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Invading Your Privacy Is Big Business: Facebook Now Worth More Than Wal-Mart

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The market seems to love Facebook’s business of selling your private data to hungry advertisers. So much so, in fact, that the serial privacy invader has left retail giant Wal-Mart behind in the dust, with the company surpassing $236 billion in value. That puts it above retail giant Wal-Mart’s $235 billion.

According to analysts the value gap has been closed by a huge increase in Facebook’s shares over the last year and a drawn out stalling for those of Wal-Mart, thanks to soft sales and low growth.

Over the last year the social media company’s shares have risen approximately 30% while the S&P 500 has just increased marginally, boosting Facebook’s market cap by $65 billion.

While experts caution in drawing conclusions from the valuations, considering there is substantial differences between Facebook’s and Wal-Mart’s revenues,($476 billion for Wal-Mart and $12.5 billion for Facebook) it nonetheless shows that to investors, technology’s importance and value to society is growing.

They point to the fact that the biggest U.S. firms in stock market cap value are presently Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corporation, with Google Inc ranked fifth.

Are Record Low Home Ownership Rates Crushing The American Dream?

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A new Harvard University report on the US Housing market has painted a grim picture showing that the country’s housing recovery has slowed down dramatically and that home ownership rates, previously the hallmark of ‘the American dream’, are at all time lows.

The State of the Nation’s Housing report released by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, showed home ownership fell to just 64.5 percent in 2014, nearly wiping out all the gains from the last 20 years.

Chris Herbert, Managing Director of the Center said “the number of homeowners fell for the eighth straight year, and the trend does not appear to be abating.”

Single-family construction stayed at near historic lows, while existing home sales slowed.
There was ‘good’ news however for the rental market which continued to grow with indication the 2010’s will set records for renter growth. It remains to be seen, however, if renter growth is in fact good for the U.S. economy as a whole, which has traditionally thrived most when home ownership rates are high.

An increase in renting, while good for landlords, could very well be detrimental to the health of the country.

The report warns with rent increases and incomes lower than pre-recession levels, the country is also seeing the number of cost burdened renters at record numbers. This included in higher income renter households.

“While affordability for moderate income renters is hitting some cities and regions harder than others, an acute shortage of affordable housing for lowest-income renters is being felt everywhere,” said Herbert. “Between the record level of rent burdens and the plunging home ownership rate, there is a pressing need to prioritize the nation’s housing challenges in policy debates over the coming year if the country is to make progress toward the national goal of secure, decent, and affordable housing for all.”

While the preference of millennials to rent instead of buy is often given as the reason for rising demand for rental properties, the report found that in fact households with an average age of 45–64 accounted for approximately twice the share of renter growth compared to households under the age of 35. Also households with the top 50 percent of the income, although usually tending to own homes, were renting more, being 43 percent of the growth in renters.

The rising demand for rentals resulted in the national vacancy rate falling to its lowest in nearly 20 years, causing an average rental increase of 3.2 percent in 2014 which is twice the rate of overall inflation.

“To meet this demand, construction started on more multifamily units in 2014 than in any year since 1989,” says Daniel McCue, a senior research associate at the Joint Center, “And if job growth continues to pick up, we could see even more demand, as young adults increasingly move out of their parents’ homes and into their own apartments.”

Ohio Fears Serial Killer As Missing Women Keep Washing Ashore

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In events much like an episode of Criminal Minds, the bodies of women in Chillicothe, Ohio have been appearing in creeks near the town, and law enforcement fears that this may be the work of a serial killer.

At least six women have gone missing in the little town in the last year. Four bodies have been discovered, all dumped in water.

The first to disappear was Charlotte Trego, a mother of two in her late 20s, who was known to take drugs. Her friend, Tameka Lynch, a mother of three in her 30s, vanished in the same day. Six months later, 37-year-old Wanda Lemons, also a mother, went missing. Shasta Himelrick’s body was found two months later; she was reported to have been pregnant. More women turned up missing and dead, all with similar tales.

Police say most of the women were low-risk victims; some were drug users and prostitutes, and some knew each other. Their similarities suggest a possible serial killer, and several county and state investigators have teamed up to solve the crimes.

The FBI is also assisting by creating a profile of the killer.

Staff Lieutenant Mike Preston of the Ross County Sheriff’s Department said to the Washington Post:

I don’t want to come out and say ‘yes, we have a serial killer,’ but it’s a small community that we live in … and the number of females who have come up missing, and then the bodies that we’ve found, that’s quite a bit for our community.

Community members are growing scared. “The community is starting to get concerned,” Preston said. “Everyone just wants answers.

With six women missing and four dead, in a town of only 21,000, there is an urgent need to find the person responsible, with investigators asking the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious behavior to police.

Supposedly Ethical Grocery Chain Whole Foods Caught Ripping Customers Off

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Whole Foods stores in New York City have been ripping customers off by overstating weights of some products including packaged baked goods, dairy items and meats according to an investigation by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).

DCA Commissioner Julie Menin said her staff had told her this was the “worst case of mislabeling” they had ever come across.

The Department will be expanding the investigation into other Whole Foods stores.
Whole Foods has nine stores in New York City with plans to open a Harlem location.

Eighty different pre-packaged items were tested in the investigation and all had displayed the wrong weight on the labels. Amounts customers had been overcharged for went from 80 cents for a packet of pecan panko to almost $15 for coconut shrimp packages.

In a prepared statement Whole Foods spokesman Michael Sinatra said “We disagree with the DCA’s overreaching allegations”.

A DCA statement said the investigation showed that overstating weight for packaged products and overcharging was a “systematic problem” at Whole Foods with packages not routinely weighed or weighed inaccurately.

Some package items showed the exact same labeled weight which would be nearly impossible to occur. These items vegetables, seafood, berries and nuts.

Other cases showed for eight vegetable platters tested with a price tag of $20 per package, customers had been ripped off $2.50 on average; for eight packets of chicken tenders priced at $9.99 per lb, customers had on average been overcharged $4.13; and for four berry packages labeled with $8.58 per package, the price per package was inflated by $1.15 on average.

