Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-12/trump-proposal-end-food-stamps-sends-dollar-stores-tumbling

Shortly after 1pm ET, the shares of Dollar General and Dollar Tree tumbled after it was unveiled that President Donald Trump's budget was proposing to effectively abandon food stamps, slashing the program's traditional cash payments and substituting them with packages of "100% American grown food" for recipients. According to Bloomberg, this would represent "one of the biggest shakeups of the US food stamp program in its five decade history."

The reason why deep discount dollar chains were sold off on the news is because they are particularly vulnerable to changes in the food stamp program as they largely cater to less affluent shoppers

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/63705/woman-dragged-out-of-hearing-for-exposing-big-energy-donations.html

A candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates was dragged out of a hearing after listing the donations received by state lawmakers from fossil fuel companies. She was testifying on a bill on oil and gas drilling rules.

Lissa Lucas was criticizing a proposed bill, HB 4268, which would allow oil and gas companies to drill on private land with the consent of just 75 percent of the landowners. Energy companies are currently required to have 100 percent approval from landowners before they can extract gas and minerals from land. As part of her testimony, she read out the list of names of lawmakers who received sizeable donations from fossil fuel companies.

Lucas was ordered by House Judiciary Committee members to desist from making “personal comments” about members. As Lucas persisted, her microphone was cut off.

Link: https://www.rt.com/politics/418544-internet-should-not-be-accessible/

Russian Communist Party MP and Nobel Prize-winner Zhores Alferov has urged restrictions on internet access, saying unlimited access to information can harm people’s morals and mental health.

“The internet must have limitations and it must not be available to everyone,” Alferov stated in a recent interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily. He went on to explain that in his opinion the total lack of control and restrictions of the net can affect people’s behavior and damage publicly-accepted moral guidelines. Alferov is a world-renowned physicist, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics. He is also a State Duma MP representing the largest opposition party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF).

Link: https://sputniknews.com/military/201802121061567057-montenegro-nato-afghanistan-kosovo/

The Defense and Security Council of Montenegro has sent at least 40 members of its Armed Forces of Montenegro to Kosovo and Afghanistan as part of NATO ‘peacekeeping’ missions, participating with the possibility of rotation.

The Montenegrin Army first sent a contingent to Afghanistan in March 2010, with the country becoming the 44th non-NATO state to contribute to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/world/201802121061568690-trump-israel-careful-settlements-west-bank/

US President Donald Trump has called on Israel to "be very careful" with building settlements in West Bank as this issue complicates the opportunity to continue the peace process.

"The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements," Trump told Israel Hayom newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

Trump added that the issue of settlements will be discussed, when asked whether this issue would become a part of the US plan to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/63685/canadian-military-to-spend-170000-so-leaders-can-see-what-its-like-to-be-stoned-on.html

The Canadian Forces is buying kits that will let its leaders experience what it’s like to be stoned on marijuana.

The “marijuana simulation kits” will include “marijuana impairment goggles,” among other items. The Canadian Forces wants to acquire 26 of the kits by April 30 or sooner if possible. Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier said Friday that the kits will be used in the Military Personnel Command’s supervisor training course. “This will help ensure that CAF members in leadership positions will be able to identify signs of, assist in detecting and provide guidance regarding, prohibited drug use

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/63674/turkish-helicopter-shot-down-by-kurdish-militia-in-syrias-afrin-.html

Turkish army helicopter was shot down by Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters near the north Syrian town of Afrin, Reuters reports President Tayyip Erdogan saying: “One of our helicopters was downed just recently,” Erdogan said speaking to members of his AK Party (AKP) in Istanbul. “These things will happen, we are in a war… We might lose a helicopter, but they’ll pay the price for this.”

He did not mention any casualties.

YPG sources separately confirmed the downing of the helicopter, the first officially confirmed destruction of a Turkish aircraft over Syria during the country’s long-running civil war.

Link: https://boingboing.net/2018/02/07/this-is-not-ok.html

Teachers haven't gotten a raise in 10 years. Teachers are fleeing the state, including the Teacher of the Year, who quit his job in 2016 shortly after receiving his award, taking a better-paid teaching job in a neighboring state (the Dallas school system actively recruits Oklahoma teachers with Oklahoma City hiring booths).

Their health plan was replaced with a private system; more than $1000/month for a family of three -- one teaching aide was actually paying to work her job, spending $200/month more on health insurance than she was paid in salary. Teachers make ends meet with public housing, food stamps, and school food-bank drives. The highway patrol has been given orders not to completely fill their gas-tanks at the pump, to help with state cash-flow.

Link: https://articles.mercola.com/herbs-spices/chili-peppers.aspx

Chili peppers were first cultivated by ancient farmers in Central and South America, Today, chili peppers are grown all over the world, Mexico, China, Spain, Nigeria and Turkey are among the largest commercial producers.

Chili pepper contains a bioactive plant compound called capsaicin, Helps Fight Inflammation — Capsaicin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Boosts Immunity Helps Reduce Insulin Levels — help with blood sugar level management. Protects Your Heart — The compound capsaicin can help reduce triglycerides, cholesterol and platelet aggregation. Prevents Sinusitis and Relieves Congestion.

