World News
Israel eases gun controls following lone-wolf attacks
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has changed its gun regulations to enable hundreds of thousands more civilians to apply for licences, a move authorities say will increase security but others argue will stoke violence.
The shift in policy, announced by the public security ministry late Monday, means that up to 600,000 Israelis could apply for gun licences, a dramatic increase on the current 140,000 civilians with permits.
A source in the public security ministry, however, estimated that only 35,000 people will be interested in applying for gun licences under the new regulations.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the change could help thwart “lone-wolf attacks” by Palestinians, who have carried out gun, knife and car-ramming assaults that have at times been deadly.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
Trump: Michael Cohen Lied To Cut Deal [Video]
ZeroHedge – Comparing Cohen to former Trump aide Paul Manafort, the President tweeted: “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. “Justice” took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to “break” — make up stories in order to get a “deal.” Such respect for a brave man!”
Trump further defended Manafort, tweeting: “A large number of counts, ten, could not even be decided in the Paul Manafort case. Witch Hunt!”
And as we mentioned earlier Wednesday, Trump also brought up President Obama’s campaign finance violations (granted they were a bit less salacious).
None of the charges against Manafort and Cohen have anything to do with Trump, the Trump campaign or the 2016 US election – however Cohen’s new admission through his lawyer (and longtime Clinton pal) Lanny Davis could spell trouble for the president.
Davis said that his client has “knowledge” about computer hacking and collusion, and is willing to speak with Special Counsel Robert Mueller about a “conspiracy to collude” with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen wants to tell Mueller that Trump knew of an infamous 2016 meeting at Trump Tower and the Russian hacking of Democratic institutions before they took place, Davis told MSNBC, deciding that any “attorney client” privilege in this case is strictly optional.
More troubling for Trump, Davis said on Wednesday then said that “there is no dispute that Trump committed a crime” as he repeated that “Cohen has knowledge of a Russian conspiracy”, even if it was still unclear if Cohen or Davis have any evidence or proof to substantiate their allegations.
Trump, meanwhile, says Cohen is a liar.
Warren Not Running for President
The New American – The senator from Massachusetts announced she will not run for president, and instead will fight for liberalism on a familiar battleground: the U.S. Senate.
Warren put the kibosh on a run at the National Press Club, friendly ground for the likes of the Bay State leftist, where she touted a new anti-corruption bill that would close the door between Congress and the cash- and influence-peddling K Street lobby firms.
The Announcement
“I am not running for president in 2020,” Warren said, according to The Hill.
I am running for the Senate in 2018. The important fight coming up right now is the midterm election. We now have 74 more days until the election. I am taking nothing for granted. I have just done 34 town halls. I’m all across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
And actually, I’m going to make this pitch; it is really important that we focus on midterm elections and stop acting like the only important shiny object in the room is 2020….
So I’m focused on 2018 and I’m going to stay focused on 2018.
That news will come as something of a shock to the leftists who viewed Warren as the perfect opponent for Trump. As recently as last month, Warren was thought to be a serious contender in the 2020 race.
Kansas City School District Forces Boys and Girls to Use Same Bathrooms
The New American – As the Kansas City Star reported:
No more separate restrooms for boys and girls, with rows of feet-showing stalls. The North Kansas City school district is going fully gender neutral at two new elementary schools, opening on Wednesday [August 15], as well as in a few renovated restrooms in North Kansas City High School and the sixth-grade centers.
The bathrooms still have an open alcove area with a common trough sink, but the toilets are enclosed inside individual stalls with floor-to-ceiling walls and lockable doors.
A single sign on the wall outside displays both the male and female symbols.
My, “male and female symbols.” That’s not just old-fashioned but downright antediluvian. Haven’t we been told that not just words but people have “gender” (as the term has been co-opted) and that gender is a spectrum, that it even can be fluid?
Illegal Alien Arrested for Murder of Missing College Student Mollie Tibbetts
- Edward Griffin – Iowa: Illegal alien from Mexico, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, has been charged with First Degree Murder for slaying Iowa college student, Mollie Tibbetts. Rivera was apprehended thanks to surveillance footage of him in the area. Police say that Rivera made advances on Tibbetts while she was out jogging and began running alongside her. When she threatened to call the police, the illegal alien says that he “blacked out.”
>> Related: Tom Cotton: Mollie Tibbetts ‘Would Be Alive’ If Immigration Laws were ‘Seriously’ Enforced
Former Clinton Pollster: Hillary Clinton Broke Campaign Finance Laws, Not Donald Trump
Bretibart – Mark Penn, the former pollster for both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has penned an op-ed in The Hill Wednesday in which he argues that Michael Cohen’s guilty plea shows the double standard that prosecutors have applied unfairly to Donald Trump.
Penn argues that while what Trump is alleged to have done — paying Stormy Daniels for a non-disclosure agreement she had sought for five years prior to the election — was legal, Hillary Clinton failed to report campaign expenditures that led to the Steele dossier.