“It is unacceptable that New Yorkers shopping for a summer BBQ or who grab something to eat from the self-service aisles at New York City’s Whole Foods stores have a good chance of being overcharged,” Menin said. “As a large chain grocery store, Whole Foods has the money and resources to ensure greater accuracy and to correct what appears to be a widespread problem”.

Sinatra, the Whole Foods spokesman said the company had cooperated fully with the DCA till it made “grossly excessive monetary demands” to settle the dispute.

“Despite our requests to the DCA, they have not provided evidence to back up their demands nor have they requested any additional information from us, but instead have taken this to the media to coerce us. Our customers are our number one stakeholder and we highly value their trust in us.” he said.

Sinatra said Whole Foods’ policy had always been to fully refund any items that were found to show incorrect weight or price, adding the company “has never intentionally used deceptive practices to incorrectly charge customers”.

Fines for incorrectly labeling a package can range from as much as $950 for a first time violation to $1,700 for a following violation. The number of violations against Whole Foods in the New York city stores amount to thousands.

The DCA regularly inspects all New York City supermarkets .

This isn’t the first time the chain has been caught ripping off customers. In 2012 in California Whole Foods paid nearly $800,000 in fines for showing incorrect weights.

Highly Contagious Fish Virus Now Spreading Across Europe

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While Canada struggles with an influx of goldfish, in Europe koi and carp, relatives of the goldfish, are under serious threat from a disease experts say is spreading rapidly.

Carp Edema Virus, known commonly as koi sleepy disease (KSD) is highly infectious and has recently been found to have spread from Asia to Europe.

Tending to be most infectious in the spring, KSD sends fish to the bottom of rivers, lakes and ponds where they become lethargic, with their eyes sunken, skin flaking and eventually die from not being able to breathe due to swollen gills.

Virologists know very little about the disease other than it originated in Asia, is similar to small-pox and yet not a danger to humans. There are fears KSD could spread to other fish species, with some scientists calling for immediate international action.

Scientists and other experts will be holding a special session on KSD at the European Association of Fish Pathologists annual general meeting in September, where they will examine measures to control the spread. American Fish and Wildlife officer will also be present at the meeting to better understand the disease and ensure it remains isolated from American fish stocks.

Canadian City Found To Have Huge Goldfish Population Thriving In Sewer System

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While Florida struggles with pet pythons released into the wild, Canada is facing a similar problem: Goldfish flushed down toilets have not only been surviving, but positively thriving in the underground sewer systems of a number of major Canadian cities.

The problem has become so severe that the western province of Alberta’s government has launched a media campaign to discourage people from flushing away their golden pets.

The discarded goldfish have been found to grow as large as a dinner plate, and are multiplying at breakneck speed, notably in the cities of Lethbridge and Fort McMurray, according to provincial government sources.

Alberta Environment and Parks aquatic invasive species coordinator Kate Wilson told national broadcaster CBC that “it’s quite surprise how large we’re finding them and the sheer number.”

In on incident 40 massive goldfish were pulled from a stormwater pond in the town of Wood Buffalo, which Wilson said was “really scary because it means they’re reproducing in the wild, they are getting quite large, and surviving winters that far north.”

“Approximately one third of the invasive species out there that threaten native aquatic environments are from aquariums and the ornamental trade.”

The threat to native fish species is the primary reason Alberta is focused on preventing the fish from becoming part of the region’s permanent ecology. The region has had previous success battling invasive rats, currently declaring itself “rat-free”, thanks to a rat hotline residents can use if they spot one of the furry critters.

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) can grow up to 19 inches long, and are omnivorous predators, eating anything from plants to bugs to fish.

World Intellectual Property Organization Under UN Investigation For Corruption

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The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the massive body which overseas the global regime for patents, trademarks and domain names, is under investigation by the UN’s anti-corruption unit, the Office of Internal Oversight, according to reports on Thursday.

The UN corruption investigators, based out of Vienna, have apparently opened a preliminary investigation into DNA theft, improper IT contracts and mismanagement at WIPO, though the actual crimes may run far deeper.

Last month the national ambassadors, who sit on WIPO’s General Assembly and provide oversight of WIPO, called for an investigation but it was unclear if international authorities would do anything against the powerful body.

The Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) is now examining a long list of allegations against WIPO chief Francis Gurry. According to reports he ordered his security chief to illegally take personal items from senior staff offices to have them tested for DNA.

Yet WIPO staff have diplomatic immunity, meaning the tests, conducted by Swiss police in a Geneva lab, are illegal under international law.

The tests were conducted because Gurry wanted to find out who had mailed anonymous letters of complaint to WIPO which contained allegations regarding Gurry’s behavior and financial misconduct.

That misconduct was allegedly voiding IT contracts and bids and steering the business to an acquaintance, despite cheaper bids and contracts being available.

To protect his scheme, Gurry fired Moncef Kateb, head of the staff council, before he was due to give a key speech to the Ambassadors’ General Assembly. Kateb had previously reported Gurry for reaching UN Security Council sanctions by shipping computer parts to North Korea and Iran.

Independent audit firms KPMG and Labyrinth Consulting had launched previous investigations into the WIPO allegations but were closed down on Gurry’s orders.

Gurry could not explain a cash payment made to one of WIPO’s auditors, referred to as “Mr X”, which seems to have been related to closing one of the investigations.

WIPO’s staff council, in a letter to the organization, asked:

Did neither the Director General nor Mr X realise that for the former to allocate a significant monetary sum to the latter in the present circumstances would, if the facts were ever revealed, cast a deeply worrying light on both of them?

The 12,000 Swiss Franc payment was recorded as being for: “smooth and efficient running of the Office of the Director General”.

The international nature of WIPO has led to senior officials in Australia, the UK and the United States facing calls for action on the organization, with many former employees fearing the corruption and graft goes far deeper than has been publicly reported to date.

The organization handles multi-billion dollar patents, which means many large and powerful companies would have a huge financial incentive to engage with corrupt officials if it meant gaining a global trade advantage.

Gurry has previously denied all allegations, while the WIPO itself has refused to comment.

