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The Summer Set To See Cheapest Gasoline In Five Years

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The Summer Set To See Cheapest Gasoline In Five Years

While the price of unleaded gasoline has been steadily climbing, drivers could soon begin to see some relief at the pump, just in time for the summer driving season.

“Everything points to the notion that we are very close to a peak price of 2015,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, a well regarded price tracker.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gas stood at $2.74 heading into the weekend, which is the highest so far this year. That’s over 25 cents a gallon greater than last month, yet still about 90 cents a gallon cheaper than a year ago.

The recent increase in prices is just due to seasonal shutdowns of refineries as they stop producing winter blend gasoline and start making the more expensive summer gasoline blend required to reduce smog and air pollution.

But now that the changeover is complete, supplies of gasoline should start to build.

“Prices have been strong enough that most of the refineries are hurrying to restart,” Kloza said.

The analyst sees summer gas prices falling to near $2.50 a gallon by July or August, and prices could fall sharply at the end of the year as cheaper winter blends start to hit the market.

“Post-Labor Day, a lot of places are going to see gasoline for $2, 2.25 a gallon,” he said.

Wall Street agrees.

“We believe that the recent price rally is premature,” wrote Goldman Sachs oil analysts Damien Courvalin and Jeffrey Currie in a report. They’re forecasting oil prices to revisit the October lows by later this summer.

ISIS Claims Forced Sex With Yazidi Girls Is Never Rape Because Koran Condones It

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In the latest issue of Isis propaganda magazine Dabiq, under the headline: “Slave-girls or prostitutes?”, the author writes that it is never rape to rape a slave because it is an Islamic practice inspired by the Prophet himself.

The article is written by “Umm Sumayyah al-Muhajirah”, a jihadi bride whose husband took a Yazidi girl as a slave.

The delusional writer claims that taking slaves, such as captured Yazidi women and girls, through war (“saby”) is a “great prophetic Sunnah [teachings of Mohamed] containing many divine wisdoms and religious benefits”.

Praising Isis’ slave markets, where girls as young as eight are sold into sex slavery, she attempts to insult First Lady Michelle Obama by claiming that no one would pay a “third of a dinar” for her.

Umm Sumayyah, in classic victim blaming fashion, puts reports of horrific abuse at the hands of ISIS fighters down to “devious and wicked slave girls” who “made up lies and wrote false stories”.

A United Nations envoy who interviewed dozens of sexual abuse victims in the region reported that ISIS is using mass-scale and systematic sexual violence as a “terrorist” tactic to spread fear.

Big Wireless Companies Think It’s Their First Amendment Right To Mess With Your Internet

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AT&T and the other Internet delivery monopolies that are suing the FCC have resurrected the argument, used unsuccessfully by Verizon in 2012, that net neutrality rules violate its First and Fifth Amendment rights.

The move marks the all out offensive the giant internet service providers are launching against the FCC’s new net neutrality rules, which prevent internet access companies from charging tolls to websites you access most often.

AT&T said last week that it plans on challenging whether the FCC’s net neutrality order “violates the terms of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and the First and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution.”

Showing just how it is grasping at straws and trying every dirty trick in the book to undo the consumer-friendly legislation, the First and Fifth Amendments will be used to attack the FCC’s decision to reclassify both fixed and mobile broadband as common carrier services, as well as the FCC’s authority over how ISPs interconnect with other networks.

While the internet monopolists didn’t provide the full reasoning in their filings, Verizon claimed in 2012 that net neutrality “violates the First Amendment by stripping [ISPs] of control over the transmission of speech on their networks. And it takes network owners’ property without compensation by mandating that they turn over those networks for the occupation and use of others at a regulated rate of zero, undermining owners’ multi-billion dollar-backed expectations that they would be able to decide how best to employ their networks to serve consumers and deterring network investment.”

While the First Amendment protects freedom of speech, the Fifth says that “[n]o person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Given record profits by the giant ISPs, who enjoy lack of competition due to cozy relationships with regulators, it is clear that they are obviously being deprived of life, liberty and property.

Russian Rocket Launch Failures Lead India To Cancel Joint MIssion

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Russian Rocket Launch Failures Lead India To Cancel Joint MIssion

As a result of recent Russian rocket launch failures the Indian government has lost interest in a joint project with Russia for soil sample taking at the south pole of the Moon, the Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) reported late last week.

“Taking into account the RAS Space Research Institute information about the Indian specialists loss of interest in the Luna-27 project, Roscosmos [Russia’s Federal Space Agency] is advised to agree with the Indian side on the issue of exclusion of the Indian ‘mini rover’ from the payload of Luna-Resurs-1 project [new project name – Luna-27],” says the Council’s decision.

Head of the space gamma-ray spectroscopy laboratory of the RAS Space Research Institute Igor Mitrofanov told Russian state news agency TASS that the “RAS Space Council has turned to the Federal Space Agency with this proposal. Roscosmos is currently considering it.”

A space industry source told TASS that India was not satisfied with the constant postponement of the Russian lunar missions and a high accident rate.

“As a result, the parties have preliminarily agreed to exchange data on the national lunar programmes and coordinate efforts in the Moon study and went, as they say, their separate ways,” the source said.

India is currently planning to land its own probe on the Moon’s south pole in 2016-2017, becoming the first country to implement such a project. The launch of the cancelled Russian probe, according to the draft of the Federal Space Programme for 2016-2025, is scheduled for 2022.

Telecom Giant Vodaphone Pulls Out Of Facebook’s Insidious Internet.org Scheme

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Facebook’s plan to monopolize the internet of developing countries suffered a blow this weekend as Vodafone India, the country’s second-biggest mobile operator, announced it would hold off offering free internet or ‘zero rated’ services amid a fierce political debate about the practice.

Free internet services are offered to customers when an online service provider, such as Facebook, Spotify or, in India Flipkart, does a deal with the telco provider to pay for the services wholesale and then pass them along to customers for free.

Opposition to the practice say it favors big players, forcing smaller organisations or start-ups out of the market. There is also the more dangerous issue of companies like Facebook violating net neutrality principles and favoring their own content.