If anyone broke campaign finance law, Penn argues, it was Clinton, not Trump — but prosecutors want Trump out of office.
Economy & Business
Turkey’s Crisis and the Dollar’s Future
Infowars – Last week’s collapse of the Turkish lira has dominated the headlines, and it is widely reported that this and other emerging market currencies are in trouble because of the withdrawal of dollar liquidity.
There are huge quantities of footloose dollars betting against these weak currencies, as well as commodities and gold, on the basis the long-expected squeeze on dollar liquidity is finally upon us.
Russia Buys Over 800,000 Ounces Of Gold In July After Dumping US Treasuries
Via GoldCore.com,
- Russia buys 839,000 ozs of gold in July as it diversifies reserves from USD
- 25-ton addition brings Russia’s Central Bank holdings to 1,969 tons; the world’s 5th largest gold reserves
- Central bank buying Russian gold on Moscow Exchange for now
- Russia sees gold’s role as independent currency and safe haven as is a “100% guarantee from legal and political risks”
- Russia now has total gold reserves worth just $76 billion; Dumped $90 billion of US Treasuries in April and May
Russia under Putin continues to add to its gold reserves and added another 839,000 ounces or 25 metric tonnes in June. Many analysts believe this buying will continue in the coming months given the very serious geopolitical tensions between Russia and the U.S.
Russia’s total gold reserves now amount to 63.3 million ounces or around 1,969 metric tonnes, with a current value of just $76 billion (based on gold at $1,200/0z).
Energy & Environment
Cat 5 cyclone aims for Big Island
Hawaiinewsnow – Hurricane Lane continues to bear down on the state as a massive Category 4 storm and is threatening to bring strong winds, torrential rains and monster surf to the state beginning Wednesday.
Science & Technology
But Gilder contends this “flat-universe theory of materialism” is the fundamental flaw, describing it as a deterministic “neo-Marxist political ideology” that considers the universe sheer matter, ruled by physics and chemistry, leaving little room for human consciousness and creativity.
“Marx essentially believed that humans had solved the problem of production back in the 19th century with the first industrial age, and in the future the challenge would be distributing wealth rather than producing it,” Gilder explained to WND.
Gilder said Google’s “arrogance even exceeded Marx, because Marx didn’t imagine that the new technology would eclipse the human mind.”
“But we shouldn’t mind,” Gilder added in jest, “because we can all leave for the beach and collect a guaranteed annual income while Brin and Page, and Elon Musk fly to other planets in a winner-take-all universe.”
Imagining the smartphone- “I just imagined a device that anyone would like to have,” he told WND. “I said it would be as portable as your watch, as personal as your wallet. It would recognize speech, it would navigate streets, it would collect your news and your mail; but it just might not do Windows.”
Gilder noted he made the Windows reference in a speech at a Microsoft conference.
“So, I was sort of being provocative about the likely decline of the Microsoft empire,” he said.
“I was right about Microsoft, and I think I’m right about Google.”
He affirmed that if carried out to its logical conclusion, Google’s future is “dystopian to the extent that they eclipse the creativity of human beings and imagine that essentially their new machines make humans obsolete.”
“They really don’t grasp information theory,” he said, noting it’s a central theme of the Discovery Institute.
“The creation of the universe is really beyond our grasp,” he said. “Intelligent design is just a way to show that the universe is created, and human beings in subsets are creative in imitation of their creator.”
He points to a set of propositions underlying the internet articulated by Claude Shannon, the American mathematician known as the “father of the internet.”
“The computer and all these great information technologies relies ultimately on a definition of information as surprise, as unexpected bits,” Gilder said.
Gilder also cites the 20th century German-born economist Albert Hirschman.
“He said creativity always comes as surprise to us. And if it didn’t, we wouldn’t need it,” said Gilder.
And, Gilder added, if it didn’t, “socialism would work.”
China prez: Internet must be ‘clean and righteous’
Reuters – The internet must be “clean and righteous” and vulgar content must be resisted in the field of culture, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a meeting of senior propaganda officials, state media said on Wednesday.
A ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid bigger than St Paul’s Cathedral is heading for Earth
Metro – A huge asteroid bigger than one of Britain’s most famous landmarks is zooming towards our planet.
The gigantic space rock is called 2016 NF23 and is heading for Earth at a speed of more than 20,000 miles per hour – which is about 15 times as fast as Concorde.
Nasa thinks the object is up to 160 metres wide, meaning it could be bigger than St. Paul’s Cathedral, which stands 111 metres high and was the tallest building in London until 1967.
It will pass by at a distance of about 3 million miles on August 29 and is large enough to be considered ‘potentially hazardous’.
Facebook rates users, draws comparison to Communists
WND – Facebook, beleaguered in recent months by multiple credible complaints that it unfairly censors conservatives, now is drawing comparisons to Community China after an official revealed that it has ratings for its users.