ISIS Launches Fresh Counter Offensive In Northern Syria After Recent Setbacks

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Despite suffering some losses to coalition forces earlier in the week, ISIS maintained momentum after launching a fresh assault on the Syrian city of Kobani, in northern Syria, early Thursday. The militant group’s attacks were led by two car bomb blasts close to the Turkish border, according to reports from aid groups in the area.

ISIS militants attempted to seize the town from Kurdish YPG militia, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), with dozens of people killed and injured.

SOHR reported that ISIS fighters snuck into Kobani by wearing Kurdish military uniforms and then started attacking.

ISIS controlled the city earlier in the year but lost control after a protracted battle with Kurdish forces which saw most of the cities reduced to ruins.

ISIS also launched an attack on the northeastern Syrian city of al-Hasakah, 170 miles east of Kobani, according to SOHR.

The fighting was reported as heavy, with the Syrian air force conducting airstrikes and ISIS militants detonated car bombs at Syrian military checkpoints. According to SOHR, as of Thursday morning the terror group had taken control of neighborhoods in the southern part of the city.

The fighting saw approximately 30 Syrian soldiers killed, with 20 dead reported for ISIS, although these numbers could not be confirmed.

The renewed ISIS offensives come after the terror group recently suffered losses in the Syrian cities of Ain Issa and Tal Abyad, inside of their stronghold city of Raqqa. Kurdish forces made the push while being supported with U.S. airstrikes.

Reports late Wednesday were that ISIS was calling on reinforcements and digging trenches to prepare for an assault by Kurdish forces on the city, which is the group’s effective capital.

There was no confirmation early Thursday that such an attack had taken place.

Mystery Illness Strikes Alabama Daycare Centers

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Hospitals in Montgomery, Alabama this week treated over 86 children with similar symptoms, raising fears of an outbreak.

The children suffered from vomiting, nausea and other digestive issues according to the Department of Public Health. Of the 86 treated as of Thursday, 30 were hospitalized and all but one have now been released.

The common connection so far seems to be that the children attended two day care centers, both of which were serviced by the same kitchen. The kitchen in question has been closed by the Department of Public Health and the agency has collected samples of food and from the kitchen area to test for a variety of substances.

The daycare center, which has about 300 children attending it, will also remains closed pending the outcome of the investigation.

Because health officials do not know the source of the illness they asked parents not to take children who attended the facilities in question to other daycare providers, as well as to

Google Launches Ad Supported Streaming Service To Enter Crowded Online Radio Market

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While Apple Music has been aggressively, perhaps illegally, trying to kill the concept of ad supported radio with its own streaming music service, Google has secretly been working on a streaming music service of its own.

On Tuesday, Google went in the opposite direction of Apple and launching a free, ad-supported version of its Google Play Music service in the United States.

The online advertising company says it’s designed to add another revenue stream to artists on top of paid download and paid streaming subscriptions. Google also went on to say that the ultimate goal is to bring more users aboard its subscription service.

Google is the latest tech company to challenge a crowded field of online music streamers such as Pandora, Spotify, Rdio and Apple Music, among others.

Google’s service uses technology from Songza, the playlist start-up it acquired a year ago. Playlists on the service will be customized to your mood and the time of day. Google also announced via a blog post that a team of music experts “craft each station song by song so you don’t have to, with whatever you need music for – from working, to working out, to working it on the dance floor.” Like rival Apple Music, Google’s service will use both human curators and sophisticated algorithms to determine what to play for you.

Never one to miss an opportunity to take a shot at rival Apple, Google’s announcement stressed that while the service is ‘free’ (ad supported) for users, it’s “absolutely paying artists.”

Russian Propaganda Factory Faces Bad Press, Lawsuit Over Bad Working Conditions

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Russia’s stealth propaganda division is facing some unwanted attention: A former employee is suing the internet blog commenting factory for labor violations.

Lyudmila Savchuk is suing The Agency for Internet Studies–referred to as a “troll factory,” and operating out of St Petersburg–for missing wages and other violations. Like others, she was paid to write online comments that hail Vladimir Putin’s policies.

The agency is offering to settle to avoid the public backlash. Defense, Yekaterina Nazarova, said to the Petrogradsky district court judge that the agency would settle for the requested sum of 10,000 roubles ($185). She said she would wire the money to Savchuk, and then left the court and gave no comment to the press.

“I am very pleased,” Savchuk said. “They pretended they don’t exist at all and now they have come out of the shadows for the first time – we saw their representative. But I will feel that I won only after the troll factory closes completely.”

Savchuk explained that she worked there for two months, and left in March, vowing to expose it.

The agency is said to perform underhanded work for the Kremlin on the internet, trolling news sites and posting comments aimed at bloggers opposed to Putin’s regime. This issue has become worse since Russia’s conflict in the Ukraine.

Ivan Pavlov, Savchuk’s attorney, said Tuesday’s results made him suspect that the agency is trying to avoid public scrutiny: “I suppose the defendant considers it a lesser evil to recognise the lawsuit and pay compensation.”

Despite the money offered as compensation during the lawsuit against The Agency for Internet Studies, Savchuk intends to meet with her lawyer at the agency to continue efforts and expose the pro-Putin internet trolls.

SEC Chasing Sophisticated Insider Trading Hacking Group

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A collection of hackers, known only as “FIN4,” are being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service under suspicion of hacking into corporate email accounts for confidential merger information, to be used for insider trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in an unprecedented move, has asked directly requested details from eight companies regarding these break-ins. This is part of an increasing concern for information safety and defense against cyber theft and attack.

John Reed Stark, once the lead of internet enforcement at the SEC, now a private consultant for cybersecurity, said the SEC has never before come to companies directly about breaches to investigate insider trading. He said that, “The SEC is interested because failures in cyber security have prompted a dangerous, new method of unlawful insider trading.”

Stark claimed to have seen SEC’s document requests for documents, but he did not now how far the investigation reached. He would not offer the company names due to confidentiality.

According to sources involved, the SEC and U.S. Secret Service’s investigations were motivated by a report in December, written by security company FireEye Inc, about a highly intelligent group of hackers called FIN4.