Facebook’s Internet.org scheme does not allow arch-rival Google to give access to its Youtube property and all sites wanting access must be hand filtered by Facebook.

Several European countries have outlawed zero rated service, namely The Netherlands and Slovenia, because of the dramatic effect it has on consumption patterns.

Lawmakers have gone so far as to say it removes real choice from users.

The uproar over Internet.org service from Bharti Airtel and Flipkart in India was so great that the plan has been abandoned.

While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg lies and says this is just a philanthropic effort to get more underprivileged communities online the privacy invading social network pays RCom, an Indian telecom provider, so users receive AccuWeather, Dictionary.com and, of course, Facebook for free.

India’s telecom regulator Trai and the Department of Telecom (DoT) have set up an inquest to examine the ramifications of zero rating and the country may outlaw the practice.

Salesforce Snubs Microsoft’s $55 Billion Bid

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The mystery bidder for Salesforce has been confirmed as Microsoft, according to sources close to the deal. The software giant wanted to buy the cloud giant for $55 billion but the bid was rejected by Salesforce.

According to CNBC, Salesforce boss Marc Benioff wanted $70 billion, a stunning price tag that ultimately sunk the deal. Salesforce’s current market cap is about $48.48 billion. .

The talks reportedly ended in early May, but both Salesforce and Microsoft have refused to discuss them publicly.

The bid wasn’t just talk – the offer was serious enough to prompt Salesforce to hire financial advisers to handle the negotiations.

Many had speculated Microsoft was the buyer, although SAP was also named as an interested party. Oracle was another potential acquirer, although co-CEO Safra Katz quickly shot down any talk of a merger between Benioff and his former boss Larry Ellison.

Salesforce reported revenues of $1.51 billion for the last fiscal quarter, up 27 per cent over the previous year’s quarter.

Benioff has publicly stated his goal is to get to $10bn in annual revenues.

The large bid shows just how under-pressure Microsoft is to come up with a new hit product, as its dominance of computer operating systems fades and marketshare of its popular Office suite is slowly eaten away but rivals such as Evernote, Google and Apple.

More Job Cuts Loom For Troubled Blackberry

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Once ubiquitous Blackberry is laying off more workers across its money losing hardware division, the struggling Canadian smartphone maker has confirmed.

While the company was briefly profitable during Q4 of fiscal ’15, this short run of fortune couldn’t hide the wider challenges in the business and yet another year of losses.

CEO John Chen wants to achieve sustainable profitability by the end of the current fiscal year and is looking to achieve it with another round of cost cutting.

Blackberry would not confirm the number of people to be let go but given the small sales of its once large hardware division the firings could be considerable.

“Our intention is to reallocate resources in ways that will best enable us to capitalize on growth opportunities while driving toward sustainable profitability across all facets of our business

As a result, we have made the decision to consolidate our device, software, hardware and applications business, impacting a number of employees around the world,” said BlackBerry.

The company employed just 6,225 full-time employees globally as of February, way down on the 16,000 workforce in 2012 before it began to slash costs in the wake of a string of disappointing hardware devices.

In BlackBerry’s last full financial year it had revenues of $3.34 billion, down 51 per cent year-on-year, good for a loss of $304 million. While a terrible result it was better than than the loss of $5.9 billion in fiscal ’14.

The company reiterated that it sees a future built on software and services rather than hardware:

“One of our priorities is making our device business profitable. At the same time, we must grow software and licensing revenues. You will see in the coming months a significant ramping in our customers facing activities in sales and marketing.”

The “path to growth” for the company will achieved by investments in software, enterprise security and exploiting the coming Internet of Things, according to the company report.

Blackberry faces a tough challenge as Android has become the ubiquitous operating system of smartphones, televisions and will likely extend that success to connected appliances. As a large number of people have not used a Blackberry, instead preferring iPhones and Androids, the company faces an uphill battle teaching users how to use its devices and making them connect with other, more dominant, operating systems.

Drought Stricken California Sees Vandals Dump 50 Million Gallons Of Fresh Water Into San Francisco Bay

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Vandals attacked an inflatable dam on Alameda Creek, California, resulting in the loss of nearly 50 million gallons of water.

The timing could not have been worse as California struggles through the worst drought on record.

Police believe he vandals entered a restricted area sometime on Thursday morning and intentionally damaged the dam, causing it to spill the precious water.

“The dam, which is instrumental to the Alameda County Water District’s water supply operations, suffered irreversible damage,” police said.

More than 150 acre-feet of water, approximately 49 million gallons, washed past the destroyed dam and into the San Francisco Bay.

The wasted water was to have been percolated into the Niles Cone Groundwater Basin for use by residents and businesses in Fremont, Newark, and Union City.

“This amount of water is enough to supply the needs of approximately 500 homes for one year,” police said.

District staff acted quickly to open upstream diversions, which saved some of the water from being wasted yet the damage done was immense.

“This is a very significant loss of water under any circumstances, and more so in the drought conditions we are experiencing,” said ACWD General Manager Robert Shaver. “It is an utterly senseless, destructive, and wasteful thing to do.”

The inflatable dams are large, heavy-duty devices, which can be inflated to impound water or deflated to allow water to flow through the creek in storm conditions.

The timing of the vandalism is interesting as it could be a move by activists to draw attention to California’s absurd water usage. While residents struggle with water bans, celebrities continue to waste water while farmers use water-intense practices that are not possibly sustainable in the dry California climate.

Tens Of Thousands Join March Against Chemical Giant Monsanto

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Tens Of Thousands Join March Against Chemical Giant Monsanto

Thousands of people took to the streets Saturday to protest American biotechnology giant Monsanto and its portfolio of evil products which include genetically modified crops and cancer causing pesticides.

The third annual March Against Monsanto saw rallies in over 400 cities in more than 40 countries around the world.

2,500 people staged anti-Monsanto protests in the Swiss cities of Basel and Morgues, where the company’s Europe, Africa and the Middle East headquarters is situated.

