Today's News: February 09, 2018

World News

Russian nuclear scientists arrested for ‘Bitcoin mining plot’
BBC – Russian security officers have arrested several scientists working at a top-secret Russian nuclear warhead facility for allegedly mining crypto-currencies.
The suspects had tried to use one of Russia’s most powerful supercomputers to mine Bitcoins, media reports say.
The Federal Nuclear Centre in Sarov, western Russia, is a restricted area.
The centre’s press service said: “There has been an unsanctioned attempt to use computer facilities for private purposes including so-called mining.”

Brexit: Transition period not ‘a given’, says Barnier
BBC – EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has warned that a transition period immediately after Brexit in 2019 is “not a given”. He said “substantial” disagreements remained and he had “some problems understanding the UK’s position”. And he said the UK decision to quit the customs union and single market meant Irish border checks were “unavoidable”.

Greeks Are Revolting Again
Global Research – It will be a demonstration about Macedonia, against what many Greeks understand as one more usurpation of their history, their national symbols and their cultural heritage. But behind it, one clearly discerns the desperate cry of a historic European nation that has been insulted and offended, destroyed and plundered, by its own supposed Allies and Partners and by the Union it has adhered to. A nation which has contributed as very few to the defeat of Nazism, only to see now “democratic Germany” destroying it, with help from Brussels bureaucracy, the US and Goldman Sachs.
What Greeks will say to their government today will be essentially: Stop conceding the country to foreign powers. Give us back our country.
For ten years Greeks have witnessed their “allies and partners” destroying their country, pretending they are helping it.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

House passes budget deal and ends government shutdown
CNB- The House passed a bill Friday to set up a major spending increase and end a brief government shutdown, sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Both chambers of Congress passed a short-term funding bill and cleared the way for a boost to military and domestic spending hours after funding lapsed at midnight. The government partially shut down for the second time in less than a month.
The massive legislation cleared Congress after opposition delayed or threatened its passage in both chambers. The House narrowly passed the budget bill by 240 to 186 before dawn Friday.

Trump Calls Faith ‘Central’ to American Life
NOLA – President Donald Trump says faith is “central to American life and liberty.”
Trump on Thursday (Feb. 8) addressed the National Prayer Breakfast, a high-profile annual event that brings together faith leaders, politicians and dignitaries. He spoke about seeing the “power of God’s love” in Americans, particularly during the response to recent hurricanes and mass shootings.
Trump says “we can all be heroes to everybody.”

Ryan: DACA Solution Coming After Budget Passes (Video)
Olean Times Herald – ouse Speaker Paul Ryan vows that once Congress reaches a budget deal, lawmakers will take up the plight of immigrant “Dreamers” who face deportation after being brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

DOD: US Forces Acted in Self-Defense in Syria (Video)
USA TODAY – Department of Defense officials say actions by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria was in “self-defense,” citing a major attack on its allied forces and U.S. advisers in Deir el-Zour province.

Seattle Wants All Marijuana Misdemeanors Cleared (Video)
MSN – Five years after Washington state legalized marijuana, Seattle officials say they’re moving to automatically clear past misdemeanor convictions for pot possession.

Californians to Trump: ‘We Will Fight’ Offshore Drilling
VOA – Commissions that oversee coastal lands and water pushed the Trump administration to leave California out of plans to expand offshore drilling, saying the state will throw up any barriers possible to prevent pumping and transportation of oil.
The warning came weeks after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he wants to open nearly all U.S. coastlines to offshore oil and gas drilling.
Since then, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has proposed six sales of drilling rights off the California coast and a seventh off Oregon and Washington between 2020 and 2023.

Democrat Woman Leading #MeToo Investigated for Sexual Misconduct
Breitbart – Democrat California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), the woman who has led the #MeToo charge against sexual harassment in the Golden State, is herself the subject of an investigation into her alleged sexual harassment and groping of a former male legislative aide.
Daniel Fierro of Cerritos told Politico that when he was a 25-year-old staffer to Assemblyman Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) in 2014, an inebriated Garcia cornered him while he was alone after the annual Assembly softball game in Sacramento. She reportedly began stroking his back, then squeezed his buttocks and attempted to touch his crotch before he removed himself from the situation.
Politico notes that a prominent Sacramento lobbyist — who spoke on condition of anonymity — also complained about being sexually harassed by Garcia in May 2017. Garcia allegedly tried to grab his crotch at a political fundraiser hosted by Governor Jerry Brown for state Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) at the de Veres bar in Sacramento. Garcia was allegedly inebriated.