The security group, based in California, said the FIN4 hackers used perfect English and understood financial and investment work thoroughly, and, therefore, might be from either the U.S. or Europe. FireEye Inc. reported that these hackers have tried to break into corporate accounts at over 100 companies, at least 60 of which include biotechnology companies and other medical-related groups, whose profit is more valuable.

The SEC made no comment on the progress of their investigation into this hacking incident by FIN4, the related insider trading, or other similar incidents. Whether the Secret Service is pursuing other hackers besides FIN4 is unknown, and they also declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

Erectile Dysfunction Wonder Drugs Linked To Increased Skin Cancer Risk

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A study indicates that erectile dysfunction wonder drugs may have long term health implications as a new study found the widely prescribed medications associated with an increased risk for skin cancer melanoma.

The Journal of the American Medical Association does not prove beyond doubt that the drugs, with brand names such as Levitra and Cialis, cause melanoma, but researchers claim their results require further exploration into medications such as PDE5 (phosphodiesterase type 5), which means Viagra as well.

Researchers discovered nearly 4,000 cases of melanoma with the help of Swedish medical records from 2006 to 2012. Approximately 11% of patients in those records had at least one prescription for a medication meant to treat erectile dysfunction.

Researchers found that the risks for cancer in those taking erectile dysfunction drugs were 21% higher when compared to a group of men without cancer, randomly selected from the same age and demographic.

However, the more significant risk appeared in men who filled only one prescription–it was 32% higher. Men who filled more than one faced 14% higher risks. This was not a significant statistic according to Stacy Loeb of NYU’s study.

It was also strange that men taking these drugs were more likely to have a lower-grade melanoma, and not more advanced cancer.

The risks for melanoma they discovered in these patients with ED was modest, and the authors emphasized that this would mean approximately seven more cancer cases per 100,000 men taking the drugs.

According to Secretary General of the European Association of Urology, Chris Chapple, the results are an “interesting observation,” but require more investigation. “This paper reports a previously unreported potential association,” he said.

The recent study suggesting that ED drugs are linked to skin cancer will not result in any major changes to the drugs or their distribution until more research can be compiled, and results can be proven but serve as a warning to users that they may come with risks not yet documented.

Owner Of Miami Dolphins Purchases World’s Largest Motor Racing Series Formula One

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The owner of the Miami Dolphins football team is collaborating with Qatar to purchase a controlling stake in the world’s largest motor racing series,Formula One. This deal is valued at up to $8 billion and creates new leadership for a sport lacking lately in sales and TV audiences.

A source informed Reuters on Tuesday that Stephen Ross, owner of the Dolphins, seeks to gain a 35.5 percent stake from CVC Capital Partners Ltd. via his RSE investment. The arrangement could be complete within six weeks.

The source also said that Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s organizer of the sport for forty years, would remain to head racing.

Formula One racing is facing a drop in viewership, along with problematic rules and costs. The teams have had difficulty finding sponsorship.

Ecclestone, now 84 years old, once a used car salesman and team owner, has been a much debated figure in the industry, and paid a German court $100 million for a bribery case settlement related to the iconic series.

CVC had tried to sell Formula One twice, but instead sold smaller stakes to BlackRock and Waddell & Reed (U.S. investment groups), and Norges Bank in Norway. In 2012, It sold down from 63 percent holding in arrangements that gave it an enterprise value of $9.1 billion.

Britain’s Times newspaper reported that Ecclestone said some possible bidders were emerging.

“I have no idea whether any of these people have got closer with this, but CVC is in the business of buying and selling companies,” he said.

A source said Qatar is supporting Ross. It has been pursuing investments abroad, and financing should not be an issue for the group. Qatar is looking for a race, but has not yet gained a slot since Ecclestone gave Bahrain veto power against regional rivals. Qatar is already significantly involved in motorsport, such as the MotoGP season opening.

Ross’ experience in U.S. sports and the stakes with Qatar could boost Formula One’s presence, as it currently has only one race lined up for Austin, Texas.

Landmark Court Decision Forces Netherlands To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions 25 Percent

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The Netherlands’ government has been ordered by a Dutch court to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% as of 2020 in a landmark decision. Environmentalists, praising the ruling, hope this will motivate other countries to do the same.

The case was presented on behalf of nearly 900 Dutch citizens by campaigners. They claimed that the government was legally obligated to protect the country and its people from climate change.

The government’s lawyers had no comment on the ruling in The Hague, and Greenpeace’s Jasper Teulings said it was a “landmark case,” and that, “It shifts the whole debate. Other cases are being brought in Belgium, the Philippines. This is the start of a wave of climate litigation.”

The judgment has never happened before in Europe, and is a surprise. The Dutch government will feel pressure to follow through and cut emissions.

The government has already begun applying methods. It has made plans to close coal plants, increase windmill use, solar energy, and significantly lower gas extractions in the country’s northern region. The court case forces the government to hasten changes to meet the deadlines and become more energy efficient by 2020.

The was made according to “Tort Law,” which is a legal term used to make the government take action to avoid causing harm.

According to the current policies, the Netherlands would only reduce emissions by 17%, which is even less than other countries. It was said that, “The parties agree that the severity and magnitude of climate change make it necessary to take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The lawsuit enacted via human rights laws by the Urgenda foundation, which claimed that the government had a duty to protect its citizens with these efforts. It said that, if these actions were not taken, the country would be particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate changes.

It argued that unless rapid action was taken, the next half of this century would see extreme weather, shrinking ice caps and shortages of food and water.

The Netherlands’ decision to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 25% will not be easy, and will require difficult and speedy actions to avoid suffering future climate change related issues.

The ruling will likely serve as a blueprint for future legal actions over environmental destruction, some of which we profiled previously here.

 

Bottled Water Scare Across America As 14 Brands Founds To Be Contaminated

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If you have any bottle water bearing the brand names below – do not drink ! They may contain E. coli bacteria.