In Paris, Monsanto’s market-leading herbicide Roundup was the main target of protesters’ anger with over 3,000 protesters rallied by environmental organisations including Greenpeace and anti-capitalist group Stop Tafta taking part.

Roundup’s main ingredient was recently classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization and have been banned in many countries. “Looking for mass suicide? Go for Roundup,” read one protest sign at another French protest in the western city of Rennes.

In Burkina Faso, Halfway around the planet, around 500 marched against the chemical giant’s introduction of genetically modified cotton into the west African country in 2003.

Demonstrators demanded a 10-year moratorium on the planting of Monsanto seeds so “independent research can be conducted” into the effects of the technology.

Outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg, over 1,000 anti-Monsanto activists gathered as the sun was setting for a minute’s silence “in homage to the existing and future victims poisoned by pesticides”, according to the organizers.

The worldwide March Against Monsanto was started in 2013 by the Occupy movement. Its growth since then illustrates the wide range of criminal and dangerous acts committed by the company.

The United States Has An Income Inequality Problem

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The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development confirmed this week that the gap between the rich and poor in most of the world’s advanced economies is at record levels.

In most of the 34 countries that make up the OECD, the income gap is at its highest level in over three decades, with the richest 10 percent of the population earning 9.6 times the income of the poorest 10 percent.

In the late 1980s this stood at 7 to 1, the OECD said in a report.

The wealth gap is even greater, with the top 1 percent owning 18 percent and the 40 percent only 3 percent of household wealth as of 2012. This trend has likely gotten worse over the past three years but will not be available until the next report is published.

“We have reached a tipping point. Inequality in OECD countries is at its highest since records began,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.

A more troubling fact, which is exposed by this inequality, is control of assets. The study shows that basically all the world’s assets are exclusively controlled by the top 10%. As for the bottom 10%, 50% and even 90%? They have now assets at all and instead “liabilities.”

The report draws parallels to medieval serfdom, where rich landowners controlled the entire asset base while the majority of the population was forced to work the land for meager wages.

Russia Bans “Undesirable” NGOs, Including Human Rights Watch

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Non-governmental organizations in Russia were effectively banned on Sunday after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin passed a law that allows the government to prosecute them on the grounds they are ‘undesirable.’

Workers of those organizations can now be sentenced to six harsh years in Russian prison, which can easily amount to a death sentence given the appalling conditions.

The new measure provoked an international outcry.

The U.S. State Department said it was “deeply troubled” while Amnesty International said the law threatened “fundamental freedoms.” Human Rights Watch condemned it as a “piece of repressive legislation.”

In a largely symbolic move the law was passed through both houses of the Russian parliament. The exact wording states that a foreign non-governmental organization can be recognized as undesirable if it poses a threat to the constitutional order of the Russian Federation or to the country’s defense and security.

The law is incredibly broad, targeting Russian citizens or groups that have any “involvement” with undesirable NGOs.

It is the latest step in a series of measures aimed at suppressing opposition and restricting freedom within the country.

Tanya Lokshina, of Human Rights Watch, said the new law would “severely damage our work in Russia,” and that it was a cause for grave concern for all international groups operating in Russia.

An interesting point Ms. Lokshina raised is that she did not believe the law was aimed at international organizations like hers but instead at Russians who might cooperate with, or support, international organizations.

“The bill does not specify what ‘involvement’ might include,” Lokshina wrote in a statement. “So anything goes. Distributing — including by posting online — the statements, reports, or other materials of an ‘undesirable,'”.

Put more bluntly, in Russia, even retweeting something from an undesirable NGO could land a Russian citizen in jail for up to six years.

Google Caught Helping Copyright Trolls Extort Money From Google Fiber Users

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Google Caught Helping Copyright Trolls Extort Money From Google Fiber Users

It’s no secret Google is aggressively looking to cozy up with Hollywood to help its struggling Youtube website. In the latest sign that the search monopolist is getting into bed with Big Copyright and their legal extortionists, Google Fiber, the high-speed broadband service offering broadband speeds up to 100 times faster than the national average, is forwarding nasty extortion letters to users who have allegedly downloaded copyright movies and TV shows.

Copyright extortion firms such as CEG-TEK and Rightscorp blast thousands of settlement notices every month, demanding $20 to several hundred dollars for alleged infringements. The notices are legally suspect, with the industry previously trying to extort $15,000 to $25,000 per letter. After a legal smackdown the shady industry has adjusted its ask – just $20 to $500 – in order to stay under the radar.

While many ISPs refuse to forward the blatant extortion attempts, Google is keen to get into bed with Hollywood and so is passing along the notices to customers in hopes they will pay.

Yet other big ISPs including Comcast, Verizon and AT&T have chosen not to forward settlement demands directly to subscribers to protect their interests, in recognition that letters are nothing more than extortion attempts by big corporations against main street Americans.

Website Zdnet published one of the threatening extortion letters which reads:

BMG will pursue every available remedy including injunctions and recovery of attorney’s fees, costs and any and all other damages which are incurred by BMG as a result of any action that is commenced against you.

While BMG is entitled to monetary damages from the infringing party […] The BMG believes that it may be expeditious to settle this manner without the need of costly and time-consuming litigation. In order to help you avoid further legal action from BMG, we have been authorized to offer a settlement solution that we believe is reasonable for everyone.

According to Mitch Stoltz, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), ISPs are not legally bound to send such notices to subscribers and that such notices terrorize users, hoping to extract money from them regardless of legal culpability.

“In the U.S., ISPs don’t have any legal obligation to forward infringement notices in their entirety. An ISP that cares about protecting its customers from abuse should strip out demands for money before forwarding infringement notices. Many do this. ”

The latest move by Google shows how it wants to cuddle up to the big Copyright Lobby in order to promote its Youtube property, seen as key to it staying relevant over the next ten years as its search monopoly fades into oblivion.

It also highlights how Google views users as expendable and an asset that needs to be monetized – regardless of the implications of peoples’ lives.