Peter Strzok Texts Reveal FBI Investigators Missed Clinton Emails Marked Classified
Breitbart – The FBI did not notice that some emails from Hillary Clinton’s private email server were marked classified with a “(C)” when they were sent, until the Intelligence Community inspector general caught them, according to texts between FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
“Holy cow,” Strzok texted Page on June 12, 2016 — less than a month before the investigation into Clinton’s email server ended. “If the FBI missed this, what else was missed?”
“Remind me to tell you to flag for Andy [redacted] emails we (actually ICIG) found that have portion marks (C) on a couple of paras. DoJ was Very Concerned about this,” he texted.
“Found on the 30k [emails] provided to State originally. No one noticed. It cuts against ‘I never sent or received anything marked classified,’” he texted, in reference to Clinton’s denials.
However, Clinton cited as late as July 2, 2016, that she had never sent material that was marked classified.

Radical Islamic Scholar Hillary Let Back into U.S. as Sec. of State Jailed for Rape
Judicial Watch – The radical Islamic scholar that Hillary Clinton let back into the U.S. after a lengthy ban over terrorist ties is in jail on rape charges. This week a judge in France denied bail for Clinton’s pal, Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder and Hamas funder Hassan al Banna. Ramadan, a professor at Oxford University, was arrested in Paris last week and charged with raping two Muslim women. Both women were raped in France, according to a European news report. The first one, a 40-year-old disabled Muslim convert claims Ramadan raped and beat her in the southeastern city of Lyon in 2009 and the other, a 41-year-old feminist activist, says Ramadan raped her in Paris in 2012

Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Medical marijuana producer fighting to keep license
Mother Earth News – The state Health Department is moving to revoke the license of a medical cannabis producer with dispensaries in Las Cruces and Albuquerque, saying the company submitted falsified audit reports.
Mother Earth Herbs denies the allegation and has requested a hearing to contest the revocation.
The license revocation, if upheld, would be the first for a pot producer since the state created the medical cannabis program in 2007, according to the Health Department.

Health

OUTED: DuPont covered up the health risks of Teflon
NaturalNews – One chemical used to produce teflon, known as “C8,” has been linked to six different diseases, including kidney cancer and testicular cancer. C8 is so prevalent that nearly every American citizen has traces of it in their blood, and maybe even the entire world. C8 first made its debut in teflon manufacturing back in 1951 — and because of its remarkable resistance to biodegradation and its tendency to easily escape into the air, it’s been accumulating in the environment ever since. While C8 was eventually phased out, many people are still reeling from its deleterious effects.
Earth Island reports that “DuPont had dispersed almost 2.5 million pounds of C8 from its Washington Works plant into the mid-Ohio River Valley area” by the year 2003. And before environmental laws were put in place during the 1970s, DuPont’s practices were even worse.
Another report by the federal government found that one of DuPont’s plants had violated the Clean Air Act at least 50 times.

Study finds heart protective effects of sea buckthorn
Natural Health News – Supplementing with nutrient- and antioxidant-rich sea buckthorn oil could help protect against heart disease. Dr. Beata Olas, a researcher at Poland’s University of Lodz pulled together relevant existing scientific literature on sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) oil’s health benefits. She notes in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology that: “Its beneficial properties against cardiovascular disorders have been attributed to its high unsaturated fatty acid content and range of phytosterols, especially beta-sitosterol.”

Pet News

Dental Health is Essential for Overall Health of Pets
Care2 – According to the American Veterinary Dental Society (AVDS), 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats show signs of oral disease by age three, often indicated by bad breath, a change in eating or chewing habits, pawing at the face and mouth and depression. “Oral disease is the most frequently diagnosed health problem for pets and it’s also entirely preventable,” said AVMA President Mike Topper. “Twice-a-year checkups, including an oral health checkup, are important to ensure your pet is not in pain and is not suffering from serious oral health problems.”
Besides causing receding gums and tooth loss, bacteria in the mouth can enter the bloodstream, potentially infecting the heart, liver and kidneys, which can be potentially life threatening.
Although daily tooth brushing is advised for dogs and cats, only 2 percent of dog owners follow through according to the AVDS. Bad breath and yellowing teeth are two of the earliest signs of dental health problems in pets and if left untreated these symptoms can develop into periodontal disease or gingivitis.
Just as the public has come to realize that their own oral health is linked to their overall health, veterinarians want people to understand that dental health care is essential to maintaining the overall health and wellbeing of the family pet.