Acadia, Acme, Big Y, Best Yet, 7-Eleven, Niagara, Nature’s Place, Pricerite, Superchill, Morning Fresh, Shaws, ShopRite, Western Beef Blue, and Wegmans.

They are all part of a recall of Niagara Bottling LLC spring water products produced at its two Pennsylvania facilities between June 10-18, 2015. The recall comes after the company was informed that the water source of the products was potentially “compromised” by E. coli bacteria.

Stores selling the affected brands include Wegmans, ShopRite, 7-Eleven, Acme and others.

The company said the bacteria were found on June 10, noting, “As the spring source did not notify us in a timely manner, we have discontinued the use of this source.”

According to Niagara Bottling LLC there have been not yet been any reported cases of illness or injury to date, and that completed product testing had not shown any contaminants or other issues.

People who have purchased the affected brands can return the recalled product for a full refund, the company stated.

Code information on bottles will reveal whether it is part of the recall. It shows the place, date and time the product was produced. Only the bottled spring water with codes beginning with “F” or “A” are affected.

The recall notice for Niagara said that E. coli bacteria’s presence indicates that the water could be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause cramps, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, or other symptoms, which may present special health risks for infants, young children and the elderly, as well as people with compromised immune systems.

Consumers can get more information of the recall by contacting Niagara Bottling LLC Consumer Service at (877) 487-7873.

Retail Giants All Move To Ban Sale Of Confederate Flag Merchandise

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Some of the USA’s largest retailers are backing calls from lawmakers and civil rights groups to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of South Carolina State House, a week after the gunning down of nine black church members in Charleston.

The Civil War-era flag of the South’s pro-slavery Confederacy, seen as an emblem long associated with racism, has become a symbol lightning rod for outrage over the Charleston murders which authorities say were racially motivated.

Walmart and Amazon.com are the latest companies saying they will no longer sell the rebel flag, joining EBay Inc, Google Inc, and Sears Holding Corp.

The country’s most prominent flag makers have also said they would no longer manufacture or sell the flag.

Dylan Roof, the 21-year-old white man charged with murder for the shooting last Wednesday, had posed with a Confederate flag in on-line photos he had posted with a racist manifesto.

South Carolina state lawmakers voted on Tuesday to open debate on removing the Confederate flag from the State House grounds. The law which requires the flag to be hung on the grounds, may only be amended or repealed on the passing of an act which has received a two-thirds vote on the third reading of the bill in each branch of the South Carolina General Assembly.

New Document Leaks Show Iran Gave Nuclear Materials To Murderous Sudan

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According to documents released by transparency group WikiLeaks last week an embassy cable by Saudi diplomats in Khartoum says that Iran sent advanced nuclear equipment and centrifuges to Sudan in 2012.

The document, marked “very secret,” claimed, “The embassy’s sources advised that Iranian containers arrived this week at Khartoum airport containing sensitive technical equipment in the form of fast centrifuges for enriching uranium, and a second shipment is expected to arrive this week.”

WikiLeaks revealed more than 60,000 documents last week, claiming they are genuine Saudi communications. They plan to show a total of 500,000.  Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, said they may be false, and have not made any comments on specifics.

Should the cable prove authentic, it does not reveal the embassy’s information source, or more evidence regarding the shipment. Iran has not been reported in the past for shipping nuclear elements to Sudan, where there is no current nuclear activity.

A strange explosion destroyed a munitions factory in Sudan in October of 2012, just eight months after cable’s supposed date. The Sudanese government blamed the attack on an air raid perpetrated by the Israelis.  There was nothing to suggest that the factory had nuclear equipment but this could explain the unusual event.

There have been no official comments on the cable, and no official proof as to whether WikiLeaks’ information on Saudi diplomats, and their beliefs that Iran sent equipment to the Sudan, is true.

How A Pickle A Day May Help Your Calm Your Social Anxiety

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If you’re feeling a bit nervous about going out socializing pickles and other fermented foods may help calm your nerves, according to new research.

A study in Psychiatry Research’s August issue claims that fermented foods like anything pickled, yogurt, and kefir can ease a person’s social anxiety, and even their neuroticism. Probiotics, bacteria that ferment the food. Psychologist Matthew Hillimire, co-author for the study, said, “It is likely that the probiotics in the fermented foods are favorably changing the environment in the gut, and changes in the gut in turn influence social anxiety.”

The authors gathered 710 students at William & Mary and recorded the amount of fermented food they ate, along with symptoms of neuroticism and social issues they experienced during the study. They found a correlation between the fermented food consumed and the levels of anxiety. Particularly neurotic subjects saw a decrease in their symptoms of shyness and fear of social situations when they ate more fermented food.

Despite uncovering a link, the study does not explain how it works, precisely. Previous studies on animals have indicated that the microbiome and probiotics help the human stomach, and possibly the mind. Clinical trials have also indicated possible healthy benefits, but no results are finite.

The good bacteria may influence GABA levels–a brain chemical that controls anxiety. GABA is connected to neural pathways the same way anti-anxiety medications are. “In other words,” Rupp says, “if you’ve got a case of social jimjams, eating a bowl of sauerkraut may be the equivalent of popping a Valium. Or maybe even better.”

Of course, all these details differ from person to person, and so discovering precise causes for links between fermented food and anxiety will take time and research. However, if you’re feeling particularly anxious, you might want to consider grabbing a pickle.

Study Finds Five Largest Internet Providers Are Illegally Slowing Your Traffic

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A major study, released on Monday, confirms the need for the FCC and other federal agencies to monitor the behavior of powerful internet service providers as it found that the five major internet providers are illegally slowing connections speeds for businesses and residential consumers in several areas of the country.

Internet activists from BattlefortheNet found that noticeable reductions in speed were happening in the five largest services providers (75% of all wired homes), including AT&T, Timer Warner, and Verizon. They pulled information from 300,000 customers.

Just weeks ago the FCC promoted new “net neutrality” guidelines to protect the freedom of internet data and prevent ISPs from charging for better speed.