Google, predictably, declined to comment of the latest revelations.

The FBI Doesn’t Want You To Know That Patriot Act Snooping Didn’t Catch A Single Terrorist

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Despite pleas by law enforcement for increased illegal spying and surveillance powers, the FBI can’t point to any major terrorism cases cracked because of the unconstitutional snooping powers granted under the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday.

Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz’s report found that between 2004 and 2009, the FBI tripled its use of bulk data collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, increasingly scooping up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.

Yet despite this increased invasion of privacy, which directly contravenes the constitution, the FBI came up with no leads.

“The agents we interviewed did not identify any major case developments that resulted from use of the records obtained in response to Section 215 orders,” the inspector general concluded.

The shocking contrast between privacy invasion and lack of effectiveness highlights a general trend in law enforcement towards lazy policing. Police routinely circumvent the constitution instead of doing manual police work, arguing that the increased invasion is needed to catch bad guys. Yet no bad guys are actually caught by the constitutional intrusion and instead our police forces get lazy and weak.

The FBI declined to comment on the latest revelations.

Japanese Fisheries Minister Thinks Endangered Dolphins Should Be Hunted To Extinction

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Out of touch Japanese fisheries minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed ‘hope’ that the controversial dolphin slaughter known as Taiji will continue despite Japanese aquariums’ yielding to international pressure and stopping the procurement of the marine mammals caught by fishermen in Taiji town where the hunt is located.

Hayashi, the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, told reporters that “I’d like to see to it that (the method) be implemented as it has been.” Yet the world roundly condemns the hunt, which leaves waters in the cove blood red.

The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums said Wednesday it will acquiesce to international demands and ban members from getting dolphins from Taiji after they faced expulsion from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums because the slaughter is deemed cruel and inhumane.

Japan is the largest killer of marine mammals, routinely slaughtering rare whales, dolphins and porpoises for food while calling the killings ‘research.’

While Feds Ready Criminal Charges Against GM Engineers, Wall Street Walks Free

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While Feds Ready Criminal Charges Against GM Engineers, Wall Street Walks Free

Proving that Wall Street is always above the law, federal prosecutors are said to be filing criminal charges against General Motors Co. over a faulty ignition switch linked to more than 100 deaths. The charges are said to be against both the company and individual engineers.

The situation is reminiscent of the numerous recent Wall Street crimes, in which large, too big to fail banks, conspire to commit criminal acts and yet when caught, face only financial penalties amounting to far less than the ill gotten gains. In all cases on Wall Street no individuals have been charged and nobody has gone to jail.

In a move showing just how deeply Wall Street has corrupted our judiciary, a New York court thinks GM and its employees ought to be prosecuted while Wall Street has never had an individual charged with anything and escaped with paltry civil penalties.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, notoriously cozy with Wall Street, has apparently determined GM broke the law by making misstatements about the ignition-switch glitch in older Chevrolet Cobalts and other vehicles it manufactured. The allegations date back more than a decade and will result in a fine exceeding $1 billion from the company. GM will either plead guilty or enter a so-called deferred-prosecution agreement, the preferred settlement of Wall Street banks, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Preet Bharara, who is in charge of the Wall Street friendly Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, has made cases like GM and Toyota a priority while letting large criminal bank syndicates off the hook with relatively minor penalties.

Penalties to banks have affected shareholders, who are usually average Americans, while leaving bonuses of the actual offenders fully intact. In short, the office has decided that America should pick up the tab for Wall Street’s wrongdoing and that criminal bankers should be free to do as they please.

Mr. Bharara’s office has stated that, unlike Wall Street criminal banks, individual GM engineers will face personal criminal charges.

It is unclear, at the time of writing, why Wall Street gets a pass while GM, composed mostly of middle class citizens, faces extra punishment.

Las Vegas Rocked By Earthquake

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Las Vegas Rocked By Earthquake

Highlighting just how vulnerable the United States is to a Nepal style disaster, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Nevada on Friday near the small town of Caliente, just northeast of the tourist hub of Las Vegas. The relatively mild quake was followed by a series of aftershocks, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday.

The epicenter was 24 miles from Caliente, a town of just over 1,000 people, close to the border with Utah.

The earthquake had been felt widely across the county, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake could be felt as far away as Las Vegas, about 100 miles to the southwest.

The initial earthquake was followed by a smaller 3.8 magnitude temblor, and then by three more aftershocks of magnitudes of 2.5 to 3.4 less than 20 minutes later.

The quake, hitting close to densely populated Las Vegas, shows that even communities not directly on top of fault lines remain vulnerable to sizable natural disasters.

Bank Of England Studying UK Exit From European Union

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The Bank of England is actively assessing the implications of a British exit from the European Union, it said in a statement, confirming an email it accidentally sent to a newspaper about the confidential research project.

On Friday British newspaper The Guardian reported on an email from a senior aide in the bank that said the project should be kept secret from most BoE staff. It further specifically addressed how to handle media inquiries, instructing staffers to lie and say that the Bank was looking at a broad range of European economic issues.

Hard-line conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was just re-elected on May 7, has pledged to reshape Britain’s ties with the EU and then hold an in or out membership referendum by the end of 2017.

The BoE, as with last year’s referendum on Scottish independence, is keen to avoid any suggestion it is entering a political debate.

After the embarrassing email leak on Friday evening, the Bank confirmed its intention to launch the assessment.

“It should not come as a surprise that the Bank is undertaking such work about a stated government policy,” it said in the statement posted on its website in response to the leak.

“There are a range of economic and financial issues that arise in the context of the renegotiation and national referendum. It is one of the Bank’s responsibilities to assess those that relate to its objectives.”

Deutsche Bank, whom readers may remember from its record settlements for illegal activities, said on May 19th it had begun initial preparations for a British exit from the EU.

The BoE said it would not talk about its assessment in advance but would disclose details “at the appropriate time”, adding it had taken a similar approach when it considered the implications of last year’s Scottish referendum.

“While it is unfortunate that this information has entered the public domain in this way, the Bank will maintain this approach,” the statement read.

