Today's News: April 11, 2019

World News
WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Arrested, Activists Rally to Stop US Extradition
Activist Post – It’s a sad day for journalism and press freedoms. International journalist and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested by British police and faces US extradition charges of “conspiracy with Chelsea Manning” related to acquiring and publishing evidence of US war crimes.
Assange was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in violation of 2 UN rulings, following the withdrawal of his asylum status by the Ecuadorian government. As a result, activists are organizing to oppose extradition and to free Assange.
“The Ecuadorian ambassador invited British police into the embassy and he was immediately arrested,” Wikileaks tweeted.
London’s Metropolitan Police on Thursday removed Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy where he’s been trapped for almost seven years, in violation of 2 UN rulings stating for him to be freed immediately.
WikiLeaks has consistently highlighted that its founder and former editor Julian Assange has been arbitrarily detained 8+ years without charge by the UK Govt (6+ years within the Ecuador Embassy in London where he was granted asylum from U.S. threats) and 2 years house arrest.
RT affiliate Ruptly captured his arrest, as several UK police officers dragged him out of the embassy into a police van.
In the video, Julian Assange can be heard screaming, “The UK must resist this attempt by the Trump administration” as he was hauled into the van.
>> Related: US says to expect more charges against Assange
This will be a historic election for India
Al Jazeera – The vote will decide not only the composition of the next government, but also the character of the Indian nation.
Sudan’s military seizes power from President Omar al-Bashir
Al Jazeera – Defence minister declares Sudanese leader ‘toppled’, announces suspension of Constitution and two-year military rule.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
Justice Department appeals decision on Medicaid work requirements
Washington Examiner – The Department of Justice has appealed a federal judge’s decision to strike down requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas that certain Medicaid beneficiaries work in order to receive government healthcare.
The case will go before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia after being struck down March 27 by Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, an appointee of former president Barack Obama.
At issue are rules the Trump administration approved in the states obligating some people to work, volunteer, or take classes for 80 hours a month to be allowed to remain on Medicaid.
California Prosecutors: Michael Avenatti to be Indicted on 36 Counts
Breitbart – The Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service will announce a 36-count grand jury indictment filing against disgraced television lawyer Michael Avenatti.
234 House Democrats, Two Republicans Co-Sponsor Bill Forcing Schools To Let Male Athletes Compete On Girls’ Sports Teams
Daily Caller – Every House Democrat but one has co-sponsored a bill requiring schools to allow male athletes who identify as transgender girls to compete on female sports teams.
Democrats’ Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make “sexual orientation and gender identity” protected characteristics under federal anti-discrimination law. Among other things, the bill would force public schools to expand female athletic teams to include biological males who identify as transgender girls.
Sarah Warbelow, director of the left-wing Human Rights Campaign, praised the bill’s impact on high school sports in written testimony submitted to a House subcommittee on Tuesday.
“Opponents of equality in athletics for transgender athletes have argued that girls who are transgender have unfair physiological advantages over cisgender girls and as a result, will dominate women’s competitive sports,” Warbelow wrote, calling it not “rooted in fact” that biologically male athletes will outperform their female counterparts.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, made a similar argument during an April 2 hearing his committee held on the legislation. (RELATED: Biological Male Is Top-Ranked NCAA Track Star)
“Many states have sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination laws, and all of them still have women’s sports. Arguments about transgender athletes participating in sports in accordance with their gender identity having competitive advantages have not been borne out,” Nadler said in his opening statement.
Ex-Obama White House counsel Greg Craig indicted in investigation that grew out of Mueller probe
Chicago Tribune – Former Obama administration White House counsel Greg Craig was indicted Thursday on charges of making false statements and concealing information in a Justice Department foreign lobbying investigation that intersected with the Russia probe.
Craig was charged in a two-count indictment that accuses him of willfully concealing material facts about work he and his former law firm performed for the Ukrainian government. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia announced the charges.
They came a day after Craig’s lawyers said he expected to be charged in the probe, which spun off from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
In the statement, his attorneys, William Taylor and William Murphy, said, “Mr. Craig is not guilty of any charge and the government’s stubborn insistence on prosecuting Mr. Craig is a misguided abuse of prosecutorial discretion.”
Economy & Business
Hundreds Of Millions Of Pigs Feared Dead From Swine Fever – Price Of Pork Has Risen 38 Percent In The Last 4 Weeks
Economic Collapse – A plague of epic proportions is ripping through the global pig population, and CNBC is warning that this unprecedented outbreak of African swine fever “could lead to significant shortages” of pork in the global marketplace. As you will see below, the price of pork has already risen 38 percent over the last 4 weeks, and it appears inevitable that it will go a lot higher as this crisis continues to intensify. When the first case of African swine fever was reported in China last August, nobody was really too concerned at the time. But since then it has been spreading like wildfire, and the most recent estimates of the spread of the disease that we are getting from the experts are absolutely terrifying.