Tim Karr of BattlefortheNet’s Free Press said, “For too long, internet access providers and their lobbyists have characterized net neutrality protections as a solution in search of a problem. Data compiled using the Internet Health Test show us otherwise – that there is widespread and systemic abuse across the network. The irony is that this trove of evidence is becoming public just as many in Congress are trying to strip away the open internet protections that would prevent such bad behavior.”

Specialists at Open Technology Institute’s M-Lab supported the information examining the various speeds of Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), which carry some data for major websites. Any particularly popular site must pay a CDN to hold its content on national or international server networks near the customer base.

At AT&T at network is forced to pay when its outgoing traffic exceeds its incoming traffic, and the ISP will not upgrade to more capacity unless the network pays extra. AT&T does not want its connectivity arrangements regulated, though certain networks have petitioned the FCC to do so.

“History proves that absent competition a predominant position in the market such as yours creates economic incentives to use that market power to protect your traditional business in a way that is ultimately harmful to consumers,” FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said at an Internet and Television Expo recently.

The internet traffic and neutrality issues continue to be debated between the FCC and providers, and it is uncertain whether the study will make a difference for customers looking to have the speed they were promised from the five ISPs.

Beware Rich Celebs Crying Foul: Taylor Swift Wants Photographers’ Pictures For Free

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Music Sensation Taylor Swift has been accused of hypocrisy in her battle with Apple over music streaming.

Photographer Jason Sheldon said the singer does not “play fair” when it came to image rights and yet had expected Apple to do so when she had argued that the company’s withholding of payments during a three-month trial period offered to subscribers was not fair.

Swift had argued she and other artists should be paid for music streamed during the three month free month trial and had threatened to prevent the US firm from streaming her album 1989 if it did not. Apple Music agreed to the demands a day after Swift’s threat.

But Sheldon in an open letter to Swift said her actions were a double standard.

“If you don’t like being exploited, that’s great – make a huge statement about it, and you’ll have my support. But how about making sure you’re not guilty of the very same tactic before you have a pop at someone else?” wrote Sheldon.

“With all due respect to you too Taylor, you can do the right thing and change your photo policy. Photographers don’t ask for your music for free. Please don’t ask us to provide you with your marketing material for free.”

Sheldon, who runs photography agency Junction 10 , said he and other photographers had been told to hand over some rights to their images from Swift’s live concerts.

He said to cover a 2011 Swift concert he had to sign a permission form that granted Swift’s management company long-term rights to reuse the images and stopped him from featuring them after the initial coverage.

Sheldon said he had seen a 2015 version of the same contract that was even more strict, although he had not applied for one.

“I can’t use it in my portfolio, feature it on my website and even the original newspaper couldn’t reuse it. What’s more, they can give my image to my clients for press purposes. It’s giving my work away for free,” said Sheldon.

“I fully agree with Taylor Swift’s stance against Apple, but it’s about her playing by the same rules she wants to live by.”

Surge In Number Of Homeless Has Hawaiian Officials Puzzled

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HILO, Hawaii — The exterior tropical paradise image of Hawaii Island has an ugly underbelly of a rapidly increasing homeless population. Yet state officials remain puzzled by the increase.

State figures show that Hawaii Island’s homeless population has more than doubled in the last two years. There was no mention in the annual point-in-time count of the homeless situation for any of the State’s other islands.

The count showed the homeless population on Hawaii Island increased from 557 in 2013 to 869 in 2014 with 1,241 reported so far for in 2015.

Funding for homeless support services has not kept up with the rising homeless population.

Brandee Menino, CEO of Hope Services Hawaii said approximately 60 percent of the homeless they served last year were completely new to their programs, and mostly local residents. Of that number fewer less than seven percent were from outside of Hawaii.

“We’ve been experiencing a high increase in homelessness — 53 percent from fiscal year 2013 to 2014. We’ve seen an increase in all areas of the island– Hilo, Pahoa, Oceanview, Kailua-Kona, Honoka’a. On nearly every island in every region — homelessness is increasing,” she said.

According to a report in Hawaii News Now, the number of sheltered homeless grew from 160 to 220 in three years, while the number of unsheltered increased from 397 to 1,021 in the same time period.

Officials are at a loss to explain why, exactly, the increase has occurred and whether or not the trend looks set to continue into the future or is related to a one time event. Possible causes include the gentrification of the island, with house prices steeply appreciating or unreported unemployment due to workers out of work yet not registering their status while being homeless and thus not showing up in unemployment figures.

Obama Administration Has Decided To Outsource The War On ISIS To Syria

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The Pentagon is once again outsourcing a war, this time not to U.S. defense contractors but to Syrian moderates, who are being lured to fight against Islamic State militants with American dollars from The Pentagon’s budget.

Navy Commander Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said they will be paid $250 to $400 each per month, depending on skills, performance and leadership qualities. Training of the first group of about 90 fighters began last month with preparation for battle expected to take several months.

Training is taking place in countries that neighbor Syria, including Jordan.

Smith said The Pentagon expects to have 3,000 fighters trained by year’s end. The goal for 12 months is 5,400.

“For operational security, we will not announce when coalition-trained Syrian opposition forces enter into Syria,” she said.

Approximately 6,000 Syrians volunteers have stepped forward for the training program. Of that number more than 4,000 are waiting to be vetted, Smith said.

A small well trained force could make a difference in Syria, according to David Phillips, director of Columbia University’s Peace-Building and Rights Program.

“They’re not fighting a large army,” he said. “Even small numbers can be effective on the battlefield. Nobody envisions this to be an easy or quick win. Developing a nucleus of capable fighters is the right way to start.”

Efforts to field competent, trained forces in Iraq to fight the Islamic State, known as ISIL and ISIS are also progressing slowly. The Pentagon had wanted to field 24,000 new Iraqi security forces by fall. Only 9,000 have signed up to train.

The training program which has been called “critical” by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, had been put on the back burner for several months because finding and vetting fighters who were prepared to adhere to laws of war and promise to conduct themselves properly, had proved difficult.

