low price of around $205—and at the cost of your privacy.
Thanks to technology culled from across Alibaba’s vast network of companies, most notably Fliggy, Alibaba’s online travel platform, guests can immerse themselves in the crossroads of hospitality and technology. As Skift reports, it all starts with booking through an app, where guests can pick a floor and a view, exploring the minimalist room. Check-in is a breeze, too, especially for Chinese guests who can use the app to scan their faces to expedite the process (for now foreign guests must use lobby kiosks). No need to pick up a key from the lobby, because the elevator will scan your face and take you to the correct floor, and your face will open the room door. Once inside the room, requests for water, new towels, extra pillows, and more will be taken by Ask Genie, Alibaba’s Alexa-like assistant, and a three-foot tall robot will deliver the goods. Too hot? Too cold? Too many lights? Ask Genie to shut the curtains or crank up the heat.
Hungry guests can head to the hotel restaurant where a robotic bartender is mixing up drinks and food ordered via the FlyZoo app will be delivered by other robots. Forget your wallet? No problem: Face-scanning technology will send the charges straight to your room bill.
Millions of Facebook records found on Amazon cloud servers
Fox – A massive trove of Facebook users’ information was discovered on Amazon’s cloud computing servers on Wednesday.
Researchers at UpGuard, a cybersecurity firm, found the private information of millions of Facebook users had been posted publicly, according to Bloomberg News.
One year after the world’s largest social network was rocked by the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which showed that personal information of up to 87 million users was mishandled and wound up being used by a data-mining firm connected to the Trump campaign, the tech giant continues to face questions about whether it’s doing enough to protect users’ privacy.
A Mexico City-based company called Cultura Colectiva openly stored 540 million records on Facebook users, which included identification numbers, comments, reactions and account names, Bloomberg reports. That database was closed after the business news site alerted Facebook to the issue.
Bloomberg reports that another database for a long-defunct app called At the Pool listed names, passwords and email addresses for 22,000 people. UpGuard said it did not know how long the information had been exposed.
Health
Avoid toxic vapor rubs by making this homemade beeswax alternative
NaturalNews – When you or a loved one is struggling with respiratory issues, the last thing you want to do is introduce toxic chemicals that will only make breathing issues worse and will not provide true healing. Many conventional over-the-counter products like vapor rubs contain a host of harmful components such as petroleum, artificial fragrances and chemicals. When you read labels for various skin products, you discover that petroleum permeates many of them. Yet as a product of oil refining, it is not exactly something you want to put on your skin or anywhere on or in your body.
In fact, none of those questionable ingredients should be used around your delicate respiratory system. And although conventional vapor rub is intended to help with respiratory symptoms, its ingredients can actually harm the lungs as well as the skin, eyes, and organs, according to the Environmental Working Group.
Toss those toxic ingredients and products aside in favor of soothing and healing substances and ingredients. You will experience far more effective healing along with greater peace of mind.
Although there are some products for sale that can be used as vapor rubs to massage into your chest, why not get industrious by creating homemade versions of these products? In very little time and as a low-cost alternative, you can make an effective version that you will reach for over and over again. The key base ingredient is beeswax, an amazing substance used for a variety of products from candles to skin creams. Also included are essential oils, which are potent medicinal ingredients that also typically smell very pleasing.
Here are the ingredients you will need:

1 ounce of yellow beeswax
3 ounces of olive oil
10 drops of vitamin E oil (use more or less based on the moisturizing properties desired)
Essential oils (try camphor, eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender, peppermint, and/or birch; use 1 or more kinds and 2 or 3 drops of each)

Also gather these supplies:

Scale (preferably digital)
Spoon
Double boiler

In addition, you will need containers that are preferably made out of glass for storing your vapor rub. Use whatever size you prefer, but 1-ounce containers can be convenient for both at-home and travel uses.
This soothing vapor rub could not be much easier or quicker to make. Just gently heat up the beeswax and olive oil in a double boiler on the stove. Stir until the ingredients melt and blend together. Then, after removing the double boiler from the stove, stir in the essential oils and vitamin E oil. Once the mixture has cooled and is thoroughly mixed together, spoon it into the glass containers.
Johns Hopkins study reveals toxic metals found in e-cigarette liquid
NaturalNews – Many people who smoke and are looking for a “safer” alternative have turned to e-cigarettes. Unfortunately, a study from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health has revealed that those cigarettes contain not one but an alarming five heavy metals.
Editor’s Note: There is a concerted effort by Big Tobacco to destroy the vaping industry. Be cautious of findings from studies that may have financial ties to Big Tobacco. Vaping is safer than smoking, since aerosolized liquids do not contain the carcinogenic smoke produced by the burning of plant material. Be skeptical of all studies that claim toxins are found in vaping liquids, especially when those studies refuse to report the concentrations found. They might simply be a few parts per trillion, which is no health risk at all.
In the study, researchers looked at the liquid that generates the aerosol that e-cigarette users inhale. They did this for five brands of e-cigarettes and found that all of the brands contained all the heavy metals they studied. Those metals were cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese and nickel. Those toxic heavy metals may be carcinogenic when they are inhaled. The amounts of those heavy metals found in the e-cigarettes varied from one brand to another.
The Johns Hopkins study results were published in the January issue of Environmental Research.
Ana Maria Rule, Ph.D., MHS, the lead researcher for the study, had this to say:
“We do not know if these levels are dangerous, but their presence is troubling and could mean that the metals end up in the aerosol that e-cigarette users inhale…One of the things that is troubling is that the metals in e-cigarette coils, which heat the liquid that creates the aerosol, are toxic when inhaled, so perhaps regulators might want to look into an alternative material for e-cigarette heating coils…It was striking, the varying degrees to which the metals were present in the liquid. This suggests that the FDA should consider regulating the quality control of e-cigarette devices along with the ingredients found in e-cigarette liquids.”
The FDA just began regulating e-cigarettes in 2016. Per their regulations, every e-cigarette maker is required to submit a list of the ingredients in each e-cigarette product. They also must provide a listing of any ingredients in the product that could be harmful.
As if that terrible concoction of heavy metals were not toxic enough, e-cigarettes also contain other unhealthy ingredients, such as propylene glycol, nicotine and flavorings. Those are all ingredients to avoid, but when they are mixed together, they likely conjure up a toxic soup.