China consumes 49 percent of all pork produced in the world, and they slaughter approximately 700 million pigs a year.
So we are talking about the primary source of protein for the most populated country on the entire planet.
According to the Daily Mail, one major pork supplier has “suggested that 30-50% of Chinese pig farms have been affected by the outbreak”. And apparently this is the primary reason why the price of pork has increased by 38 percent over the last month
Wall St treads water ahead of big bank earnings
Reuters – U.S. stocks traded in a tight range on Thursday, as losses in the healthcare sector were offset by a rise in industrial shares, with big U.S. banks notching gains ahead of earnings.
Energy & Environment
40 Kilos of Plastic Found in Guts of Whale
Mercola – A young 1,100 pound Curvier’s beaked whale died along the shores of the Philippines with over 88 pounds (40 kilos) of plastic in the gut causing malnutrition and dehydration; marine biologist Darrell Blatchley said it was the most he’d ever seen in a necropsy.
Researchers recovered 50 marine animals from 10 species along the beaches of Britain, finding microplastic particles in the guts of all; those that died from infectious processes had more particles than those that died from other causes.
Microplastics enter the human food supply through dust, water, packaging, sea salt and food; researchers have now identified plastic particles in human stool samples from eight countries.
You may participate in a global solution by eliminating your use of bottled water, purchasing clothing you wear for a long time, using expert tricks to recycle and reducing your use of all things plastic
Science & Technology
Thousands of Amazon workers are listening in on Echo audio, report says
Apple Insider – In a bid to enhance its in-house Alexa voice recognition technology, Amazon reportedly employs thousands of people around the world to listen, transcribe and annotate audio clips recorded by Echo devices.
Citing sources who have worked on the project, Bloomberg reports Amazon tasks outside contractors, as well as full-time Amazon employees, to comb through snippets of audio from Echo devices to help train Alexa, the company’s voice-enabled assistant.
The clips include both explicit Alexa commands and background conversations. Echo devices are constantly scanning audio for a trigger phrase — “Alexa,” “Echo” or “computer” — which when deciphered activates the assistant and initiates a connection to Amazon’s servers. Audio recordings begin shortly thereafter.
With Echo in homes and offices, workers expectedly hear users discussing people by name or run across customers talking about sensitive topics like banking information, the report said. When snippets contain personal information, workers are instructed to mark the clip as “critical data” and move on.
Amazon does not inform customers that recordings of Alexa conversations are heard by employees, though the company’s website does note user requests are applied to “train our speech recognition and natural language understanding systems.”
According to people who have worked on the project, the job is typically uninteresting, with one employee saying he was tasked with parsing mentions of “Taylor Swift.” Other recordings border on what can be considered intrusion. Two workers said they heard what they believe to be an instance of sexual assault, the report said.
Health
April is National Alcohol Awareness Month — Time for Education and Action about Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Activist Post – April is National Alcohol Awareness Month, and the first weekend in April is Alcohol Free Weekend. This is a campaign to inform and change social norms about drinking.
Every day hundreds of Americans die because of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, and thousands more are admitted into hospitals, psychiatric facilities, or jails and prison. Alcohol places thousands more at risk for divorce, unemployment, bankruptcy, and physical and emotional problems such as depression. Because it affects so many people, alcoholism is considered the number one public health problem in America – even surpassing cancer and heart disease, and is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.
Alcohol Awareness Month
Alcohol Awareness Month (AAM) is a national grassroots effort that was started by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence in 1987, and it quickly spread throughout the country. AAM highlights the need to support education, prevention and treatment for alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. It is an opportunity for families and communities, together, to educate themselves about the critical issues of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, and reach out and educate their children on the reasons to stay alcohol free.
Alcoholism is a disease that affects children, families and communities across the nation. In fact, most people know someone who has been affected by this disease as over half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or alcohol problems. In this regard, alcoholism does not just affect the alcoholic but others around, and therefore it is also called a family disease.
Alcohol is a toxic and addictive drug. Each year there are well over 88,000 deaths because of alcohol, and according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), there may be as many as 15.1 million individuals with an alcohol problem or alcoholism in the United States. Alcoholism was, is, and remains one of the most pervasive and tragic diseases affecting society.
Alcohol Free Weekend
Alcohol Free Weekend is a special opportunity for parents to teach about alcohol in their homes. For at least one weekend each year people are saying that America does not need to rely on alcohol for pleasure or pastime. This also gives parents opportunity to further reflect upon the dangers and consequences of drinking with their children.