ISIS Is Now Offering Sex Slaves As Prizes To Those Who Memorize The Koran

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Muslim extremist terror group ISIS has sunk to another low by reportedly offering female prisoners as sex slave “prizes” to fighters who show they have mastered the Koran.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and the Clarion Project, two independent research groups that track social media accounts linked to terrorist groups, the practice of giving away human beings as prizes is called “sibya,” and was organized by the Da’wa and Mosques Department in Al-Baraka province in Syria in honor of the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

The contest was announced on an ISIS twitter account. The chapters in the Koran ISIS challenged its followers to memorize include some of the most warlike passages in the entire Koran.

Contest prices included “slave girls” and Syrian currency up to $500 in value.

Ryan Mauro, national security analyst for the New York-based Clarion Project said the contest and its underlying competition demonstrate that fighters are studying the Koran, and that ISIS flicks off international criticism and condemnation.

“By showcasing its slavery, ISIS is boasting that it practices Islam in its most literal interpretation, doesn’t capitulate to public opinion and rejects modern interpretations,” Mauro said. “It is also showing it has a functional Islamic educational system and therefore is a real caliphate.”

Last November, ISIS unveiled a menu for women and children for sale with women 40 and 50 years old fetching just $40, girls between 10 and 20 years old auctioned for $129 each, and children under 10 commanding higher prices.

Numerous human rights activists said the treatment of females captured by ISIS has become increasingly horrific and alarming.

A Human Rights Watch report issued in April documented continued organized rapes, sexual assault, and other horrible crimes against Yazidi women and girls kidnapped from their homes and held as captives in Iraq and Syria.

In June the United Nation envoy on sexual violence reported girls and women were being traded for as little as a pack of cigarettes.

Pentagon Quietly Building Cruise Missile Defense Network To Protect U.S. Cities

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In moves reminiscent of the Cold War, The Pentagon has secretly been planning an extensive defense network to protect USA cities from attacks by Russian cruise missiles.

The plan includes the purchase of radars that would allow National Guard F-16 fighter jets to spot and shoot down fast, low-flying missiles. Top generals want to network the radars with sensor-laden aerostat balloons hovering over U.S. cities and with coastal warships equipped with their own sensors and interceptor missiles.

To avoid the normal procurement process, Admiral William Gortney, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command has tabled an “urgent need” request to put AESA radars on F-16s patrolling Washington airspace.

While everyone remains hush hush about the Pentagon’s overall cruise missile defense plans, much of which remain classified, senior military officials have dropped clues in speeches, congressional hearings and other public forums, all pointing to the Pentagon’s worries about Russia’s development of advanced cruise missiles.

During a recent speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Admiral. Sandy Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said “We’re devoting a good deal of attention to ensuring we’re properly configured against such an attack in the homeland, and we need to continue to do so” .

In recent years, The Pentagon has invested heavily in ballistic missile defenses which shoot down long-range rockets that touch the edge of space and then fall toward targets on Earth, but efforts to defend the U.S. mainland against smaller, shorter-range cruise missiles have flown under the public radar. Defending against cruise missiles is much different to shooting down a ballistic missile . Launched from ships, submarines, and even trailer-mounted launchers, cruise missiles are powered throughout their entire flight, allowing them to fly close to the ground and maneuver throughout flight, making radar detection difficult.

While many of the 4-star generals and admirals who command forces in various geographic regions of the world believe cruise missiles pose a threat to the United States, they have had trouble convincing their counterparts in the military services who decide what arms to purchase.

The major driving force behind the concern at The Pentagon is Russia’s development of the Kh-101, an air-launched cruise missile with a reported range of more than 1,200 miles.

Judge Sides With FTC, Rules Merger Of Food Giants Sysco, US Foods Would Be Anticompetitive

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American consumers can look forward to more competition in restaurant food prices as Sysco Corp, the nation’s largest food distributor to restaurants, lost its battle with the U.S. government over its proposed merger with the second largest food distributor in the nation, US Foods.

A federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the company could not merge with its biggest competitor without approval from antitrust regulators.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the body tasked with that assessment and had previously found the merger would harm consumers and likely lead to significant price increases at major U.S. restaurant chains, which rely on the large food distributors for supplies.

“The FTC has shown that there is a reasonable probability that the proposed merger will substantially impair competition in the national customer and local broadline markets and that the equities weigh in favor of injunctive relief,” Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his opinion.

It was unclear if Sysco would appeal the decision.

The move is the latest in a series of decisive actions taken by the agency to fight massive corporations praying on American citizens. The agency has enacted tough network neutrality rules of internet service providers to ensure they don’t simply tax the internet, pushed for meaningful patent reform, stepped in to regulate failed crowdfunding projects and has stepped up enforcement of promoted social media posts that are really advertisements.

France Summons U.S. Ambassador After Wikileaks Reports Widespread Spying On French Prime Ministers

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France has angrily summoned the U.S. ambassador for a meeting on Wednesday after reports emerged that the United States spied on French President François Hollande as well as his two immediate predecessors, despite the French being considered a close U.S. ally.

Transparency group WikiLeaks published U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) reports about the interception of secret communications of the last three French presidents.

France’s Defense Council said in a statement Wednesday that it would not tolerate “any action jeopardizing its security and the protection of its interests,” yet alluded to the fact it was already aware of the spying.

“These unacceptable facts already resulted in clarifications between France and the United States” in 2013 and 2014, the Council stated.

“Commitments were made by the American authorities,” the statement read. “They must be recalled and strictly respected.”

President Hollande had called a meeting of the council after reports appeared in the French press about the WikiLeaks disclosures.

French newspaper Libération and online news site Mediapart cited five NSA documents disclosed by WikiLeaks on Tuesday. The reports contained information pulled from intercepted communications of Presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande and other senior French officials.

WikiLeaks said in a news release that the cache of “top secret” files includes “intelligence summaries of conversations between French government officials concerning some of the most pressing issues facing France and the international community.”

White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said of the reports:

We are not targeting and will not target the communications of President Hollande. Indeed, as we have said previously, we do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike. We work closely with France on all matters of international concern, and the French are indispensable partners.

In addition to summoning the American ambassador, France’s intelligence coordinator will visit the United States to discuss the measures to eliminate spying between the two nations which are supposedly already in place.