A paper battery powered by bacteria
BOSTON, Aug. 19, 2018 — In remote areas of the world or in regions with limited resources, everyday items like electrical outlets and batteries are luxuries. Health care workers in these areas often lack electricity to power diagnostic devices, and commercial batteries may be unavailable or too expensive. New power sources are needed that are low-cost and portable. Today, researchers report a new type of battery — made of paper and fueled by bacteria — that could overcome these challenges.
There should be ‘consequences’ for platforms that don’t remove people like Alex Jones, Senator Ron Wyden says
Infowars – Democratic Senator Ron Wyden is trying to take online censorship to a new level by drafting a bill that will enforce “consequences” for platforms that refuse to remove people like Alex Jones.
In an interview with Recode, Wyden, the senior U.S. Senator from Oregon, said that platforms should be punished for hosting content that he deems to go against “common decency”.
“I think what the Alex Jones case shows, we’re gonna really be looking at what the consequences are for just leaving common decency in the dust,” said Wyden.
“What I’m gonna be trying to do in my legislation is to really lay out what the consequences are when somebody who is a bad actor, somebody who really doesn’t meet the decency principles that reflect our values, if that bad actor blows by the bounds of common decency, I think you gotta have a way to make sure that stuff is taken down,” he added.
Of course, Wyden’s definition of what is ‘indecent’ is wide open to interpretation and will obviously be skewed by political bias.
Health
Garlic is a safe, delicious, and inexpensive way to improve your health
NaturalNews – If there is anything garlic is most known for, it is its very distinct aroma and flavor. But this diminutive vegetable packs a lot of health benefits and is, in fact, one of the most powerful natural medicines and functional foods on the planet.
Garlic (Allium sativum) has been used by humans since the early parts of history. Aside from its place in the ancient Egyptian’s daily diet, particularly among the working class, it also held a venerated place as a medicinal herb and functional food. It was thought to imbue and maintain strength for greater productivity. Such was its value that cloves of garlic were found preserved and buried with the infamous King Tutankhamen.
Allicin is garlic’s active ingredient. It is a compound that contains sulfur and is responsible for garlic’s pungent smell and strong flavor. It is also what makes the vegetable extremely potent as a medicinal herb.
Myositis: Causes of Inflammatory Muscle Diseases (+ 6 Natural Remedies)
Dr. Axe – Myositis is a general name for a group of conditions that cause muscle inflammation. The diseases are also known as inflammatory myopathies and can cause muscle weakness, pain and damage. In most cases, the disease responds to medical treatment.
Myositis is rare, and most people with this type of muscle inflammation require medical care. However, there are lifestyle and natural therapies you can use to possibly ease your symptoms.
Signs & Symptoms
There are several types of myositis, and symptoms may vary among the diseases. Common symptoms for most forms of myositis may include:
- Feeling very tired or weak after standing, walking or climbing stairs
- Being clumsy, tripping or falling
- Difficulty swallowing or breathing
- Sore, weak or painful muscles after activity
- Weakness that gets worse over time (days to months)
Many cases of myositis do not have a clear cause. They happen when the body’s immune system starts to attack its own muscles, joints, blood vessels and connective tissues. These cases are considered autoimmune myositis. Toxic myopathies happen in reaction to medications.
6 Natural Remedies for Myositis
- Make the most of physical and occupational therapy
- Exercise and get strategic rest
- Try heat therapy
- Follow a myositis-friendly diet
- Take care of your skin
- Ask about supplements
Pet News
Cat Acting Lethargic? Here’s What That Could Mean
Care2 – What are the most common causes of lethargy in cats?
Lethargy is associated with many different cat illnesses. Here are some of the illnesses most often tied to lethargy:
- Anemia (low red blood cell count) and other blood disorders
- Cardiovascular and pulmonary disorders
- Chronic inflammation or infection
- Drug or medication-induced lethargy
- Abnormalities in electrolyte or hormone levels
- Gastrointestinal disease
- Urinary tract disorders
- Cancer
- Immune diseases
- Some severe skin diseases
- Neurological and neuromuscular disorders
- Infectious diseases or exposure to certain toxins
- Physical trauma
To identify abnormalities, your veterinarian will likely recommend diagnostic testing. This may be anything from urinalysis to chest and abdominal x-rays. Should these baseline tests come up as inconclusive, your vet may consider doing additional testing — possibly bacterial cultures, endocrine assays, etc.
Good News
Motion Filed to Lift Gag Order Barring the Release of “Damning” Abortion-industry Videos
The New American – The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) claims to have a dozen more undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s organ harvesting practices but has been prohibited from releasing them as a result of a 2016 gag order. The organization’s founder, David Daleiden, filed motions last week to have the order lifted so he can release what he has dubbed “some of the most damning and incriminating footage we ever recorded.”
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