Chris Leslie, finance spokesman for the opposition Labour party, said it was vital Britons were given a full analysis of the facts ahead of time, with “no hidden agendas”.

“We now need to know whether the Bank of England report will be published in time for everyone to consider the facts before a referendum,” he said, adding the Bank should provide a clear timetable and identify the people involved in the research project.

ISIS Threat To Buy Nuclear Weapon Nothing But Propaganda

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In the latest issue of its propaganda magazine, Dabiq, the Islamic State (ISIS) has that it will buy its first nuclear weapon from Pakistan within a year. The threat comes mere days after Saudi Arabia was reported to be in the process of acquiring Pakistani nukes, having already purchased them through a multi-year payment arrangement.

And while there is no doubt that ISIS has surpassed its roots as “the most explosive Islamic ‘group’ in the modern world” to evolve into “the most explosive Islamic movement the modern world has ever seen” over the last twelve months, dreams of a nuke appear far fetched.

In the piece, titled “The Perfect Storm”, the terrorist group mentions other terrorist organisations such as Boko Haram, which recently joined forces with ISIS, uniting across the Middle East, Asia and Africa to create one global movement.

The article claims this arrangement of groups has coincided with ISIS militants seizing “tanks, rocket launchers, missile systems, anti-aircraft systems,” from the U.S. and Iran and then goes on to detail a deluded desire for nuclear weapons.

“Let me throw a hypothetical operation onto the table,” the article states. “The Islamic State has billions of dollars in the bank, so they call on their wilāyah in Pakistan to purchase a nuclear device through weapons dealers with links to corrupt officials in the region.”

“It’s the sum of all fears for Western intelligence agencies and it’s infinitely more possible today than it was just one year ago.

“And if not a nuke, what about a few thousand tons of ammonia nitrate explosive? That’s easy enough to make.”

An attack launched by ISIS against the United States would ridicule “the attacks of the past”.

And yet a nuclear armed ISIS would be subject to an attack that would ridicule the international response to date. Pentagon staffers are meeting all weekend to work out a plan to deal with ISIS and the terrorist outfit is widely condemned by major superpowers, inlcuding Saudi Arabia, Israel, the UK, virtually all of Europe, Australia and of course the United States.

While ISIS may have high hopes of getting a bomb it is unlikely. The terror outfit is enjoying some recent success but expect a harsh set of counterattacks by western forces in the coming weeks and months. Such attacks will notable weaken the state and could even lead to ground troops.

Fierce Shootout Leaves 43 Dead In Latest Mexican Drug Violence

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Mexican security forces left 42 of the gunmen dead in a three hour long shootout on Friday which also killed one federal police officer, officials said.

Three gunmen were also arrested.

The battle erupted in the town of Tanhuato, Michoacan state, when a joint force of federal and state security forces encountered the armed resistance in the course of a narcotics investigation, Mexican National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido stated at a news conference.

The gunmen belong to a gang from the violence plagued neighboring state of Jalisco, Rubido said.

The governor or Michoacan, Salvador Jara, said during an interview that it is “very likely” that the shootout was with the brazen Jalisco New Generation drug cartel.

The investigation which prompted the shootout began Thursday after a property located in Tanhuato was taken over by a large group of armed men.

The property was described as a 275-acre stretch of land with a main residence, warehouse, and agricultural buildings. It is unknown what, precisely, the gunmen were doing there although narcotics activity is suspected.

The gun battle stretched for hours because of the large size of the property, Rubido said. There were at least three standoffs in various parts of the property, he stated.

Ireland Votes To Legalize Gay Marriage

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Ireland Votes To Legalize Gay Marriage

While final results are not yet known early polls show that Ireland has voted in favor of same-sex marriage. The measure was on the ballot in a landmark referendum.

If the measure passes, it would make Ireland the first in the world to legalize same-sex marriage through voting.

According to Irish TV broadcaster RTE, turnout for the vote was above 60% in some parts of the country, considerably higher than in other referendums.

Based on exit polls and voter turnout data there was speculation that opposition to the measure might have been understated because, amid the heated debate, people hadn’t been publicly saying they would vote yes.

Labour lawmaker Kevin Humphreys, Ireland’s Minister of State for Employment, Community and Social Support, said that vote totals in Dublin on a “historic day” showed the “yes” vote was “big and fat.”

Did Saudi Arabia And Israel Just Use A Nuclear Weapon In Yemen?

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Shocking reports are starting to surface from the Yemen battlefield that Saudi Arabia has contracted Israel to use tactical nuclear weapons in the struggle against Iranian backed Houthi rebels.

In a video believed to be taken on May 20th, a large explosion can be seen that is likely a neutron bomb, a small atomic weapon designed to kill a large area with radiation while leaving structures intact and free of evidence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7UHl3CxP-A#t=26

According to analysis from VeteransToday.com, the explosion is:

A. Its not a conventional 2k lb bomb. It’s much bigger.

B. Its either a very large MOAB bigger than 4,000 lbs. or; ???? Max weight for an F-15 / 16 is about 2,000 lb payload per bomb rack making the deployment of a MOAB impossible.

C. Its appears to be a small neutron bomb. The size, color, lightning effect and duration of the fire ball being suspended in mid air and the very large mushroom cloud is the main give away. The CCD cameras imaging device was “scintillating” (detecting Neutrons) That is the white pixel flashes in the video. When the photo has white pixel flashes in it, that is because it is being hit by neutrons from the nuclear fireball blast. It overloads the ccd’s electronic circuit producing white flashes.

If the radiation is too high it will burn out the chip. They had big problems with this in Japan with the Fukushima robots cameras failing due to very high radiation counts.

D. Delivery is most likely by an IDF F-16 with a Saudi paint job on the plane. They are not even hiding their use anymore, they just don’t publicly admit it and the IAEA does nothing or says nothing. That is the true war crime. The UN just ignores it unless the US, France or GB complains…….. Russia and China say nothing.