The U.S. ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, will appear at the French Foreign Ministry at noon Eastern Time for what is sure to be an awkward exchange.

ISIS Begins To Destroy Historic Ruins Of Ancient Palmyra

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A predictable fate has started to befall the historic Syrian city of Palmyra as ISIS fighters have now destroyed two ancient Muslim shrines in the ancient city, the Syrian government confirmed Wednesday.

The move marks the latest act of cultural vandalism by the Sunni extremist, this time against the UNESCO World Heritage Site which dates back 2,000 years.

Syria’s antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of the Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), confirmed that the body became aware of the destruction four days ago, when reports started filtering in.

“ISIS has blown up two ancient Muslim shrines in Palmyra, and has published photos of this awful crime against the Syrian cultural heritage on Facebook,” a statement from the DGAM said.

Of the ruins destroyed, one is the tomb of Mohammed bin Ali, a descendant of Ali bin Abi Taleb, the Prophet Mohammed’s cousin. The DGAM said that it is located in a hilly area 2.5 miles north of Palmyra.

“ISIS militants also blew up the shrine of Shagaf, known as Abu Behaeddine, a religious figure from Palmyra, dated to 500 years ago. The shrine is located in the oasis 500 meters away from the Ancient City’s Arch of Triumph,” the statement went on to confirm.

Palmyra, commonly known as the “bride of the desert,” is an unparalelled collection of ruins in the desert northeast of Damascus. It was once a monumental city sitting on a vital trade route linking Persia, India and China with the Roman Empire.

The eclectic mix of architectural styles of its colonnades and temples is a testament to its importance as a caravan city at the crossroads of ancient civilizations.

Reports emerged, as we covered here, that ISIS militants had begun planting landmines and explosive in the city late last week, about the same time as the vandalism took place.

Latest Secret Service Incident Sees Agent Found Guilty Of Stealing $840,000 From Digital Crime Scene

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In the latest blow to the troubled U.S. Secret Service, former agent Shaun W. Bridges (above, right) will plead guilty to stealing $820,000 worth of Bitcoins from online drug marketplace Silk Road. Bridges confessed to taking the money before exchanging it at the Mt Gox Bitcoin before fleeing.

Bridges’ lawyer, Steve Hale Levin, told Bloomberg that “Mr. Bridges has regretted his actions from the very beginning. His decision to plead guilty reflects his complete acceptance of responsibility and is another step towards rehabilitation.”

Bridges was a member of the taskforce that apprehended Silk Road ringleaders Curtis Green and Ross Ulbricht, and was one of two agents accused of stealing from the crime scene. It is claimed that he used his credentials to take from the dealers’ accounts, after which Ulbricht contracted a professional hit against Green, thinking he was the one responsible. The trial for that crime is pending.

Another agent, Carl Force (above photo, left), also stands accused of blackmailing Ulbricht for $235,000 (the money was deposited into a Panama account) and offering him information on the ongoing investigation for a substantial amount of Bitcoin. Force was supposedly paid $90,000 in Bitcoins for giving Ulbricht information and a false identity to avoid arrest.

The government began to suspect Force when he did not turn in his PGP key, which was used to encrypt his meetings with Ulbricht. A transaction between Ulbricht and Force was later discovered in a Bitcoin blockchain. The agent may have also taken Bitcoin wallets and solicited help from another agent to hide his actions.

Ulbricht, despite being the world’s safest drug dealer, was sentenced to life in prison for running the Silk Road, and Bridges’ plea will be heard in August.

The incident comes after a slew of issues with the Secret Service over the past year, with agents caught driving drunk, hiring prostitutes and committing serious lapses in security that have led to repeated security breaches at the White House.

In addition to serious financial crimes, the agency is tasked with providing security for President Obama.

Leaked Documents Reveal Global Saudi Program Of Paying For Favorable Press Coverage

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New documents released by international transparency organization Wikileaks have exposed a massive propaganda program by Saudi Arabia to influence the international media attention the country receives.

The documents show the repressive state paying large sums to western media outlets to have incidents of Saudi human rights abuses and other reprehensible behavior missed or purposefully avoided by the media.

Earlier this year the country paid large sums to bury the beheadings of 100 prisoners, which was widely condemned by human rights groups.

Saudi Arabia takes particular care when it comes to keeping up an internationally positive image, monitoring world media closely, and purchasing loyalty from other countries, including many in the West.

The documents obtained by Wikileaks show strong efforts to control the media and alter any unwanted information or distribution in Arab coverage. They utilize “neutralization” and “containment” methods, according to the leaked papers.

Any negative media is neutralized, and the word is included in cables in reference to journalists who may have been silenced with money. These “neutralized” media outlets simply avoid publishing any bad press or criticism of the Arab country’s people or policies. Containment includes praising the Kingdom, and being involved in attacks on anyone who criticizes the country.

These methods are sometimes enacted through the purchase of subscriptions in specific publications. The expectation is that these publications will do something in return, and become an ally in Saudi propaganda. These subscriptions, requiring renewal by January 1, 2010, were listed in a document, and the monetary values ranged from $500 to $33,000. The Kingdom purchases reverse “shares”, and in return Saudi Arabia gets political help from the press.

This sort of arrangement can be seen between the Saudi Foreign Ministry and its Embassy in Cairo. In, 2011 Egypt’s ONTV hosted Saad al-Faqih, a man in opposition to the Saudi government. The Foreign Ministry then had someone investigate the channel, and find out how “to co-opt it or else we must consider it standing in the line opposed to the Kingdom’s policies.” The station owner, Naguib Sawiris, told the station “never to host al-Faqih again.”

When “neutralization” and “containment” fail, the Saudi Ministry moves on to confrontation. For example, the Foreign Minister was to remove Al-Alam, Iran’s Arabic news network, after a Royal Decree in 2010. When that did not work, Saud Al Faisal tried to “weaken its broadcast signal”, showing that the country will go to military means to achieve control over unfavorable media outlets.

Other examples of the Saudis use of questionable methods to influence media coverage of the repressive nation can be seen in WikiLeaks’ Saudi Cables here.

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