Prevention is the Best Policy
Although it is among the nation’s most deadly diseases, alcoholism is preventable. Each year AAM offers an opportunity to work in a unified effort to raise awareness about the negative consequences of drinking and to do something about it. It also asks families to look at the level of emotional pain that alcohol has caused in their lives and encourages adults to talk about alcoholism with spouses, children, and friends.
The best prevention is to help send the message to youth that one does not need to drink in order to enjoy leisure activities and have a fulfilling and healthy life. In fact, at least 34 percent of Americans do not drink at all.
Referral Information
AAM also encourages individuals with an alcohol problem to seek treatment. Help is only a telephone call away. If a person believes that he or she or a family member may have an alcohol problem or if one is hurting or in emotional pain because of alcohol, it is best to contact a local treatment agency or call the national referral helpline operated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at 1-800-662-HELP.
9 Reasons to Start Eating More Cashews
Care2 – Novelist Raymond Chandler once wrote, “She was the kind of girl who’d eat all your cashews and leave you with nothing but peanuts and filberts.” That’s how irresistible cashews are…at least for me. I consider them one of the most delicious and versatile nuts. But, there are many other reasons to start eating more of these nutritional powerhouses. Here are some of my favorite ones:
Eye Protection
Cashews, like many nuts and seeds, are high in vitamin E and a source of the eye-healing nutrient rutin, vitamin E also helps to protect the eyes against harmful free radicals.
Heart and Blood Health
Rich in the mineral copper, which helps to ensure the healthy production of red blood cells, iron absorption and the regulation of heart rate and blood pressure. Just one-quarter cup of raw cashews (or about 40 grams) provides 98 percent of your daily requirements.
Boost Energy
That’s because copper is needed to form the powerful antioxidant and energy enzyme known as superoxide dismutase (SOD), and cashews are among the richest sources of this critical nutrient.
Help with Rheumatoid Arthritis
A copper deficiency is often implicated in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis so grab a handful of cashews and start tackling the pain and inflammation in the most delicious way possible. It can take a couple of months to notice improvements as your body slowly addresses the mineral deficiency that is often behind this painful condition, so be sure to stick with the cashews on a daily basis for at least a couple of months.
Prevent or Treat Osteoporosis
Copper is needed in sufficient quantities for healthy and strong bones. By snacking on one of nature’s richest sources of the mineral, you’ll not only give your taste buds a boost, you’ll also give your bones one.
Soothe Nerves and Stress
Cashews are high in the natural nerve and muscle relaxant, magnesium. Just one-quarter cup of raw cashews provides 28 percent of your daily requirements of this critical anti-stress mineral.
Reduced Risk of Dying from a Heart Attack
According to research, eating more nuts or nut butter like cashews or cashew butter can reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack. The researchers found that just one serving, one to four times weekly reduced the risk of dying by 11 percent.
Lower Triglyceride Levels
Diabetics, in particular, seem to benefit most from cashew’s high levels of triglyceride-lowering monounsaturated fats. These fats reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Lower Your Likelihood of Gaining Weight
In a study of 8865 adult women and men in Spain, over 28 months, researchers found that those who ate nuts at least twice a week were 31 percent less likely to gain weight. That’s because cashews contain protein, healthy fats and fiber that can keep blood sugar levels stable for hours.
How to Use Cashews
Cashews are incredibly versatile. They can be soaked and used as a base for dairy-free yogurt, ice cream, cheeses and much more. Check out my recipes in 3 Great Vegan Fermented Foods to Make at Home and lots more in my book The Cultured Cook.
You can also add them to curries and stir fries. They can be chopped and used to top vegetable dishes, salads, fish dishes. You can use cashew milk as a base for smoothies and shakes or cashew butter over toast. And, of course, just grabbing a handful makes a delicious and nutritious health-boosting snack. Be sure to choose raw, unsalted cashews from the refrigerator section of your health food or grocery store since the oils can go rancid easily and the excessive salt can negate their many health benefits.
Pet News
Dementia Symptoms Increasing in Older Dogs
Mercola – While canine cognitive dysfunction, or CCD, usually starts when the animals reach 9 or 10 years of age, studies are saying that more dogs are showing signs of cognitive aging.
Signs that point to a dog’s cognitive decline include forgetting skills and behaviors they once knew, indications of anxiety and changes in their sleep cycles, but other odd behavior may mean something’s wrong.
Causes of CCD include altered brain metabolism, oxidative stress from free radical damage and the formation of lesions on the brain, which may include nerve-damaging beta amyloid deposits — proteins that interfere with brain signaling.
Besides exercise and socialization, providing a diet for your dog that includes plenty of protein in the form of living, whole, easily digestible and moisture-rich foods suitable for a carnivore will protect brain health