E. This is now the second known use of nukes in Yemen by Saudi Arabia…………..

There is another video making the rounds that purports to show another Israeli tactical nuclear weapon. Tactical nukes are smaller than full-sized bombs and leave visible evidence of an attack. Yet they are devastatingly large, much moreso than even the largest conventional weapons.

They are also smaller than the largest bombs, which must be dropped by slow-flying large bombers whereas tactical nuclear weapons can be launched by regular jet fighters, such as those operated by Israel.

Israel is well known to possess a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons while the Saudis have been looking to purchase them for some time now. It seems logical Israel would sell such a service given their mutual enemy Iran.

If the claims can be verified this will mark only the second time in human history nuclear weapons have been used in combat.

Special Forces Using High Tech Tools To ID Terrorists

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Special Forces Using High Tech Tools To ID Terrorists

Fingerprints are so 20th-century. When special forces operators are deep behind enemy lines in the middle of the night in Pakistan or Syria, they need to know who they’ve found and they need to know fast.

Rather than rely on fingerprints, the troops are now using rapid DNA profiling technology.

This past Wednesday, the U.S. Special Operations Command revealed that they are testing two rapid DNA readers in the field. The soldiers feed in a DNA sample, and the reader compares it against a database of DNA tied to identities.

The machines are early versions, weighing over 60 pounds. They are also expensive: each costs about $250,000. But in 90 minutes they can get a result where the old process takes weeks.

“These things are downrange and we’re spending a year gathering data — on the utility, on how well is it working, the match rate, how well are the operators keeping them up and running,” stated Michael S. Fitz, manager of the Sensitive Site Exploitation Special Reconnaissance, Surveillance & Exploitation program at U.S. Special Operations Command.

The devices being tested are the RapidHIT 200 from IntegenX, of California, and the DNAscan from NetBIO, of Massachusetts. Both are the size of a photocopier, but compared to an entire DNA lab, require less manpower and are more portable. Just one operator can get quick results. “In the past, when we captured DNA, the guy would put it in an envelope, send it back to the States and two or three weeks later, he would get a result on who it was that he had. By then, he moved on to other missions and he had forgotten who the guy was,” said Fitz.

The major use case? Verifying the identity of targets, such as Osama Bin Laden, either before raids or after. “Our whole program is built around follow-on targeting. We don’t gather biometrics for criminal prosecution,” Fitz said. “Our primary objective is actionable intelligence for follow-on targeting.”

The Bin Laden raid actually used this approach, but with traditional processing methods that took weeks. The hope of the Defense Department is that all missions in the future will use such technology to improve both mission accuracy and speed.

Everyday Beverage Shown To Improve Erectile Dysfunction

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Erectile dysfunction affects more than 18 percent of American men 20 and older and has led to the creation of multiple billion dollar blockbuster drugs. But new research suggests that expensive pills are not the only way to combat the condition.

Coffee, it turns out, may be quite effective as well.

A new study from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, found that men who consume more caffeine have a lower risk of erectile dysfunction.

The only exception is men with diabetes, who were unaffected by caffeine intake.

“Even though we saw a reduction in the prevalence of erectile dysfunction with men who were obese, overweight and hypertensive, that was not true of men with diabetes. Diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for erectile dysfunction, so this was not surprising,” lead author Dr. David Lopez, assistant professor at UTHealth School of Public Health, said in a press release.

“These findings also support the latest U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee position that drinking three to five cups a day reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease; two conditions that are well established as significant risk factors for erectile dysfunction,” said Dr. Natan Bar-Chama, director of Male Reproductive Medicine at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital.

Lopez and colleagues looked at data on more than 3,700 men observed by the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The men answered questionnaires asking them to recall their caffeine intake over the past 24 hours.

The level of caffeine needed to reduce the risk of impotence was equal to two to three cups in a given day.

When men consumed zero to 7 milligrams of caffeine a day versus when they consumed 85 to 170 milligrams of caffeine a day, the men who consumed more were 42 percent less likely to report erectile dysfunction, while those who consumed 171 to 303 milligrams of caffeine a day were 39 percent less likely to report the condition, the Texas team said.

The study was not limited to just coffee as the study included beverages such as coffee, tea, soda and sports drinks.

The study authors believe that caffeine may relax certain arteries and muscles in the penis, improving blood flow and the ability to maintain an erection.

Experts in the field agreed with the findings. “More research is needed, but what scientists think is happening here is that coffee and caffeine are causing cavernous smooth muscle tissue (found in the penis) to relax, allowing more blood flow to the area and leading to improved erectile function,” said Dr. David Samadi, chair of urology at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital.

The study has been published online in the journal PLOS One.

Latest Hack Attack Exposes Sexual Secrets Of Millions Of Americans

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Hackers always go after personal information but usually its to access your bank accounts and credit cards. In the latest data breach, which includes more than 3.5 million people, the data comes with lurid details about sexual preferences, fetishes and other sexy secrets.

The data was exposed publicly after dating site Adult FriendFinder was hacked in March of this year.

Despite being aware of the incident and the data leaking onto the public web, the company has thus far refused to notify members of the incident.

The reason for all the steamy details is that Adult FriendFinder asks customers to detail their interests and then matches people based on thos interests for sexual encounters. The site boasts 64 million members and claims to have “helped millions of people find traditional partners, swinger groups, threesomes, and a variety of other alternative partners.”

The information collected by the company is extremely personal in nature. When joining the site customers must enter their gender, which gender they’re interested in and what kind of sexual situations they desire.

Suggestions AdultFriendfinder provides to fill in the “tell others about yourself” field include, “I like my partners to tell me what to do in the bedroom,” “I tend to be kinky” and “I’m willing to try some light bondage or blindfolds.”

The hack was first uncovered by independent IT security consultant Bev Robb and published on her blog a month ago. Yet Robb did not name the site that was hacked and it wasn’t until this week, when England’s Channel 4 News reported on the hack, that Adult FriendFinder was named.

Personal information exposed in the attack are customers’ email addresses, usernames, passwords, birthdays and zip codes, in addition to their sexual preferences.