Link: https://www.rt.com/politics/418124-russia-prepares-bill-totally-banning/

Russian Upper House speaker Valentina Matviyenko has revealed that the body’s committee for social policies is preparing a bill that would completely ban the advertising of drugs. TV companies get about 11.5 billion rubles (over $205 million) in revenues from such ads.”

The upper house speaker also spoke in favor of regulating the advertising of unhealthy food and described such advertising featuring children as an outrage.

Link: https://www.rt.com/politics/418325-russian-ex-governor-gets-13/

A court in the Russian Far East region of Sakhalin has sentenced former Governor Aleksandr Khoroshavin to 13 years in prison for running a ring that brought in over half a billion rubles in bribes for him.

Apart from the sentence, to be served in a maximum-security prison, the court ordered the ex-governor to pay a fine of 500 million rubles ($8.6 million) and banned him from assuming any official posts for five years after the sentence is served. Other suspects in the case – the former adviser to the governor, the ex-deputy chairman of the regional government, and the former Sakhalin minister of agriculture and trade – were also convicted of corruption crimes and received lengthy prison sentences and multi-million-ruble fines.

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/63624/chinese-transit-cops-deploy-facerecognition-glasses-to-spot-indebted-people-oppressed.html

Chinese transit cops are wearing glasses with heads-up displays and cameras tied into the country's facial recognition to spot criminals, people smugglers, and riders who are using high-speed trains in defiance of rules that prohibit indebted people and people from ethnic and religious minorities from traveling.

The glasses' manufacturers claim that they can match people with a 10,000-face watchlist in 100ms.

So far the glasses have identified people suspected of misdeeds ranging from traffic infringements to crimes like human trafficking.

A further 26 people using fake identity documents were also prevented from traveling.

In China, people must use identity documents for train travel. This rule works to prevent people with excessive debt from using high-speed trains, and limit the movement of religious minorities who have had identity documents confiscated

Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/418357-rubio-calls-military-coup-venezuela/

Republican Senator Marco Rubio called for the Venezuelan Armed Forces to rebel against the government, in a series of inflammatory tweets posted on Friday. The Secretary of State has hinted at support for a coup d’etat.

“The world would support the Armed Forces in #Venezuela if they decide to protect the people & restore democracy by removing a dictator,” Florida Senator Rubio wrote.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/418331-france-boosts-defense-spending/

France wants to boost its military spending by over 40 percent by 2025, giving its nuclear arsenal a multibillion-dollar shot in the arm. France is currently the world’s third-biggest nuclear power.

According to a bill unveiled on Wednesday, the current French defense budget of €34.2 billion ($42 billion) will rise to €50 billion ($61 billion) in 2025, or 2 percent of the nation’s GDP.

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/Mexico_to_send_troops_to_stem_violence_after_record_25%2C000_murders/63304/0/38/38/Y/M.html

National Security Commissioner Renato Sales said federal police troops will work with local officials to round up known major criminals and bolster investigations.

...

More than 25,000 murders were recorded last year as rival drug gangs increasingly splintered into smaller, more blood-thirsty groups after more than a decade of a military-led campaign to battle the cartels.

Link: https://www.theorganicprepper.com/flu-worse-dying/

The dominant Influenza strain this year is H3N2. This particular strain has a history of causing more hospitalizations and more deaths. The Current Flu Has Already Killed 44,116 People. This Year’s Vaccine Is Even Less Effective than Prior Years. Many hospitals are reaching what is called “surge capacity”; the ability to handle a sudden and dramatic increase in the number of patients needing immediate care.

This is happening because there are more patients seeking out emergency care, and they are staying in the hospital longer leading to a scarcity of hospital beds and available staff.

Link: https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2018/01/27/this-flu-season-is-an-epidemic-some-died-just-2-days-after-onset-of-symptoms/

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) declared this season an epidemic, stating the illness is widespread in at least 39 states.
Although the flu season hasn’t even peaked yet, CDC epidemiologist Lynnette Brammer said more hospitalizations are being reported and deaths are increasing: “We are starting to see cases of severe disease and we are seeing excess deaths“.
California public health officials said the number of deaths and hospitalizations is higher than normal.

Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/01/27/hackers-are-making-u-s-atms-spit-out-cash-like-slot-machines-report-warns/?utm_term=.e616edf8b125

Hackers able to make ATMs spit cash like winning slot machines are now operating inside the United States, marking the arrival of “jackpotting” attacks after widespread heists in Europe and Asia, according to the world’s largest ATM makers and security news website, Krebs on Security.

Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-shipyard-new-evidence-of-botched-cleanup-2018-1

The San Francisco Shipyard, a mixed-use development rising on the site of a former nuclear testing facility, is in limbo amid new allegations.
The Navy has found evidence that a government contractor hired to clean radioactive contamination from the area botched the cleanup.
Almost half of the cleanup work was later showed to be falsified or "suspect." Workers swapped soil samples from contaminated sites with clean ones.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/417198-coincheck-exchange-hack-reparations/

The losses of 260,000 customers of Coincheck, deprived of their money in what appears the to be the biggest crypto heist in history, will be repaid over $425 million. Even that sum does not cover all the damages.

The Japanese cryptocurrency exchange platform Coincheck suspended trading and withdrawals on Friday, as hackers had stolen more than 500 million NEM worth up to ¥58 billion ($532 million). As the news broke the token price plunged more than 15 percent from the day’s high of around $1.02, down to $0.85.