That data is potentially damaging if a hacker is looking to extort an Adult FriendFinder customer online.

The information exposed can be particularly compromising to people living in small towns, where it is more easy to identify them.

One person exposed in the hack is a 40-year old welder from a small town of a few thousand people. He said he “will become anybody’s slave” and lied about his age on the site, claiming to be 29.

The attack was carried out by a hacker who goes by the name ROR[RG]. In an online forum, he claims he blackmailed Adult FriendFinder, telling the site he would expose the data online unless the company paid him $100,000.

That revelation is troubling because at that point the company would have known about the attack and should have started notifying victims. Instead it kept quiet, which is the reason many states are not enacting mandatory disclosure laws for companies that suffer data breaches. When a company keeps quiet hackers have the advantage and can prey on unsuspecting customers who are unaware their details have been compromised.

SEC Commissioner Appalled By Latest Wall Street Criminal Acts

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While the bandits of Wall Street sidestepped yet another criminal prosecution and yet again got off without anyone going to jail yesterday, one member of the Securities and Exchange Commission has, like us, had enough.

Yesterday the SEC announced that the large banks had agreed to a settlement, record fines (for the third time this year) and promises of not to do it again in response to a wide ranging criminal conspiracy to rig foreign exchange markets.

The banks colluded to fix the prices honest, hard working business people pay to exchange one currency for another, in order to enrich themselves and pay large bonuses for stealing from hard working Americans.

Commissioner Kara M. Stein dissented from yesterday’s sweep-it-under-the-rug settlement with the large criminal banks, instead arguing that the banks are, in fact, large criminal organizations with a long track record criminal conduct and are all repeat offenders.

Ms. Stein, who should consider running for office, went on to detail just how and when the big banks have engaged in criminal behavior and illustrated just how little punishment they have received for their actions.

Below is her dissenting opinion, which should be read in full to understand just how corrupt and criminal Wall Street has become.

Commissioner Kara M. Stein

May 21, 2015

I dissent from the Commission’s Orders, issued on May 20, 2015, that granted the following waivers from an array of disqualifications required by federal securities regulations:

UBS AG, Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. (“JPMC”), and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (“RBSG”), waivers from the provisions under Commission rules that automatically make them ineligible for well-known seasoned issuer (“WKSI”) status;

UBS AG, Barclays, and JPMC waivers from automatic disqualification provisions related to the safe harbor for forward-looking statements under Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

UBS AG and three Barclays entities waivers from the automatic Bad Actor disqualification provided under Rule 506.

The disqualifications were triggered for generally the same behavior: a criminal conspiracy to manipulate exchange rates in the foreign currency exchange spot market (“FX Spot Market”), a global market for buying and selling currencies. Traders at these firms “entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy to fix, stabilize, maintain, increase or decrease the price of, and rig bids and offers for,” the euro-dollar foreign currency exchange (“FX”). To carry out their scheme, the conspirators communicated and coordinated trading almost daily in an exclusive online chat room that the traders referred to as “The Cartel” or “The Mafia.” Additionally, salespeople and traders lied to customers in order to collect undisclosed markups in certain transactions. This criminal behavior went on for years, unchecked and undeterred.

There are compelling reasons to reject these requests to waive the automatic disqualifications required by statute or rule. Chief among them, however, is the recidivism of these institutions. For example, in the face of the FX criminal action, a majority of the Commission has determined to grant Citigroup yet another WKSI waiver, its fourth since 2006. It is worth noting that Citigroup was automatically disqualified from WKSI status between 2010 and 2013 for unrelated misconduct, meaning that it has effectively now triggered WKSI disqualifications five times in roughly nine years. Further, through this latest round of Orders, the Commission has granted:

Barclays its third WKSI waiver since 2007;
UBS its seventh WKSI waiver since 2008;
JPMC its sixth WKSI waiver since 2008; and
RBSG its third WKSI waiver since 2013.

The Commission has thus granted at least 23 WKSI waivers to these five institutions in the past nine years. The number climbs higher if you include Bad Actor and other waivers.

This latest round of criminal charges also comes on the heels of the Department of Justice’s actions against UBS, Barclays, and RBSG for their collusive manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), a benchmark used in financial products and transactions around the world. The manipulation of LIBOR was flagrant and “impact[ed] financial products the world over, and erode[d] the integrity of the financial markets.” As part of the settlements in the LIBOR matters, UBS, Barclays, and RBSG each entered into agreements with the Department of Justice in which they undertook not to commit additional crimes during the term of the agreements.

Allowing these institutions to continue business as usual, after multiple and serious regulatory and criminal violations, poses risks to investors and the American public that are being ignored. It is not sufficient to look at each waiver request in a vacuum.

Kansas Announces Devious New Tax On The Poor

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Kansas Announces Devious New Tax On The Poor

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback isn’t very popular with low income voters. He’s set to continue that unpopularity due to a stealthy new tax on the poor. Legislators in the state have decided they will now place a $25 daily limit on ATM withdrawals on state-issued benefits cards.

This comes in addition to reducing the overall benefits themselves.

The daily cap of $25 on cash withdrawals will begin July 1st. The effect is that it will force beneficiaries to make more trips to the ATM to withdraw money from the debit cards used to pay public assistance benefits.

But because there is a fee for every withdrawal, the limit means that families will get substantially less money.

It’s difficult to overstate the significance of this action.

Most households in the program lack enough money to maintain a minimum balance in a conventional checking account so they will pay their rent and their utility bills in cash.

A single mother with two children who needs to withdraw $200 in cash would incur $30 or more in fees, which is almost ten percent of the roughly $400 the family would receive under assistance programs in Kansas.

But it gets far worse.

Banking machines are only stocked with $20 bills so the $25 limit is effectively a $20 limit.

A family withdrawing $200 in cash would have to visit an ATM 10 times a month, which is both a financial burden and also a time burden for a parent who might not have a car and might not live in a neighborhood where ATMs are easy to find.

Looking For A Low Wage Job? Go To College

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Looking For A Low Wage Job? Go To College

While at first it might seem like going to college is the way to break through income barriers and move up a few notches on the wage ladder, new research is finding this is anything but the case.

In 1979, 56.7 percent of low-wage workers had a high school degree, while in 2013 that number stood at 77.5 percent.

Yet this trend also holds true for low-wage workers who have attended at least some college or have a college degree. In 1979 only 23.9 percent of low-wage workers had some college experience or a college degree, while by 2013 that group had grown to 44.2 percent – nearly double!

Over the same period of time, low-wage workers’ hourly wages have not improved much either, especially adjusted for inflation.

The implication here is that almost half of U.S. graduates can do no better than a low-wage job.

That is deeply troubling and indicates it is time to rethink the “college for everyone” strategy as ‘fair’ and instead realize it is nothing more than our government delaying the inevitable of a middle-class being down-trodden and in debt.

Saudi Arabia Rocked By Unknown Terror Attack

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Saudi Arabia Rocked By Unknown Terror Attack

Saudi Arabia was hit early Friday morning by a deadly attack linked to mid-east terrorist group ISIS. At least 10 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself at a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

An emergency doctor at Qatif Central Hospital said at least 70 were injured, “some very critically”.

Witnesses to the scene reported a massive explosion at the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, in Qatif governorate.

The attack is the first ISIS terror incident in Saudi Arabia and underscore rising regional tension between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack at present, however ISIS is strongly suspected by Saudi officials who wished to remain anonymous.

Lebanon’s al-Manar television network showed shattered glass and debris sitting next to the tiled pillars inside the mosque, where dozens were praying at the time of the attack.

Bodies covered in bloodied sheets could be seen spread out on the floor, while injured people in bloodstained clothes were whisked away on stretchers.

Qatif hospital, where most of the casualties ended up, has issued an urgent call for blood donations and called in off-duty staff to cope with the high number of casualties.

Saudi Arabia has two enemies who could have perpetrated the attack. It is currently leading a coalition of Arab states in an air campaign against Shia rebels in neighboring Yemen, who could have executed the attack.

The country has also been threatened by the Islamic State (ISIS), which is being targeted by a US-led coalition of which the Saudis are also a part of.

Over 2,000 Saudis are believed to have joined ISIS, with hundreds having returned home forming so called ‘sleeper cells’. In response, the Saudi security forces have launched a crackdown in recent months, arresting hundreds of ISIS suspects.

Competition Heating Up In Fast Delivery Ecommerce

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It’s not just Uber, Walmart, Google and Ebay that have their sights set firmly on same-day delivery services. It was revealed Friday morning that Amazon is expanding its Prime Now service to offer fast delivery of food from local stores in Manhattan.

Amazon said in a statement that customers can order groceries, prepared meals and baked goods from three stores, D’Agostino, Gourmet Garage and Billy’s Bakery, through its Prime Now app.

The service is similar to smaller food and grocery delivery service which actually makes Amazon somewhat of a laggard in the space.

To have your purchases delivered within two hours is free for Prime members, while having it delivered within one hour costs $7.99, although the latter service is only available to “select zip codes”.

The new delivery service started on Thursday in “select neighborhoods” though will become available to most Manhattan zip codes in the coming weeks, Amazon said.

More merchant partners are on tap as well with Eataly, an upscale Italian food vendor, and Westside Market, a 50-year-old chain of family-run food markets joining the site shortly.

Prime Now is an annual membership program that costs $99 a year and started in 2014. It includes free two-day shipping. Prime Now is currently available in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Baltimore, Austin, Dallas and Miami, in addition to Manhattan.

Amazon’s announcement comes just days after Walmart unveiled an unlimited shipping service that is half the price of Amazon Prime and Uber revealed secret plans for a massive same day delivery service, which we covered earlier.

The Hottest Ticket In ISIS Controlled Territory Is What?

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You’d be forgiven for thinking that the hottest ticket in ISIS controlled territory is their five star hotel or given their penchant for rape, the slave market.

Yet the Saudi militants in ISIS are most interested in getting to the top of the suicide bombing wait lists, according to a frustrated Chechen militant. They’re specifically using nepotism to ensure friends and family members get bumped to the top.

In a post on a website linked to a Chechen ISIS battalion, Kamil Abu Sultan ad-Daghestani loudly complained that Chechens are being robbed of their once in a lifetime chance to blow themselves up because of the Saudis.

“Those Saudis have got things sewn up. They won’t let anyone in. They are letting their relatives go to the front of the line” said the disgruntled terrorist.

Connections are, in fact, the only way to skip the line to become a suicide bomber. This non-merit based process is now resulting in ISIS fighters issuing complaints to their commanders.

A recently captured ISIS guidebook explicitly mentioned the large supply of suicide bombers, informing potential “martyrs” that they need to be patient after their training period, as there would be a waiting list.

This list, according to Abu Sultan, can reach up to several months. This leads to some ISIS fighters dying before getting the chance to commit suicide.

Militants are becoming so desperate to get to the top of the list that they’re travelling to other parts of the battlefield in hopes of speeding up the process, according to Abu Sultan, who heard the story from the head of Chechen ISIS militants, Abu Omar al-Shishani.

“Amir (leader) al-Shishani told me about a young lad who went to Iraq for a suicide mission, and he went there because in Sham (Syria) there is a very long queue (of several thousand people)” said al-Shishani, according to Abu Sultan.

The suicide bomber waiting lists have been a problem for ISIS since at least July 2014 when a A British ISIL member first revealed the issue to BBC’s “Panorama” TV show.

That fighter, Kabir Ahmed, was fighting in Syria during the time of the interview, and told the BBC that he was attempting to “get his name pushed up the list.”

Death by suicide bombing is in high demand from senior ISIS members for purely tactical reasons, not theological ones, says Thomas Pierret of the University of Edinburgh.

“In my view, the tactical advantage of suicide VBIEDs [vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices] largely outweighs their symbolic or propaganda value, hence ISIS’ heavy reliance on them,” Pierret said to Radio Free Europe.

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